“That is a lot of capybaras.” I whispered after the shock wore off.

  It was pushing dinnertime when we finally came out the other side of the canyon, and by that point, the stampede from the high road had migrated.

  The entrance to Sumbria through the pass was overrun with some hundred capybara. The creatures were sleeping, digging in the dirt, snuggling each other, and one capybara was riding a cavern cat - a monster half the size of a horse that seemed unconcerned with the creatures that had overtaken its domain.

  “Should we try and follow the cavern cat’s example?” Bastian mused. The monster reached a cliff face and the capybara riding it hopped off just before the cavern cat leapt onto a jutting slope. Free from its passenger, the cat draped itself on the slope and closed its eyes for a nap in the sun.

  It was equally unconcerned with us and the thirty or so adventurers desperately trying to herd the capybara. Many I knew, and a few that spared us a second curious glance.

  “No… no I don’t think the horses would play nice.” I reached forward and patted the dapple mare I’d rented this morning. She wasn’t a knowing beast, but even I could see she wasn’t too keen on pressing forward as we were.

  Bolin’s horses were raised for cross country trek and survival. They weren’t mean, but they weren’t gentle beasts. I didn’t want to upset one capybara… let alone a stampede of them.

  “Any other way to clear a path?” Bastian asked. “I could freeze the earth and hope they slide out of the way?”

  “I have a [Knock Back], but I don’t want to hurt the poor things.” I glanced at Lish, “Do you have anything?”

  “...” Lish hesitated, eyeing the sheer number of capybara in front of us. “No. Anything that I have to ward off pests wouldn’t get us far.”

  “Hail Travelers!” An elf dressed in adventuring attire waved at us from inside the swarm. His dust brown hair and light brown skin faded into the background with some sort of [Stealth] skill. Not enough to hide from her, but enough to startle Lish.

  “Well met,” I called, deliberately looking around as if I, too, couldn't find the elf. "How are things?"

  “Slow going.” The elf walked through the capybara without much trouble until he was free of the throng, and then dropped his stealth skill. “Are you bound for Sumbria?”

  “We were hoping to reach the border today,” I admitted, “I was looking forward to dinner with my family.”

  My family didn’t know I’d be home for dinner, but that didn’t mean it was a lie. Still, there was no way I was going to yell for all to hear that I was racing the crown prince back to the castle so I could convince said family that my non-elf husband was a good idea without the royal’s breathing down my neck.

  Honestly, it wasn’t like the crown prince could do any real damage… but if we made it in and out before he got home then I wouldn’t have to put up with him when we visited the court. And that was worth hurrying for.

  “I might be able to [Sneak] you through,” The elf cast a dubious look at Bastian. “But it’ll cost you.”

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “How much?” No sense arguing, even if I could probably [Stealth] better than the elf. I wasn’t in Peldeep yet; no sense in getting sloppy.

  “Three silver for the ladies,” He replied, then frowned at Bastian, “And a gold piece for the foreigner.”

  Ah, bigotry, “Deal.”

  Bastian started to open his belt pouch, but I summoned a black card from my inventory and held it up, “Do you take Maplecard?”

  “That I do, your excellency, but I’ll need payment after each transport.” The elf smiled and bowed, recognizing the color reserved only for nobility. “Dewey Sapson at your service. Now, who am I taking first?”

  “Why don’t you take the knight commander,” I stressed Bastian’s title, hoping that would make this even the slightest bit easier.

  “Are you sure–”

  “Shouldn’t I go last?”

  Dewey and Bastian both rejected my plan, the elf snapping his mouth shut when I smiled a wide smile at him.

  “No, it’ll be best if he goes first.” To Bastian I added, “It’ll take you the longest to get through the border guard, and we’ll be right behind you.”

  Bastian clearly hesitated, but accepted my plan without further complaint. Dewey, however, looked anything but pleased. “Alright then, pass me the reins - and you better keep quiet on the trip. I don’t need you breaking my focus.”

  The likelihood that Dewey would’ve just abandoned Bastian on this side of the capybara after delivering Lish and I was all but certain, and his behaviour only solidified my assumption. If there weren’t thirty some-odd adventurers in sight, I’d be worried about mugging. Bastian had the gold to cross, and had a visible coin purse to show for it.

  I was still worried about the horse, but Dewey managed well and the capybara parted for the group and no kicks were thrown.

  “This is gonna be fun.” I whispered, and then, “oh, hello.”

  A capybara had climbed onto a ledge halfway as high as my horse was standing, and was staring up at me curiously. I knew better than to offer it food, but I did reach out a hand for it to sniff. The creature stretched up rubbed its head against my palm, demanding pets. The hair on top of its wide nose was short and silky, but as I moved to scratching behind its ears the fur grew longer, thicker and coarse.

  I might have been thoroughly administering love to the creature and not paying attention to much else when Lish coughed twice to get my attention.

  “Ah, sorry.” I straightened in my saddle and told the capybara, “If you’ll excuse me.”

  Dewey was back.

  “I’ve dropped off your friend at the crossing,” He slapped his hands together twice to show good riddance, and then smiled brightly at us. “Now, who would like to go next?”

  Lish waved at me, who cast one last glance at the big eyed capybara obviously expecting more pets.

  “Why don’t you–” I started to say, but gave up before the words were even out of my mouth.

  “My lady,” Lish sat tall in her saddle, “It’s only proper that I follow after you- actually, never mind. I'll go first.”

  To my surprise, Lish changed her mind on a dime, her brow pinched in consideration. With a quick glance at the familiar adventurers around us, and the capybara still demanding pets, the maid nodded to herself and handed her reins to Dewey.

  "Right this way, miss." Dewey said, leading my maid away.

  I took the chance to get more pets in while I still could. At one point the capybara pawed the air, tentatively exploring the distance between it's ledge and my horse.

  "Oh no you don't." I chided, maneuvering my horse away from the creature. Luckily, that was just in time for Dewey to return for me.

  "Now stay." I told the capybara, half expecting it to listen as I passed my reins to the elf. “Ready when you are, Mister Dewey.”

  My horse followed the elf towards the horde of capybara, while the one on the ledge ambled down onto the road and tried to follow. Hard to accomplish when we turned invisible, but it tried, sniffing the air and waddling after us.

  I lost sight of it halfway up the slope.