"Do you already have everything, guys?" Serin asked while tying her boots.
"It's not like I had time to grab many things," I replied while raising an eyebrow.
Another seven days passed. Serin had finally recovered almost completely, which meant it was time to leave. I insisted that she should rest a little longer, but she refused and said we needed to reach the wall as quickly as possible.
"Alright, let's go," Rowan said as he stepped out of the cave.
We followed behind him, leaving the cave that had been our shelter for almost two weeks. Outside, we were greeted by relatively cold air, but much warmer than before, and there was no more snow. All of it accompanied by the grayish light of a cloudy morning.
I turned for a moment to look at the entrance. From the outside it still looked like a simple crack lost in the mountain.
"Did you fall in love with the rock or are you planning to move?" Rowan asked a few meters ahead.
"I was just saying goodbye to my beautiful and comfortable bed," I replied.
We began the climb along a narrow slope. In front of us, the mountain rose like an endless wall of stone; behind us, the land dropped into a hillside covered in bare trees. From there, a vast part of the forest stretching south could be seen.
The south… where the home we had left behind was located.
I looked away before thinking too much about it.
During the first few hours, we barely spoke. Only our footsteps on loose stone and the wind striking the heights could be heard. The path was not even a real path, only a series of passable stretches between rocks and uneven ground that Serin seemed to choose by pure instinct.
"Are you sure you know where we're going?" I asked when we had to climb a particularly awkward rock formation.
"No," Rowan answered dryly, "but I suppose she does."
Serin didn't even turn around to reply. "Just climb and stop whining."
"You two get nicer every day," I complained.
I didn't see her, but I had the feeling she rolled her eyes. "In this direction there should be a road heavily used by merchants. It's quite narrow, so only small groups use it."
"And you couldn't have started with that?" I muttered while finishing climbing a rock.
"I could have," Serin replied calmly, "but it's funny listening to you complain."
Rowan kept walking without intervening, as if that conversation didn't exist.
After an especially narrow stretch, Serin stopped and stared ahead.
In front of us, carved into the mountain, appeared a narrow trail no more than three meters wide that wound around the slope. It didn't look very impressive, but compared to what we had crossed so far, it seemed like a luxury.
"There it is," she looked to the sides, "and now we should head east, which is to our right."
We continued in single file. On one side was the wall of rock; on the other, a drop steep enough to make you not want to look too much. The trail was narrow, but stable, clearly used by many people for years.
Signs of that soon appeared. Old wheel marks on the hardened earth, frayed rope remains tied to stakes, even extinguished ashes from an old campfire protected between stones.
"So merchants really do pass through here," I said.
"That's what I said before…" Serin replied.
I shrugged. "I was just verifying."
"You really do like being annoying."
I snorted with laughter and kept walking. In these almost two weeks, I had plenty of time to live alongside Serin. Rowan was the one who hunted, while I stayed watching over her and keeping guard.
Although we had already spoken on several occasions during the expedition, it was in this last stretch of time that I got to know her much better. She had a cheerful and talkative personality, but when she had to be serious… she was without hesitation. It was truly frightening to see her use her 'teleportation' with daggers.
A while after we started walking along the road, Serin slowed down a little and began walking beside me.
"I didn't say it back in the cave, but… when we fought the last armored panlagor, did you enhance your sword with pulsar?"
I turned my head. "Uh, yes?" I said with a confused expression.
Serin narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean 'Uh, yes'? That means you reached the second phase of pulsar, enhancement."
I kept looking at her in confusion for a few seconds until I realized what she meant, then my eyes widened slightly in surprise. Because of everything that had happened, I hadn't stopped to think about it, but some time ago Edric had explained to us some of the different phases a shocker goes through.
She ran a hand over her face and sighed. "Anyway… that was pretty fast. Most shockers take around a year and a half to pass the first stage." Then after thinking for a moment, she looked at Rowan. "And you?"
He was at the front, so he answered without turning around. "I think I could already do it a few weeks ago, but I used it for the first time during the attack on the village as well."
Serin seemed a little surprised. "Wow, and I thought I had been fast."
"How long did it take you?" I asked.
"Around a year and three months, but neither of you even took a full year," she replied.
I smiled sarcastically. "Does that mean we're a pair of incredible geniuses?"
Serin burst into laughter. "Don't get so excited, kid. The first phase is the easiest of all. Look at the old man, he lived for eons and he's still in enhancement."
I laughed in response, but shortly after my smile faded when I remembered Edric. I didn't know what had happened to him, I hadn't even been able to see him during the attack. If only he… no, it was better not to think about that now.
I came out of my thoughts and looked to my side. "Serin, how did you know there was a road here?"
"I've heard it from merchants. Besides, I know one of its entrances is on the outskirts of Aldefor. Once I accompanied—" she stopped speaking abruptly.
A second later I realized why. I drew my sword and took a combat stance; Serin and Rowan did the same beside me.
Right in front of us were four men with their faces half-covered, pointing spears and swords at us, but the worst part was that to our left, just above us, there were two more with bows ready to fire.