Terra had left Farkas back at the tomb. She was going to go check out the Blades, but the only clue she had was the stupid note that had taken the place of the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller. She frowned as she crumpled the note in her hand. She had to practically drug Farkas to get away without him following. He wasn't completely useless, but with what the Blades were going to want from her, she was going to need him to be in his best condition. Talking him down from a fight was like talking to a brick wall and in this instance the brick wall had a large crack so she wanted to make sure he got so much rest he would be sick of it. That way when they were back on the road for this suicide mission one of them could be recharged.

She turned for a moment and stared at the scenic route she had been missing while deep in thought. She was going to the Sleep Giant Inn and trying to get there from the tomb would have been a more than a brisk walk. She managed to get to a town that had a carriage going the same way she was so she hitched a ride.

The driver had a terrible habit to either sing or talk until he ran out of breath. The only bonus was that he had only charged her a gold piece because she had been willing to take on the shifts of driving at night. She preferred that for two reasons, one was that he would be asleep and so would be quiet and two she could keep an eye on the road to prevent robbery or at least attempts to rob the carriage.

Farkas back at the tomb and she had left him without giving an answer. It felt wrong, but she wasn't going to let him sign a death contract if these people weren't honorable. He should be fine or at least she kept telling herself that. She left him plenty of food and weapons for him, plus she knew that his brother went there often to collect himself. She shouldn't let this cloud her mind. She could give him a confident answer when she returned. Maybe she should buy him a token of affection? What does one buy a man who has been to hell and back with her because of love? A ring felt extremely insignificant to her, but the symbolism is what supposed to matter, right?

She bit the tip of her thumb and growled, "What the hell am I supposed to do in this situation? I'm saying yes… or at least I think I am." She yelped when she snapped out of it with the pain throbbing through her hand and arm, she had bite her finger so hard that she could see it now bruising, "Dammit, I know he wouldn't think about any of it and would be happy with anything that I gave him, but I really should…. Why the hell do I feel so guilty? I feel like I am snuffing out a beautiful light."

The silent ride was pleasant and the horses seemed to be doing fine. According to the driver these horses had made this trip so much they did the trip in their sleep. She hadn't really believed him, but right now as she watched them clomp along, it did appear they were asleep while they took each step.

She was startled when she heard the howls of wolves. The horses didn't even really flinch. She kept an eye out as they continued on. The sunrise was starting to peak over the mountains so she also didn't really think the wolves would attack at the moment. They were in the flat lands so the horses could out run them for the most part. IF they were to test that right now, the horses with this much weight probably couldn't out run the wolves, but with her there that wouldn't be an issue, but the wolves and she doubted the horses knew that she was dangerous.

A yawn escaped her mouth causing her to shutter a moment. The howls quieted down and they had moved on. The sounds of their pack running and chasing a new prey took over the air. This sound could trigger someone if they weren't used to the sound of the night. She could hear the driver waking suddenly. She let a low sigh escape her mouth.

"Hey, must have been a nice night, we didn't have any trouble!" He said this so loud that it startled the calm horses and they picked up a little speed. It was like he was hoping his loud voice would scare the wolves away, it seemed to just startle his horses, "Well, let's stop and have the horses graze and enjoy a meal while it is early."

Terra nodded in agreement. The faster they did the upkeep of the animals and themselves the faster they could return to the road. Putting it off too long or stalling at a site would heighten the chances of something bad happening.

They had settled off the road close to the river so that the horses could drink and munch on the greenery near there. The meal had been bread, cheese and dried meat. For Terra this was the best kind of meal as it wasn't messy and super easy to pack right back up without worrying about spilling anything. She had just taken a bit of dried horker when she heard the footsteps in the grass behind them.

"Well, what do we have here?" the voice said as they stepped close enough to be heard.

"Well, it's people trying to use our river for free," another chuckled.

"Just keep going," Terra said as she shook her head at the driver who was slowly going for his sword. "We aren't worth the trouble, trust me," she took another bite.

"Hmm," another guy had come around and was now off to the side of me. "This one we could sell… maybe get some fun out of her."

The driver was shaking a little.

Terra sighed, "I don't suggest moving now that you three have stepped into that outer circle. You have triggered my mage's circle." If one of them had been smart enough to stand still they would have seen the circle as she hadn't hid it at all, but now most of their hair was standing up as this had been one of the side effects of triggering this kind of spell.

The driver made a weird face as he had turned and noticed the hair.

"She's stupid," the one who started this whole mess said. "This doesn't feel like no magic I have dealt with." She could hear him move to get closer to her and the sound of zapping in the air as he had just done it.

"Don't move…." the second one shouted at the others, but it was too late. The circle had been activated and now with the second trip set off it was only a matter of a few moments.

"I don't want to die!" the one who wanted to sell me went screaming. That was it, the sound was almost deafening as the shock went off. The three of them couldn't even get the scream of pain out when the battle was over.

Terra took a swig of water from her pouch.

The driver just stared in awe of the events that had just happened around them. "Did you? Did you know them?" he couldn't collect his thoughts.

"Nah, but there had been rumors of bandits in these parts," Terra got up and stretched. She walked over to where the horses were still munching on the grass. "How long do we have till we get to the inn?"

The driver was still looking at the mess of what was left of the men. "Oh um…" he was still staring as he tried to figure out the answer, "Day and a half, I guess, but honestly maybe not even that. You driving the night shift has cut down the travel, though the horses will probably want a rest in a day."

"Don't stress the horse, why don't we just slow our pace slightly and we can take more breaks if they need," Terra rubbed her hand on one's back, it just swished its tail back and forth as it drank.

"Look, I'm not going to charge you that gold, you save our lives, those bandits would have either robbed us or killed us, the last more likely and then robbed us after, but now, they are just dust," the driver said rubbed his neck as he tried to figure out if he was in the right saying this.

"Nah, it's a stress reliever and I couldn't take you for that, this is part of my job as a Companion so don't even worry about it," she explained as she tried to hide her yawning. "Umm…" she didn't want to come off rude but she was tired.

"It's no worries, go rest and I will get everything else together, I mean you already packed up everything that wasn't needed after we made lunch so I just have to get the horses hitched back on the carriage and we are heading out. Go rest," the driver said with a smile.

Terra nodded and headed to the carriage. It wasn't luxuries, but it beat the cold ground and bugs so she had no complaints. She was beginning to really miss Farkas and they hadn't even been apart that long. He was ruining her, she used to go days, weeks and maybe even months without dealing with people and now she liked company. She shook her head and smiled as she got comfortable and felt her eyelids grow heavy with sleep. It wasn't going to take too much longer.