Several hours later, Dart, Lavitz, and Shana were walking north through the trees. Before long, the forest floor became littered with more and more rocks, and secure footing became increasingly difficult to find. Eventually, great boulders were exposed as the ground sloped upward dramatically, and before long, Dart could feel a burning in his thighs as he struggled to maintain their pace. The trees began to thin, yielding to the strong bedrock. Finally reaching the crest of the hill, all three stopped and looked toward the horizon.

"Now that is a view," said Lavitz.

For miles before them, a prairie sprawled out. The trees had come to an abrupt end, replaced by grasses and shrubs. Flowers dotted the landscape, showing every color of the rainbow. Mountains formed a natural wall on the west side of the prairie, perhaps just two miles to their left, and curved east far ahead, leaving only tiny silhouettes in the distance.

"Wow," Dart agreed.

They resumed their cross-country trek through the grasses, and presently conversation began to flow.

"So, Dart," said Lavitz. "Tell me more about yourself."

"Uh, what do you want to know?"

"How about…" Lavitz paused. "How did you get here? To Serdio, I mean? If your hometown isn't even a part of the country."

Dart was surprised at the question and tried to think back to his childhood. "Well, it was about eighteen years ago, right after the Black Monster, so my memory is a little fuzzy on that subject." After a pause he added, "I was going through a lot."

"That's fair," Lavitz replied, nodding.

"From what little I remember, I think that someone found me after I left the village."

"You left the village?" asked Shana. "By yourself?"

Dart nodded and then shrugged. "I mean, I was five. My parents had just died, and I didn't know what to do. I didn't even fully understand what had happened. So I wandered for a little while. I think people had found the village not too long after I left. I got bumped around from home to home for a while, until finally I ended up in Seles, when someone wanted to keep me. I think I was seven. That was when I met Shana for the first time." He paused to smile at her, an action she reciprocated.

"It's true," she said. "I've never really known life without Dart. I don't even remember when I met him. I couldn't have been more than maybe two years old. But he's always been there for me."

"Yeah, I got really attached as soon as I met her. I basically took it upon myself to raise her, even though I had no idea what that even meant back then. I used to sing her lullabies."

Lavitz opened his mouth in shock and said, "Oh, now this I have to hear! Dart, please sing us a lullaby."

"Yeah, that'll never happen," said Dart, though he couldn't help but laugh as Shana giggled.

They continued on this way for a while. Eventually, the clear skies gave way to several puffy white clouds, and the sun began to dip behind the mountains. It was about time to stop for the night.

"Guys, we need to find water," Shana said worriedly. "I thought we would have come across a stream by now, but we haven't, and we're almost out."

Dart pulled out his waterskin and realized that they only had enough for maybe one more drink each before they ran dry. "Shana's right," he said. "We should keep going until it gets dark, just in case." Lavitz agreed, and they continued to press forward.

After almost an hour, Dart thought he heard something and urged the others to stop and listen. They did so, and in the silence, Dart tried to pinpoint the sound. He heard the wind rustling through the grass, and very faintly, the sound of rushing water. "That's it!" he cried. "There's water close by!"

Invigorated by the hope and driven by their own thirst, they broke into a jog trying to find the source. After just a couple minutes they were able to make out the indentation of a creek bed, and finally reached it. They each knelt by the water and began to drink deeply out of their hands. The water was cold and refreshing, and Dart splashed it all over his dry, dirty skin before grabbing his waterskin and filling it to the brim.

After washing his own face, Lavitz stood and said, "I vote for camping next to the refreshing stream so that we can clean ourselves off and have an unlimited supply of water."

"Sounds great to me," said Dart, removing his pack. "I'll set up."

"Set up what?" inquired Shana.

After a pause, Dart conceded, "Fair point." Looking around, he then added, "I can't even build a fire. There's no wood out here. How are we supposed to eat with no fire to cook on?"

"I'll see if I can find some herbs," said Shana, eyeing the plants around them. "It won't hit the spot, but at least we'll have something in our bellies."

"Do you need help?" Dart asked.

Shana shook her head and walked away, scanning the ground and occasionally reaching down to pick the leaves or flower off a plant. Dart and Lavitz took some time to remove their armor before settling in. Dart hadn't realized how uncomfortable he had been until it was off. He lay on the ground, resting his head on his hands, staring up at the sky as stars began to appear, like tiny lamps being lit one by one. The grassy floor beneath him was softer than he remembered from the nights of his long journey.

After sitting to Dart's left, Lavitz looked out across the prairie and asked, "So what exactly is going on with you and Shana?"

"What do you mean?" Dart looked at him quizzically.

"I mean…" Lavitz hesitated. "How do you feel about her?" He turned to look at Dart.

"Oh, um…" said Dart, as he scrambled for an answer. How do I feel about her? he thought. What does that even mean? "I guess," he began slowly, "I want to make sure that she's okay. I'll do whatever I can to protect her."

"So, you love her?"

"I mean, I guess so."

"You 'guess so'?" Lavitz looked amused.

"Yeah… What's the big deal about this?" Dart sat up, resting on his elbows, and stared at Lavitz, analyzing his expression.

Lavitz shook his head while a slight smile crept its way onto his face. "Nothing. Just wanted to see what your answer would be."

After a moment scrutinizing that smile, Dart said accusingly, "Are you laughing at me?"

Scoffing, Lavitz said, "Now, come on. We're brothers now, Dart! Brothers don't laugh at each other!" He clapped Dart on the shoulder. Then after a pause, "I mean, they do. But in this instance" - an excessively serious look crossed his face - "I am definitely not laughing at you."

Dart was still wholly suspicious of Lavitz, but Shana returned moments later with an armful of various greens. To Dart's great surprise, there were even several carrots among them. "This is all I found," Shana said, "but I'll go find more tomorrow morning for breakfast."

"No, this is plenty, thank you!" said Lavitz, excitedly taking hold of a rather large carrot. It appeared Shana had even taken them down to the stream and washed off the prairie soil while Dart and Lavitz had talked. Lavitz happily bit into it.

The trio ate away at the pile of leaves and roots for the next few minutes. Dart couldn't help but feel he was eating grass like a horse or rabbit, but he was grateful for something to chew. Then with their bellies only half full, they prepared to sleep as more clouds rolled in overhead, blocking the large moon and casting long shadows.

Just before they lay down, Shana stopped and turned to Dart.

"Dart," she said. He looked at her. "You said that that day in Neet, you found a memento of your father's?" Dart nodded. "Do you still have it?"

"Oh," said Dart. "Yeah, hang on a second and I'll show it to you." Remembering lifting off the strap of a small leather pouch and stuffing it into his pack after removing his armor, he grabbed the pack and dug into it, pulling out the pouch and dumping its contents into his hand. A single small, clear gem fell out, about the size of a marble, and he held it out to show the others. They gathered around to get a closer look.

"Wow," said Shana.

"What a unique item to remember your parents," said Lavitz quietly.

"Yeah," said Dart, eyeing its beauty and feeling a special pride in being its owner. "I normally keep it in this pouch around my neck. It fits under my breastplate actually. I just now took it off for the first time in a long time." He slipped it back into the leather pouch and mindlessly placed it around his neck. He felt better with it there, close to his heart.

As they each returned to their designated sleeping areas, Shana asked thoughtfully, "How have I never seen that before? If it's been with you constantly all this time?"

Lying down and facing the stars, Dart replied, "I just didn't really want anyone to know about it. It was a personal item, and I felt like it should be kept that way."

He rolled over onto his side, facing away from them, as thoughts of his past ran through his mind. His hand wrapped around the pouch, feeling the hard gem inside, and his mind recalled memories of his father. Dart could see him now: a tall, strong man, with light brown hair just like his. Thinking harder, Dart reconstructed his face in his memory, trying to make sure he never forgot what his father looked like. He could see the broad jaw, the high brow, and the blue eyes. Suddenly the figure was moving, and Dart was back in Neet. Running in the snow, he knelt down, picked up a handful of the cold substance, and threw it at the tall man in front of him. A deep laugh rang out, echoing through the evergreens.

Dart opened his eyes to see the spring grasses swaying before him. A great sadness came over him, and before he could stop it, a tear escaped his eye and dropped to the ground. He quickly wiped the trail off his cheek and listened to see if either Shana or Lavitz stirred. To his relief, all was silent.

Closing his eyes, he sought sleep. Before he knew it, his mind rested, and he dreamed of black flames filling the night sky.

The next morning, the three travelers prepared to leave. They gathered as many edible herbs as they could from the prairie, washing them in the river, eating some, and storing the rest in Dart's pack. Lavitz and Dart replaced their armor, and after drinking from the stream and rinsing off some dirt, the three continued moving north.

After a while, Dart began to wonder about how long it might take to get to the capital and realized that he had no real idea where they were.

"Lavitz," he said suddenly, breaking a long silence. "How much longer until we get there?"

"Excellent question!" exclaimed Lavitz. He pointed at the distant horizon ahead of them. "See those mountains? They end at the sea, and it's almost impossible to cross over them that way. About a mile or two inland, there is a long, dark, but mostly safe cave that goes under the mountain at their thinnest and come out on the other side. From there, there's actually a small road that leads straight to Bale."

"I'm sorry," interjected Shana, looking up at Lavitz. "We're going through a long and dark cave? That's only 'mostly safe'?"

Dart turned to Lavitz as well and said, "That's a fairly reasonable concern, I'd say."

"I know it sounds bad, but it's not as bad as you think," said Lavitz, trying to reassure them. "Someone found that cave about three years ago, and ever since then, King Albert has been trying to make it as easy as possible to make it through. They've hollowed it out some, and at each entrance there are piles of torches for travelers to carry through. Had the almost-war not been going on, we would have spent more resources on building naval transportation on either side of the mountains, but combined with the low foot traffic that comes through this area, it just wasn't a high enough priority."

"I guess that's fair," Dart conceded.

"There is" - Lavitz hesitated and cringed slightly - "one more thing…" His voice trailed off as Dart and Shana both looked at him sharply. "I want it known that I think this story is completely false and stands no real ground."

Dart narrowed his eyes.

After taking a deep breath, Lavitz said, "Some people have spread rumors of a 'guardian' of the cave, some hideous monster that lives within it that preys on the flesh of those who try to pass through." Seeing the alarmed faces in response to this claim, Lavitz quickly added, "But it's not true, obviously! People only say that because there are some people who go into the cave and never seem to come out again."

"Lavitz!" exclaimed Shana and Dart.

Exasperated, Lavitz tried to explain further. "Some people aren't prepared to make the trek through the cave! Maps have been made, and almost everyone who doesn't come out didn't get one. They probably just got lost."

"But we don't have a map either," Dart pointed out.

"True," said Lavitz. "But we have me. And I am a high-ranking soldier in the service of Basil, and I have been well-informed as to how the cave is laid out. I am the map."

"Well…" said Dart ominously. Lavitz and Shana both looked at him. "We are definitely going to die in a dark, wet cave."

Lavitz opened his mouth to answer, but Dart walked ahead of him. Instead, Lavitz turned to Shana and said, "We are not going to die."

Chuckling, Shana answered, "I believe you, Lavitz. I can't say I'm not worried, but I believe that you believe it, and that's good enough for me. Probably."