The scent of sweet spring air filled Axel’s nostrils. Rolf had proclaimed it was the end of winter today, three days after they had begun traveling. Sure enough, the breeze had become just a bit warmer. It amazed Axel how well the lad sensed the seasons, and the knight had to remind himself that the young man was becoming more a true man and ranger of the king with each passing day. It was hard to believe it when looking at the childish face, which was free of a beard even at his age.

Both of his young charges hung behind him on their horses, chatting. Rolf had become quite smitten with Ezmeralda it seemed, to Axel’s happiness and dismay. It was not a pairing that would be easy, and not just because of Ezmeralda’s noble status and Rolf’s low birth. Every day that they spent together, he worried more and more about the girl. She wasn’t ordinary. He had known that when the yset out, but it became clearer as they traveled. Furthermore, she was arrogant and overconfident.

“Are you sure this is the way?” Axel called back to Rolf. “We need to keep heading through this valley till we cross over that ridge in front of us?”

He pointed to a steep rise a short distance in front of them, where the valley they were traveling through was cut off by a sharp rise in the ground. The sun was beginning to set over this ridge and would fall behind it within a couple hours.

The question interrupted the two teenager’s conversation, which caused Rolf to shoot Axel an annoyed glance. “Yes! If what Ez said, I mean if what Ezmeralda described is what I think it is, then we should be going to the Rowing Rocks, or the Rowers. It’s a large rock formation on the edge of a cliff in the mountains.”

“Alright, I’m just worried about the terrain ahead. We’re getting out of the foothills, and I think the horses won’t be able to navigate the mountains.” He replied. What he was really worried about was whether or not Ezmeralda’s descriptions had been correct. Rolf had been taking Ezmeralda’s descriptions of the places they needed to go at face value. She talked with confidence, but with vague terms. Furthermore, Rolf was even taking her advice here and there about where they were going, when he was the one that was supposed to be guiding them.

Rolf patted the neck of his pony in response to Axel’s concerns. “That is why I brought this lass. We’ll be traveling lighter once we get to the mountains, and we will have to set your horses free and hope they find their way home, or bind them with a long rope to let them be able to graze. Either way, we won’t be able to take them.”

Axel nodded. “That is a good plan, though I wish I had thought of the mountains sooner. I’d have started traveling light. I know my horse knows the way. Lady Elefthera, do you think that your horse could make it back?”

“Lambert? Yes, he can make it. He isn’t a normal horse, so I’m sure it will be fine.”

“Not normal? How so?” Axel asked. He slowed his horse down a bit so they could catch up, and he would not have to shout. Hopefully this would not be as crazy as the night before, where she’d sprinkled some sort of red powder around the camp. Rolf had sniffed it and been rewarded with a burning sensation in his eyes from the rest of the evening. Her excuse for doing this was that the powder kept bugs and animals out of the camp.

“I just mean he is well bred.” Ezmeralda replied, giggling a little. “Not everything about me is magical.”

Even as she said these things though, Axel doubted it. Just like she had, her horse had recovered very fast after being found on the edge of death in the snow. Too fast.

“I see. Well, it is settled then. Once we get up to the base of that ridge we’ll make camp for the evening, then from that vantage point plan out our journey tomorrow.” Axel decided. It hadn’t come as a surprise to him that he’d become the defacto leader of their group. Rolf guided them, Axel made decisions, and Ezmeralda…well Ezmeralda had started them out on this quest to begin with. It had become apparent to Axel that even though she had initiated this quest, both he and Rolf had an equal stake in it to her. It was their duty to stop evils like the one she was after. Evil wizards roaming the land could be just as dangerous to a village like Northstar as outlaws or raging beasts. However, her stake was personal, and that too had begun to worry Axel.

He pushed all these thoughts aside. Axel reminded himself that Ezmeralda was just a girl, one that was a curious mage who had embarked on a very personal journey. His worries were justified, since such an endeavor was nothing to be taken lightly. However, that did not make her dangerous in and of herself. She at least seemed like a kind person, with good intentions in hunting down the person that had caused her parents demise. Parents who had been good people - Axel remembered that much about them.

The forest trail wore on as he ran it over in his mind, and before long they had reached the ridge and set up camp at the bottom. Axel pitched a small tent tent, and since Rolf didn’t even use such a shelter, but only a sleeping roll which he would cover in leaves at night, the two of them had set up far faster than Ezmeralda. The poor girl still struggled with putting up her dwelling, and Axel had decided to stop volunteering his aid. She needed to learn on her own.

“Lady Elefthera, if you could light the fire when you’re done, Rolf and I are going to survey the terrain ahead from the top of the ridge.” Axel said. She dropped her things and gave him a flat look. “Please?” Axel added. The girl sighed and then shrugged, getting back to work on her little tent.

“Rolf! Come on!” he called, and then began walking up to the crest of the ridge.

Rolf was hesitant at first, but followed as Axel continued up the slope.

“You know, we don’t need to do this now. The sun will be directly in our eyes, so we won’t see far anyway. Tomorrow at first light we can map our route ahead. I know the area well anyway.” He said, trudging upwards behind Axel. The ground became steeper as they approached the top.

“True, but I still want a look. Besides, I wanted to talk to you, about this quest of ours and Lady Elefthera.” He said. It was a struggle to get footing just before he crested the top.

“Why do you call her that?” Rolf asked, turning the tables of the conversation.

“Because it is her status.” Axel replied.

Rolf shook his head. “But she doesn’t like being reminded she is nobility.”

Axel lowered his tone when he responded and quieted his voice so that he was sure Ezmeralda would not hear him back at camp. “To remind you as well. This is not going to last, and this will not be a very long journey. You said yourself that the Rowers Rock is only a couple week’s journey into the mountains. We are already to almost half that.”

“Well, I know.” Rolf said, his tone and mannerisms reluctant. “I enjoy her conversation though, and…she is pretty, you know.”

“And you think that you would know the difference between a woman that is pretty and one that isn’t, Rolf? You’ve been in these woods for nearly four years now!”

“But, before that, I’ll remind you, I did visit the capital. I saw many beautiful ladies there. I know what a good woman looks like.”

“A girl, Rolf.” Axel chided, as he looked out from the top of the ridge. The sun burned orange on the horizon, and Axel wondered if he needed to bother with this conversation to begin with. “A girl with a very different life from yours, and one that worries me if I am honest.”

“I think you’re being too cautious.” Rolf replied. “You’re worried because of your own mistake.”

Axel winced. The kid wasn’t wrong. This bore too many similarities to his own love story, but with the roles of nobility reversed on the genders. His wife had been Veyorn and he a knight. Their life together had never been meant to be.

The extremes in Rolf’s situation were very different though. At least his wife had been educated and brought up well. Rolf was just a frontier boy. Ezmeralda was an Eleftheran, and even though she was adopted, that still meant she was a member of the foremost noble family of a sizeable Aerician city.

“Yes, I won’t deny it. I see the same problems I faced. That is not all though, Rolf. We do not know her, not that well. You and I, we’ve traveled together, fought together, and nearly died together. We protect the same lands, serve the same principles. I was thinking, and perhaps I judged Lady Elefthera too fast.”

Rolf cocked his head to the right. “How so? Or rather, what do you mean?”

“She is a wizard who is not a follower of light, not a Magi. Such rogue magicians aren’t to be trusted, and – well, perhaps I shouldn’t say that. No, instead, let me just say this. Developing interest in her may hamper our success, and it may endanger you. Magic is dangerous, and the people who practice it outside the guidance of the stars can be dangerous. For now, we must focus on the goal. Let romance wait, alright?” Axel said, putting a hand on Rolf’s shoulder.

The nineteen-year-old shook his head, and brushed Axel’s hand away. “I’ll think about it Axel, but with all due respect…Axel, I’m not a child. I haven’t been since I was fifteen, when I made that journey.”

Axel nodded. “I know. That journey won you your place to speak as a man. I heard once, in Orvar’s tavern, that there were rumors passed around at the capital about you for a couple years. The old rangers who administered the tests were impressed with you. That doesn’t make you infallible though. Be careful, is all I ask.”

Rolf shrugged. “I suppose, though I’m not the sort to be. I’ll try my best.”

“I apologize for acting like this. I should try and build trust between us three. She does seem to be a good girl, with good intentions, but I want to watch out for you as well. My daughter became sick because of her though, and while we are ultimately hunting down the true source of that, is stands to reason to be wary about her.” Axel explained, trying to justify his concerns.

“I understand.” Rolf said, and nodded. He then turned to walk back down the ridge. “I’m going to go help her finish setting up camp, then see if I can find a creek to fetch some water from before it is too dark.”