Water hit the side of his face and he twitched. The water fell again and Keenin rolled over in irritation, off of the soft furs and onto the rough stone ground. Remembering where he was, he pushed away the furs and looked to the cave entrance. He had to use the washroom so he rose and stumbled closer to the light, passing the sleeping dragon as he headed for the trees. But before he got to the entrace, a large paw flattened him to the ground. 

“Hey!” Keenin yelled out. “What do you think you’re doing?” 

“A favor,” Clide said opening one eye. “Do you really want to leave so soon?” 

“I’m not-

“Why are you yelling?” Dia asked, slipping outside past Clide.

“He was going to leave without telling us,” Clide said. 

“Ah. He was doing something rude again.”

You're rude, Keenin thought back. 

“I was going to use the washroom,” Keenin said annoyed. 

And his leaving wasn't their business. Although now he didn't have a choice with the dragon's paw uncomfortably pressing him into the pebbles on the ground. 

“Are you sure that isn't an excuse to run?” Clide asked. 

“What would be the point in me running?" Keenin stated back. "You can fly after."

Dia walked around in front to where he could see her.

“But aren’t you forgetting something,” Dia said. 

"What?" 

Keenin didn’t own anything to leave behind. 

“Aren’t you going to invite us to come with you?” Dia asked. 

“You... want to come... with me” Keenin processed. 

“Obviously,” Dia said.

“But you live here. You told me so.” 

“I think you hit him a little too hard,” Dia told Clide.

Clide lifted his paw and Keenin got up, brushing away the dirt that had pressed into his skin. He was dismayed at the red welts that made him look he had a rash, but he supposed they would fade.

"Don't do that again," he told Clide. He turned to Dia. "And you. I don’t understand. Why do you have to come with me? You could go whenever you want to.”

"Idiot," Dia said flatly.

"Please," Clide said. "I was ready to leave yesterday. The only reason we didn’t leave was because Dia was too self-conscious, but now that we have a friend that knows how to be in society it’s no problem.”

“We like you better than we like this place,” Dia explained simply. “You’ve given us the best entertainment we’ve had in weeks. Besides, we are concerned about how you’re going to survive your trip home. Someone has to protect you from evil spirits,” Dia said.

“Exactly where do you live?” Clide asked. "I still might be able to fly you." 

 “I’m not going home,” Keenin admitted. “I need to go to the city of Behoden. I’m supposed to start a new life.”

Maybe having these two was a good thing. Nobody would be able to kidnap him when a dragon was looking out for him. And maybe he would figure out how to help Tess. 

“Are you still coming with me?” Keenin put the question to them.

“We were going to follow despite the destination,” Dia told him. “But Clide can't fly near crowded places. We should go to Selendrum and look at some maps so we can decide how to travel.”

Right. Keenin didn't even know where he was compared to his hometown. 

“Then let’s go to Selendrum first,” Keenin agreed.

*

As Keenin now knew from experience, setting off on an adventure wasn’t as glorious as people thought, but this time became much less exciting as Dia took her time planning. First, they discussed shoes because Keenin had none and they were not going to patch him up every time a sharp rock came around. Keenin also got to keep one of the oversized white shirts which he reluctantly accepted while knowing it belonged to a dead guy he never met.

Then they spent twenty minutes discussing how to carry the trunk of clothes and all the furs with them while Clide traveled as a human. Eventually, the furs were tied up and strapped to Keenin’s back while Dia and Clide carried the chest between them. Dia also carried what she called the boost staff on her back. 

From then on travel was slow going. Of course, there were some benefits to having friends around. They kept each other’s spirits high and he felt safe knowing that Clide could eat anything that got in their way, but they also seemed the type to attract attention.

“Keenin, stop going so far ahead,” Dia called after him. 

Keenin stopped and looked back. Sure enough, they were separated by a considerable distance. He knew they should have left that heavy chest behind. 

“Ya,” Clide said. “You try moving quickly on a full stomach.”

“I told you not to eat the rest of the deer carcass,” Dia scolded him. 

“I hate wasting food. It would have attracted animals to our cave.”

“I don’t think it counts as our cave anymore, but with your scent there I doubt any animal would go inside,” Dia told him.

As Keenin waited he tried to look at the torn piece of his map. Early that morning it had shown a clear path. Now it was a bunch of incoherent squiggles. He looked down the broad path ahead. The end had yet to be seen and Keenin had no idea how much longer the road went on. It gave Keenin the peculiar feeling that they could go on without ever seeing another person, but he couldn’t feel alone for very long when Clide and Dia stomped behind him.

“Shouldn’t there be more people on this road?” Keenin asked as his new friends caught up with him. 

Keenin understood that animals might stay away because of Clide, but there was no reason for humans to avoid using such a good road.

“Why would there be?” Dia said as he walked beside him. 

“It’s such a well-maintained road,” Keenin said. 

“Ah, that’s not true," Dia said. "The part of the road passing this forest isn’t maintained. It stays this way all year. Considering that the road connects the seaport to the ogre mountains I think it’s due to a spell that elves placed as a favor. It might also be related to the ruined city in the forest. Anyways, people find it creepy. Plus Clide and I have been causing problems. Because of some tricks, I played it’s rumored that a necromancer lives around here.”

“You don’t seem like any scary necromancer I ever heard of,” Keenin told her.

“You might remember that I was pretending to be a ghost.” 

“But if you can see ghosts, can’t you summon one?”

“I’m not a necromancer,” Dia scolded him. “I’m an Esmer.”

“But what is that?”

“A mistake.”

“What does that mean?”

“You’re so pushy.”

“I thought we were friends,” Keenin reminded her.

“Fine,” Dia complained. “A person becomes an Esmer when they possess the body of a person who died in their place. Does that satisfy you?”

“So like possession.”

“No,” Dia complained. “That would involve a ghost to knowingly take over a living body. I didn’t get a choice. This young body is my sister. In my sister's place, I must live out her lifespan and I won't be able to die a day sooner than was intended. Seeing ghosts is the side effect." 

Keenin felt bad for asking. Dia must have felt guilty for being the one who remained alive. Seems he wasn’t the only one who got a bad deal from the god of death.

“Sorry. I don’t expect an answer like that. It must have been hard.”

“What’s hard is carrying the weight of this chest.” 

Despite the weight of furs on his back, Keenin took pity on her and grabbed hold of the handle of the chest she held to add his support.

Dia made an escape by dropping her hold and skipping away down the road. It was really too much and he couldn't move a step more under the combined weight. 

“Finally,” Dia said stretching out her fingers.  

Keenin glanced over at Clide who only gave him a pitying look.  

“You shouldn’t fall for her sob stories,” Clide told him. 

Dia ran further up the road. 

“Now who’s slow!” she said. 

“Uh, you realize that I have a ton of weight on my back,” Keenin said knowing Dia would not hear. 

“Here let me see the map,” she said running back. 

“N-

The chest thumped to the ground. 

“Hey!” Clide yelled at them annoyed as Keenin held the wrist of Dia's prying hand.

“I’ll give it to you,” Keenin said. “Calm down.” 

He wasn't about to have his personal space violated on top of everything else. 

“Okay,” Dia said. “It’s just that adventure is pretty exciting.” 

He could not be angry at her enthusiasm. Keenin took the map piece from his pocket and handed it over. She ran ahead with it. Keenin looked at Clide. 

“Sorry,” he said. 

“Don’t be,” Clide said. “This wasn’t a good plan from the start.” 

“It’s not working!” Dia said shaking the paper and making Keenin very concerned for its safety.

So much for her being an adult. 

“Go help her,” Clide said. “I’ll get this.” 

Clide shook out of his human form and picked up the chest in his mouth. Keenin wondered how they would explain the dragon to other travelers. Dia had already run back to him holding the map between her hands to show the squiggles.  

“I told you it shows where you want to go. You need to be decisive.”

“You show me.” 

Keenin didn’t want to admit he too was lost, but he took hold of the map. It seemed to behave properly this time as three lines spread over the surface, to form an arrow. 

"Though the forest?" Dia questioned. 

The ink rearranged into a y with the longer line much thicker.

“What is that now?” Dia asked. 

“I think a branching road ahead," Keenins said.

“Can you move along before I drop this chest on your heads,” Clide mumbled around the object in his mouth. 

They walked onward until the trees thinned and the land turned into rocky grassland.

“Which way?” Dia asked. 

He had to make a decision. The rocky path looked slightly less cheery than the open field and it was logical that crops for towns and cities were grown on open ground.

“Straight ahead,” Keenin said. 

Dia looked at Keenin and down at the map piece in his hand. 

“Are you sure that’s reliable?”

The hollow thump of the chest hitting the ground distracted them. Clide wrapped his wings around himself to take his human form.

“Don’t drop it,” Dia said. 

“Someone is coming,” Clide replied, pointing a finger to the grassy planes. 

They all looked towards the swaying stalks of grass. A lone white horse was running across the field. 

“A horse. Your eyesight must be broken,” Dia said. 

“Not the horse. Don’t you hear them?” 

Soon after Clide said this a loud rumbling was heard and a group of beastly humans broke from the cover of the trees running full speed after the horse. 

“What the hell is that!” Keenin said. 

“Berhanu, a tribe society known for having the horns and strength of bulls,” Clide informed him.

The horned and leather-clad humans started to close in on the horse. It looked like they were ready to kill. 

“Shouldn’t we do something?” Keenin said.

“Let them eat,” Clide said. “That’s a brutal group to deal with.”

The horse stumbled. 

“There’s a person out there!” Dia shouted, pointing behind the wild group. 

It was true. A man in shining armor was feebly running towards the bull men who chased the horse. 

“What is he doing!” Keenin panicked. 

“We can’t let the horse die,” Dia said. “Clide you need to save him.” 

“You want me to expose myself?”  

“Now!” Dia said. 

“Fine. I’ll help it,” Clide said unfolding his human guise and bounding forwards like a puppy wanting to play. 

Dia started running after him and Keenin followed her, leaving the chest of clothes behind. The bullish people saw Clide charging towards them and scattered in all directions. As Keenin and Dia caught up they saw pieces of horse meat scattered in the area of the attack. The man in armor didn’t seem to notice the dragon as he ran to the spot where his horse had died.

Clide tried to stop his run, tripped, and slid to a stop in front of the stranger. The knight stumbled back in alarm, but he saw his opportunity. He drew and lifted his sword for a blow. 

“Be gone beast!” he cried.

If any of them had stopped to think they would see how hilarious and nonsensical this was. It was impossible for the man to scratch anything except the dragon's nose. Yet the scene blundered forward.

“Wait!” Keenin yelled, waving his hands. “That’s my dragon!” 

“Wait!” Die copied. 

The knight looked at them, blade held up, and ready. Clide closed the eye he had opened and didn’t move. The knight remained frozen as he regarded them. Dia stopped in front of him breathing heavily, as she rested her hands on her knees. Keenin stopped and fell down on his butt, the weight on his back making it too heavy for him to stand in his condition. 

“How is he yours?” the stranger asked curiously. 

“He just is,” Dia said before the horse and man they had been ready to save.

“We trained him,” Keenin added. 

“Well your dragon looks stupid,” the stranger said sheeting his sword and turning away to look for other business, supposedly to track the tribesmen of Berhanu. 

“You think that’s funny,” Clide said standing. “Well, your horse looks dead.”

“Oh my god! Murphy,” the man said remembering. 

He looked around more wildly and after locating the horse’s severed head, rushed to its side to kneel down and brush his hand against the side of its face while making calming noises.

Keenin thought it was disgusting. Clide innocently sniffed at a nearby severed leg. 

“A magical beast,” Clide observed. “Not unicorn.”   

Keenin wondered what the dragon was talking about.

“Are you feeling alright?” Dia asked the stranger.  

“No. My horse. Save my horse,” he said turning to her and clutching her hands with his bloodied ones. Dia made a disgusted face and slipped her hands out of his.

“It’s a horse,” she said. “Get a new one.”

“I can’t. This was a gift from my friend,” he said clutching the horse head. “He’s very important. I know. You must help me bring him to Selendrum. They can revive him there,” he said looking at them hopefully. 

“You’re crazy,” Dia said. “You were almost mauled and that’s what you think about.”

Keenin would have asked how they were going to do the reviving. 

“Murphy couldn’t help it," the knight said. "He hates injustice and evil so he tried to charge them first.”

At the thought of having to carry a dead horse, Keenin inspected the pieces of horse lying about. Six or did you count all the gooey bits too. Keenin remembered the time Bodwin made him gut a bird-lizard. That disgusting smell and disgusting texture of--he raised his hand and threw up in it. His stomach turned again, but before his disgust overwhelmed him Clide’s wing was between him and the scenery. Keenin inspected its webby texture and started to calm down.

“Thanks,” Keenin said. 

“I'll pay you,” the stranger was saying. 

“Not a chance,” Dia said. 

“I think it might be good to get some money,” Keenin said. 

Clide lifted his wing to peer at Keenin as though to ask if he too were going crazy. Keenin himself was surprised that he would consider such a thing, but it was obviously a long way back to Behoden. It would good to hire a ride. 

 “An understandable intention, but how do we carry a dead horse?” Clide asked them. 

“In the box,” he said pointing to the chest they had left behind. 

“That has my clothes,” Dia said. 

“The clothes are too heavy to carry anyways,” Keenin observed. 

“He is right about that,” Clide said. “And money is nice.” 

“Dragon's don't need money,” Dia observed. 

“Please help,” the knight said to Dia. 

“Fine. You guys do what you want. I’m not helping. Besides. You can’t fit a horse into a trunk of that size.”