Alexia and the Princess were the last to board the carriage. It had been over an hour since Zach and Riley arrived, but no one dared complain about the wait.

"I apologize for delaying everyone," Evelyn said as she sat down next to Riley, facing the back end of the carriage.

The bench-seat on the opposite side held Milo, Fern, and the guard-captain Randolph, a tall man with short black hair who Zach recognized from the trip to Okwata. A second guard, a massive and stout man named Arko, was standing outside and planned to ride up front with the Rider to keep watch. Arko's arms were as big around as Zach's head and Zach felt safe knowing he'd be fighting if monsters showed up.

Randolph bowed his head and said, "No apologies required, Your Highness. This expedition operates on your schedule."

Evelyn smiled and nodded, but she looked a little uncomfortable. This was this exact kind of stuffy formality that she tried to escape from whenever possible.

Milo kept the formality going when he said dipped his chin and said, "Greetings, Your Highness. My name is Milo, and I'll be your combat mage for this journey. You need not fear monsters while I'm around."

Zach had been watching Milo out of the corner of his eye for the last hour and what he'd seen didn't help his opinion of the man. When the guards arrived, they'd both greeted Milo like they had met him before, but he barely acknowledged them in return. The sour expressions that appeared on their faces told Zach everything he needed to know about their relationship with the mage.

Milo had at least greeted the Princess warmly, but it felt hollow after the way he had treated all the other members of the expedition. The one person he didn't seem to know how to interact with was Fern. Milo was polite to her, but seemed very unsure of himself around the hyper-curious Kobold. Zach could empathize with him at least a little, having been on the receiving end of her questions and prodding.

Alexia gave a hand signal to Arko outside then addressed the others inside the carriage. "Unless anyone has objections, we're setting out. Our Rider, Timothy, will take us as far as road conditions allow, then we'll have to hike the rest of the way." Then she preemptively answered the question Zach planned to ask by saying, "There are some routes into the Kobold domain that are traversable by carriage the entire way, but they would take too long for our needs."

Then they heard a man, presumably the Rider Timothy, shout, "Hya!" and the carriage jolted into motion. The four passengers on the rear-facing seat braced themselves but Zach was too slow. He spilled onto the floor, earning a smug grin from Milo.

This is going to be a long ride… Zach thought to himself as he picked himself up and sat back down next to Riley.

Timothy's two horses kept a slow and steady pace while they maneuvered through the cobblestone streets of New Albion. When they reached the eastern gate, the stationed guards waved the carriage through without stopping it. Once the horses were on the open road outside the walls, Timothy worked them up to a jog and then a full-out gallop. By Zach's estimate they were moving about 25 miles an hour, a speed that would be impossible to maintain for long without the endurance-boosting magic and careful pacing of a Rider.

The carriage had excellent suspension, Kobold-made according to Fern, so the ride was quite smooth. But the rhythmic sound of hoofbeats filled the cabin and made open conversation difficult. Evelyn used it to her advantage to speak privately with Zach about Otherworld matters. She apparently wanted to keep all of that secret from Milo and Randolph, and that was fine by Zach.

Evelyn whispered, "We're headed for the easternmost Kobold town, located near your world's Silverthorne, just on the other side of the continental divide."

Zach nodded. He knew the name but only had a vague idea of how far away it was. Most of his research into gold-mining locations had focused on the east side of the continental divide.

Evelyn continued, "In fact, everything beyond the divide is Kobold territory. They prefer natural boundaries to man-made ones and the divide was convenient."

"It was extra convenient for me," Zach said with a smile, "since it put my mining claim inside human lands."

"If I'm not mistaken, we'll be passing near your claim. Do you think you could point it out to us?"

Zach pondered that for a moment, then nodded firmly. "After staring at maps and photos for so long to memorize its location, I'm sure I'll be able to recognize the landmarks."

As New Albion faded in the distance, the carriage hit a steep stretch of road and the horses were forced to slow down. The noise level in the carriage dropped as well, giving Zach a glimpse into what the other side of the cabin was talking about.

"May I please hold your wand, mister Milo?" Fern said earnestly.

"Why do you want that? It's not like you can use it. Only expert mages can channel mana through a wand instead of themselves."

"Oh, I know how wands are used, in theory. I've even forged a few myself back home. But I haven't had a chance to study how the mana-infused alloy holds up to years of use. I've always wanted to confirm whether the intense mana flow of high-powered spells causes a cascading crystallization to occur within the gold-titanium matrix in the wand's core."

Milo didn't seem to know how to respond. He opened and closed his mouth a couple times, then finally said, "Uh, sure. Here it is." He handed over a metallic rod about 12 inches long, thicker at the leather-wrapped base, with a bright rainbow sheen on the exposed metal.

Zach recognized that sheen in an instant. That was anodized titanium, just like what Zach's dad had used on some of the bicycles he made at his business, Pike's Bikes. Titanium was lightweight and strong enough to make excellent bike frames, and the anodizing process was a novel way to seal the surface from corrosion and add a splash of color directly into the metal that would never chip or fade. Zach also knew that it required refined chemicals, high heat, and precisely controlled electricity, which said a lot about Kobold technological advancement.

"Oh, how exciting. You've really done some work with this thing," Fern said after sniffing along the wand's length. "I can smell years of fire magic, and a fair amount of other elements as well. How long have you had this?"

"Um. About six years, I think," he said meekly.

Fern turned and examined Milo's face closely, then said, "Oh, so you reached the level of expert mage at a young age. Impressive!" Then she went back to examining the wand, running her fingertips along its length and testing what little give the metal had. "As I suspected, there's a bit of crystallization in the core, but rather than impeding the flow of mana, it's actually assisting!"

Riley was watching the entire exchange with rapt interest. She wanted to be a real mage someday and learning to use a wand was a critical part of that dream. Without a wand, elemental spells like fire and ice were dangerous and unreliable. Riley had learned in class that the core of a wand acted as a focus to stabilize the mana and its length ensured that any extreme temperatures started away from the caster's body.

"Fern?" Riley asked, "How can you know that stuff? Are you using some sort of analysis spell?"

Milo cast an annoyed glance at Riley, but quickly returned his attention to Fern. He clearly wanted to know the answer as well.

Fern shook her head. "Not at all. I'm just sensing the natural flow of environmental mana as it moves through the wand and through the air around it, and I'm using the subtle differences in tone and purity to infer the wand's internal composition."

Riley and Milo both sat in silence for a moment, then Riley said, "Even my best professors couldn't do that! Kobold senses are so cool!"

Fern smiled and her ears perked up. "Indeed they are, assuming that 'cool' is a positive thing."

Riley clamped a hand over her mouth while Alexia shook her head and Evelyn giggled. Zach chuckled and said, "Yes, 'cool' is a good thing."

Confused, Milo looked at Zach and Riley for a moment, then he returned his focus to Fern with a look of admiration in his eyes. Whatever he'd thought of Fern before, he definitely respected her now.

"I think this is the place," Zach said. They'd been on the road about two hours, and the wagon was moving slowly to give the horses a break after a steep climb.

"What place?" Randolph asked. He peered out the left-side window but only saw pine trees and mountains without a single sign of civilization.

Zach pointed out the other window, which was facing north. "The site of my mining claim. It's a few miles that way."

Then Zach's brow furrowed as he looked where he was pointing. In the distance there was a plume of dust and whatever was making it seemed to be moving closer at high speed.

Alexia saw it too. She said, "Excuse me for a moment," then opened the carriage's side door and stepped onto the railing. With expert agility she climbed up onto the roof and out of sight. Less than a minute later, she climbed back inside as the carriage slowed to a stop.

Everyone looked at her expectantly, so she said, "We'll be taking a short break here because we have a visitor approaching."

"Is it Stal?" Zach asked, unsure. It would be wonderful if exploration of his mining claim had already started but he didn't want to get his hopes up.

Alexia answered, "I believe so. He signaled us with a mirror and would like us to stop for a moment."

Riley raised a hand to ask a question but Milo cut in. "Who is Stal and why are we slowing down our important mission for him?"

Princess Evelyn answered, "Stal is the kingdom's mining expedition leader, and an expert on monsters and traveling through the wilds. If he wants to talk to us, it may be to warn us about something dangerous in the area."

Within minutes, the sound of hoofbeats could be heard outside the stopped carriage. A large man approached on horseback, then slowed to a stop and jumped off his steed about 20 feet away.

Alexia hopped out of the carriage and beckoned for the others to follow. "You're all welcome to come. Stal won't bite you."

Zach followed, happy for the opportunity to stretch his legs. He waved to Stal and the massive man waved back. Like when Zach first met him, Stal had a massive brown beard and wild curly hair, but this time he was dressed in a leather vest covered in pockets over a flannel shirt and what looked like dust-colored jeans.

"Good to see you, Zach," Stal called out as he neared. "I didn't realize you were in that carriage."

"It's nice to see you again as well, Stal." Zach offered a hand. He quickly regretted it when Stal gripped his wrist a bit too hard. "And yeah, I'm traveling with the Princess on this journey."

"Princess?!" Stal looked around frantically, then spied Evelyn with the group. He dropped to one knee and bowed his head. "My apologies, Your Highness. I didn't recognize you in your travel clothes."

Evelyn sighed and said, "It's fine. No need to kneel. I could use a break from all that royal formality while I'm outside the castle."

"Of course, Princess." Stal stood but he still looked uncomfortable. For someone who worked for the Kingdom directly, he was surprisingly flustered around royalty.

Alexia stepped forward and said, "So why did you wave us down, Stal? We're on a short timetable and would like to get moving as soon as possible."

Stal grew more comfortable as he answered, "To warn you about monsters. The Fey are unusually active right now and that always sends monsters into a strange mood. The dense mana breaks them from their predictable routines and can cause them to wander far from their normal territory. For example, we sighted a Dire Bear last night."

Fern's eyes widened. "This far south? That's unusual indeed."

Stal nodded, then said something to Fern in a language Zach couldn't understand. As Stal and Fern conversed, Zach thought, Oh right, Stal is one of few humans who knows the Kobold language. I gathered that he could read it from when he showed me that map with Kobold writing on it, but I guess he can speak it too.

After a bit of back and forth conversation that left Fern smiling, Fern turned to the Princess and said, "This Stal is quite the flatterer. Keep him around."

Alexia cleared her throat then said, "Sorry Stal, but we'd like to keep moving to get to our campsite before nightfall. Do you have anything else to tell us?"

Stal nodded. "Yes. For Zach, we're still doing the initial exploration of your site, but we've confirmed gold flakes in the water, which is a good sign. For everyone, I recommend you keep a good watch tonight. Mountain monsters can be crafty, and that Fey mana means it'll be harder to predict what might show up."

Alexia said, "Will do. Thank you, Stal." Then she beckoned with one hand and said, "Everyone back in the carriage. We're leaving."

Zach had the hilarious mental image of Alexia as a school teacher trying to herd children on a field trip. Despite her scariness, the children were running around and causing her grief. Zach had to stifle a laugh and he made a mental note to tell Riley about it later when Alexia was out of earshot.

The group rode in the carriage for about two more hours until the road ended near a small outpost with a stone tower. Alexia said that it had once been used by the Guard to keep an eye on the western edge of New Albion, up until the alliance with the Kobolds was formed. After that, it wasn't seen as necessary to keep soldiers stationed there.

"Sorry everyone," the Rider said as he climbed down from his seat on the front of the carriage. It was Zach's first good look at the man, who was surprisingly short and frail-looking with wispy blonde hair and a stubby nose. "This is as far as I can take you."

"It's fine, Timothy," Evelyn said. "We planned for this after all."

"You're very kind, Princess," he said with a bow.

Alexia raised an arm to get everyone's attention, then said, "Everyone, get your belongings and check that your boots are properly laced up. We have a two-hour hike before we make camp."

Just a few minutes later, Timothy and his horses started eastward with a wave while the expedition group set out to the west. Alexia led the way and the guards Randolph and Arko took up the rear. Zach could see why the carriage couldn't go any further: the only trail was faint and narrow, and it wound over rocky terrain and between densely packed trees.

The high altitude and steep climb had everyone breathing too hard to hold steady conversation. Everyone except Fern, who wasn't winded in the least. She asked Zach a lot of questions about his world, but only while Milo and the guards were out of earshot.

"So what's located here in your world?" Fern asked, gesturing at the valley around them.

Between breaths, Zach answered, "Some small towns and a massive road called a highway. Up ahead, it passes through a man-made tunnel that's over a mile and a half long and each direction is forty feet wide."

"Each direction? What do you mean?"

Zach didn't want to explain cars and trucks, so he said, "Um, each of the two tunnels is just for people traveling a single direction, so they can go fast without risk of crashing head-on."

Fern rubbed her chin in thought. "That does sound convenient, but likely unnecessary for the speeds Riders can manage. Do your people have a faster form of travel?"

I guess this information can't hurt, Zach thought, then he said, "Yeah, we have motorized carriages we call cars. They can travel over 90 miles an hour, but most highways are limited to 55 or 65 for safety."

"Oh! Much faster than— Nevermind." Fern smiled and went uncharacteristically quiet. She was definitely hiding something, but Zach could only guess at what it could be.