For an hour or so, the three walked along the road that reached west of Seles, and Dart found himself swimming in a sea of meandering thoughts. He considered the people they were leaving behind and his own reasons for leaving. He debated on whether he'd done the right thing. And sometimes, he would remember situations that had arisen in his time far in the east. But every few minutes, his mind settled right back on Shana, who rode along in silence next to him.

Learning that she was to join them on their journey north had brought him a joy that he hadn't expected, and yet here he sat, wondering if he should even speak to her. Lavitz seemed at peace continuing without dialogue, and Dart supposed he should be, too. But there she sat, her hunting bow slung across her back, head bobbing in rhythm with the horse's footfalls. Something about her drew him in, urged him to speak to her, to know her.

She had put her hair up today in preparation for their journey. Having been washed that morning, it now shone in the bright sunlight, and Dart couldn't help but notice how smooth it looked in its loose bun. And then he reminded himself of how young Shana had been when he'd left five years ago. What all had changed since then? She was much prettier, and taller, and even kinder, but something in him burned to know why.

"What all happened while I was gone?" he blurted out suddenly.

Shana seemed a bit surprised when he spoke, but she shrugged and said, "Not much of significance, I guess. Time passed. I joined a trade."

"Which one? You said you were working with the doctor, but you also have a bow like your dad."

"I did both," she smiled. "I spent two or three mornings with my dad, hunting for game in the forest. Whenever I wasn't there, I worked in the sick home."

"No wonder you're such a good aim."

"That was luck," she said hurriedly. "I'm only a good shot when my target isn't moving. As a matter of fact, I've never been able to track moving targets. My dad was always better at that. And anything past maybe ten yards…" She shook her head.

"It just takes practice," encouraged Dart.

"And what about you?"

"What?"

"What did you do during all that time? Life out east must have been more exciting than in Seles."

"I am so sorry," said Lavitz suddenly, slowing his horse until he was in line with him. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I did, and I really want to hear the answer to this question."

"Why? What's so important about me?" asked Dart.

"You're such a fascinating character!" exclaimed Lavitz. "You realize that you're better than me at swordplay? I'm the head of the First Knighthood! Or, I was." He frowned.

"True, but you said yourself that you normally use a lance."

"Stop being modest and tell me where you learned how to fight."

Dart chuckled. "Well then, I suppose I first learned from Tasman, like I said before. I didn't want to be just… a kid wandering around. I needed to be able to defend myself."

"Was Tasman a soldier?"

"No, he's a smith," interjected Shana. "Although there have always been rumors that he fought in the giganto wars. But he always denied them."

"I think I always believed those rumors were true," added Dart. "So, after hearing about the dark creatures living east, I asked him to train me, and he did. Then I left. After that, it was more or less trial by fire."

"What kinds of creatures did you find?" asked Lavitz.

"Wolves, bears, panthers, mountain lions… You name it. All just normal, regular, animals. After a year and a half or so, I kind of gave up and just became a mercenary."

"Why didn't you come home?" asked Shana.

"I…" Dart hesitated. "I was… ashamed. That I hadn't found anything. So, I stayed. Wandered from town to town, doing jobs here and there for people."

"That sounds kind of nice," muttered Lavitz. "Being on your own, in charge of yourself, with nobody to answer to."

"You thinking about leaving the military?"

"No, of course not," dismissed Lavitz quickly. "I could never. It's too ingrained in me at this point. I think I'll only leave the military life through death or retirement."

"How long have you served?" asked Shana.

"This summer will make sixteen years of official service, although you could say it's been longer. My father worked with the former king, and I spent most of my childhood around the castle."

"Impressive," said Dart.

"Just following in my father's footsteps," smiled Lavitz.

Just then, Dart noticed that the road was coming to an intersection, and he pointed ahead.

"Hey, we made it this far," he said.

"Now we turn north," nodded Lavitz.

The three horses took a right, and all at once, Dart felt a hidden wanderlust surface within him. Ever since his youth, he'd wanted to explore the farthest reaches of Serdio, and now he was finally being granted the chance. As he began to wonder what lay in wait for them, Shana asked the question for him.

"What does our path look like?" she asked.

"Excellent question," returned Lavitz as the road pushed beneath a canopy of trees. "It's fairly simple. We follow this road until it turns west and goes up into the mountains. Then we just keep heading north, following the line of the Serdian Mountains until we come to the cave passage that runs under them at their thinnest point, maybe ten miles from the northern shore. Once we leave the cave, it's another day or two journey northwest until we reach Bale."

"You mentioned this cave earlier," recalled Dart. "Is it safe?"

"Perfectly," nodded Lavitz. "A whole knighthood passed through just a few days ago." He winked.

"But don't think I didn't notice that you had to make sure nothing happened to them when they did."

Lavitz sighed. "Very well. The cave is actually a cave system, with multiple chambers and passageways. It can be easy to get lost unless you have a guide or a map. And there is a river that runs across the path. Crossing it in the dark can be treacherous."

"So why not go over the mountains?" prodded Shana.

"The cave saves us three or four days of travel time. Going over the mountains means we lose time to tell King Albert where the dragon is. My information is already outdated as it is."

"But you said we could easily get lost."

"If you don't have a guide. Luckily, you have one."

"You know the whole cave system by heart?" challenged Dart.

"Indeed, I do," said Lavitz proudly. "I was a scout, and all scouts are required to memorize maps of the cave system, along with other maps of course, before they're ever allowed to leave Bale. On top of that, every time you return, you're required to pass a test again to prove you haven't forgotten everything."

"So, this cave is important to Basil."

"Very. There are only four ways to get from eastern Serdio to western Serdio, and only two of them are within the borders of Basil. One is the northern mountain pass, which is very dangerous and steep in many places. The other is the cave system."

"That's it?" asked Shana.

Lavitz shrugged. "A bold hiker could cross the mountains at any point, but for groups larger than two or three, a different path is required. The Ninth Knighthood might not have made it to Seles for another week if not for the caves."

"If you say so," muttered Dart.

An uneasy silence came over them as Dart and Shana ruminated over Lavitz's words. Somehow, despite his multiple attempts at making the passage seem calm and easy, Dart couldn't shake the eerie feeling that had settled in his stomach. His only comfort was that they had two days before they reached it; he could ignore it until then.

For several long miles, they traveled through the forest, following the path even as it grew rough and overgrown. After several hours, it was less of a road and more of a footpath as it fought against the tireless power of nature. Vines stretched across, saplings sprouted up, and more than one spiderweb lay in wait for their faces. Before long, Lavitz had grown frustrated enough to swat around before him with a stick to keep the spiders at bay.

Thankfully, the horses seemed unperturbed and continued to push forward. Despite their former home, these horses procured from Hellena Prison seemed remarkably well trained and steadfast as they carried them across the unfamiliar terrain, and Dart was glad that so many had been left in the care of the people of Seles.

As night fell, the group set up camp near the path, though Dart complained about the abundance of rocks strewn about. They spent nearly a half hour trying to clear their sleeping spaces of hefty stones before they could at last sit and rest, and even then, Dart could feel one or two poking his thigh.

A few minutes after dinner, Shana expressed her intentions for sleep, and Dart felt a need to join her. Despite their extended rest the night before, their rushed journey from Hellena – as well as multiple minor wounds – had sapped his strength more than he'd realized. Still, he didn't want to fall asleep before Lavitz, and he merely leaned his head against a young tree while he waited to see what Lavitz would do.

It was only after Shana's breathing came smooth and even that Lavitz finally spoke.

"Can I ask you something?" he said.

"Sure?" shrugged Dart.

"What exactly is going on between you and Shana?"

Dart blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Is there a thing there?"

"Thing?"

Lavitz sighed. "Do you have feelings for her?"

Dart furrowed his brow and looked at Shana while he considered the question. His feelings were… the same as they'd been when he'd left. At least, he thought they were.

"Not like that," he replied, though his eyes remained fixed on Shana's shoulder as it moved in time with her breaths. "At least…"

He remembered the delight he'd felt on hearing her voice in the prison, and even now, he felt a desire to reach out and touch her soft hair. He'd been so thrilled to have her come along with them. But they'd always been friends. Did that have to change?

"At least what?" prodded Lavitz.

"Nothing," dismissed Dart. "It's not like that is all."

"Are you sure?"

Dart narrowed his eyes at Lavitz, who was studying Dart with an uncomfortable fixation. For just a moment, Dart felt that Lavitz was reading into his very soul somehow, and he wriggled underneath that piercing gaze.

"I think I'll turn in for the night," he muttered before lying down on his mat and facing away from the fire that Lavitz had started earlier. The night was chilly, and he was grateful for its heat against his back. And at that moment, he realized that he hadn't remembered to get a blanket from his saddlebag. He'd spent so long in the wilderness with nothing but the forest floor that he'd nearly forgotten what it was like to have sleeping bags and blankets. A couple months ago, he'd spent one night fully awake, making sure that the fire was tended and did not burn out, as he could have easily frozen to death. He'd had no blankets for years.

Many bitter winter nights he'd spent in various inns and taverns across the eastern cities. It was his preference, as he'd never really liked the cold. Too often, it brought to mind moments of his childhood, huddled around the fire with his parents. He sighed to remember them. Such memories were too fleeting for his liking, and their number only seemed to dwindle over time. Often, he felt that if he was not careful, he would forget his parents altogether. Already, eighteen years had passed, and their faces were mere shadows in his mind.

He tried to recall the scene of his father's memento. Dart saw the gem sparkling in the firelight and noticed how the warm light had made it appear red in his father's hands. His father wore a knit sweater, and his hair was pulled into a knot on the back of his head.

How old had his father been? Dart couldn't be sure, but he thought he saw flecks of gray strewn through his hair. But he couldn't have been old. No, Dart remembered his father being full of youth and vigor. Another scene came to him, and his father stood before him with a sizable trunk of a tree resting over his shoulder.

The lumbermill? he thought. Is that where you worked?

But no other memories offered themselves as confirmation. A lone tear fell down his cheek, and he quickly wiped it away.

Opening his eyes, he saw the shapes of forest underbrush before him. He listened for a moment, and he could just make out Shana's breathing nearby. But there were whispers, too. Slowly, he pushed off the ground and glanced around.

Lavitz was nowhere to be found, and Dart narrowed his eyes. He searched for the sound of the voices, and at last, he settled on a dim image beyond the trees. Lavitz was muttering to one of the horses, stroking its mane and feeding it an apple.

Shaking his head at his own paranoia, Dart eased himself back to the ground and sought out sleep.

The next day passed rather uneventfully. They continued north for the duration, and the only notable change came in early afternoon when the terrain began to transform. The rocky forest floor became a rocky incline, and they were forced to move slower to accommodate the horses' tricky footing. After nearly an hour of climbing, easing, turning around, dismounting, mounting again, and more climbing, they finally made it to the crest of the hill, and the trees began to thin. Another half hour later, they'd reached the end of the forest and stood gazing out at a wide prairie with short trees littered about in sparse thickets. The ground sloped away from them, and Dart was impressed with the distance his vision was afforded. He felt that he could see miles ahead of him on any side, and he was pleased again to see the Serdian Mountains off to the west, distant though they were.

A gentle wind swept across the prairie, and the endless grasses swayed in response. As the group followed a path only demarcated by slightly shorter grass, Dart took in the view with a sense of awe. The mountains were forty miles west, their peaks fringed with snow, and the blue sky was dotted with puffy, white clouds. He felt that if he urged his horse into a gallop, he could run for hours and still be here in the prairie, as it reached all the way to the horizon. Even the eastern mountains were not visible from this great distance, and something about the open space made Dart feel free.

Still, in time, the constant breeze began to feel berating instead of comforting. The endless plain began to feel impassable instead of inviting. Dart grew antsy and eager to reach their destination despite what felt like an eternity here on the prairie.

As evening began to fall, the plain became an explosion of color as the sky cast a red glow over the sparse wildflowers. And still, they followed the same path. Lavitz had mentioned that it would turn up and into the mountains, but Dart was beginning to think that he had been wrong. Surely, this path would lead them to the northern shores of Serdio.

But as stars began to pop into existence and the Moon That Never Sets began to glow bright above them, Lavitz's prediction proved true. The path began to curve west, and before long, it shot toward the mountains in a direct path. Dart strained to see the extent of the mountain pass, but he could only just make out a winding road leading up the mountainside. Once it reached a low valley among the peaks, the path disappeared among the trees.

"Are you sure we can't go that way?" asked Dart.

"Trust me, you don't want to go that way," insisted Lavitz.

"I don't really want to go through a cave, if I'm honest."

Lavitz chuckled. "At least the path is straight and mostly level. We'd be professional mountain climbers by the time we got over that mountain pass."

"If you say so," muttered Dart.

At Lavitz's urging, they continued at a trot for another hour or so when they came across a small stream that wound its way through the prairie. Here, they dismounted and made camp. The horses drank their fill at the stream while Shana refilled their waterskins, and soon enough, they were resting comfortably on beds of grass, each of them gazing up at the night sky, so wide and open before them. Dart felt that he could see a million stars, and every breath brought forth one or two more.

"Do you ever wonder why the moons behave like they do?" asked Lavitz.

"Why one sets and the other doesn't?" said Shana.

"Right."

"Plos once told me that the Moon That Never Sets is one of the gods that stays in the sky to watch over the world," replied Dart. "The Moon That Sets is its child, circling the world to draw the tides in and out to help us travel and find food."

"I've heard the same thing," agreed Shana.

"Fascinating," said Lavitz. "I've never heard such a tale."

"Do you think it ever gets tired up there?" asked Shana. "Just sitting and staring at us while we run around and live our lives? Do you think it ever wants to come down and visit?"

"I'm not sure I'd want to," muttered Lavitz. "We kill each other a little too easily for my tastes."

"I've had dreams about it before."

"The moon coming down?"

"Yeah," affirmed Shana. "It comes down and settles on this… I guess it's a tree? A big tree, big enough to hold the moon. Then this light comes out of it and fills the whole world, it seems."

"A good light or a bad light?" asked Dart.

"Is there such a thing as a bad light?"

Dart shrugged, though the others couldn't see him. "I think there's a good and bad to all lights. The sun keeps us warm, but it can also burn us. Fire does the same thing."

"That's fair," said Lavitz. "I think there's wisdom in that."

"Well, to answer your question," answered Shana, "it's always felt like a good light. Warm and inviting. Restorative, somehow."

"My grandmother used to say that dreams are glimpses into the future," offered Lavitz.

"Yeah?" snickered Dart. "So, one day I'm going to find myself wandering around Seles naked while everyone laughs at me because I just forgot to put on clothes?"

Laughing, Lavitz said, "Fair point. I certainly hope those kinds of dreams don't come true."

"My mother told me that dreams are just dreams," added Shana. "That they're all just reflections of who we are from perspectives that we've never seen."

"Everyone is just full of depth tonight, aren't they?" muttered Lavitz.

"It's the night sky," replied Dart. "Stars always make everything seem more important."

"I can attest to that. I've spent many a night under the stars, and everything seems more weighty there. Just wait until it's the night before your first battle. Everything changes."

Dart sighed and watched a low cloud as it slowly crept across the sky, blotting out a patch of stars only to reveal them a few minutes later. He considered how he would feel on the edge of a battle, and anxiety crept into him. Suddenly, he wasn't so sure that he was making the right decision. Did he want to rush headlong into a battle that could spell out his end? Would he do so alone? Would Lavitz and Shana be there with him?

"Shana," he said.

"Yes?" she replied.

"That captain asked if you were going to join the army. Will you?"

She paused.

"I don't know," she said.

"Hera was right," interjected Lavitz. "It would be an honor to have you."

"I'm not so sure that I'm cut out for military life."

"Few are. It's not a decision to make lightly."

"But as an archer," began Dart, "you wouldn't be on the front lines. You don't have to swing a sword or anything. You'd be safer, hidden in the back."

"You actually want her to join?" asked Lavitz.

"Why not?" shrugged Dart.

"I guess I just thought… you might be a little protective."

Dart did not respond. What Lavitz did not realize was that wanting Shana there with him was being protective. At least if something happened to Shana, he would be there for her instead of halfway across the wilderness.

"I might not mind it so much if I got to stay with the both of you," whispered Shana.

"I am in need of a new knighthood," admitted Lavitz. "I could use friends like you at my side."

"Is there really going to be a war?" asked Dart quietly.

Lavitz sighed. "It seems more likely every day. We've been tiptoeing around war for several years now. We'd heard rumors that Sandora was massing armies, and one of those rumors was that they'd found a dragon to fight for them. I'm not sure how to fight against something like that, and Sandora will use that to their advantage. If they can control a dragon in a battle… I'm sure that Seles will be a best-case scenario."

"That's why you have to get back."

"Yes. I have to tell King Albert that the dragon is real. We have to muster the troops and be more intentional about where we send them."

"They can control it," said Dart. "When I came across the dragon, I heard someone else, someone that I couldn't see. It sounded like a man, but he was able to tell the dragon what to do, and it listened to him."

Silence fell again, and for a moment, Dart wondered if they'd heard him. But then Lavitz spoke.

"I'm worried about Basil," he said quietly. "What chance do we have against such a beast? I didn't even think dragons still existed."

"Neither did I," said Dart. "What do you think will happen next?"

"They'll attack, I'm sure. We have knighthoods stationed all around western Basil, and the attack on Seles is one of many along our borders within the past year. With the arrival of the Ninth Knighthood, we'll have some security in eastern Basil, but who knows what the dragon will do? This must have been a part of Doel's plan. Maybe the attack on Seles was a red herring so that we'd be focused on that instead of the dragon's movements."

"What's the point of attacking Basil at this point?" asked Shana. "I thought Basil and Sandora were okay being separate states."

"They were on the surface, but there's always been bad blood between us ever since the secession over twenty years ago. When King Carlo died, rumors abounded that he'd been assassinated by some overzealous follower of Doel's. However it happened, Doel capitalized on it and tried to take over. But of course, the crown fell to Carlo's son, Albert, and he's been king ever since. Doel retreated to Kazas in the south and made it the seat of his empire, and most people believe that he's just been waiting for an opportunity to revolt. A dragon would certainly give him the leg up that he's been waiting for."

No one responded, and the weight of the stars fell on them. Dart found himself scanning the skies to ensure that there was no dragon preparing to swoop down on them, and he had a feeling that Lavitz was doing the same. Still, there was nothing that they'd be able to do if it were to happen.

Dart recalled the female warrior that he'd encountered east of Serdio. She'd shown remarkable abilities that he wasn't even sure had been real. But if they were, maybe he could find her somewhere and convince her to fight for them. If she was able to outsmart a dragon as she had before, then maybe with her help, they could stand a chance.

One by one, the trio fell into an uneasy sleep under the blanket of the night sky. The Moon That Never Sets beamed down, watching over them with its rays as they rested, and Dart's dreams seemed to be filled with its light. When he woke, he could not remember whether the light was good or bad.