Trail Life

Following fresh horseshit inevitably lead us to the horse that made it.

More accurately, it led us to a pair of horses that had been tied off on the side of a trail. A Vardo, or wagon house, was parked nearby. From this distance, we could see number of people milling about a small fire. The smell of breakfast was heavy in the cool morning air.

The sun was just coming up over the horizon. One of the people near the fire saw us and waved us over.

As we approached, we could see that the group of travelers appeared to be a small family that consisted of a man, a woman, two young boys who looked to be about 4 and 5 respectively, and an elderly woman.

"You're tall," said the smaller of the boys looking up at Eplash as we drew near. He had to strain his neck to look up at her. Contented with stating his astute observation, the boy turn and ran over to his older brother who was inspecting an anthill.

The woman, whom we assumed to be the boy's mother stood and wiped her hands on an apron. She looked to Eplash, "Sorry, he's at that age where anything might come out of his mouth."

"It's alright," Eplash said. "I stand out."

"Where are you folks coming from?" the man asked as he poked at whatever meat he was frying over the fire.

I wasn't sure how to respond. I couldn't just tell them I was being pursued by cultists... oh and there was a dragon after me as well.

"Hunting," Eplash said motioning to the large bow that was strung over her back. "Showing my apprentice the ropes."

A lie with just enough of the truth thrown in. This wasn't Eplash's first time using subterfuge.

"We don't see many Giantkin over this way," the man observed. "The hunting bad back home?"

"I hunt the same prey all winter over the mountains. It is nice to change things up."

The man nodded, seeming to accept this. The roads could be dangerous, but they could also be very lonely. Talking to another traveler might be the only news that you got for days. Sometimes you had to size someone up a little before getting too friendly.

"We're just about to have breakfast," he said as he turned a few pieces of meat over in the pan. "You're welcome to join us if you wish."

My stomach growled. It had been quite a while since I had a proper meal.

I was about to speak up and accept the kind offer, but then realized that Eplash had appointed me the role of apprentice. If I accepted the invitation before my "master', it might dispel the glamour that Eplash's lie had created.

"That would be nice," Eplash said. "We've been walking all night."

The man introduced himself as Garet. The woman was his wife Joyet, and his two sons were named Dewt and Ledt. The woman was his mother-in-law, Kamet.

The hard T's at the end of the names indicated that the family was probably from the northern regions.

"What brings you folk to the road?" I asked as I was handed a plate full of hot steaming food. Beans, sausage, eggs, and a biscuit. I was in heaven.

"I'm a tinker." Garet said. "During the spring and summer months we go from town to town and I repair pots, pans, and the like."

"See anything strange on the road lately?" Eplash asked. Both the plate and fork looked tiny in her large hands.

"We've heard some weird screeching for the last couple of nights," Joyet said. "Given the children some terrible nightmares."

"Dragon," The old woman interjected. "I've been telling ye it's been a dragon."

"Oh mother!" Joyet sighed. "Don't go putting things into the kid's imagination."

The kids, having wolfed down their breakfast at a frightful speed, were now off to the side chasing a frog. They weren't exactly in on the conversation.

"It's weird though. It doesn't stick around very long." Kamet continued. "Screeches and flaps around for a bit, then moves on. Not like any dragon I've ever heard."

"Dragon or not, I hope we're out of its territory soon. The horses have been super skittish since it showed up," Garet said as he dumped another scoop of beans into my plate.

I felt bad. The kids nightmares, the scared horses, it was all my fault. The dragon had started hunting me shortly after my mother and I had been driven out of our home following the assassination attempt in Elkshire. The cultists and the dragon had to be connected. One hunted me by day, and the other at night.

"Have you happened to run across an elf in your travels?" Eplash changed the conversation topic.

"An elf? No can't say that we have." Garet raised an eyebrown. "What would you two be doing looking for an elf?"

"Old friend," Eplash said.

Garet thought for a moment. "Come to think of it, last year while traveling near Boatswin, I remember the villagers talking about a hermit that lived some ways away from the settlement. There was rumor that he was some of exiled Elvish royal. Never gave it much thought myself, every town seems to have some sort of strange character like that."

I looked to Eplash, who nodded. "Thank you, that helps a great deal." She turned to me. "Time to go."

We gave back our empty plates and said our goodbyes to the travelers. Eplash offered some coin (the very same coin that she had liberated from the body of the cultist) in exchange for the hospitality. She was politely turned down.

"Just do a kindness to someone you meet on your travels, then ask them to do the same afterwards." Garet said. "Those of us that live on the road try to keep the good will flowing."

"A fine philosophy," Eplash said. Philosophy was not a word that I had ever expected to come out of the large woman's mouth.