"You've got good timing at least." I pat Loaner appreciatively before mounting him. The horse makes its usual annoyed snort before entering a relaxed trot in the direction of Southmarsh. 

After my impromptu nap in the chamber of exploded corpses, I was immediately confronted with another problem. Night had fallen and it was a long walk back to town. I was already feeling thoroughly beaten up from the scuffle with Morton and was not in the mood to wear my feet to the bone just walking back to the Dasar manor. Then there was the matter of Morton himself to consider. I might have wounded him, but Morton was far from out of commission. He might very well be lurking out there, just waiting for the right moment to get some payback against me. 

With these thoughts stewing in my head, I made my way out of the mining complex and began trudging down the road back to town. And it was at that moment, I was thinking about my delinquent horse and how nice it would be if I could just rest my feet. 

And lo and behold, Loaner actually walks out of the trees to meet me. 

Well, that's not actually true. Loaner had a completely bewildered expression on its face, clearly not expecting to meet me by the road. I would chalk this event up to bizarre serendipity, except this was not the first time I've experienced this bit of weirdness. Loaner showed up at the Beyond, after my miraculous survival from getting owned by Mandor. Then he charged out of the crowd in Deshawn City during the battle with the Stabber. 

Once is blind luck. Twice is coincidence. Thrice? What do you call that?

"Hey, you stalking me or something?" I ask Loaner, trying to work through my thoughts on the situation. 

All I receive is silence obviously. 

"Or maybe we are fated to be together?" I smirk, "The great hero and his noble steed. You couldn't get away from me even if you wanted."

Now that statement gets a reaction out of Loaner. The horse makes a startled whinny and vigorously nods its head. I pat Loaner in an attempt to calm the animal down, but the gesture just seems to make it more agitated. Realizing we can't carry on the journey this way, I quickly dismount and begin leading Loaner by the reins. Now that its no longer bearing my weight, Loaner's mood calms considerably and I take the opportunity to continue the one sided conversation. 

"So what's wrong?" I quip, the moonlight shining down on both of us as we pass the banks of the river.

Loaner turns its head aside, unwilling to meet my gaze. Unease radiates off the horse in an almost palpable wave. Clicking my tongue, I begin inspecting Loaner's body for any clues as to what got it so spooked. Its the best I can do short off being able to talk in whatever horses speak. 

Loaner looks tired obviously. We've been out and about for the whole day. But other than that, I can't spot anything wrong with him. There are no injuries on his body, so Loaner couldn't have run into trouble while I was exploring the mining complex. Both of us continue walking in the gloom, Loaner's hooves leaving muddy prints on the road. 

Muddy prints?

I pat Loaner again, feeling the horse's skin for any dampness. Nothing unusual, just the regular sweat you would expect. Meaning Loaner wasn't caught in rain. The road's as dry as a bone and the clumps of trees by the side show no signs of having received any recent downpour either. But the mud on Loaner's hooves is obviously fresh. I can smell the thick, peaty scent rising from the mud being smeared all over the road. 

Peat. And the most likely place where you could find that would be deep in the swamps of Southmarsh. And that's nowhere near where we are right now. 

"How did you suddenly get here Loaner?" I ask, scratching at the stubby hairs growing from my chin. 

Loaner shoots back a confused look, glancing back and forth as if trying to confirm its exact location. Both of us turn to the lake, where the reflection of the moon shimmers. The rhythming chirping of various bugs adding to the rural idyll of the situation. Crickets I think. Disgusting creatures, never liked them despite growing up in the countryside. 

"Let's get you cleaned up at least." I sigh and lead Loaner toward the lake.

My horse half heartedly protests but eventually gives in. Once we hit the edge of the water, Loaner on its own accord enters the lake, eager to wash off the muck and cool off from the day's exertions. I hurriedly retrieve the satchel housing the Avatar from the saddlebags, it would be bad form for the home of a dark god to get soaked after all. I settle on my haunches and pull out both Logos that had fallen into my possession, examining them under the moonlight. 

Tracing my index finger along the surface of both sets of Logos, I feel the smooth grooves and canyons carved all over each of the words of god. Hooking my finger into one of the canyons, I gently pull, causing a section of the Logos' surface to smoothly slide away. 

"So its like that." I murmur and immediately stop pulling with my finger. The Logos' surface obligingly snaps back into its original position. 

After Mandor had beaten me down back at the Beyond, he was fiddling with a Logos, doing something with it. My own little experiment with the pair of Logos just now proved a hypothesis that I had been entertaining. It was possible for me to manually control a Logos and access whatever secrets it held. Unfortunately in order to accomplish that, there was an important piece of knowledge I was missing. The correct sequence of pulling and twisting needed to coax a Logos to reveal its magic. 

As far as I knew, there were no handy instruction manuals for the owners and operators of a word of god. That meant more experimentation on the Logos' possible configurations. Given the difficulty Mandor had with controlling his own Logos despite obvious familiarity with it, I suspect this endeavor was going to be a long, tedious road to walk down. And that's discounting any potential mishaps that my prodding might cause.

"Well, every journey starts with a single step." I secure both Logos in my coat and get back up, "Just that the riverside isn't the appropriate place to take that step."

Loaner glances at me, realizing that I'm ready to depart. The horse emerges from the river, shaking itself vigorously to get dry from the cleansing soak. Suddenly, my hackles rise as an oppressive feeling descends around us. 

Morton? No, can't be. Whomever I'm sensing right now is strong, but nowhere near Morton's level. That's cold comfort though. Driving Morton off had taken up most of my strength and cost me the dueling sword, the only weapon I had brought with me. Plus there's another presence steadily approaching from the distance, one that is far more substantial. I nevertheless don't sense any hostility being directed at me though. Its more like a sense of vague curiosity and disapproval. 

"Let's go." I urge Loaner, mounting him and not bothering about the damp seeping into my trousers. We might not be in any danger now, but there's no reason to tarry about in the face of potential danger. Loaner agrees with a snort and immediately set off at a good clip, the surroundings blurring past us. 

The cold night wind begins blowing at our backs and my senses prick up again. Its no natural wind that I'm feeling. Its supercharged with magic, the invisible weave of the higher principle slapping against the nape of my neck. The spell work behind the wind is complex, completely beyond me with my rudimentary knowledge of actual mage craft. And not only is it intricately woven, the spell is being sustained by an obscene amount of power. Far more than a single magic knight can muster. I recognize the higher principle at the root of the casting easily though.

Its 'speed'. 

"Faster." I command Loaner, "One potential near death experience per day is more than enough for me."

Loaner complies, raising its speed to a full throated gallop. As we thunder down the road, the intensity of the wind steadily grows, to the point it now feels like a miniature gale. Whomever is behind us is still managing to catch up at a monstrous rate. There's another issue nagging at me as Loaner bolts down the deserted road. The Dasars have magic knights in their employ, so they were guaranteed to know about the incoming anomaly. 

Yet I haven't seen a single man from the Dasar manor sallying forth to investigate. 

The town steadily enters our view, the entrance of which is absolutely packed with people carrying lanterns and torches. Magnifying my vision, I note with some dismay that none of the people are from the Dasar estate. In fact, every single one of them wear the uniform of the 'real' baron's House Guard. Those loiterers mill about with their weapons at ease, clearly waiting for something. Clicking my tongue in frustration, I put together what's most likely going on. 

The danger to the Dasars that the Sage had warned me about. It has arrived. 

The wind strengthens again, this time pulling forcibly at my skin. Loaner can't outrun whomever is approaching. And my common sense tells me that riding into the 'real' baron's House Guard isn't the smartest move. Snapping at the reins, I direct Loaner off the road and straight into the foliage. My horse obeys without any sass, speeding toward the thickest clump of green to conceal both of us. Got to admit, Loaner may be a passive aggressive asshole, but when its hide is on the line Loaner certainly knows how to get serious. 

Diving headfirst into the sea of green, Loaner comes to a stop, panting from fatigue. I jump off its back and take cover behind a tree, using the Eyes of Ea to keep a lookout on the road. The wind is absolutely howling now and I can make out a procession of horsemen in the distance, rapidly chewing up the distance between us. The House Guard straighten up and assume parade formation, ready to present arms to the mystery arrivals.

"Looks to be a bother, and that's saying the least." I grunt. The so called 'real' baron certainly called in some big guns, and maybe actual big guns, to get rid of Ramon's family. I probably managed to return to town just in time. 

From the edge of my third person view the foliage rustles but I barely notice it, too preoccupied with the road. The next moment, pale fingers begin reaching toward me. Cursing my carelessness, I spin the Eyes of Ea about, trying to lock on to the threat. An arm snaps out from the darkness like the snake, coiling around my neck. 

And I'm dragged to the ground.