We continued running until the buff wore out. We passed several other travelers that were quick to get out of the way of Jules, who thundered down the road. It was all we could do just to keep up.

  We slowed to a fast walk, following a branch in the road to the right. The surroundings gradually shifted into rolling grasslands. Thick tufts of grass covered gently rolling plains. An occasional tree with a dark red bark and gnarled limbs grew from the thick grass.

  Large gazelle-like beasts roamed, a single large horn protruding from their foreheads. They lifted their heads and watched us pass, chewing large mouthfuls of grass.

  I saw a herd of elephant… sheep? grazing in the distance. They had fluffy white fur coating much of their bodies, and long, grey trunks. Even their large, round ears were coated in thick, white fur.

  “Are those elephant sheep?” I asked.

  “No clue, but it looks like it,” Arlo said.

  “Those’re Baskers!” Balen said. “That white fur you see’s worth a pretty coin, but they’re right tough buggers. Tend to stay away from tha road. Real’ territorial. An’ bigger than they look from here.”

  One of the baskers looked our way, trumpeting a warning. I thought they looked pretty damn big from here.

  I felt comfortable with the pace Balen set, and began practicing Cahl’s song as we walked. Balen put up with the failed attempts for ten minutes before shouting at me to go up ahead if I was going to cause such a racket, which I did. Katarina followed, amused at my attempts.

  “That song is insane. You have to pluck those strings so fast, and in just the right order and time. It’s really crazy,” she said.

  “Yeah, my mentor wrote it,” I said with a smile.

  “What an absolute madman.”

  The wide road was mostly straight, with a gradual incline. It was so gradual that I barely noticed it, until looking back and seeing the wide expanse of grassy fields swaying under the gentle influence of the wind. Far, far in the distance, I thought I could see the twinkle of the ocean.

  I developed a routine for practicing my song. I would practice Cahl’s Tatsu until the strenuous performance wore me out. Then I performed Radiant Winds, restoring myself with the orbs. Recovered, I jumped right back into the Tatsu. I alternated this method for the rest of the day, stopping only to eat during breaks.

  I gained another twenty levels in Stringed Instrument by the time we approached the camp site built between Verdantbrook and Fort Ethers. Much more exciting than that, however, was the successful attunement to my lute that I achieved alongside my 35th level in Stringed Instrument.

  Connection Status: 100%!

  Your connection with the Lute of Azure Skies is complete!

  Item information updating…

  Updating….

  Updated information available! New skill available!

  Lute of Azure Skies.

  Unique, Mastercrafted Stringed Instrument.

  Provides the wearer +2 Charisma, +1 Intelligence, +1 Dexterity when equipped. Provides Mastercrafted Instrument bonus to songs, increasing performance by 15%.

  Ability: Songcache. Item can be imbued with a song. Songs must not require continued performance. Number of songs held increases with bond affinity.

  Bond Affinity unlocked! Continued use of this item builds Bond Affinity levels. These levels increase stats and ability strength.

  Bond Affinity: 1

  Increased stats: +3 (2+1) Charisma, +2 (1+1) Intelligence, 4 (2+2) Dexterity. Increases song performance by 30%.

  The appearance of the lute changed slightly with the attunement. Gentle lines of blue appeared around the edges and along the frets. Excited to test it out, I performed Cahl’s Tatsu Pizzicato without thinking, from simple muscle memory of the day. The new blue additions to the lute glowed with faint energy as I performed.

  I succeeded in performing it, I had gotten to the point of succeeding about half of the attempts I made even while walking, but I received an error message when I attempted to store the song.

  Error! Song not compatible with Songcache.

  Of course. It required the song be maintained, which was an exclusion for Songcache. I chalked it up to the day spent practicing my mentor’s insanely difficult song frying my brain.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  I performed Radiant Winds, completing it at 95%. I felt the manifestation of magical energy with the successful completion of the song and directed it into the lute.

  Songcache successful! Radiant Winds (95%) stored!

  “What just happened? Where are the little glowing orb things? And is your lute… glowing now?” Katarina asked. She had hung around me, traveling just far enough ahead of the caravan that my practice did not disturb Balen.

  “I just unlocked an ability with my lute, it can store a song now. They are in song storage.”

  “Your… lute… has an ability? Where did you get it?”

  “My mentor gave it to me. I had to build a connection with it to unlock the ability. I think it might have belonged to his wife. This cloak I am wearing belonged to his wife, and they have a similar… feel?”

  “Yeah, I can see that. They vibe. The lute is kinda small, though. It looks more child-sized. Wow, these backstories, man. Veil just feels so…” she took a deep breath, experiencing the moment. “So real. Everything. Even the NPCs, even if they ‘re really just ones and zeroes. It’s incredible.”

  “It really is,” I agreed.

  The waystop consisted of a series of campsites with posts to secure carts and beasts and areas for campsites and sleeping gear. There was a small building built next to a large spring.

  A large sign said Dennon’s Rest. Last Water before Fort Ethers. Return water containers to Cenor’s Rest in Fort Ethers. BRING AT LEAST ONE CONTAINER PER PERSON.

  A second sign dangled below by two chains and read:

  BRING ENOUGH WATER TO SURVIVE. NO RESCUE IN THE FRETAL WASTES. JOURNEY AT YOUR OWN PERIL!

  The message ended with a series of skulls and crossbones.

  There were no other travelers at the stop. The small building housed shelves of containers made from some thick hides woven together. They were roughly the size of a large backpack. A spigot was built into the back wall of the building, which faced the spring.

  “A’right, let's fill up these containers and get’m loaded on the cart. Here, big fella, help me with this.” Balen said, hopping down off of the cart and walking around to the back. He motioned to Arlo as he did. Balen reached under the back of his cart and disconnected something, which fell to the ground with a thump. He and Arlo pulled it from under the cart and he assembled it. It was a smaller cart, which could be connected to the back of his cart, designed to hold the water containers.

  “Fascinating,” Abernathy said. He had watched the whole thing from the cart, and climbed down to inspect the smaller cart. “Built to fold down when not in use. Strengthened areas of support. Interlocking mechanisms to solidify the weaker areas required to make it compact. Where did you get this?”

  “They’re sold at Verdantbrook an’ the Fort,” Balen said. “pretty cheap, too — ain’t a merchant worth his salt that don't have one of these. Who wants to waste good product space with water?”

  Abernathy nodded, scratching his chin. “This was expertly designed. I wonder by whom and where.”

  “Aright, it's easier just to roll the small cart over to the building and load the water bags there. You'll wear yourself out, walking all them sacks of water. They’re heavy sumbitches.”

  Arlo pulled the smaller cart over to the building and we spent the next twenty minutes filling a dozen of the large containers with water. It took three of us to pull the cart back into position and lock it in place. That done, we settled down around one of the camp spots. Elsetha ignited a pile of tinder with a word and gesture, and we gathered around the fire, exhausted from the day’s travel, but excited for what was to come.

  We took turns keeping watch through the night. The close proximity to water, likely the only one nearby, made the threat of predators higher than normal. Even so, the night progressed with no problems.

  I awoke the next morning to the smell of cooking bacon. Abernathy was crouched over the campfire with a skillet sizzling in his hand. He held a pair of tongs in the other hand and was flipping the bacon as I stood and walked over.

  “That smells amazing,” I said.

  “G’day, Chanter!” he said, “I brought enough for everyone!”

  Arlo walked up, slapping Abernathy on the back. “Good man, that is fantastic.”

  Elsetha walked up, sniffing at the bacon. “That does smell amazing, but I don’t eat meat. I appreciate the thought though, Abernathy.”

  “Oh, I know,” he said, producing a loaf of bread, a knife, and a glass jar containing a red jelly. “I brought this for you!”

  Elsetha’s breath caught for a moment, her eyes going wide. “Is that… strawberry?”

  “Surprise!” he said, pulling out a wooden platter and laying the ingredients on it. “I… I feel like I’m not much help with the party, so I wanted to bring something tasty.”

  “Not much help? Abe, you literally saved my life.” Elsetha said.

  “Oh. That’s true, but still. Good food never hurts!” he responded, pulling some of the thick sliced bacon from the pan and laying it on a plate. He added more meat to the pan as Hannah picked up a piece and took a bite.

  “It's so good! Oh, Abernathy, you overdid yourself!”

  Tobias grabbed a piece and tossed it in the air. Lesh flew up and gracefully snatched it out of the air, landing on Tobias’s shoulder to eat.

  We continued the journey after finishing breakfast. Even Balen was in high spirits, the late start and annoyance of the previous day forgotten, thanks to Abernathy’s culinary preparations.

  The grass gradually shrank and was replaced with small, scraggly waist-high trees. After an hour we had fully entered the desert. Far in the distance to our right, massive mountains loomed. The ground was sun-baked and not even the small shrubs survived.

  We were forced to stop and take water breaks every thirty minutes. Jules had a special muzzle that held water, and we would stop so Balen could refill it to keep the great beast hydrated.

  It was during the second such stop for hydration that we were ambushed.

  We had come to a stop, Balen transferring water from one of the containers and into the beast’s contraption. The rest of us gathered around the containers of water, filling our individual water-skins.

  They came upon us in complete silence. Lesh saved us from being caught unaware and slaughtered wholesale. The bird looked up suddenly, then took flight with a piercing cry. Tobias looked up and tracked Lesh’s motion for an instant before pointing and shouting.

  “Ambush!”