While we recuperated, I checked through my potions. I had a feeling I would be needing them before we reached the human realm again. I had enough, if it came to it, I would be able to feed Celine a couple of times while we were on the move and get through a couple of fights. I could see the others were doing the same. The short break soon came to an end. No one was wanting to get moving again, but as soon as Serin got to her feet again we knew it was time.

She pulled her bag up onto her shoulders. “I think it’s time we got moving again.”

Without and complaints, we all joined her and got ourselves ready to move.

“Enna, can you take the lead with Altria? I want us to keep to the quietest parts of the wood, even if it takes us longer to pass through.” Serin asked.

“I can. Don’t worry, I’ll keep us as far from the trodden path as possible.”

“Thank you.”

Serin looked relieved.

“Come on then, looks like we’re up front.” Altria said while waving for Enna to follow.

Between Altria’s senses and Enna’s local knowledge, I hoped we would be able to stay under the radar as we moved. It had been a while since dawn and by the time we were on the move again it was already light enough to see under the trees. I was glad of the light, it made my life a lot easier. I was no longer fumbling around only able to follow the person in front. Luckily for us the wood was dense in this part. It might be light enough to see, but it was long before the line of sight was interrupted by trees and the undergrowth in every direction.

We were moving slower than we had been out on the plain. It wasn’t just because the terrain was harder going, we were all exhausted. My legs were groaning at me with every step. I wanted nothing more than to stop and be able to lay down and fall asleep. Before that could happen, we needed to find somewhere we wouldn’t be found by our pursuers.

The next couple of hours were a hard slog, the walk felt like it was much longer than that. Eventually though Altria and Enna stopped some way ahead, they were both waving for the rest of us to join them. They had stopped in a small area that had less trees. It wasn’t a clearing, and the surrounding wood was still dense, but it would provide us a good place to rest for a few hours.

“What do you think?” Altria asked as Serin joined the pair.

“Well, it looks like we could set a camp here. I don’t think we’d be spotted. What do you think Enna?” Serin said looking toward the Harpy.

“This is about as far as we can get from anywhere in the wood. If we travel any further in this direction, we’ll start to approach the far edge.” She answered.

“That settles it then, we stop here until the evening.”

There was a sigh of relief from everyone as we realised, we were finally stopping for the day. Bags were soon on the floor and sleeping gear was being unfolded.

“We need to set the watch.” Serin said before anyone went as far as climbing into bed.

“I’ll take the watch.” It was Aetherin that had spoken up.

“Thanks Aetherin, but you need to rest too.”

“That’s the thing though, I’ll be fine and for a few days more if we carry on like this. The rest of you need to sleep. Sharing the watch when you’re in this state is only going to make things harder for you all. Please, let me do this. You all gave your blood to me when I needed it and you didn’t leave me behind. This is the very least I can do to replay you all.”

Serin glanced over to Liz.

“As far as I know, she’s telling the truth. Vampires can go days without rest. We know we can trust her, and in this situation, I think she’s right.” Liz said already guessing what Serin was thinking.

Serin mulled it over for a moment. I knew it wouldn’t sit right with her, leaving the entire watch to one member of our group for the whole day. Even if it did make sense.

“Please Aetherin, watch over us.”

“I will.”

“We’ll want to get up and eat, sometime in the early evening, so we can cross the remainder of the forest in daylight.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll wake you. You should all hurry to bed.”

The rest of the group didn’t need any more encouragement. Altria had already climbed into her sleeping bag mid conversation. We were all following suit now it had been decided. I laid at the edge of the party a short distance from Aetherin. Seeing this she sat nearby.

“You really need to get to some sleep.” She said as she looked over.

“Don’t worry, I won’t be awake for long… Thank you for doing this for us.” I said as I yawned.

I laid my head down on my makeshift pillow and was asleep in next to no time. The next thing I knew was the sensation of being woken. I sat up to see Aetherin and Serin standing to the side of me. I looked around and the rest of the party were all going through the motions of waking and getting out of bed. It was still light out, but we were well past the peak of the day.

“Did you sleep well?” Serin asked as I climbed out of my bed.

“Like the damned… Ready for another long day, or maybe night.”

“Good, you’ll need to be. The way back isn’t going to be an easy one.”

I was sure that Serin had gone to bed at the same of the rest of us, but she still looked tired. The strain of taking the lead in this situation was starting to show on her face.

I wondered if I should be worried. “What about you? Did you get enough rest too?” I asked.

“I did, there’s no need to worry about me… As soon as everyone has eaten, we should get moving again.”

“We should.”

I packed up my sleeping gear and then sat of my bag while I ate some breakfast with the others. Looking around the rest of our group, Serin wasn’t the only one that was looking worn. Almost everyone was.

I didn’t notice yesterday, because most of the time we were moving in the dark, but the last few days had really taken their toll on us. Looking at things optimistically we had at least another two days before we even reached the border. We might be able to take things a little easier once we reached it. That was only if our pursuers didn’t follow us across it. I don’t think we could be sure that they wouldn’t. It was about thirty minutes after we had first woken up and now everyone had finished eating.

Serin was the first to her feet again. “I don’t want to rush everyone, but I think it’s time we got on the move again.” She said as she collected her gear.

“She’s right, we should get moving soon. The alarm will have been raised by now and there’s no telling how long until someone picks up our trail.” Aetherin said glancing back and forth into the wood from the way we came.

“Can you sense something?” Asked Serin.

“No… But since the fight last night I’ve been on edge. Whatever that artifact is, it was well protected. I have the feeling whoever set that guard isn’t going to want us to get away with it. We should expect to be followed.”

“I think so too…  Altria and Enna, can you take the lead again?”

“Of course.” Answered Altria.

“Sure, I’ll do my best to keep us out of harms way.” Replied Enna.

“Thanks you two, I appreciate it.”

With Enna and Altria taking the lead, the rest of us fell in behind them. We soon settled back into a fairly fast pace as we traipsed through the forest. At least with Enna up front with Altria, she could set our speed. I knew that travelling like this was going to take the most toll her.

Having a local guide proved to be invaluable. We never got some much as close to any of the settled or travelled areas of the forest. Enna expertly navigated our course, and we had no need to stop and check our course. Despite taking the long way through the wood, we reached the edge of the treeline before nightfall.