Despite how well the meeting with the commander had gone, Idunnir and Caius decided the soldiers were a sign that it was time to move on. They left later that morning, after saying their goodbyes and stopping so Caius could exchange some things with Jovi. The old man was still pleased with him, so he got a good deal.

  Food wasn't hard to come by. According to the villagers Caius had spoken with, they hadn't gone through a bad harvest in years. In exchange for the provisions he asked someone's chimney to shed soot so that cleaning it wouldn't be as tedious. He made sure the owner understood that Caius honestly had no idea how long it would last.

  Noon was approaching before the two actually made it out of the village. It reminded Caius of family holidays, since his family's definition for "on time" was closer to "no more than an hour late." Remembering was bittersweet, since he might never see them again.

  They left the well-built stone road for a barely-discernible path through the forest that Idunnir promised would shave days off the trip to the next village. Not the nearest village to Threpin, the nearest was only two days away. But that one wouldn't have any ingredients they needed other than the same ones Threpin did. So they were skipping past it.

  He admired the scenery, but something was different. Now, he knew there were dangers out there. Before the encounter with the wolves he had experienced the dangers of the forest in an abstract manner that was easier to ignore.

  Dwelling on that terrible event... Suddenly it all struck Caius at once. Before he knew it he was on his knees in the snow, tears on his cheeks and heart pounding with terror. Why did this always happen at the most random times?

  Idunnir was there, bless her, with a hand on his shoulder supportively. "Are you alright?"

  Caius managed to get some words out, voice cracking unpleasantly. "No. Happens sometimes. It'll pass." Uncaring of the melting snow that was soaking his clothes, Caius sat down and waited for the storm in his head to pass. He pressed the clasp on his sleeve against his forehead so he could focus on its cold metal and associations.

  Dimly, he noticed Idunnir excuse herself for a while and step into the forest. He decided to trust that she would stay within earshot, in case of emergency. Time passed and so did the rush of emotion, leaving him feeling empty and exhausted.

  After Idunnir returned but before they got back on the road, Caius took a moment to look her in the eye and say: "You can always turn back. That stuff you're carrying is yours by right. And I wouldn't blame you."

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  She gave him a long, searching look. "I believe you. You really wouldn't blame me. And that's exactly why I'm staying."

  Caius suspected he was missing at least one layer of meaning, but he did accept that she honestly wanted to keep traveling together. That certainty gave him the strength to keep walking for the rest of the afternoon, and more than once he mentally said a prayer of thanks for her support in this strange world.

  The two paused for a late lunch and so Caius could make Idunnir her tea. Unlike the first time he'd seen her drink it, she didn't gulp it down as soon as she could safely do so. Instead she let it cool and took her time sipping it.

  She had her face set in what Caius suspected was a thoughtful frown. Actually, she stayed in that position for so long he was a bit startled when she spoke. "Want to know the funny part? I can't stand the taste of this stuff. But I need it."

  Caius let out a little black laugh at the irony. There was little humor and a lot of pain in the laugh. Idunnir paused for a moment before joining him with her own humorless chuckle. Afterwards, she stared at him for an uncomfortably long time.

  At last, she spoke. "You really do understand, don't you? At least some of it. How?"

  Caius took a moment to consider what he planned to say, and put it in a context she would understand. "When my... studies... first started going badly wrong, we tried to find a solution. The specialist we talked to gave me some pills to help me focus."

  It felt a bit off, responding to her brief statements with a long story. But she didn't make a move to stop him, just stared and waited. So he continued. "It helped, and I kept going. Then the problems got worse. So I got a second kind of pills. Until that wasn't enough anymore and I got a third. All the way up until I was on six types and was trying the third year of studying for the third time."

  He grimaced. "Those days are a blur. Eventually, nothing could keep me going anymore. And I cracked." At the last word he motioned to his head to illustrate the point. "Now I'm someone different."

  Now that he was done talking, Caius could finally see his words and the picture they painted. It wasn't the picture he had intended. From a certain perspective, comparing his academic difficulties to her life-threatening condition was... deeply insulting.

  Idunnir didn't say anything, but she moved from her spot on the opposite side of the fire and sat down next to him. The two stayed like that for a while, saying nothing.

  Caius was, frankly, astonished. Usually when he decided to bare his soul like this, it resulted in several misunderstandings and promising himself he would never do it again. What was different about Idunnir? Somehow she seemed to actually understand.

  But they had places to be, so he laboriously made his way to his feet and offered his companion a hand up. She took it.

  The two didn't speak for the rest of the afternoon, but the silence felt comfortable to Caius. He decided to trust that comfort.

  When they set up camp, it was by a stream in a grove of trees. The ground was clear of snow and Idunnir reported it was a bit warmer than the surrounding area. Caius chalked that up to the trees breaking the wind or something.

  Of course he was completely wrong about the cause. When Idunnir went to get some water, she reported that the stream was warm. Impossibly so, given the season.

  Caius decided that they should investigate. In the morning, after breakfast. He was too emotionally spent after everything that had happened.