Orn was not sure what to say. He had never felt a need to compare himself to his parents. He knew his father was a hero, but he did not feel overshadowed. The only time I am really compared to father, is when mother is annoyed with me.

Orn struggled to find a reply, but nothing seemed to be the right thing to say. His lack of a response quickly turned into an uncomfortable pause, followed by an awkward lapse in conversation. Each moment made the silence both more unbearable and also harder to break. They continue to walk in silence for what felt like hours. I should have said something, but now it feels too late.

...

“Do you plan to walk through the night?” Kao asked. “It is already dark and the moon will be over the spine soon. Then it will be full dark.”

‘Thank you,’ Orn mouthed silently, and looked around. Night had fallen, but the light of the waning moon made it feel more like early twilight. It did not seem that dark to him, but he knew others did not see as well as he did in the dark.

“We,” he cleared his throat as his voice sounded strange as he broke the silence. “We should probably find a place to camp soon.”

Adles looked up from his feet and squinted as he glanced around. His mouth opened to speak, then shut it again. He gave a terse nod, then pointed in the direction of a tree near a bend in the road.

They walked to the tree in silence, with Adles stumbling over ruts in the road a couple times. Adles gave the area a quick scan before he nodded and dropped his pack, at the base of the tree. Without a word they started gathering firewood. Seeing there was not enough near the tree, Orn walked to a nearby group of trees a small distance away. His arms were full when he returned. He arrived just in time to see Adles quickly start the fire with the handful of sticks he had found.

Orn placed the pile by the fire and set his own pack next to Adles’ bag. When he glanced up, he noticed the other student had walked a few paces away to take the first watch.

With the awkward silence still eating at him inside, Orn wrapped his cloak around himself and drifted to asleep.

…

Orn woke to a gentle shake of his shoulder. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, taking in the dark landscape. My watch I guess, he thought and walked to where Adles had stood for his own watch. A glance back told him that Adles had taken his spot by the fire to sleep.

After some time passed, he looked at Kao. Before he could ask for her advice she shook her head and gestured in Adles’ direction. Taking this as a sign that anything he said would wake Aldes, he sighed and focused on keeping watch.

Kao is right, Orn thought, looking around. The moon has passed over the spine and the area was covered in near total darkness. The faint light from the small fire lit the area behind him in a pool of light that was surprisingly hard to look at. Quickly he turned his attention to the surroundings.

He looked up and down the trail slowly. Behind them it curved around a hill keeping the town of Mutton out of sight. Ahead it followed the edge of the Spine to the mines they were heading toward. Out of boredom he followed the trail back again only to notice a small track leading up into the mountains.

His eyes followed the faint trail as it seemed to go nearly straight up at the mountain towering over them. Then he saw the stars. He managed to keep himself from gasping, at the sight. He had seen the stars before, but in the shadow of the spine, the sky seemed more full of light than anything he had ever seen before. How did I miss this the last time I was here?

He quickly glanced at Kao who was also staring up at the sky. As if feeling his gaze she turned to him and closing her eyes smiled widely. He was so taken aback by the stars he almost imagined a few points of light in the black of her eyes just before she closed them.

Unable to fully turn his attention to anything else, he felt his gaze drawn up. He reluctantly turned his attention back to keeping watch, but from time to time he took a moment to look up at the sky above.

…

[Adles POV]

Adles woke to the smell of cooking meat. He rubbed his eyes and sat up to see Orn leaning over the embers of the fire. The other boy poked at a piece of meat sitting on a stone set in the embers. He nodded to himself before turning to Adles.

“I need to wake,” Orn’s words to himself trailed off as he saw that Adles’ eyes were open. Poking at the meat again he asked, “Breakfast?”

Adles stomach growled, causing Orn to laugh, and skewering one of the pieces of meat on the stick offered it to him. Adles sat up and took the stick, while the other boy stabbed the other piece with his hunting knife. Adles had taken the piece of meat without thinking, and felt the awkwardness from the night before slowly steal over him.

“I am…” Adles stated as Orn began to speak as well.

“You first,” Orn managed before Adles could speak again. Then Orn bit off a large piece of his breakfast before chewing slowly. This left only Adles able to speak.

“Thank you,” Adles said. “And I am sorry about yesterday.” He meant to stop there, but he found himself continuing to speak. “I did not mean to ramble like that and make things so awkward. I am already dragging you across the kingdom to help me.”

Adles stopped as he saw Orn waving his hand for him to stop. I did it again.

Orn chewed quickly and took a drink from his canteen. “It is fine. I was not sure what to say. If anything I should have said something. I got lost in my head trying to find the perfect thing to say. By the time I realized it, it felt awkward to say anything. I should have said something rather then let the silence drag on. Sorry about that.”

It was now Adles’ turn to be at a loss for words. He had not expected an apology from the other boy.

“Also I should be thanking you,” the other boy looked up at the sky. “I have never seen so many stars. I need to find an excuse to come out here again.”

“I know,” Adles said slowly appreciating the opportunity to change the subject. “If you get far enough away from the towns and villages you can see all of them. It is one of my favorite things about camping near the spine. I come out here as often as I can.”