Our trip down the mountain wasn't as interesting as our trip up. It also took much longer. Archer thought we needed to stop for the night the instant the sun set, which I found strange since there was still a good amount of traveling time left. We wound up going farther because Shay started arguing with Archer and they lost track of time.

"Okay," Archer said, interrupting his argument. "We really should stop for the night now."

Rapier snorted. "You say that now that we're almost to Ivarstead. Come on, we can rest at the inn and get a good nights sleep on a bed."

Archer looked down to the flickering lanterns not far off. He glared at Shay. "You did that on purpose!"

Shay gave me an amused look. "To be fair brother. You started it."

I grinned and remembered how the argument had started in the first place. "He's right Archer. You did start it."

Archer turned his silver and gold flecked green glare to me. "Who's side are you on exactly?"

I curled my tail up and purred in amusement. "Mine."

Archer sighed and turned his gaze back to the path ahead. The quiver of silver arrows at his waist bouncing up and down with each step.

"Why are your arrows silver?" Rapier asked, right as I opened my mouth to ask the same thing.

"They were a gift from my mother," he said, touching the feathered ends. "As a birthday present, she also gave me my bow."

"Who is your mother?" I asked. Maybe it was a stupid question, but I was curious.

Archer glanced at Shay. "Kynareth, goddess of the air."

Shay scowled. "Actually we're a little bit of all of them. I only got the extra strength and I can barely get the wind to do what I want it to do." He smiled slightly. "Archer got it all though."

Archer looked away. I realized that the silver in his eyes must be from Kynareth but the gold was from something else. He cleared his throat before speaking again. "Moleck had the more extreme powers, like shadow traveling. We don't even know if he's still alive. Neither of us have seen him in three years."

Rapier moved to my side. By some unspoken agreement, nobody said another word. Rapier's tail brushed mine. She looked at me and smiled slightly, twining her tail around mine. I was a little surprised, but I didn't pull away.

We all skipped the last hundred or so steps by climbing down the side of the mountain, entering Ivarstead at the bottom. The main road was empty, but I could hear animals in the shadows of the buildings.

Shay dismounted from Shadowmere at the steps to the Vilemyr Inn. He stood still for a moment before he climbed up the stairs and entered the inn. Archer was right behind him.

Rapier pulled her tail away and opened the door. Vigilant happily trotted inside. Rapier waved to me. "After you Kharjo."

I smiled and walked inside. A large fire burned merrily in the center of the common room. Tables lined the walls and a long wooden bar was built along the back. Rabbits and pheasants hung from the ceiling, waiting to be cooked. Vigilant had taken an instant interest in them.

"Vigilant, come here," Rapier called. Vigilant took one last long sniff before bounding back to Rapier, tail wagging. "You leave the rabbits and pheasants alone, alright?"

Vigilant whined and his tail drooped. Rapier scratched Vigilant's ears and walked up to the bar. "Four beds please."

The innkeeper studied her critically. "That'll be forty gold pieces, pussy cat."

Rapier bared her teeth at the same moment Vigilant growled. Rapier's snarl turned into a smirk down at her dog as she counted out the coins. "There," she dropped the coins on the bar and the innkeeper slipped them into his pouch.

As Rapier turned to walk away, she tripped, catching herself on the counter and bumping into the innkeeper. "I'm sorry," she said quickly, pushing herself back up and walking toward the room with her tail swishing.

We all followed her into the room to find that she was tossing and catching a large pouch of gold that clearly wasn't hers. She smirked and tossed it to Archer. "I believe you'll want that." Before any of us could ask where she'd gotten it from she curled up on a bed and fell asleep.

Not that it mattered, I already knew where the pouch had come from.