The night was bland and uneventful. Nothing noteworthy happened on my watch, and the same can be assumed for Lillia's and Blake's watch, as neither of them woke everyone up for an emergency. Only after the sun had just begun to peak over the horizon did everyone wake up for the next day of travel.
Cleaning up and storing our camp materials was a quick process, and before long, everyone was back on the wagon, this time with Lillia in the front while Blake and I sat in the back.
The sound of the wagon rolling ever forward was the only noteworthy thing to pay attention to in the vast plains we were moving across. Occasionally, the sight of birds soaring across the sky could be seen, but nothing on the ground that could be a threat. Just the grass.
"Ugh, this is such a waste of time," Blake quietly muttered.
"Were you expecting something else?"
"I was expecting to be doing something more important than babysitting this junk!" he snapped, his arm wildly motioning at the goods in the wagon.
"You don't think this is important? This man's livelihood is too little for you to care about?"
"It isn't as important as the big problems plaguing the kingdom! The problems I signed up to help take care of!"
"And that means he gets to be thrown to the wayside? What is the matter with you!?" I sternly reprimand.
Blake held his tongue, clearly wanting to say something. I can only sigh.
"Look, you want to save the world, fine, I get it. But how are you supposed to save the world if you don't care to help the people living in it?"
"I-"
Blake paused, his head turning away. Clearly, he wanted to say something but was finding the words unable to come out.
I continued.
"Learn what it is your fighting to save, learn how to fight to save it, then go and fight. Don't go and get yourself killed because you're rushing to make a name for yourself-"
"What does it matter to you whether I die or not?" he rudely remarked, his eyes finally looking directly at me, a fire churning inside of them.
"What? Of course it matters to me-"
"Why!? Why do you care about a nobody like me actually making it? Why do you care about this man here getting his goods to Inchor? Why is this what you spend your time doing instead of working to protect the kigdom!?" he shouted, his voice raising higher and higher.
"There a problem back there?" Seth called back to us.
"No, just a bit of banter," I call back.
"Try and keep it down then, you're scaring the birds away."
Sure enough, the birds that had been flying around us, curiously watching, had now all scattered in different directions. After the brief look, I turn back to Blake, who still seemed just as on edge as before.
"Why do I care about all of them? Why do I help them instead of helping the kingdom? Because they are alive Blake. They have people they love, people they care for, lives with those people, and promises to them."
The anger vanished from Blake's eyes, seemingly ebbing away at the thought.
"Why do I help you? Help the vendor? Because you, him, and everyone else, everyone has something that they need to do, just as helping them is what I need to do."
The fight left Blake completely with a sigh. He sat there quietly, mulling over what I said.
"Fine."
I sigh as well.
"Good."
The rest of the day passes rather uneventfully. We continue ever further through the plains, following the dirt trail. A thicker woods shows up further on the left, following alongside us all the way until the sun starts nearing the western horizon.
Once the horses are brought to a stop, the three of us repeat the process from the previous night. Blake quickly gets a fire going with some wood gathered from the woods off to our left while Lillia and I set up the tents for the night.
Once we finish eating, we agree to the same watch schedule as with the previous night. Three hour watches, starting with me, then Lillia, and finally Blake.
"Alright, we all know what to do. You both get some sleep then."
They both nod, retiring themselves in the tent with the vendor and leaving me alone with my thoughts and the fire.
All that can be heard in the dark night is the crackling of the flames as they ever lick at their fuel. Along with that is the sound of crickets in the planes around us, incessantly making noise.
Nothing dangerous stirs around us. Just peace and tranquility.
Thinking back, it's moments like this that really made the adventure back then. Everyone gathered around the fire, telling jokes and eating food, feeling truly alive. Whether we were hunting monsters, escorting valuable cargo, searching for ancient ruins, or marching to almost certain death, it was always the moments around the fire where we were closest.
I can't help but sigh as I remember days long behind me.
Then there's Blake. In too much of a rush to see just what it is he's wanting to fight for. What could be pushing him so strongly towards making a name for himself? Why is that the only thing he seems concerned with?
"What is it really that he's chasing?" I ask to the fire, but it only crackles.
I can't help but sigh once more.
Oh well, nothing I can figure out with thinking alone. I should focus on the surroundings.
With that thought, I carried through the rest of my watch. Before long, my time is up, and so I wake Lillia and swap with her.
* * * * *
"Lionell!"
A hushed whisper urgently calls my name from the opening of the tent, jolting me awake.
"What?" I whisper back, quickly rubbing the sleep from my eyes.
It is far from morning. The night is still long and both Blake and the vendor still sleep. Something must be wrong if I'm being woken up.
"You need to see this," Lillia answers, pulling back from the front of the tent so that I can slide out myself.
Once I'm out, I quickly attach my dagger and sword along with my pouch of potions as Lillia points.
"There's a group of dogs nearing from the the road we already traveled. I can't tell if they're coyotes or wolves, but it seems they've followed us."
Looking in the direction she's pointing, sure enough I see many beady eyes in the dark, illuminated only by the fire still dimly burning this late into the night.
"It's too dark to really make out what they are," I agree, formulating a plan as I watch. "Say, what spells do you have at your disposal?"
"My spells? Why do you-"
"Focus Lillia. What spells do you have?"
She starts to question why I need to know, but I quickly cut her off.
"R-right. You've seen my Invisible spell as well as Water-Jet. On top of those, I can use Healing-Word, Healing-Hand, Light-Flash, Water-Control, and Thorns."
"Light-Flash, tell me more about it?"
"Using Light-Flash, I can light up the surrounding area for a duration of ten seconds. It has a short incantation, so it is something I can use quite quickly."
"That sounds perfect. Go ahead and cast that."
"What? Shouldn't we just kill them?" Lillia asks, clearly surprised by my suggestion.
"No, they don't need to die just because they're curious or hungry. Doing this, we can figure out just what they are as well as probably scaring them off."
"I see, that makes sense," Lillia nods.
"Good, go and cast it then."
Doing as I directed, Lillia stands straight with her staff, speaking words I don't understand as the odd blue stone at the tip of her staff begins to glow. Three seconds is all it takes for her to finish the incantation.
"Light-Flash!" she confidently shouts, finishing the spell.
Immediately, the surrounding planes around us are lit up by Lillia's spell, almost blinding if I hadn't been expecting it. The dogs are even more blinded than myself, squinting and yelping from the sudden brightness.
"Ahh, just some coyotes," I say after a quick glance, relief filling my body.
They quickly scamper off in fear, though they aren't the only ones who were scared.
"Whats happening!?" Blake yells, jumping from the tent with his sword drawn the moment he's out.
I can hear Seth gasping in fear as well, suddenly yanked from his sleep by our spell.
"Its nothing to worry about. Some coyotes were getting close to the camp, so I had Lillia use one of her spells to scare them off. Go ahead and put your sword away," I say, my hands raised to calm him down.
"Geez," he says with a sigh. "Warn me next time, I thought we were about to have a fight on our hands."
"Trust me, if I ever think there is going to be a fight, you will know. Come now, let us get more sleep. You still have some time before your watch."
"Yeah," he nodded.
Together, we both went back into the tent, going back to sleep while Lillia continued watching with her keen eye.