“What did you tell her, you meddlesome witch?”

“Not as much as you fear, gremlin,” Avril said. “Just enough for her to be aware of the situation.”

Jasper gave Linna a suspicious look. She shrugged in response.

“She just said you were being hunted and I wasn’t safe being next to you.”

The gremlin frowned and glanced back at Avril. She gave him a slight nod. Jasper sighed and sat back down, rubbing the bridge of his pointed nose wearily.

“I guess you probably needed to know that,” he said, pausing for a few moments before grimacing slightly and continuing. “Thank you, Avril.”

Avril’s eyebrows both rose slightly and she tilted her head to the side. Confusion clouded her eyes at the gremlin’s thanks.

“And now stay the hell out of my business,” Jasper added. The other Vison’s face relaxed and she smirked at the peeved gremlin as he returned his attention to Linna.

“As much as I dislike that old hag, she’s right. There are Vodrun chasing after us. A lot of them. We need to get to Stormfront and get a boat to the Ashen Lands as soon as possible.”

“Why?” Linna asked. “Do the Vodrun also want the Everflame?”

Jasper grimaced, glancing around as if someone would suddenly pop up inside the wagon.

“Not them. Vodrun don’t think. But Yon, the person that controls them, he might want the…flame.”

“Then why is this person sending Vodrun after you? Wouldn’t it be smarter to just directly go for the Ev-”, Linna paused at Jasper’s strained expression. “The flame?”

Jasper waggled a hand from side to side and frowned in unease.

“No. There’s only one key left, and we’ve got it. But I’m not sure he’s even after the flame.”

Linna screwed her face up in confusion.

“That doesn’t make sense,” she said. “Why would he be having the Vodrun chase you if he doesn’t want the artifact?”

Jasper didn’t respond immediately. He broke eye contact with Linna and looked at the tarp at the back of the wagon as if he were wishing for something to happen.

“Because Ethan and I killed his friend, and he probably wasn’t a huge fan of that,” Jasper said after an exceptionally long pause.

Then he pulled his hood over his head and rolled over, ignoring any further attempts of communication. At the other end of the wagon, Avril watched Jasper with an unreadable expression that just might have been worry.

In the not so far distance, a haunting howl ripped through the midday sky like a jagged blade. A chorus of raspy cries rose up in response. Then there was just silence. The Vodrun didn’t make noise when they were on the move.

The gravel road had long since turned into a paved gray stone, and the plains had given way to gentle sloping hills. Not too long later, the imposing gray walls of a large city slowly came into view.

“Remind me which city that is?” Jasper asked.

He was perched precariously on top of the wagon, his illusion still making him appear human. Linna clung to the doorway and peered down the side of the long caravan as it rumbled across the path.

“It’s Ringden,” Linna called up to him. “I’m sure Melinda told you the path the caravan was going to take.”

“She probably did. I wasn’t listening,” Jasper said. “Most of the inland cities are the same anyways. The only damn thing I care about is getting to Stormfront on time.”

Nobody had a response to that, so a blanket of silence descended over the group. A few hours later, the caravan reached the walls of Ringden. Several guards walked up and down the line, giving each wagon a quick check before moving on to the next. One of them glanced up at Jasper as he approached the wagon.

Jasper dropped the illusion for a moment, flashing the guard a mouthful of razor-sharp teeth before returning to his human form. The guard jumped, looking around wildly to see if anybody else had noticed.

Unfortunately, his partner was preoccupied talking to Melinda. The guard gave Jasper a suspicious look and the gremlin grinned down at him.

“You look tired,” Jasper called. “Maybe get some sleep or lay off the booze.”

“Keep your mouth shut unless you want to end up in jail,” the guard snapped back. His partner finished talking with Melinda and strode up to him.

“Come on. They’re good to go,” He said.

The guard that Jasper had taunted gave him a final suspicious glare before returning to the city gate with his partner.

“Do you really have to mess with them like that?” Avril asked. She paused at the evil grin on the gremlin’s face. “On second thought, don’t answer that. I already know what you’re going to say.”

Jasper harrumphed and swung down from the roof and through the tarp. The wagon started moving again. A few minutes later, they passed through the walls of Ringden. Behind them, a large iron grate thundered shut over the entrance to the city.

After just a few more minutes of travel, the caravan ground to a halt. Everyone grouped up in a large circle near the front of the train, where Melinda was waiting to address the crowd.

“We’ll be staying in Ringden for four days, not including today,” Melinda said. “The market opens at sunrise. You’ve got the rest of the night off,” she said briskly.

The crowd cheered and dispersed like a herd of startled cats. A few of the merchants returned to their wagons while the majority of them headed into the city, likely toward the nearest tavern.