We travel for some time while riding on Bruce. Every so often, we need to take a break for him to rest up. He hasn’t traveled like this in years. Every time we do stop, I notice Lupa looking around constantly. I shrug it off guessing she has never seen all of these colors before. I look around seeing different shades of Fall. Even though we really don’t have a true season, the Green Belt mimics them. The trees remain full of life almost replacing them overnight. We continue to travel well into the night. I almost fall asleep as I let go of Bruce. I snap myself to attention allowing Bruce to slow down to a stop. I slide off Bruce feeling all the aches of riding bareback. Lupa hops down like it was nothing and looks around again.

“What are we doing?” Lupa asks noticing me sitting down.

“I am resting because we have been riding all day. We don’t all have these magical abilities where we don’t feel pain.” I say annoyed at the fact she is perfectly fine. Giving by how much we rode today, we should be able to get to Wealdstone tomorrow.

“I can feel it. I just act like it doesn’t hurts.” She says with a smile and sits down next to me. Bruce trots over to a grassy area within view and starts to eat.

“Well, aren’t you lucky then.” Tomorrow everything will be better. I will get a huge reward from turning her in. I can finally live my life how I want it.

“If you want, I can take over the riding.” Lupa says with some excitement. I almost bust out laughing.

“No. You don’t know where we are going.” I relax more and lean against a tree. The little place we stopped is off the main path we been following for a while. It’s peaceful here. Almost peaceful enough to fall asleep.

“You can tell me where to go?” She says poking me in the foot. I somewhat snap awake.

“… No. I…” I begin to think that if we are able to get there in the morning. It would so much easy to turn her in. I frown still not fully convinced. She looks at me like she is really wants to help. I sigh feeling like I could past out at any minute. “Fine. Just follow the main path and you should be able to get there in the morning.”

She seems super excited and gets up. She goes over to Bruce and pets him. I slowly stand up my body not even near fifty percent. I walk over to Bruce as Lupa hops up there. She offers me a hand again, but I climb onto Bruce. I am almost fall off Bruce but Lupa catches me. I frown as I stable myself. She smiles, and we start down the main path again. Before I realize it, my arms are around Lupa’s waist as I am fast asleep.

I am awoken to hearing of bells in the distance. My back feels like it is on fire jolting myself awake. Once I take in my surroundings, the pain goes away. I realize that we are just outside Wealdstone. The mining town is somewhat small only having a few stores within it. The miners all go to the local bar in the middle of the town. The few residents who do not work in the mine either work with the Church of the Brothers or own small stores within the town. As I begin to think of the church my back starts to ache again. I realize that I am still holding onto Lupa as she seems to be fascinated by the environment up ahead. Either though Wealdstone is a mining town, the surrounding area will never tell you that. It is just as beautiful and lush as every other part of the Green Belt.

I let go of Lupa as we get into town. Lupa turns her head to me. “Good morning sleepy head.”

I pause at that and give her a weird look. “Morning. Head to that place down the street then we can rest.” I point to the bar. It is the only bar within miles of here. I pause looking around. No one is awake just yet, since the sun is just now starting to rise. As we get to the bar, I hop off and instantly collapsing. Lupa hops down and comes to my aid.

“Are you okay?” There is a panic in her voice. I nod yes annoyed how she is acting.

“I am fine. My legs are just asleep. We pretty much rode an entire day yesterday.” She looks a little better about this. It takes a few minutes for the feeling to come back to my legs. I stand up and stretch. Before I do anything else, I take out one of Nicolas’s clothing and a knife. I make a makeshift hood and give it to Lupa. “Here.”

“Thank you?” Lupa takes it looking slightly confused.

“You wear it, so no one can recognize you.” She smiles and puts it on. I don’t need someone else ratting her out before I get the chance to. As she puts it on she looks completely different. Even though her eyes still stand out, she looks normal to anyone else.

“Alright, the plan is to take a day to relax. You stay with Bruce until I come back. Alright?” Lupa is petting Bruce with one hand as she is feeding him with another. I glare slightly. “Lupa!” She looks at me and nods. She seems really happy for some reason. “Later then.” I instantly head to the guard barracks.

Walking through town people start to come out to do their jobs. A few children run past me down the stone street. A notice a few men heading toward the huge hole inside the giant hill nearby town. They must be miners. As I turn a corner, I see a few priests coming out of a house. My back instantly goes up in pain like it is being burned with fire. I stop and hide against the nearby building. It almost feels like I am being choked. I sit down and hug my legs tightly trying to calm down. They won’t hurt me. They won’t hurt me. A few minutes go by as I eventually calm down. I stand up being angry with myself. I can not be so weak every time I see a priest. I leave from my hiding place quickly heading to the barracks.