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“Shhh!” James says to his friend. Then he nods and whispers, “Yeah.”

“I thought you wouldn’t ever kill anything?” he asks.

Shrugging, he replies, “Back home I never would. Here it’s a matter of survival. Now be quiet and keep your eyes open.”

They slowly creep their way further between the trees until Miko lays his hand on James’ shoulder to get his attention. Pointing off to the right, he directs his gaze to a small animal sitting upon a fallen tree.

“Right,” breathes James. Cocking his arm back, he lets loose the magic and throws the stone. It flies through the air and strikes the creature in the head knocking it off the tree.

“You got it!” exclaims Dave as he breaks into a run toward the fallen animal. James and Miko follow.

They find the animal with half its head blown away. “Gross,” Dave says as he bends over and picks it up by its tail. Blood drips from the opening.

“Take it back to camp,” James tells him. “I’ll try to get another before it gets too dark.”

“Alright,” he says and heads back to camp.

Shortly after Dave leaves, James bags another animal. He and Miko then return to camp where the animals are dressed for the fire.

The night passes quickly and in the morning they have a quick breakfast, finishing off the remnants of the roasted animals of the night before. Once done, they mount up and return to the road and continue north.

All day long, the forest alongside the road remains constant. An hour or so after noon, they begin to notice the odor of wood smoke in the air. Shortly after that a cluster of buildings appears along the road out of the forest ahead of them.

“Wish we could’ve stayed there last night,” complains Dave.

“Would have been nice,” replies James. The others just give Dave an annoyed glance.

The village ahead of them doesn’t have all that much going for it, a few main buildings such as an inn and a chandler’s shop and not much else. Scattered amidst the surrounding forest, houses can be seen here and there.

One man is leaving the inn and James rides near and asks, “How much further is Ironhold?”

The man pauses and glances up at him. “About a day and a half,” he replies. “When you reach the foothills you’ll know you’re close.”

“Thank you,” James says and then continues on through. Glancing back, he sees the man hasn’t moved from his spot, merely standing there and staring at them leaving. The way he’s acting gives him the creeps.

Jiron notices him as well and says, “Wonder what that’s all about?”

Shrugging, James says, “Maybe he just wants to remember the fools going to Ironhold.”

Laughing, Jiron nods his head. Jorry and Uther join in.

“What’s so funny?” Miko asks.

“Nothing,” replies James and breaks into a chuckle as well.

They pass through the village and return to the forest. The rest of the day is pretty much as it has been and they finally make camp as the light begins to fade.

James again takes Dave out into the forest and they manage to bag a large animal similar to a deer back home. It’s too encumbering for one to carry so together they bring it back to camp.

Along with the roasted meat from this kill, they also finish the rest of the bread and some of the cheese they had bought from the farmer earlier. Seeing their dwindling supply of food, James wishes he had thought to buy several more day’s worth in that small village they passed through earlier.

What can’t be helped must be endured. Through the night, they keep the fire going and the one on watch continues roasting the meat so they can take most of it with them when they leave.

Early the next morning they break camp and return to the road. “We should be there before night, I think,” James announces.

“I can hardly wait,” moans Dave.

“Cheer up,” his friend tells him. “Doubt if anything will give us trouble there.”

“You know,” Dave says as they ride along, “in the horror movies back home, the person who always says things like that is usually the first to die.”

“So?” asks James. “Those were just movies.”

“I just think you should approach this with a little more