Guess what? I've got a plan for the rest of this story! I'm so proud of myself for that! I hope you guys like this chapter, and I don't know when I'll be posting the next one.

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed!

-owl


Rollan rolled out of his bed and opened the door to find Tarik standing there, his arms crossed in front of his chest. "What's going on?" he asked.

"Olvan and I spoke, and it was decided that you would join me on my trip to Eura," Tarik' said, giving Rollan a small smile. "He also told me that my departure got moved up, we'll leave in the morning, on the same ship as Nicolai. I'll be back up here before down to get you so we can head down to the docks."

"I'll get my stuff together before I go to sleep, then," Rollan responded, waving as Tarik nodded and left the tower.

Once the older man was out of sight, Rollan turned to Essix excitedly. "Can you believe it, Essix!" he exclaimed. "We get to go with Tarik on a mission, an actual mission!"

Essix shrieked in response, then resolutely tucked her head under her wing and tried to sleep. With that in mind, Rollan was quiet as he got his stuff together to be ready for the trip. His bag was filled with his one set of extra clothes, the set he was to wear the next day laid out on the other bed in the room, along with his traveling cloak.

When he had gotten the last thing ready, Rollan blew out the candle that was lighting the room and got back under the blankets of his bed. He was asleep within a minute.


Rollan was woken both by the orange dawn sunlight that streamed through his window and the pounding on his door. Scrambling up and out of the tangled blankets, Rollan lunged for the door. It opened once again to Tarik standing there, though in contrast from the previous night, he had with him a traveling bag.

"Rollan," he said, a hint of annoyance in his voice. "We need to get going if we want to board the ship before it leaves."

"Sorry, Tarik. Just give me a minute to get dressed and I'll be ready to go."

Tarik nodded and returned to the common area at the top of the tower while Rollan quickly closed the door and changed from his pajamas into the clothes he had set out the previous night.

When he emerged into the common room, dressed with his bag slung over his right shoulder and Essix perched on the other, he found Tarik flipping through a book that had been sitting on the chair for the last few weeks. Tarik looked up when the kid approached and stood up.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked.

Rollan barely had time to nod before Tarik was leading the way from the room and down the winding stairs of the tower. They struck out across the castle courtyard and practically ran down to the port.

Just in time they ran across the dock and up the gangplank, onto the ship. Nicolai was already there, and he smiled at the pair as they tried to get their breathing back under control.

"What are you doing here?" Rollan asked when he had caught his breath. "I thought that you were going to Zhong."

Nicolai nodded. "Right, and this boat'll take me there, after leaving you two in a port in Eura."

"Oh." That made a lot of sense, actually. Rollan gave Nicolai a small smile before asking another question. "How long until we reach the port in Eura?"

"Three days. Then I don't reach my port for another week or so," he answered.


Three days later, just as Nicolai had said, the Greencloak ship docked at a port in Eura. The docks were filled with people running every which way, jumping over piles of rope and buckets that were strewn around. Overall, the port was very similar to the one in Ekinox.

"Come along, Rollan," Tarik called over his shoulder.

Rollan quickly followed the man, not wanting to lose him in the bustling port. The pair navigated through the city and eventually reached a small store front at the edge of town. Tarik led the way inside.

"Good morning, Jon," Tarik greeted the man behind the counter.

Jon nodded in response. "What can I do for the Greencloaks today, Tarik?" He asked.

Jon was a tall man with soft blue eyes and fluffy blond hair. He wore a faded green cloak and there was a dark splotch on his left hand. A large burn covered his left arm.

"This is Rollan," Tarik introduced, "He and I were hoping to borrow some horses to travel to Turnswick."

Jon nodded again, stepping out from behind the counter and leading the pair to the back of the shop where another door was. "I'm assuming you'll be returning then once you're done?"

"Of course."

"I'll let you guys have Zig and Flit. Tarik, you can ride Zig. She's smaller, but has more of an attitude, and I don't trust her with a younger rider like Rollan."

"Sounds good," Tarik agreed with Jon, and the men began to get out the tack for the horses.

Within a matter of a half hour, Tarik and Rollan were mounted on horses and riding out of the city. The mare that Tarik was riding was a deep brown, its shoulders nearly as tall as Rollan's. Rollan was on a horse that was bigger than the one Tarik rode. It was taller and broader, with gray fur and a white mane.

In a drastic change from the last time Rollan had ridden a horse, Flit was a sweetheart that gave him no issues. Tarik, meanwhile, was often having to correct Zig to stay on track.

"Jon wasn't wrong," Tarik said, after again guiding Zig away from the foliage that was growing along the side of the trail. "Zig is a handful."

Rollan laughed. "That's what I had to deal with when we were traveling though Amaya!"

Tarik just shook his head, a wry smile on his face. They continued across Eura until dusk covered the world. They set up camp in silence, and Tarik pulled out some of their packed food. Soon enough they fell asleep under the stars.