Rylen roused at the first rays of the sun peeking out above the mountaintops. He groggily squinted, and he had a strong feeling of déjà vu.

The damp of the leaves under him and the morning’s humidity had soaked the night’s chill into him. He pulled his wool cloak into place and brushed the leaves off his cheek.

He felt around for the waterskin he’d left lying on the ground. He searched through squinted eyes until his vision adjusted to the light. He found the container and put it in his travel sack. He scooted himself until his back was to a tree and found his bearings.

Remembering what had happened last night made him more alert. He searched for the road through the trees and found it. It wasn’t too far off. He recalled some of Hyrestl’s advice. If you can see something, that something might see you. If you can’t see something, it might still see you. Always act like you’re being watched.

Rylen gathered himself and set off. He moved so there were always some tall bushes between himself and the road.

If he wanted to go back past the lake, he’d have to skirt along its edge. Between the foot of the mountains and the lake, there wasn’t much room for easy traveling. With all the ruckus he’d stirred up, he was sure those passages were being watched.

His stomach grumbled again. He took out what was left of his bread and munched on it.

Clouds were moving in overhead, obscuring what little warmth the sun gave. A breeze rustled the drying leaves on trees and flipped the already-fallen ones end over end.

He smiled. He wondered how long the village would tell the story of the black demon who stole from the baker. He hadn’t expected to frighten anybody that much. A part of him was feeling smug. Those same folks had tried to hunt him down and do who knows what with him. A beating was the least of his suspicions. They might just burn him at the stake in revenge for all the burnings the Deagons had wrought upon Gwyan. Back when there had been a greater number of Erans in Gwyan that had been popular.

He finished eating the bread and looked down at his empty hands. He was still hungry. He sighed. Getting out of Gwyan was going to be harder than he thought. Well, he’d had all sorts of horrible visions, but nothing compared to the real thing.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized how difficult it would be to travel in the winter—not to mention survive while avoiding the entire country of Gwyan.

Something about it sounded romantic, though; tragic, even. Many stories started with the hero being poor and fighting against the odds.

For a moment, he entertained the thought of trying to work at the inn again. Hyrestl came to his mind, and he remembered something. He couldn’t put his finger on it; it was more like a feeling. He sensed danger. Hyrestl couldn’t be trusted.

The innkeeper had been keeping a secret from him his entire life. Why did he have to know the Eran language? Why did he have to know court procedure? Why had Hyrestl taught him how to fight?

That last one panged him. He could still see the man’s disappointed and disgusted look after bandaging him. Or, when Hyrestl had returned from his trip. He’d seen the same look then too.

Rylen’s eyes welled up, and he rubbed the tears away. He turned to walk back down the valley.

Something tugged at his heart, and his steps slowed.

The tug became stronger, and he stopped.

Leyla. His only friend.

A breeze clacked barren twigs together. The clopping of hooves could be heard in the distance.

He took a couple more steps down a little slope and reached the bottom right next to the road. He stopped. The cool air brushed his skin.

Pahanna was a…well, he was more like a little annoying…what? Was Pahanna like a little brother to him? Somehow, that thought of the boy was satisfying. It gave him a warm feeling almost.

As for Leyla…well, he could only feel sadness and regret tinged with memories of happier times.

A hero wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye. Rylen was repulsed by the idea of saying goodbye to Hyrestl, but he would do it, even if he had to run away while doing so.

He took a step in the direction of Edge and stopped. He’d come so far. Was he really going to go back so soon? He thought about the giant distance he needed to travel to get to Ara-Era. For such a grand adventure, he needed to start it right.

He wriggled his cold toes. His footsteps followed one after the other, faster and faster until he was walking briskly.

***

Worry gnawed at Adilah as she rode with Harbiya up the valley in the morning hours. They were traveling at a steady trot that would take them to Edge by the end of the day. The clouds threatened rain, but the weather would hold steady at least for a while.

With each passing minute, she felt them growing closer and closer to the dark presence that had appeared yesterday. In fact, she was sure they’d be encountering it within the hour. Last night she had noticed that it had moved, then stopped. Now, it was moving again, but toward Edge.

It didn’t make sense.

What was it? The mystery befuddled her. Honestly, she didn’t know the details about why the King’s Desire was Rylen in the first place. However, the fact that this dark presence was appearing at the same time the convoy was on its way to pick up Rylen gave her pause.

Was he somehow connected to the power of the king? How?

She shifted herself in the saddle, trying to find a modicum of comfort. Her squirming only got worse as they came closer to the black presence.

What if it was obvious to Harbiya? He’d kill her for sure once he’d found it, whatever it was.

At the same time, she felt a burning curiosity. She’d never met the king, but it was said that he was surrounded in radiance so bright it was like trying to stare at the sun. What about this? Whatever it was, would it be as magnificent?

The feeling from it was so strong now that it was like a massive ship sailing close by. Her view of all the other ships was blocked by it. She could barely sense the coins the travelers were carrying until she passed directly by them. Fortunately, Harbiya wasn’t wasting any more time using her to pilfer trinkets. If he did, she would have a hard time pointing any of them out.

The darkness was so close now it was completely stifling her Third Eye. In fact, they would pass by it in only a few minutes.

The road curved through the trees, so she couldn’t see ahead. As far as she could tell, there wasn’t a blinding light or a darkness. Harbiya riding at the front wasn’t reacting either.

Her horse trotted around the bend, and she spotted a lone traveler with his hood pulled up around his face. His back was turned to her, and he was walking quickly in the direction of Edge.

Her heart beat rapidly in her chest, and she did her best not to stare. In a moment, they had passed him by. From what she could tell, he was about the same height as Rylen and had his familiar build and gait. The clothes weren’t familiar, however.

She let herself breathe a small sigh of relief. It was short-lived, though. If that traveler really was Rylen, why was he headed back to Edge? He’d be going back into the thick of things, but he’d also have more protection. More importantly, what would Harbiya do once he reached Edge? Adilah had no doubt in her mind he would attempt to kidnap Leyla.

Her mind raced through all the possibilities that could occur, and her heart trembled under their weight, then it stilled. Her worries solidified into a tight ball of resolve. Harbiya wouldn’t lay a hand on her baby, no matter what happened.

***

Hyrestl rode close behind Jak, who led his bone-weary group into the fishing village. They had traveled all night and all that morning in their search for Rylen’s whereabouts. They had done all that searching only to find out he had doubled back.

Hyrestl shook his head. What was the boy thinking? Perhaps he’d changed his mind. Something in his stomach soured. Perhaps it had gotten too difficult for the cowardly brat, and he was running back home.

A man spotted Jak and ran up to him, and he reined in his horse. Hyrestl recognized him as one of the villagers from last night. He was glad they were giving up the search. They had better things to do than chase an Eran around the countryside. Something caught Hyrestl’s attention about the man’s demeanor, however, and he tried to brush away the fog from his fatigued mind. A few other villagers were starting to gather around them.

“Captain,” the man said, “you must help us! A black spirit haunted our town yesterday night. Many of us are too scared to go outdoors, even in the day.”

Jak looked over at Hyrestl as if to say What am I supposed to make of this? He rubbed his eyes. “What else do you know?”

“It almost got the baker, but it took some of her bread instead. Then it was seen traveling to the east out of town.”

“What did it look like? Did it make any noise?”

“It was like a black cloud, and it ran with the speed of a horse. The sound of its hooves pounding the stones was something awful! Please, sir, you must help us and slay this thing!”

“We’ll set out to track it down right away. Don’t you worry.”

Jak prodded his horse and led his party out of the village to the east.

One of the guardsmen farmers took the lead and spotted where something had left the road. They followed the trail only a little ways into the forest and found where that something had lain down to rest. The trail led back to the road, though. They continued, keeping an eye out for other signs. It was apparent that whatever it was hadn’t left the road after that.

After they had traveled around a few of the bends and were out of sight of the town, Jak called for his men to stop and rest. He met with Hyrestl and the farmer as the other men found places to lie down and sleep. Hyrestl didn’t feel very tired at all, but then again, he’d had a lot more practice staying awake than most others. He hated thinking that something good had come from his curse. However, in his past attempts to escape Gwyan, forcing himself to stay awake was the only way he could maintain control of himself. Otherwise, that thing would force him back.

Jak cleared his throat. “What do you make of this?”

Hyrestl shrugged. “Hooves? Running as fast as a horse? A black cloud? I’d say it was a farfetched tale that villagers would make up, if we weren’t trying to find a runaway at the same time.”

Jak nodded. “That’s what makes their story more peculiar. If that was Rylen, why is he being depicted as a demon? That same fellow was trying to hunt him down only yesterday.”

“The tracks we found weren’t from anything hooved,” the farmer said. “Plus, whatever it was acted more like a human than any animal.”

“Agreed,” said Hyrestl. “How many days was Rylen in that cave?”

Jak rubbed his chin. “Three? Maybe four?”

“It’s likely he may have run out of food by then.”

“Hmm.” Jak thought for a moment. “So, you’re saying Rylen escapes from the cave and goes to the nearest town for food?”

Hyrestl nodded.

“I thought he was going down the valley,” the farmer chimed in.

The innkeeper shook his head. “Rylen is smart, but he’s also a coward. I can’t imagine he’d want to continue down the valley after getting a taste of the welcome he’d be getting.”

Jak sighed. “It all makes sense, then, except for the demon part.”

“Villagers have vivid imaginations.” Hyrestl shrugged, then froze as if a thought had struck him.

“What?”

Hyrestl looked at Jak. “What about a Kamwa?”

Jak frowned. “I know what the stories say about them, but I’ve been trained to spot Kamwa. They don’t look like dark clouds.”

“A dark cloak could be seen as kinda…well, cloudy.”

Jak shook his head firmly. “No, we’re going to ignore the villagers. This is our best lead on Rylen, and we need to take it. Get some rest. We leave again in an hour.”

***

Harbiya and his entourage trotted into the city. They didn’t have to go far to reach their destination. They left their horses at a stable nearby and walked the rest of the way on foot.

Adilah was surprised there was room in the stable to begin with. Since they had left, there was a notable increase of people in the city. She had been hoping to spy one of the priests or scribes but hadn’t seen any.

Their final destination was an old, one-room log house on the outskirts of Edge. They all filed in, and Adilah was sat down on the bed. Harbiya whispered in low tones with one of his men and sent him away. He pulled up a chair and sat across from her as one of the other men started a fire. He smiled.

“Now, my little town queen, you have a choice to make. Tell me what you know. Your answer will determine how I treat your daughter. If you tell me everything” he held out his hands palms up “there will be nothing to fear. But if you continue your little games…” He smirked and looked around as if thinking Hmm, I might treat her like all the other lords treat the priestesses.

Despite her attempts to maintain her stoicism, Adilah felt herself grow pale. Harbiya leaned forward.

“Please, it’ll be so easy for you to ensure her safety.”

Adilah swallowed and raised her chin.

“Then, promise not only her safety, but also Kassim’s. Not only that, but declare our complete separation from the Kamwa as well, Leyla included.”

“Hmm, you’ll have to give up your precious city as well, then. I get to do with it whatever I want.”

She gripped the edge of the bed. That would be like handing over all of the retired Kamwa in Edge. Many of them were her good friends, some of them even like brothers and sisters. They were her family too. Harbiya’s eyes twinkled.

“You’re so reluctant to give up what you’ve taken from me. You can’t get out of this without letting something go.”

She steeled herself and looked down her nose at him. “You don’t even have Leyla in your possession yet. Your most important bartering chip isn’t even on the table.”

Harbiya nodded and shrugged. “Fine, we’ll delay the negotiations.” He smirked again.

Adilah felt herself waver a little. He had complete trust in his subordinates. Indeed, she wasn’t doubting their skill, but she wouldn’t doubt the loyalty of hers, either.