Pleasant air made for a pleasant afternoon.

  The sun’s rays gave the forest a more lively appearance. From the leaves to the grasses, dazzling greens rustled in the wind. All the conditions were there for a nap on a grassy hill.

  For Quin and his plain cloaked colleagues, they planted their feet on such a hill as they idly stood by while yards away, other Neravivs surrounded their leader.

  There were six Neravivs in total with Ythan included. All of them in one place. Quin never saw so many of them clustered together.

  They all circled an extravagant carriage with glossy dark wood and adorned with sharp red trims. Quin turned to Conon, the most experienced of the team not in a blue cloak.

  He asked, “So what’s going on over there?”

  “Bossman’s just gettin’ our pay,” Conon replied.

  “Our pay?”

  “The Neravivs by the carriage are part of a group called the Eagle Division,” Onyl chipped in. “They travel the land ensuring every Cosondere gets their pay.”

  “Whoa. Then doesn’t that mean there’s a lot of money in there? And only a handful of Neravivs guard the whole thing?”

  “Look around you, brother. It’s not just the wind that’s makin’ the leaves move. There are Neravivs hidin’ ‘n the woods. That’s the Hawk Division. The two work together to make sure no one tries anything funny.”

  Quin paid more attention to his surroundings. At first, nothing about the forest seemed unusual.

  After a few seconds, he saw slight movements. He could identify a boot and sights of blue. Just as Conon said, they blended into the environment and were ready to blend out if the need arose.

  “So why are we over here?” he asked. “Can’t we just get our pay ourselves?”

  “Only a Neraviv or higher can access the carriage,” Onyl pointed out. “If we are to get too close, the Hawks will treat us no differently than strangers.”

  “I heard though that we used to back ‘n the day,” Conon mentioned. “Then somebody had funny ideas. Now we don’t no more.”

  Quin turned his eyes back to the carriage. Another Neraviv stepped out but this one had a solid red bandanna wrapped around his bald forehead.

  Even though the meeting appeared to be between associates, it looked to Quin like hostiles swarmed up to his boss.

  For his part, Ythan maintained a dour face without an ounce of fear.

  The bald Neraviv walked over to the side and opened a small compartment. There, he picked up and presented an assortment of five small sacks strung together.

  The simple exchange appeared finished when the Neraviv pulled back his arm. Ythan’s face sunk further.

  “So you have a squad again,” the Neraviv mentioned with thinly veiled contempt.

  “Good for you. Typically, someone in your position who’d slip up like you did, they’d spend their days in the Pit if their days as a Cosondere weren’t already over.

  “Some good friends of ours went out that way, but you… You’re the prince, so of course that wouldn’t happen to you.”

  Ythan said nothing, did nothing, and kept his face forward. His older counterpart continued.

  “A lot of us were here from the beginning. You showed up after the fact, but you think you can rise above us in the ranks? All because of your name?”

  He walked right up to the carriage. “We joined because of people like your late brother. We served because of people like your father. Nobody’s here for you. So keep rising ‘prince’, but if your day comes, just know, we’ll be the firsts to go.”

  He tapped the carriage after those words.

  Ythan responded with a threat of his own, “You’ll be the very first to go if you don’t give me my damned money.”

  The other Neravivs closed in on Ythan. His Tyrovivs along the hill inched their way to the carriage. The trees swished incessantly.

  Tensions looked to boil when the bald Neraviv used his free hand to wave everyone off while his other hand threw the sacks to Ythan.

  He simply climbed back into the carriage then him and his entourage departed. Once out of sight, Quin and the rest went up to their leader.

  “Everything alright Bossman?” asked Conon. “The view didn’t look too good from where we were.”

  “It’s been handled,” Ythan replied as he tossed a sack to Conon and Onyl. “We have what we need. Now we can start this mission right.”

  He looked at Quin before he collected a handful of coins from one sack. He then handed his new Tyroviv whatever remained. Quin’s mask hid his frustration. His voice didn’t.

  “Hey!” he pointed when Ythan stepped directly in front of him.

  “You get the full pay when you’ve done the full time,” Ythan stated. “Is there a problem with that?”

  Quin stepped back, turned from Ythan, and clutched the small pouch.

  “Good. Now let’s move,” Ythan ordered.

  Without any affirmations, he already sprang up a hill. His Tyrovivs followed as they all hopped across the terrain over to the other side.

  There, they found a busy road with as much activity as the city center.

  Merchants, travelers, the Cosondera. They all set foot along the Corison Road, the main arterial path from Sirqu’s entrance all the way up the peninsula to the rest of the mainland.

  Down the hill, the squad strode their way through the road. Quin had no time to lose himself in all the stares with how fast Ythan walked.

  He scanned the area as he moved until he made a beeline toward a covered wagon.

  Adjacent to the wagon lounged three men in old robes. The Neraviv’s abrupt arrival shocked them all.

  “You three the chroniclers who were with Quisis earlier?” he asked assertively.

  Each of the men yielded a different response. The youngest among them nearly resembled the blue cloak in both age and appearance with short red curly hair. He dropped an old chest in his startlement.

  The others appeared much older. One of them possessed a streak of frazzled black hair that ran past his shoulders.

  The other mostly had an unremarkable face, except for a mole planted by his nostril. His countenance was a mixture of awe and suspicion. The latter agitated Ythan.

  “You and your mole have something to say?” Ythan asked as he yanked the man’s collar.

  The younger one stepped in and said, “Yes sir, that’s right! We’re the ones who were with Lady Orno. Pleased to meet you, I’m Mier.”

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Hello, I’m Arty,” said the long haired man with a compliant posture. “A pleasure to be in your acquaintance.”

  “Yach,” was all the distrusting one said. He avoided eye contact.

  Ythan took one more glance before he tossed the man on his ass.

  “Good. Me and my squad will be joining you on your journey. If we leave now, we’ll make it to Lysonick by dusk. Get your crap in order.”

  “Bossman, a word wit’ you real quick?” Conon interjected.

  “What is it?”

  “I think we should hold off til the mornin’,” he whispered. “Some of us could use the extra time to get ready.”

  Ythan immediately turned his head to Quin before he massaged it and sighed. “Dammit, scratch that. We leave at dawn tomorrow.”

  Relief fell upon Quin. Even though the afternoon barely began, it had been a long day already. He felt more than glad to take in what he learned and prepare himself mentally.

  The Yerps looked less than relieved. They briefly huddled with an upright Yach before Mier stepped up to Ythan.

  “Sir,” he began. “We don’t mean to bother you, but...some of the inns here are...rather expensive and our budget wasn’t really intended for them.”

  “Are you blind? Do you not see the Cosondera out here?” Ythan chided as he stretched an arm out to the scene. “The road will be patrolled, sleep in your wagon.”

  “Well the thing is sir...there’s talk of rain coming up and well...we’re not as invulnerable to nature as you Sentar’i, so-”

  “So you think your problems are my problems?”

  “Well you are our escort, right?” Yach asked with a stony face. “It’d be in line with your job to he-”

  A backhand ended Yach’s argument. He hit the ground with enough force to catch people’s attention nearby. They quickly went back to their business, but Ythan wasn’t done.

  “In all madness, who do you think you are to tell me my job?! My job is to make sure you don’t die. Your job is to make sure I don’t kill you. The sooner you get that through your Yerp skull, the better for us both.”

  The other Yerps turned their heads away as Yach tried to reorient himself. The bottom half of his face was covered in red.

  There it was. The Sentar’i spirit, practiced out in the open before Quin’s eyes.

  The abhorrence, the frustration, the infuriation. For the first time, Quin had a name for those feelings. A name for his helplessness. A name for the mistreatment seen and experienced as a Yerp.

  All categorized into one term. An interpretation of his detestation.

  He remembered Fyful’s words though. He had to approach the matter slowly and discreetly, at least until he could make a stronger approach.

  For the moment, Quin had to rein in his ire. The Yerp chroniclers were left to their own devices for the day.

  With the journey delayed til morning, it meant he himself was left to his own devices as well.

  Ever since he stood out, his spare time consisted of rest from an arduous day. Now he had some time and some money to indulge himself.

  But before all that, he had to get his possessions in order, a task that required entrance into one of the towers.

  After years of speculation and curiosity about the structure’s interior, Quin only felt thorough disappointment with the plain layout.

  The main floor stood at the top floor; it was bright and wide. Below laid the living quarters, a series of small dark rooms connected by a dark and narrow hallway.

  It looked like the Pit all over again except over ground and virtually empty, the floors were devoid of footsteps.

  He sorted through the collection of items he brought with him. Most of them consisted of the cobbler tools from his old job.

  Bought with the modest money he made, they were a slight step above the rustic tools handed to him by Miro. With the money he had now, he could purchase higher quality tools.

  In addition those tools were his cherished purple sandals. He put in all the experience gained into those sandals as well as love and care. He’d hate to lose them before he showed them to Aesther.

  Finally, Quin noticed All for Heart.

  The words of Naim Noma never left his head, but sight of the book alone filled his heart with warmth. He glanced through the old pages by a lantern and looked for anything applicable. One section read:

  One should not envy the endowments of others

  .others by desired trait a possesses everyone for

  Every being was brought to the world with a gift and its

  .world the to back gifted is it how from comes value true

  Quin interpreted that despite their limitations, anyone can produce something of worth which could then be used to make the world better.

  As he mulled over what he could produce, an important realization occurred to him. All for Heart was made with Yerp sensibilities in mind.

  The past month had been nothing more than a series of seismic shifts in Quin’s life. Every aspect of that life flipped on its head since he stood out.

  Even simple routines like travel went radically different than before. Everything changed when he became a Sentar’i.

  But Quin was still a Yerp at heart and it wasn’t like the book had suddenly lost its meaning. He did wonder what new meanings he could construe now that his perspective changed.

  He dissected the book cover to cover as he tried to mix old notions with new experiences. In the act, he lost track of time and an afternoon passed.

  By the time he exited the tower, dark clouds replaced the sun and petrichor filled the chilly air.

  After a gingerly descent to the dampened dirt, Quin’s mind turned to the chroniclers and their current predicament.

  Correct about the rain, their situation stood in all likelihood to be less than ideal.

  With nothing else to do and most activities hampered by the rain, Quin decided to pay them a visit to see how they fared.

  He traveled back to the Corison Road outside of town where he looked left and right for the wagon.

  Fewer people roamed the road than before, but other Tyrovivs still strolled up and down the paved path.

  Finally, Quin found the wagon from earlier where he saw Mier and Yach down by one of the wheels as Arty stood over.

  Even though he walked right up to them, Quin’s presence still made them flinch in shock.

  “Dammit, can you cloaks try and warn us when you get nearby?” Yach said as he snappily rose up. A gash took over one corner of his lip.

  “Oh, sorry about that,” Quin responded, hands up to his chest. “I’m one of the Cosondera attached to your group for your trip.”

  “Yeah I remember seeing the white hair,” Mier pointed. “Is there anything we can do for you?”

  “No not really. Are you guys busy right now?”

  “We were,” said Arty. “We just finished fixing up one of the wheels.”

  “What’s this ‘we’ business about?” Yach asked with half of his face scrunched up. “Because you weren’t doing anything.”

  “Well as the lead, I was supervising your work.”

  “Oh. Didn’t know standing around like a jackass was supervising. Also, you ain’t my boss. I only take you from place to place. Nothing else.”

  Quin took a good look at the three Yerps. With the exception of Arty, they looked muddied and exhausted, yet they were supposed to rest out in conditions like this. He found it unacceptable.

  His team were supposed to safeguard the three gentlemen to their destination and back. Not even out of the city and it looked like the mission could fail right there and then.

  Yerps or not, they were in his care. To be neglected this early on and before the trip even began, it didn’t sit well with Quin. He made up his mind what to do next.

  He told them, “Well in that case, there is something I can do for you. Come with me.”

  The men didn’t know what Quin alluded to but they followed his instructions and followed after him.

  They traveled down the road for a few minutes until Quin made an abrupt stop in front of an inn.

  The three Yerps bumped into each other behind him as he looked firmly at its door.

  He picked up the pouch of coins he received earlier. He spent all of one second to look at it when the rain intensified. He clutched it before he marched right in.

  In the end, he regretted that he went for the first inn he saw.

  Maybe he could have found a better room for a better price; nonetheless he found a place for the three men to rest. A small room with a bed and a window. Their relief couldn’t be more apparent.

  “Thank you so much sir,” Mier said with a warm smile from the foot of the bed.

  “It’s the least I could do,” replied Quin. “Sorry I could only get you one bed.”

  “I’m sure we’ve all slept in worse places. We’ll make do. Here.” Yach handed Quin some small item.

  An old coin stripped of any engravings, a small mark of the letter “M” and its circle border could still be traced. The other side had what looked like a green coating on the side.

  “Oh you don’t have to do that,” Quin said.

  “I don’t like owing people anything. Keep it.” Yach walked out of Quin’s reach before he could decline.

  “It might’ve been a good thing we didn’t travel today,” Arty spoke from beside a window. “Could’ve been in a bad spot tonight.”

  “About that, what’s this trip about? I know we’re supposed to guard you along the way, but where are we going?”

  “Well you’ve heard about the war right? The last major battle took place at a location north of the port city of Comi called Sononcoly.”

  “Sononcoly?”

  “Indeed. It pitted the forces of the Tyru and Aschyan Houses in a death battle with massive losses on both sides. The Tyrus had it worse and they subsequently lost the war.”

  “We’re creating a work for the twenty year anniversary,” Mier added. “We’re trying to go back to the same historical sites we went before to note any changes made since then.”

  “You mean I’m trying to go back,” Arty corrected.

  “You would have been a boy back at the time. Anyway, this trip will be critical for the work and we need some insurance to make sure it’s a safe one.”

  “Ah, I see. Then it’d make sense you would seek us out.”

  For Quin, it certainly sounded like a safe trip. Even though the Aerviv told him as much, he didn’t think his first mission would be so tame.

  Compared to the last few days, the next appeared to be nothing more than a smooth journey.

  With the Yerps as comfortable as they could get, Quin felt he gave adequate aid.

  “Okay well I guess I’ll take my leave. Get some rest and I’ll see you tomorrow,” Quin said with a wave before he departed the room back into the cold air.