Lizzy says “Only a little. My curiosity is nowhere near as strong as yours is.”

  “Anyway. Do you know anything more about the lizards? Do you know how long your tribe has been using them as mounts?”

  Leylisha says “They have always been with us as our partners. As far back as our history goes, they have been with us.”

  “How far back is that? Do you know?”

  Leylisha says “I don’t know exactly, we don’t keep records like the humans do. It is probably hundreds of years at least, maybe thousands.”

  “No problem. That’s basically what I expected. How is your tribe doing? I’ve heard some tribes are having problems with the humans.”

  Leylisha says “We don’t have any problems with humans. At least, we haven’t had any recently, but my tribe is hard to reach. The humans would have serious problems getting past the beasts to reach us. Other tribes may be having problems, but we are pretty isolated.”

  “If you are so isolated, what were you doing so close to the human lands?”

  Leylisha says “Lately, our hunting grounds have been less populous. To give them time to recover we hunters have been hunting in new areas. That’s what I was doing, looking for new hunting areas. The twintail wasn’t what I was after, it attacked me. I was doing fine until the second one came out of nowhere.”

  “I had actually just killed one when we heard you scream. Is it usual for them to be in that kind of area? I would think they would stick to swamps.”

  Leylisha says “As far as I know they do, but it was my first time in that area so I don’t know why they were there.”

  “Alright, fair enough. I guess the question now is what to do with you. Originally I planned to help you get back to your tribe, but it sounds like that won’t work.”

  Leylisha says “No, I can’t go back. All I can do is try to find a new mount, or die in the attempt.”

  Lizzy says “Ash, we can’t just let her go off to die.”

  “Well, what do you want me to do? We can’t just force her to do something she doesn’t want to do.”

  Lizzy says “We can take her with us! She can’t return to her tribe anyway and at least with us she won’t die.”

  Leylisha says “I appreciate your concern, but it is alright. The only way for the tribe to survive is for it to remain strong. It remains strong by letting the weak die.”

  “You are not weak just because you lost, you were just unlucky. That is not a good enough reason to just walk out there looking to die.”

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  Leylisha says “I am not looking to die. I will fight with everything I have, but the odds are against me.”

  Lizzy says “So come with us! You might find another type of lizard to become your mount. Or if nothing else, you can become stronger before you go back.”

  Leylisha says “How would I get stronger by going with you?”

  Lizzy says “Anyone who hangs around Ash gets stronger!”

  Leylisha says “What? How?”

  Lizzy says “He just can’t resist getting into trouble.”

  “I do not go looking for trouble!”

  Leylisha says “What does trouble have to do with getting stronger?”

  “Leylisha, do you have levels?”

  Leylisha says “Of course I do. I told you I was a hunter. I am currently level fifteen, but what does that have to do with anything?”

  “Surely you know that fighting and surviving gets you experience. That is the kind of trouble Lizzy is talking about. Also, I am a crafter and enchanter. I can make you magical gear that will make you stronger.”

  Leylisha says “Are you staying here? Is this your home?”

  “Ah, no. We are currently journeying to a conference in the Magic Kingdom. Apparently there is something that might threaten all of the kingdoms. After that, we should be returning home. Also, I can get you back to where we found you at any time, no matter how far we travel.”

  Leylisha says “What? How is that even possible?! Just what are you?!”

  “Do you know what a dragon is?”

  Leylisha says “No. Is that some type of beast?”

  “In that case this is going to be a really long story. How about I tell it to you once we are on the road?”

  Leylisha says “Alright. I guess I can go with you at least long enough to hear your story. I will make my decision once I understand more.”

  “Fair enough.”

  As we have been talking the sun has risen and the activity around us has greatly increased. I grab one servant to ask that breakfast be brought for Leylisha along with Lizzy’s food. After that servant rushes off, I grab another and ask to be shown to the carriage that Mavel will be using.

  I find out that since Mavel is bringing some of her daughters, they will be adding two carriages to the caravan. On top of that, they will be adding another forty cavalry, bringing us up to a hundred. The two carriages I am brought to are almost as nice as Amn’s, but they have some comfort enchantments his was missing.

  I fix them so that they can keep up without messing with the comfort enchantments. Once I am done I head inside just in time to join Mavel, Amn, and Gremshow for breakfast. As we are eating Mavel drops the bomb of her oldest daughter coming with us.

  With everything that has happened since dinner, I had completely forgotten about her daughter. Apparently, they aren’t joining us for breakfast due to the last minute packing. That means that four of her daughters are coming with us, leaving the second oldest here to manage things.

  Amn and Gremshow don’t say a word about the last minute change, but I spot Shiro smirking. It really isn’t my place to say anything either, I am just a glorified guard as far as I am concerned. Luckily, the conversation reminds me of the eldest's name, which I hadn’t paid attention to before.

  Since she is now going with us, I will probably need to know it at some point of the trip. The oldest is Mavabel, for some reason all of the daughters have names starting with Mav. Normally, I would think that Mavel named them, but she doesn’t strike me as being that narcissistic.

  A casual question reveals that her two oldest were named by their father, Mavel’s first husband. For whatever reason, her second husband, father of the youngest three, kept up the pattern. Just as we are finishing breakfast, I let Mavel know that I made some improvements to her carriages.

  Queen Mavel says “Is that why you were so far ahead of schedule?”

  Emperor Amn says “Yes, it is. With the improvements that Ash made to my carriage, we were able to move at the speed of the cavalry.”

  Queen Mavel says “Good! The less time we have to spend in the desert the better!”