Despite Castellar's insistence that they travel separately from the other captured mages, they still traveled in Lonkeld's general direction, keeping the towering landmark that was Mt. Ebott to their right as they moved through a small valley. The Two Kingdoms—that of Humans and Monsters—split the land in half, and Lonkeld was the last major Human city on that side of the mountains. Beyond its southern borders was the town of Botan Grove in Monster territory.
If they wanted to get to Botan fast, then they should've just gone to Lonkeld first. Travelling slightly-off path by cart was still a lot quicker than travelling on-foot and the two cities were only a little over a day's journey apart. Nevermind that, it didn't make sense for them to travel south to begin with when Arnaud's Guild and the Boroughs was to the far west.
"In case you weren't aware, Monsters aren't exactly welcome among your kind," the skeleton had explained when Ferris questioned him about their route, "At least I can ensure that you'll be safe among mine. No one will touch you if I'm you, and mages from other guilds won't be able to follow us easily once we pass the border either."
Ferris clicked her tongue. To be honest, she was a little curious of what a Monster city looked like, but this was a much longer way around. The idea of travelling with the boy for all that way didn't appeal to her either.
While it was hard to get a good sense of what he looked like under his cloak, from what Ferris could tell so far, he definitely had a higher status than she or Ciara did. Occasionally, she caught a glimpse of good leather and polished metal under the fabric. Moreover though, there was the way he carried himself, his posture a little too perfect. Top that with his prideful personality and he was exactly the kind of rich boy that got on her nerves.
The ground ahead of them dipped in a sudden terrace. It was only a short drop, but after getting past it, Castellar stopped and raised his hand in offering. Like with their rescue, there was no sign of a genuine desire to help on his face. The action was drilled into him, a mock chivalry.
Without pausing to consider otherwise, she made the point of jumping down herself. Ferris landed on both feet with a loud thud, turning back to spread her hands out to Ciara with a bright smile, "Your turn!"
Her own expression became real as she felt the skeleton's eyes drilling into her. The little girl was practically weightless as she threw her body directly into Ferris' arms and righted herself to walk once more with a soft tap against the rocks.
Annoyed, Castellar's true colors began to show, "Can your sister walk any faster?"
"Can that skull of yours get any thicker?" Ferris shot back.
He cursed under his breath as they started moving again, "I thought you'd be grateful that a guild like Arnaud's wants you. It's better than those hunters selling you off like a slave."
And what makes you think you're any better than them? Whether she was sold off to work for a lord or dragged off to work for a guild, it was still against her will. Again, it wasn't that she necessarily had a problem with either setting—this was world where people used others and were used themselves—but she wanted things at least partially on her terms.
Small fingers laced around Ferris' own. Ciara's well-being was a non-negotiable matter. If she didn't have her sister, Ferris might've followed anyone without argument since she could always find a way to survive. Even if this was a safe arrangement, if it didn't look like Arnaud's Guild would accept her sibling—and there was a high chance they wouldn't—they'd run.
Ferris couldn't help taking a glance at the vast landscape behind them. If they were near Lonkeld, then her and Ciara's village, Mollendale, was somewhere to the north. It was further from Lonkeld than Botan Grove, but still undeniably close. If they decided to escape the skeleton fairly soon, maybe she wouldn't have to turn back time and they could race home instead. It wasn't as if they had much there, not even people who would look out for them, but Castellar was right about one thing: The villagers in Mollendale would definitely take the side of their fellow Human's over a Monster's.
"If we're going straight to Botan Grove, then I take it we won't look for anywhere to stop for the night."
"We'll have to make camp several times before the end of this," he explained with a nod, "And there shouldn't be anything before we reach Botan, not unless we stumble over a random homestead anyway."
It was hard to say what kind of people lived out here too. The people close to the Two Kingdoms' borders had a complicated relationship with each other. From what she'd heard, they co-existed pretty well overall. They had to, since their populations mingled so much. Still, it hadn't been that many years since their towns were hit by a string of attacks from either species. As easy as it would be to blend in among them, there was a chance of running into a powder keg situation.
"Can you two handle it?"
"Roughing it?" she smirked, "Of course. Can you?"
"I'm the one with the right gear."
Between all of their banter, Ciara said little to nothing. She just followed closely behind Ferris, shifting between meditating over their surroundings to giving Castellar the side-eye. She was a quiet child that didn't reveal her thoughts on her face very often. It wasn't natural for her age. It hadn't always been like that though. In the past, she could put on a grin that reached her eyes or throw such a fit that her head might as well have been on fire.
Even now, as much as she struggled around Monsters, she didn't show it much. There was no way she'd have wanted to follow the skeleton over the border, but she said nothing. Ferris was proud of her for being patient and trusting her judgement for the time being.
"So, how well can you use magic right now?"
"It's not all that great," Ferris admitted. She didn't bother lying about it because she couldn't back up any kind of bluff if she had to. Aside from using the golden stars and getting a few, strange dreams that she wasn't even sure were thanks to her powers, she'd only rarely summoned a few bullets before on her own. That was it. "What? Do I need to be a little more qualified to get in your guild?"
"No matter how weak you are, you'd probably be their one exception…" Castellar muttered, "I told you before, it's your particular magic that people are after—not your skill."
"Then why bother asking?"
"Because I need to know what you're capable of if we run into trouble." He blinked in thought, then stopped and turned to face her, "Actually… I could check you right now."
Ferris felt an invasive rush of magic suddenly wash over her. It wasn't cold or threatening, but it demanded her full attention. For a split second, the girl felt as if she'd been expelled from the world around her, sucked into an endless void with just her and the Monster present. It was a feeling that reached into the depths of her SOUL, searching, prodding…
And then it passed as swiftly as it came.
Castellar's eyes flashed with a bit of intrigue, "You're at LV. 2, huh? Who'd have guessed…"
Something caught in her throat. It was hard to say what bothered her more: That, through some ability she'd yet to learn, the skeleton had drawn something so secretive out of her or that he'd said that number aloud. Ciara didn't know what it meant, and she wasn't all that worried of her finding out either. Ferris didn't really know herself anyway: She only knew that it probably meant something bad, and she only understood that much because of the circumstances of how she got it.
She swallowed, her gaze hardening, "Your point…?"
"No point," he countered, his tone revealing nothing. He gave her a steady look before taking the lead once again, "I'm LV. 5, by the way. Just in case you were wondering."
Balling the front of her tunic in her hands, Ferris felt an explosion of warmth rise over her face. It was hard to tell if Castellar was making fun of her number or threatening her with his own. Probably both.
If he thought he could frighten her that easily, it wasn't working. She'd seen higher. Her fingers drifted subconsciously to the sheathe at her hip. All he'd done was drill in the reminder to keep her eyes open around him.