The Fateful Heart

James laughed very weakly and scratched the back of his neck with one hand, while he picked up a handful of nuts with the other. Staying up hadn't been entirely voluntary, but he didn't want to get into it.

"I'll do my best," he said.

He didn't really answer her question, but she wasn't going to prod further.

Evaline slowly stood up, stretching her arms.

"Are you sure you don't need more sleep?" she asked. "It wouldn't bother me if you needed to sleep for a few more hours, or if we stay here until morning. Just... let me know."

James threw a mouthful of nuts into his mouth and nodded. He waited until he was done chewing and swallowed to reply.

"I'll let you know," he said, picking up the last of the berries and nuts in his hands and standing up to stretch as well. Even though he did feel rested, he was stiff. He really didn't move at all in his sleep, did he?

They ended up walking for a few more hours, only resting when it became too dark to see. Although James was walking faster than he was before, she could tell he still needed rest; he was still not quite at the same speed as before, and he didn't do as good of a job hiding his hobble. She wondered if she'll ever get to find out what happened to his leg, or really any of his wounds. But she did know that most of it likely came from Butch, so at the same time, she wasn't sure she wanted to know the details.

James offered to stay up and watch first this time, probably because she had been doing that for him for the majority of the day. Still, she obliged, but she forced her body to not sleep long. She wanted him to get more rest; it was the least she could do anyways since she was so well-rested this week.

After a few hours, she woke up and told him that she couldn't sleep, so she turned over the rest of the shift, watching him once again sleep deeply, this time for the remainder of the night.

"Good morning," she said through a smile when he showed the first signs of waking up. She passed him some food and water. "Did you sleep okay?"

James lightly smiled back, rubbing his face from any drool and crustiness that resulted from his deep slumber. "I did," he said, taking the breakfast she offered. "Thanks."

She waited while he finished eating, but then he pointed at her hair.

"Your braid," he said.

Evaline looked off to the side and brushed the tail of the braid over her shoulder, already feeling some loose ends falling out. "Yeah? What about it?"

"Come here," James said, patting the spot next to him. "I'll redo it."

Sheepishly, she sat next to him, facing away while he undid the braid and combed through her hair again.

"I think I'm going to try a different braid this time. If that's okay."


It seemed that the tenseness between the two of them were dissipating between each passing moment, even as the hours melted by and it was once again night time. The dreams, the note -- these were things they both silently agreed not to talk about. And Evaline was fine with this. She preferred it to be this way, for now. They were able to smile and laugh together in front of a fire again, even if they both told bad jokes, and even if he went on a long lesson about even more foraging items she should know about, almost like he was trying to train her as his apprentice.

She found that when the morning sun came up again, they would get into a habit of wishing the woken person a good morning, handing off breakfast, and then rebraiding her hair. And when they traveled, they would make decent distance. She could tell he was still trying to hide his pain, but only because she was aware of it. Whenever she was behind him, she found himself staring at every little joint, memorizing how they moved, asking herself if this was normal for a person to do, and even using herself as a reference. It was almost like this was another drawing lesson for her: memorize every little muscle and joint; that way, she can determine if the person in a memory is repressing pain or not.

But eventually, she found herself getting bored staring at the back of his body. She gradually started to realign their usual order, walking directly next to him instead. Conversation was much easier when seeing each other's faces, and she found that they chatted for the majority of the day despite feeling comfortable with silences.

"Sure, we've got strange creatures," she said when he asked if there were any monsters on Earth. "There's a lot I probably don't know, but I know there are many that aren't natural, like giant beetles, fish with legs, and carnivorous sheep."

James gave her a look of disbelief. "Sheep that eat... meat?"

"Okay, that was one I heard in a story," she said through a laugh. "I have no idea if that one is true. But I've heard first-hand accounts that giant beetles exist. I've also encountered fish with legs. It wasn't like they were scary, but they were really weird to watch. Like, they were swimming one second, and then walking on the ground the next."

She could see James smile but hesitate at her response, like she could detect thoughts brewing in his mind that he wasn't sure if he should ask or not since they have been avoiding asking personal questions. Who has told you these things? And how long have you been at the surface?

She quickly changed the subject before she could let him finish thinking.

"Have you ever heard of Neanderthals?" she asked.

"No," James said. "What are they?"

She sighed. "Do you know the concept of evolution?"

He looked at her blankly.

"...Monkeys?"

"Yes, I know what monkeys are, if that's what you're asking," he said through narrowed eyes.

"Oh good," she said airily. "Well, there's a new creature on Earth called neanders. They're basically a combination of human and monkey. Thing is, they aren't natural."

"None of these creatures seem natural to me," James hummed.

"I mean, yes, you're right. All of those creatures mutated because of genetic weapons hundreds of years ago. Many animals died, but some survived with mutations. Only the strongest mutations survived due to natural selection. But... neanders are different."

"How so?" he asked.

She sighed. "We were told that we would turn into neanders if we went to the surface."

James paused, connecting the dots. "But that's not true, is it?"

"No," she said softly. "It's not." She fidgeted with her hands, deep in thought. "I only learned recently where they came from."

"Oh yeah?" he said after she paused for a long time.

Evaline nodded solemnly. "Neanders were the regular humans without the powers. That's how powered people won the war all those centuries ago. They figured out they can simply adjust the genetics of those who rebelled against them."

James stood up straight with surprise in his eyes. She could tell that he brewed with more questions, but instead he said, "Earth is pretty messed up, isn't it?"

She let out a forced laugh. "Yeah," she said softly. "It is."

And then, once again, the thought occurred to her that she didn't have the courage to say out loud: Nye seems like a better place to live, doesn't it?


Nightfall came and went, and morning was on the horizon.

"Hey," a faraway voice voice called out, echoing closer and closer until she could feel herself getting pulled closer. "Evaline. Wake up."

She opened her eyes and squinted at the light, but not before noting that James was sitting over her, shaking her awake with a lighthearted smile plastered on his face.

"What?" she groaned as she slowly sat up and rubbed off the lingering sleep in her eyes. "What is it?"

"There's a place I want to show you." He handed her food and water before getting up on his feet and leading Elliot away. "C'mon, let's go."

Evaline wanted to complain. Why was he so eager to move right away? And why break the routine of rebraiding her hair every morning while she ate breakfast? She was starting to look forward to it every morning.

Instead, she groaned and decided to get up, taking two seconds to brush herself off, fold up the blanket, and rush to keep up with him.

They traveled for maybe fifteen minutes before she saw where he wanted to take her.

A cliff lined the wall that went far down into the horizon, and it seemed that a small river passed through this point of the cliff, water cascading into the ground below. The cliff was not necessarily that high; maybe ten feet, but the river was wide. Perhaps it was a lake, at one point, and the land separated into two, causing the waters to rift into what they are now. And Evaline had no complaints; it was beautiful watching the long series of waterfalls gently cascade into the mouth of the basin before winding its way down to the creek.

"Wow," she was all able to say, staring at the series of waterfalls with wide eyes. "This is..." She wasn't able to finish her sentence as her focus was on the shimmering mist of the waterfall's end that seemed to glint a rainbow in the air above them.

"I thought you'd like it," James said with a smile while fishing something in the saddlebag. He pulled out the bar of soap, and what little he had was broken into two even pieces. "I also figured you'd like to clean up. This is all I have, but I rationed it between the two of us. Here."

Evaline took the soap, looking down at it in disbelief. Get clean? Finally? In three weeks? She didn't think this day would come.

"And here," he said, handing her clothes. "We should clean our clothes, too. You can wear this while your current clothes are drying."

She took the clothes from him, looking down at it and remembering she had worn this before. It was his red shirt that was too big on her and his pants that were even bigger.

"Oh, and also," he said, walking over to the water and gesturing for her to follow, which she did. "There's something you need to know about this creek. See this here?" He pointed at the rocks near the surface of the bed.

Evaline leaned in and stared at it, not sure what he was getting at. "Yeah, what about it?"

James smirked. "It's real slippery, so be sure to watch your footing."

And without even hesitating, he pushed her into the water, causing her to shriek and fall right in, landing on her knees and hands at a waist-deep water level. He let out a victorious grin while she whipped her head around to glare at him.

"And that's for putting me in a chokehold," he said smugly, turning his heel to go back to the saddlebag. He pulled out a rope and clothesline.

"Anyways," he said, tying the rope on one branch of a tree to another across from it. "After you wash them, you can hang your clothes here to dry. I have clothespins if you need it, too." He turned to face her. "I'm going to—"

He immediately faltered then turned back around, realizing that Evaline was almost finished undressing.

"Like I was saying," he sputtered out, sounding embarrassed as he frantically began to pile his things together. "I'll be over there. Not far. Just across the river bend. If... you need me." He gathered his items and quickly began to walk in the direction he gestured to, but stopped after several strides, careful to keep looking straight ahead.

"And when you're done," he said slowly, "come get me. Just so I can prevent any more... accidents."

This whole time, Evaline was leaning into the rocks in the water, fully undressed, enjoying every minute of this. Although she had been respecting his boundaries, she had to get back at him when he pushed her in the water. It was hilarious to her just how much he was embarrassed about nudity. It wasn't like it was a secret that they both had a body with anatomical parts.

"Will do," she said through a playful smile, watching him quickly walk away.

After he left her vicinity, Evaline took the bar of soap and ventured under the waterfall, letting the water crash against against her back and head. Although the water wasn't as pressurized as the first waterfall, it was still relaxing to be able to wash away the dirt and grime with something that had pressure. She got to work, being careful to only lather the soap she needed to wash not only her face and hair, but entire body.

When finished, she dried off and then slipped into James's clothes, feeling a sense of deja vu when she looked down at herself. The pants were too wide and would slip down her waist, but James was thoughtful enough to slip in his belt for her. An amusing thought crossed her mind that, one of these days, they would have enough money to buy decent new clothes, and he would choose it for her to prove that he knew a thing or two about style, and she then she no longer had to choose between wearing pants that were too big for her or tattered pants with an annoying skirt worn over it.

She later walked over to the other side of the river bend to fetch him, and she found him finishing up wrapping his wounds.

"Do you need help?" she asked.

"No," he said, finishing up the wrap around his chest. "I got it."

Stubborn as always, but that wasn't anything surprising.

The both of them walked back to the waterfall area, and they scrubbed down their previous clothes together. It was a lot harder than it looked, but Evaline did find it simultaneously satisfying and gross that she could see the dirt and grime wash away into the water.

Trying to get a mysterious stain out of her skirt, she accidentally splashed James when submersing it up and down in the water. And then James "accidentally" splashed her back, and before she knew it, they were running shin-deep in the water, splashing each other as much as they could, threatening to dunk the other if they didn't stop, and then eventually settling on a truce. This just meant that their current clothes were wet too, so after their first set of clothes dried, they changed into it and hung their other clothes.

Evaline laid on the ground after James offered to braid her hair again despite her hair being clean and not necessarily in the way, letting the sunlight splash through the leaves of the tree above her so it could dance across her face.

For a moment, she forgot that she wasn't from this world. For a moment, she forgot she was in a war. For a moment, she forgot that James was on the run as a wanted man. For a moment, she forgot that Butch was after them, and she had to make sure that wouldn't happen.

But of course, moments do not last, and eventually they had to put everything away and walk on foot again. Their conversations were still relaxed and lighthearted, and they conversed through the day and into the night.

And for the first time in a long while, Evaline had happy dreams.

James was glad that things were back to normal - as normal as normal could be when someone appears out of nowhere, from a different world, and by fate and chance becomes your travel companion. The note that explained the supposed purpose in their meeting was never fully forgotten, but it didn't seem to mean as much anymore. James was content as the days passed on and they simply traveled, found a rhythm, and relaxed again.

He was surprised that spending so much time together didn't feel suffocating. With anyone else, James had a feeling that he might grow weary of their company, but with Evaline, there was something that just felt comfortable.

There were, however, a few hours of solitude found each night as the other slept. They were never entirely alone, but James did appreciate those hours to have his thoughts to himself. He spent that time writing in his journal, recording things he wanted to remember, and writing. It helped pass the time, and it kept him from getting stuck in his head too much.

It was another day of travel, and they found themselves following another creek, but the trees were growing a little more sparse, and the land was flattening out. The flow of the creek was slow and gurgling like it was growing lazy.

After pausing to give Elliot time to drink up, James suggested Evaline try riding Elliot for real this time. She'd gotten the hang of mounting and dismounting, but commanding a horse was a different game. James was glad that she seemed more willing than when they'd first met. He'd noticed she was growing more comfortable with Elliot and didn't shy away from him anymore. Elliot seemed to be growing a liking to her too. It helped that he spotted her sneaking Elliot treats every now again.

James let them a little ways from the river and had Evaline get up in the saddle while he held Elliot's lead rope. He wanted to start this slow.

"Check your posture," he said, looking her up and down. Evaline sat up straight and noticed for herself that her heels were angled the wrong way, and she pointed them down.

"Good," he said with a smile. He lifted the reins up for her to take. As she grabbed them he held out his hands. "Like this," he said, modeling for her how to grip the reins.

"Hold on opposite sides of the reins," he instructed.

"Like this?"

He nodded. "You'll want the reins looped around your first three fingers on both hands. Leave the thumb and pinky free."

He watched as he followed his instructions and nodded again, correcting her to make sure she held the reins loosely, so she didn't end up pulling too tightly and hurting Elliot.

"You want just enough tension to lead him," James said, patting Elliot on the neck. "But for now, we're just going to focus on stopping and starting. I'm going the have you signal to him to walk, and then to stop."

Evaline looked like she was trying very hard to focus on holding the reins right, but she nodded.

"Alright. To tell him to start walking, you're going to squeeze him lightly with your lower legs. Just one, quick--"

Ah. She was already doing it. Elliot started to walk forward, but Evaline squeezed too hard, and for too long. Elliot thought she wanted to go faster, and James had to scramble to keep up. Elliot hadn't quite built up speed just yet, but James found himself almost running. Not the most pleasant feeling at the moment.

"Woah! Woah," he said to Elliot, tugging just a little on the lead rope.

Elliot listened to him, but he came to an abrupt stop right underneath a tree, and a low-hanging branch scraped right up against Evaline's arm.

James started to pet Elliot calmly, but he looked up at Evaline with eyes full of concern.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Evaline looked stunned for a moment, but then her usual frown returned, and she furrowed her eyebrows together, looking down at him with indignant determination.

"What? I'm fine," she said, looking at her arm. The branch, fortunately, hadn't cut clean through her shirt. It had only snagged. She patted her upper arm and reassumed the correct posture. "I've got this, okay? What did I do wrong?"

James pursed his lips for a second and then nodded.

"When you squeeze, you just want it to be one, quick motion. Just a second, and only just enough for him to feel it. You don't have to apply that much pressure. Elliot is very sensitive. He's listening."

Evaline looked forward, down at the back of Elliot's head.

"Okay. I'm going to try again. Should I know how to stop him before I make him go?"

"Yes," James said. And he explained to her how it would involve her whole body signaling before the stop - first, tightening her abdomen, and then stiffening her knees and thighs against the saddle before tightening her grip on the reins, but not tugging them just yet. After signaling, she would apply even pressure with both of her legs again, and then pull the reins back just an inch or so, at the level of her waist. "Whoa," was the verbal cue.

Evaline looked like she was trying to remember all the steps, but he could tell that maybe I was more steps than she expected.

"I'll walk you through it," he said. "Now try telling him to go again. Gently."

Evaline corrected her posture one more time before squeezing Elliot's sides lightly, just once. Elliot started walking again, this time, slowly As he started walking at a steady pace, he watched as Evaline's bright blue eyes lit up and as a smile spread across her face. James walked beside Elliot, looking back at her. He couldn't help but smile with her.

"I did it!" she said, clearly restraining some of her excitement, as she was still very focused on keeping form.

"You're still doing it," James said. "Now let's bring him to a stop in a moment, okay?"

Evaline nodded, and James walked her through it. She didn't rush to complete the actions this time, instead, waiting until he finished each step and doing it carefully. It took a little longer since she was a beginner, but she brought Elliot to a stop successfully, with no issue.

When they came to a stop, Evaline was glowing.

"Can I try again?" she asked.

James smiled, and looked to Elliot, petting his nose.

"Hmm, what do you think, Elliot? Are you alright with some more practice?"

Elliot nuzzled James's hand affectionately, and James petted him some more.

"I think that's a yes."

Riding lessons lasted a little longer, and Evaline did surprisingly well. James couldn't help but feel proud of her. He knew riding didn't always come naturally, and for never having seen a horse before she found herself on Nye, James thought she was making leaps and bounds in her progress.

Of course, there were still a few little critiques he had for her. She was still holding the reins too tightly, and sometimes her hips were a little crooked, but all of that would be improved with more practice.


Another day came and went, and it was morning again. After they finished their morning routine - James finished two braids on her head, and they ate breakfast, and Elliot got some grooming - they were walking again, this time, under an overcast sky. Though it was cloudy, though, it didn't look like rain.

Evaline happened to break their early morning silence this time.

"So Nye has horses, and wolves, and little forest critters," she said. "Does Nye have monsters?"

"We do, actually," James said. He looked over to Evaline, who quirked up a brow.

"They're not as common down south, at the moment," he said. "Part of that's because of the heavy presence of the guilds that help hunt them down. But our monsters here might not be quite like the ones of earth. Funnily enough, there are legends of giant beetles, but those are only legends, now. And while your monsters seem to be more the results of a great war, ours were born out of what we call the Great Calamity, which is self-explanatory in its title for the most part, but in short, there was a series of magical phenomenon and 'natural' disasters that happened across the globe about a hundred years ago. The disasters lasted about a decade alone. We haven't run into any ruins this far away from civilization yet, but there is quite a lot that was abandoned as things fell apart."

"Wait, so the monsters came when the natural disasters started happening?" Evaline asked.

James shrugged. "Well, not exactly. There were monsters before that. There just seem to be... more, now. And some of them have enhanced magical traits."

"What do you mean by magical phenomenon?"

"Well, I'm only speaking from what I've learned from history books, but there were plagues, famine, and water contamination that all seemed to boil down to this purple, glowing fungus that seemed to choke out life wherever it sprouted."

Evaline made an interesting expression. A mix between disgust and interest, it seemed.

"What were you saying before about people killing monsters?"

"Ah. People who do that are part of the guilds," he said. "The mage-hunting guilds hunt monsters and mages - though for them, they don't see the difference."

"And mages are the people with magical powers?" Evaline asked.

"Yes," James answered. Evaline hummed.

"It wasn't always this way," James said. "Before the calamity, mages weren't hated or feared as they are now. The calamity sparked a war between mages and people without magic. Unlike your world, people without magic won."

"How did they win against people with magic?" she asked.

"Well..." James looked out into the forest. "Ambush played a big part. A majority of the war ended before it even started. All of the guilds where mages used to live - guilds used to be for mages - but they also had developed a harmful drug that they mass-produced and laced weapons with that disabled mages and made their magic near-inaccessible. It... seems like it was something in the making for a long time before the calamity. That much isn't covered in history books, though. That's just my theory - that it was saved for an opportunity when the mage guilds would already be vulnerable and unexpecting."

Evaline looked off into the forest with a frown, and her brows furrowed.

"Do they still use that drug today?" she asked.

"Yes."

"What's it called?"

"Lumshade."

Evaline stared ahead for a moment before looking at him with a tiny grin.

"Sounds like lampshade," she said.

James huffed through his nose. "Oh yeah," he joked. "Because it puts you out like a light."


The morning passed on slowly, and James told Evaline more about Nye's history. How mages were blamed for the calamity, and how magic was accused of being unnatural, and the fear-based rule of King Blackfield was born. Humans had enough against them with the calamity going on, and uniting around something - even something wrong - seemed to draw people together. Evaline found it sad. And it was.

They eventually fell back into silence for a short time, stopping again to eat, drink, and stretch. When they got going again James wanted to brighten the mood a little.

"So..." he started, pulling his harmonica out of his shirt pocket. "I don't know too many songs, but I have a feeling the songs of Nye are ones you've never heard of before. How would you like to learn... say, an old song that's been sung by sailors on the seas for decades?"

Evaline seemed to perk up as he pulled out his harmonica. "Like some kind of sea shanty? What, is it a pirate song?"

James scoffed. "No, this one's more... haunting. But beautiful in its own way," he said.

"It's not a depressing song, is it?"

James leaned to the side, smiling at her. "I guess that depends on your point of view."

Evaline grinned. "Okay, then, let's hear it."

James lifted up his harmonica and paused. "Well, it's a little hard to play and sing the words at the same time--"

"Oh?"

"So I'll have to pause in-between. But, you know, try to imagine it together. And maybe if you learn it you could sing while I play. Eventually."

He watched Evaline's grin grow a little as she watched him and he started the melody line. He played, and then he'd sing the line, echoing the melody. This went back and forth until he made it through the whole song.



As he hung on the last note for a moment, he found himself on the verge of a laugh.

"So it was a sad song," Evaline accused.

James suppressed a chuckle.

"Okay, so maybe the song literally ends with the word death," James said. "But it's a tragic love story!"

"Between a fish and a man?" Evaline laughed.

"A mermaid!" James corrected, laughing too.

"A fish person," Evaline giggled out.

"Maybe it's a metaphor!"

"A metaphor?" Evaline said. "For what?"

"Well--"

"Oh, wait, no, I got it. It's about killing your fish spouse."

James's hand smacked against his forehead, and the two of them dissolved into laughter.

Evaline lost track of time.

She wasn't sure how many days have passed since she appeared in Nye. Maybe a month? It was hard to tell, and at the same time, she wasn't sure she wanted to know.

Everyday they underwent the same morning routine, same traveling speed, and same nightly campfire talks. After a while, the days started to all melt together. James seemed to enjoy her company, and she was glad she had to have him around to guide her. She was learning enough that she could potentially be okay if he left her today, but now that he was involved with the note as well, it was unlikely he would leave her.

The note. They have been ignoring the note. The night the second verse appeared, they both came to an agreement that they didn't need to listen to its demands; they could instead open up to each other slowly, on their own terms.

What were their terms, she didn't know. They didn't exactly have this conversation, and with each passing day that they pretended like they were companions traveling north together, it was harder and harder to bring it up. Evaline knew the subject was inevitable, but she was waiting for the right moment.

It never was the right moment, though.

And so another morning passed, and the both of them restarted their routine again. It was early morning by the time they started going up a steep hill. They had to pause their conversation as James seemed to struggle to pull Elliot while also maintaining his stamina, and although Evaline wanted to offer to take Elliot, she knew that he would kindly deny any assistance like the stubborn man he was.

She was following behind him instead, and staring at the back of his body, she noticed that he indeed seemed to be recovering. James used to hobble a certain way every few steps, but now it seemed more sparse, even with the incline and rough terrain. She wondered how his other wounds were doing, but she had no reference point since she never did get to see how bad it was in the first place.

Finally, they reached the top of the hill, and they paused for a moment to take a quick breath. Evaline looked out over the hill below, noticing that it wasn't as steep, and also noticing...

A faded orange color caught her attention. A tent? Or at least, the top of one. She couldn't fully see it with trees in the way. Her eyes quickly wandered around the area, also noticing puffs of gray smoke in the air that originated at the bottom of the hill.

People lived here. This was a sign of civilization.

She turned to James, noticing his tense expression.

"I think people live here," she said to him, stating the obvious.

James gripped Elliot's lead a little tighter and then loosed his grip. He took in a soft, deep breath as his eyes followed the trail of smoke down to the campsite up ahead. His eyes scanned the ground for tracks, and he recognized a path that looked like it was walked on by not-quite-human feet.

"We can go around," he said. "It'd be best to avoid them."

Evaline nodded, following his lead. James was a wanted man, so it would make sense that he would want to avoid people.

But it was rather odd that these people were camping in the middle of nowhere...

"Do you think they would recognize you?" she asked.

"I'd rather not take any chances," James said, turning to the side, to go across the top of the hill to the west, and then down. It was easier than going diagonally.

Evaline followed, pursing her lips in thought. "Why do you think they're camped out in the forest?" she asked.

"They're either criminals like me, or looking for criminals like me," he answered, before pausing. "There's a slim possibility that they're people who've been displaced by goblins, but those people have a tent, and probably other supplies. People who've been run out of their land that rarely have a chance to leave that prepared."

He paused again, glancing out at the trail of smoke once again and sighing.

"...But it's probably goblins."

Evaline raised a brow. Goblins, right below them. From the little James had told her about his opinions and experiences, goblins were violent creatures not to be trifled with.

But he never mentioned they were smart. She assumed they were savage animals living primitively, but she saw a tent and the smoke of a fire. Only intelligent creatures could set up tents and start fires.

It made her wonder if James purposefully left out these details because goblins killed his father and pillaged his family's farm. She was able to empathize; it was natural to dehumanize the enemy.

But she couldn't help but wonder.

"When was the last time you saw a goblin?" she asked.

James was quiet for a moment, still scanning the ground to see if the goblins had been this way yet or not and if they were likely to be nearby.

"...Maybe a month ago," he said. "They tend to be out here, sometimes. Camping. Scouting. Surveying the land. I don't know. But if we went further west we'd start hitting their cities, which we won't be doing."

Well, this was starting to sound suspicious now. He practically met her a month ago. How many days have passed between encountering the goblin and then encountering her? She wanted to know.

Evaline couldn't help but listen to the note's poetic rhymes ringing at the back of her head.

"Did a goblin hurt you?" she asked with a softer tone.

"No," he answered.

It wasn't goblins.