The Villain Wants to Quit

The Spy Awakens

The trip through the portal went flawlessly; Theo was completely unrecognized with his pink-hair-strawberry concept.

Theo did owe Chaya a great deal for that. Her teleportations may have left him queasy, but they covered more ground than he expected.

Between that and the illusion she cast for him, Theo was able to take a portal a whole week earlier than he thought he would be able to.

Theo could travel at a less neck-breaking pace thanks to those two things.

"Let's travel until sundown, and then we'll camp for the night," Theo told Carrot. "I just want to get more distance between us and that portal before the illusion fades."

"While I would like to see you rest sooner, I would feel better with some distance, too." Carrot snorted. "Not that somebody is having any trouble resting."

Soft, chittering snores rose from Theo's pocket while Scourge slept peacefully.

"Ah, but to be a baby dragon," Theo muttered.

The path they traveled along was narrow but smooth and in good repair, so they could cover quite a bit of distance.

The journey went without anything of note happening until the path started to follow a stream. There, Theo and Carrot saw a plump, elderly woman climbing down the stream's bank.

"Oof."

The old woman fell with a thump.

"Are you alright?" Theo called as Carrot galloped the final few paces to where the woman had fallen. "Can I help you?"

Theo jumped off Carrot's back and offered the woman a hand.

Mud smeared her purple robes and her arm.

"I've just dropped my wand in the stream." The woman pointed to where a small, gold-inlaid wand was jammed in some vegetation in the middle of the stream.

Theo had to wonder what the woman was doing to manage to get her wand in the middle of the stream.

"I can get it for you," Theo said before rummaging in his packs. "You can use this cloth to wipe the mud off while you wait."

"Oh, thank you, dear. I must look a fright." The woman took the proffered fabric.

"Not at all."

Theo clambered down the stream bank before wading into the clear water.

It was cold – it was the tail end of winter, and they were much farther north than Sanain now, after all – but relatively slow-moving and shallow. The water only came to Theo's mid calves.

Theo grabbed the wand and tightly griped it as he scurried back up the bank.

"Oh, thank you." The woman clung the wand to her chest when Theo handed it back. "Thank you so much. Oh, I didn't catch your name yet."

"My name is Harold Carlson." Theo used the same name he had for the last portal.

"Mr. Carlson, you positively saved me. I'm terribly sorry, and I wish I had something on me I could give you as thanks."

"I don't need any rewards, madam."

After all, Theo would just gift himself with whatever gold he needed the next time he raided a treasury for Dullahan.

"No, no, none of that." The woman rummaged in her satchel. "Here, take this and call on me if you need a favor someday."

"Thank you, madam," Theo read the gold, embossed name off of the business card, "Cromwell."

"And here, let me at least give you some sandwiches for the journey. There's no way you will arrive in town heading in that direction tonight."

Mrs. Cromwell dug in her satchel again and handed Theo two sandwiches wrapped in linen. They were warm. The bag must have been spelled.

Now that Theo looked at Mrs. Cromwell more closely, he could see that her simple robes were made from quality cloth. She was a fairly wealthy individual.

"Ah, and an apple for the unicorn."

"Thank you."

Theo smiled as he accepted the food. A good supper was a much-appreciated reward.

"No need for thanks, dear. I wish I could give you more at the moment. If it weren't for you, I probably would have broken my neck tumbling down the river bank."

"Never-the-less, you've made tonight's camp much more appealing." Theo pointed his chin at the sandwiches in his hand. "I hope you have safe travels."

"You as well, Mr. Carlson."

And with that, the elderly woman continued toward the town Theo had just left while he and Carrot ventured farther along the stream.

"I hope you don't mind if I go ahead and eat while these are warm."

"Please, go ahead. You know I'm always anxious to get more food in you. Just don't touch that apple."

The sandwiches were warm with thick, crusted bread and plenty of chicken, vegetables, and cheese. It took all of Theo's self-control to leave a tiny, dragon-sized portion for the sleeping Scourge.

By the time he finished, the last of the sunlight was fading to starlight, so they found a relatively flat portion of land several yards from the path and set up camp.

Scourge woke up long enough to scarf down the sandwich, beg for a non-existent dessert, and kick a fuss about bedtime.

***

Owen had finally healed enough to stay awake and have a coherent conversation. While he was sure he would have to report to his commander soon about his experiences as a spy in Dullahan's base, for now, it was just him and his sister.

However, Marie was hugging Owen so tightly that he thought he might pass back out from a lack of oxygen.

"I'm so glad you're awake." Marie finally released Owen from her death grip. "You were hurt so badly, and then Ne – I mean Theo came, and I thought he was going to kill you. But he didn't, and –"Marie ran her hands over her face. "I'm just so glad you're going to be okay."

"Theo came? Here? Theo of Dullahan?"

"Yes, he came with Marc, of all people."

"I feel like I'm missing something here, sis." Owen rubbed a hand on his forehead. He already had a headache, and this wasn't helping. "Why would Marc bring Theo here?"

"He's under an oath. He couldn't explain much."

"I have a feeling you and I need to talk about Theo."

Owen collapsed onto his hospital bed. He had a feeling his headache wasn't going away for a while.