The Last Beacon

XV

It had been a long day of walking.

The overgrown path had proved a difficult trek. Although the land was flat, the protruding roots and low-hanging vines made their journey a long and slow process.

By the time the sky ran red, the trio had still not come across a clearing to spend the night in.

"I swear it was somewhere around here," Lion fretted, "it has to be. I'm so sorry about this, my dear companions."

"It's alright, Lion. Is there any chance we can just camp in here somewhere?" Laurenz asked.

Lion made a strangled sound of alarm. "Oh no! No, no, no! Without proper shelter or clearings, the forest is far too dangerous at night!"

"I think we're running out of options," Laurenz responded.

"Surely there must be something, somewhere," Lion whimpered, skittishly looking around and sniffing, his wings twitching. They waited a few minutes while he darted about scouting the area and listening silently to his agonising over the need to find a proper camp.

"The sun has almost set. We need to make a decision, Lion!" Laurenz warned, his impatience growing.

"Oh will you two just quit it?" Sascha snapped, fed up with her two companions debating options.

Lion immediately stopped his panic, turning to look at her. "Apologies, miss."

"Don't sweat it, Lion," she said, "now can we please just make a decision? Lion, how would you feel if we rested here, and one of us keeps watch?"

"Finally, someone listens to me!" Laurenz announced, exasperated.

Sascha shot him a look.

"Well... I still don't understand your human desires to sleep in the middle of the forest without protection, but if that is what you wish, then I will not object," Lion said.

"Perfect. That wasn't so hard, was it?" Sascha chided.

"I suppose not," responded Lion.

Laurenz said nothing.

"So where would be the best place around here to sleep? I'll leave it to you to recommend something reasonable, Lion," Sascha said.

Lion hesitated for a moment, nervously inspecting the immediate surroundings. Without saying a word, he gingerly nosed the air and shuffled to a large tree that was a few paces off the path. He quickly looked back, silently confirming that it was a safe enough space to spend the night.

Sascha didn't bother to wait for Laurenz's lead, she just stepped over the overgrown underbrush to where Lion was waiting for them. She sat down and leaned against the trunk of the tree, finding herself once again absent from her immediate surroundings. Instead, she was lost in thought, something she seemed to do more frequently as the quest went on.

Sascha was not often a person to over-analyse everything. Most of the time, she would just accept what was presented to her, and never ask any questions about it. Since she met Laurenz, and Decius for that matter, she had strangely begun to find herself more critical of what went on. She wasn't sure whether it was the quest itself that was affecting her, or the people she encountered while on it.

Perhaps it was Decius planting seeds of doubt in her mind. Or perhaps it was still the Hall of Fears having residual effects on her. Whatever it was, Sascha couldn't decide.

Quite frankly, she wasn't sure that overthinking everything was something she enjoyed.

She remembered back to her hometown, all the people she had left behind. There was Landolf, of course, and she imagined that he would be beside himself with concern, considering she had already been absent for several days. Sascha had to swallow a guilty lump in her throat at the thought.