Climbing down from the entrance of the cavern hurt quite a bit as my left leg protested against certain kinds of movements and strain.

Then we headed east again. As I was limping we were much slower than usual. The leg was getting better over time though. Fortunately our backpacks were lighter than before a we had eaten plenty of our supplies. Another good reason to get going again.

“My legs don’t hurt anymore.” Milly exclaimed two days later after some extensive stretching.

“Be happy. I’m still struggling while we cross that damned sinuous winding creek. It always has to flow by cliffs or steep slopes!” I furrowed my brows.

“Is your leg still getting better? We could slow down if we’re too fast for you.” Milly looked at me solemnly.

“Nah. It’s getting better each day. We should move on as good as we can. They may put posts on the pass roads towards Soltan. That could be a problem.” I shook my head, grinding my teeth while testing the boundaries of my leg.

“Don’t overtax yourself. I won’t help if we have to carry you.” Loraline poked me in the ribs.

¨Ow! Agreed. As long as there is no climbing involved I’m good with our current daily progress.” I gave her an accusing glare.

“It’s still a good distance to the pass. As long as you’re hurt we should avoid confrontations at all costs. Do you know a good way to cross the pass road Caroline?” Tilly gave me a smile.

“Not really. The area is quite open. Maybe the Dwarves have some tunnels across, but I don’t know any exit.” Caroline shook her head.

“The only exit we know is on the other side and it’s heavily guarded and hidden.” Milly bit on her lips and stared at her toes.

“Let’s get going.” I got to my feet carefully.

The next seven days went by without something interesting happening. The weather was fine, but summer was waning and soon it would be fall.

The following day we had breakfast as usual. It was a bit after noon as Milly stopped in her tracks. She walked in front of me and I nearly ran into her.

“There is something large flying ahead.” Milly shadowed her eyes with her hand

“Looks like a big bird.” Tilly furrowed her brows.

“I can’t see a thing.” Caroline frowned.

“The question is how big is it exactly and is it a predator.” I could see the the dot in sky.

“Let’s make a break, it’s past noon. We have to eat and rest anyway and maybe we learn something observing it. Predators usually dive for their prey.” Loraline squinted ahead and shook her head after a few moments.

“I don’t see a thing!” she looked at me shaking her head.

“Sounds like a good idea. Let’s look for a decent place and observe it for a while.” I nodded at Loraline

We walked another twenty minutes or so and found a collection of boulders which provided a bit of cover and convenient places to sit.

Unfortunately we didn’t notice anything interesting, even as we extended our rest for a while.

“Let’s walk until dawn, maybe Loraline and Caroline can see it as well and we may be able to see more details.” I got to my feet.

“Good idea.” Tilly nodded

The others agreed as well. We made camp as we found a group of fir trees which gave nice cover, even from the sky.

“We should observe the bird tomorrow. At day of rest won’t hurt and we may be able to learn more.” I looked at the others.

“I agree to each day of rest.” Loraline looked at my leg.

“We should watch out for the bird at night as well. Perhaps we could try to pass its territory at night if its not nocturnal.” she added.

“We would be slower, but maybe it won’t change too much for us as Lilly won’t be slowed down because of darkness.” Caroline rubbed the bridge of her nose.

“This sounds like a plan.” I nodded at them.

We had dinner and got ready for the night.

The bird retreated to a place in the northern slope. We couldn’t see in at nighttime which could be our ticket to avoid a fight with the beast.

“No night activity.” I resumed at the end of my shift, which was the last today.

“We should rest and observe it nonetheless today.” Loraline gave me a stern look.

“We will.” I nodded.

A day of rest won’t hurt and the sooner I was able to walk normally again the better. I wanted to cross the pass road before winter. Winter would come with plenty of snow in the mountains. We would need a place to hole up for the winter and we would need supplies.

The bird was a predator. There were chamois living in the steeper parts of the valleys flanks. They were shy and we never had managed to kill one as they kept their distance and were incredible fast. It seemed that the bird picked them from the cliffs to eat them at a rock protrusion in a cliff at the north side of the valley. In comparison to the chamois it had to be over two meters high and a wingspan of about seven meters.

“We don’t want to fight that.” I looked at the others.

“Then we try to sneak by at night?” Loraline looked at me.

“It’s our best bet. We have look for good places to hole in for the day. We can return to normal when it’s out of sight again.” I looked at the others tilting my head.

“Seems to be reasonable. It’s better to lose a day than an arm or two.” Tilly nodded with a grin.

“Then we start at dawn today. Try to get some more sleep in the afternoon.” I stretched myself out on my bedroll.

Tilly laid down beside me after a while.

“This bird may be able to carry on of us away if he can carry those chamoise.” She looked at the eastern skies.

“I wonder how this thing can fly. Well magic I suppose.” I rolled to my side to face her.

“Probably. It would be cool to be able to fly.” Tilly rolled to face me as well. Her face was only a few centimeters away.

“Simply flying over all these obstacles sounds great. Soaring over the valley, all those tress small like toys.” I looked dreamily at Tilly.

“Well, flying requires wings the books say. Larger creatures need magic to assist to fly though. Hach!” she looked a bit dejected.

“I once made a hot-air ballon ride. It was quite an experience.” I put an arm around her waist.

“Never mind. A girl can dream.” she gave me a tentative smile.

“While we may not take sky, we still can try to be happy. We have ourselves and while we are in a tight spot at the moment, things may lighten up eventually.” I kissed her, closing my eyes.

“Mmmm” she said and kissed me back.

We huddled against each other.

As the suns set and we set out in the night.

Night vision, I mentioned it before, was such a nice thing to have. How could I’ve ever lived without?

We needed full six nights to sneak by the bird. The days we spent under a patch of fir trees, which gave decent cover from above.

The bird was an gigantic eagle as we could see as we passed its aerie. We rested the day after returning to our normal schedule.

Over the next three days I was able to get back to a normal gait again.

“Your leg seems to be good again!” Loraline gave me a wide smile.

“We can return to a normal pace today.” I smiled back.

“Are you sure?” Milly cave me a concerned look.

“I’m sure.” I gave her a light hug.

“Look, I’m able to do squats again without a problem.” I squatted down.

“Tell us if it hurts in any way.” she patted my head.

“Sure.” I hugged her below her waist and squatted up

“Lilly!” She struggled a bit while I lifted her up.

“How’s the air up there?” I grinned looking up.

“Let me down! Now!” She gave me a furious glare.

“Here you go!” I squatted down again, setting her down.

“You may have torn your leg again!” she caught my ear and pulled up.

“Owww!” I squatted up with her gentle pull.

“It’s been too long that I had the chance to punish you appropriately.” her nose was nearly touching mine as her eyes bored into mine.

“My leg’s still good.” I protested as I hold her gaze.

“Let’s get going.” She let go of my ear with a threatening glare.

The next five days we made good progress again. We stayed away from the slopes of the valley as good as we could. It was good to be able to walk and climb again without pain. The weather stayed sunny and clear.

It was time to make camp again.

“Do you hear that?” Tilly looked a me with wide eyes.

I stopped in my tracks and focused on my hearing. There was a faint constant hissing from ahead.

“Don’t know but I don’t think it’s a monster or animal.” I rubbed my chin.

“It could be a fumarole. I grew up in the Campi Flegrei, we had plenty of them there.” Milly tilted her head listening in.

“Then let’s make camp soon and try to bypass the area tomorrow. There no way to figure how far away it is, isn’t it?” I looked at Milly.

“The volume differs even with the same fumarole over some time. There may be poisonous gases in the vicinity.” Milly shrugged looking back.

“Sulfur gases are common, right. It shouldn’t be too bad, but it’s best not to linger too long in the area.” I scratched my head shrugging.

“There may be other volcanic phenomenons as well. We should be careful.” Milly looked towards the sound.

“Maybe there is a geyser!” Tilly looked at me with sparkling eyes.

“We’re not here sightseeing, Tilly.” I patted her head.

“Only sneaking a peek?” she raised her brows with a tentative smile.

“No sneaking! Not for you and not for Lilly!” Milly frowned at us.

“Well, we may see something from a distance, but I agree that we shouldn’t stay in the vicinity without need.” I ruffled Tilly’s hair.

“Where are these Campi Flegrei?” Tilly looked at Milly.

“Near Napoli. Did hear of the Vesuv? It is in the vicinity.” I smiled.

I’ve always liked volcanoes, but I never had a chance to get near an active one. Probably the safest option, but it was an interesting topic nonetheless.

“Oh!” Tilly looked at me with wide eyes.

“I’ve never been in Italy though.” I shrugged.

Milly nodded and smiled.

We found a nice spot for the night below an outcropping in a cliff at the bottom of the southern slope.

“How do we stock up our supplies?” Milly sat down beside me after dinner.

“I don’t like the idea to enter Soltan. It’s large enough to keep an eye on it.” I furrowed my brows.

“There are farms in the vicinity, but it will probably take time to get what we want.” Caroline sat down facing us.

“We may try to get something from the dwarves first. They are probably well stocked. We have some coins from the library we could use.” Tilly sat down behind me, leaning into my back.

“I don’t have any experience with dwarves, they keep to themselves. There are people who trade with them though.” Caroline leaned back a bit, propping herself on her arms.

Caroline and Loraline were still larger than we are. Somehow we seem to have been stuck at about 1,50 m while they were about 1,70 m. Annoying.

“We know where an entrance to their realm is, but we have to cross the pass first. I’ve no idea whether they’re inclined to trade with us though.” I leaned back into Tilly as well.

“We can try to check the farms thereafter.” Milly stared into space.

“We’ll be much faster since we don’t have to go down into the valley if can buy supplies there and it’s a day or two detour. Nothing too bad. We may run into people searching us though. That could change our options in a bad way.” I bit my lower lip and looked at Milly.

“We have to see how it is when we reach the pass.” Milly shook her head.

“We should take time to monitor the pass road for a while. Passing the area at night might be an option if it looks too crowded.” Caroline smirked.

“Yeah, and lookout for ambushes.” I nodded at Caroline.

“We could go down below the tree line for some cover, but along the pass there were not many of them. We may reduce the time we’re exposed though.” Tilly rubbed the back of her head against mine.

“There were taverns by the road, but I think we should avoid them. They’re the most probable places to place watch posts.” I rubbed the bridge of my nose.

There were too many variables at the moment for decent planning, but running in a trap was the last thing I wanted to do.

“The connections to the slave marks have changed direction to the south a bit.” Tilly stopped moving her head for a few moments.

“Probably there’s more ship traffic to the southern ports.” Milly got to her knees and smiled.

“Sounds reasonable.” I yawned.

“Let get ready for the night.” Milly got to her feet.

“I hope we cross the pass without a hassle, but I have a feeling that it won’t be that easy.” I pulled up my leg and started to press gently against Tilly.

She did the same and we pressed each other up standing.