That woke Triss up instantly. “Why? What’s out there?” She whispered.

  “Not sure yet. Just stay here. I need to get Naiela and then we’ll check it out.” He patted her on the shoulder and headed off across the clearing. She could still see him clearly in the light of the nearly full moon.

  Triss slowly moved backwards until she was under the trees before standing up. Her body ached from sleeping on the ground, and her clothes were damp and uncomfortable. She tried to stretch as much as she could without making her movements obvious. She’d just managed to loosen the kink in her neck when Reginald returned, Naiela in tow. “You two stay here, I’m going to check around.” He said. Then he held up a hand to stop the protests already dancing on their lips. “I can move quieter than both of you. I wont be gone long. No talking.” He waited for each of them to nod in turn before turning and disappearing into the dark woods.

  After a long, tense wait, he finally returned. His face was grim. “I guess the cart driver wasn’t lying.” He said. “There’s a demon on the road.”

  “A demon?” Triss hissed. “How?”

  “That’s impossible.” Naiela said at the same time. “Are you sure it wasn’t a large goat or a bear or something?”

  “It’s a demon, and if my guess is right, it’s there for us. I think Pr - I mean the giant guy is trying to keep us from interfering with his plans.”

  “Who?” Naiela asked.

  “The guy from the castle.”

  “No, you were about to say his name. You know who it is.” Naiela said. “Who?”

  “I have a suspicion, but I won’t be sharing it with you.”

  “Excuse me? I am the one with a mission to stop him. You can’t hide information from me.” Naiela hissed, voice rising slightly.

  “If I can confirm it, I’ll tell you. For now, I think that information would be detrimental.” Reginald replied.

  “Detrimental? I am a Tertiary order wizard! I am more than capable of dealing with sensitive information!” Naiela’s voice rose in pitch and volume.

  “Quiet!” Reginald said in a low, angry tone. “You can argue about this later. Now, we need to get going.”

  “Going? Going where?” Triss asked.

  “We’re backtracking. We’ll go through the woods and make our way back towards the city.”

  “We can’t go back to the city!” Triss said.

  “I know that. We can’t go further because of the demon, and we can’t wait here. We’ll go back partway and wait for our supplies to arrive.”

  “Do you think the demon will be gone by then?” Triss asked.

  “No, but I have a plan to deal with him. I just need the supplies in my bag. Now, enough talking. Follow me.” He turned and began to walk back towards the city, staying to the shadows of the trees instead of walking across the clearing.

  Triss kept glancing back as they walked, worries the demon might appear behind them. She didn't see anything but shadows in the trees. Several times she thought the shadows moved, and each time her heart raced faster. But nothing came out of the trees at them, and after about half an hour of travel she began to relax, feeling like they'd gotten away. Eventually Reginald angled back towards the road. The moon was low in the far horizon when they reached the dirt highway, and faint light bloomed over the trees signalling the beginning of sunrise. Reginald kept heading back to the city until the sun was up enough to light the road, then turned back off.

  "We'll stay here." He said, stepping into the woods just off the highway. "We'll wait until our stuff arrives and then we'll go deal with the demon."

  "If that's what you really saw." Naiela said.

  "What's that supposed to mean?" Triss asked defensively.

  "I already told you. Demons eat their summoners. It's likely he saw that barrowhulk Jorsh told us about and mistook it for a demon."

  "You're welcome to go back and look for yourself." Reginald said. "It would probably make my life easier."

  "Maybe I will." Naiela snapped, crossing her arms and glaring at Reginald.

  "No, you won't." Triss said. "Even if he were wrong - which he's not - it's better to wait for our supplies. You want your horse back, don't you?"

  Naiela moved her glare from Reginald to Triss and held it for several seconds. "Fine. I'll wait. But not because I believe him. Just because I want Nightfang back." She walked several paces away and sat with her back against a tree, setting herself in a spot where she could continue to glare at them both. Triss rolled her eyes and found a comfortable spot to sit and wait for the horses. She ended up falling back asleep within a few minutes.

  "Wake up. Horses are here." Reginald said as he shook her shoulder.

  Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

  "Five more minutes." Triss said sleepily. "It's too early to get up."

  Reginald laughed. "It's already early afternoon." He shook his head. "I'll never cease to be amazed at your ability to sleep. You've probably slept a total of twleve hours since last night."

  "You're just jealous." Triss replied with a yawn. She stretched her arms and then took a look around. The highway was bare, not a single soul on it. "Where's the horses?"

  "Down the road just a bit. They'll be here in a few minutes. I was down there keeping an eye out. Can you go wake Naiela for me? I'm going to stand on the road and wait for the horses."

  "Wait, what? That's stupid! What if it's a trap? What if it's that wizard guy or some guards coming?" Triss exclaimed.

  "That would be why I went ahead and watched them. Its only one person, the stable boy from the Golden Bear. I checked the woods behind him as well and he's not being followed."

  "Are you sure?" Triss asked, standing. "What if they're really good at hiding? Or have a spell to make them invisible or something?"

  Reginald smiled. "Good instincts. I've already checked all that. An invisibility spell only works on sight, not smell." He tapped his reptilian nose. "I would have smelled them. Go get Naiela and meet me on the road."

  They split up, Reginald heading to the road and Triss pushing through the woods to where Naiela had been. She didn't see the council wizard at first, and was starting to worry when she finally noticed her. She'd slumped to her side in her sleep, making her difficult to spot. Triss shook her shoulder, and the council wizard groaned.

  "Five more minutes." She muttered.

  "That's what I said. Nightfang will be here in a second." That got Naiela's attention, her eyes snapping open.

  "Where is he?" She was already scrambling to her feet.

  "Chill. I said he will be here, not that he is. Reginald is waiting for us down on the road. He says the horses are just around the corner."

  Naiela frowned. "He's waiting in the road? What if it's a trap?"

  Triss couldn't help but chuckle. "Also what I said. He scouted them out before coming back to get us. No invisible spies or anything like that."

  "We'll see." Naiela continued to frown as they walked through the trees and down to the road. Triss could see three horses approaching further down the highway. Naiela tapped her foot impatiently as the horses slowly drew nearer, making a repetitive clicking noise that, after two or three minutes, began to really get on Triss's nerves.

  "Do you mind?" Triss asked.

  "Mind what?" Naiela replied absently.

  "The tapping noise.”

  “I don’t mind it in the slightest.”

  Triss stared at the other woman through slitted eyes, an inscrutable expression on her face. Then she pulled her wand. “Nope!” Reginald said quickly, snatching the wand out of her hand.

  “Spoilsport.” Triss accused.

  “The two of you are going to give me grey hair, you know that?” Reginald said.

  “You don’t have any hair.” Naiela pointed out.

  “Which is why,” Reginald growled, “it will be such an unprecedented accomplishment.” He stalked own the highway towards the approaching horses, muttering under his breath the entire way. Triss and Naiela followed only a step behind.

  ‘Good afternoon, Master Draconic.” The young stable lad said as they approached. He was riding a strong looking red mare, Nightfang and Buttercup following along placidly on leads. “I must admit I am surprised to see you so soon. I had expected to travel at least another half day before catching up with you.” Triss’s jaw nearly dropped in shock. The young man was the same one from the inn, with the undersized clothes and unkempt hair, and Triss had gathered a sort of impression of who he was from that initial meeting. She expected a voice that cracked as often as not and a country style of speech. Instead, the young man had a deep, rich voice that boomed and rumbled with his smooth, polished words. Regardless of her first impressions, the depth of the voice definitely didn’t match the size of the speaker.

  “Good afternoon to you as well, misstress Naiela, Mistress Triss.” He continued, nodding at the ladies as they caught up.

  “Um. Hi.” Triss said.

  “Nightfang!” Naiela ran past the young man to her horse, who whinnied quietly as she approached. She ran her hands over his soft black hair, whispering quietly to the horse.

  “I think she meant to say hello as well.” Reginald said dryly. “Did you get the belongings from my room? Any trouble leaving the city?”

  “Master Jorsh had your belongings moved as soon as the guards left, which turned out to be good thing. They sent someone back to retrieve them a few hours later. And I had little trouble leaving the city. There are a few guards who are…friendly to Master Aleen and Master Jorsh. I waited until they were on gate duty.”

  “Will they get in trouble for letting you out?” Triss asked, suddenly worried.

  The young man laughed. “No, mistress Triss. They have been doing this a long time. They know what they’re about. Besides, Wizard Yurnash likely won’t care. He’s notoriously lazy.” He winked at Triss as he said the last part, and she felt her face grow warm.

  “We thank you for your service, young man.” Naiela said. The horses had already been saddled, and she’d untied the lead and was already riding Nightfang. “I’m afraid we must be going.” She directed the last part to Reginald as well. “We have to deal with someone’s overactive imagination.”

  Reginald held a hand towards Triss. “Easy.” He said. “I’m afraid Naeila is right, in a sense. We do need to get moving in case Yurnash sends patrols down this road.”

  “That’s unlikely, but better safe then dead.” The young man replied. He bowed in his saddle at each of them in turn. “A pleasure to serve.” He said.

  “It was nice to meet you.” Triss replied, and the young man winked at her again. He had beautiful blue eyes, she realized. Wait, why was she thinking about his eyes? Crap, she was blushing again! Triss hurried over to Buttercup and untied the lead, climbing up into the saddle. The young man nodded at each of them again, then headed back down the road the way he’d come.

  “You’re staring.” Naiela said with a wicked grin.

  “You’re an ass.” Triss replied. “Let’s go.”

  Reginald led them up the road for a little while, carefully inspecting their surroundings as they travelled. “Looking for the demon?” Naiela said in a mocking tone.

  “No, looking for a good spot to trap it.”

  “Trap it?” Triss asked.

  Reginald nodded. “I can’t fight it, obviously. I’ll need to make a ritual trap. When it steps into the trap, it’ll be unsumoned.”

  “That’s impossible.” Naiela countered. “You can’t make an unsummoning ritual.”

  “Maybe you can’t.” Reginald said with a smirk. “Apprentice.”

  Naiela growled, urging Nightfang forward until she was beside the Draconic. “I am not an apprentice.” She scowled.

  Reginald just shrugged and kept walking.

  “This is just ridiculous!” Naiela exclaimed. “There’s no demon up there, and you can’t make an unsummoning circle. You’re just making things up!”

  Reginald stopped and turned to look at her. “You don’t believe there’s a demon up there?”

  “Not in the slightest.”

  “So, you wouldn’t be scared to ride ahead?”

  “Of course not!”

  “Reginald?” Triss asked. “What are you doing?”

  “Just making sure Naiela is able to perform her role in this.”

  “My role?” Naiela asked. “What role?”

  “Simple. I will make an unsummoning circle on the road. You will lead the demon back into it.” He grinned, showing all his sharp fangs. “You get to be the bait.”