After returning home, Amilya had them sit at the table while she headed into her room to grab some maps.  A few moments later, she emerged with them, placing them in a pile on the table and shuffling through them.  She quickly picked out the one she was looking for and spread it out before them.

“This map shows the rough location of the nearby villages and towns.  As you can see here, it should be a relatively straight trip to the west, no need to worry about any of the forks in the road.  Just continue following the road in front of you and it will lead you to Granitehill, the town that is in charge of our village.  Once you are there, you should seek out the one who rules the town, Lord Jerald.  Last I heard, he had moved into the same area as the merchants, though I’m not sure where exactly, so you will have to ask the people there,” Amilya explained.

“That seems simple enough,” Dawn replied, as she looked at the map.  She then questioned, “What about the bandits I heard mentioned?  Where are they likely to be?  I know I was told not to worry too much about them, but I’d rather be prepared for the worst just in case, after what happened with the Black Tide.”

“Ah, that is right, and a good idea.  The most likely place is before the fork in the road that heads towards Bearcrest Village, as each group tries to spread out and only block the route to one location.  There may be another group closer to Granitehill, but that isn’t always the case,” responded Amilya, as she pointed at one of the intersections on the map.

As Dawn nodded, Amilya continued, “If you want to be careful, be sure your staff is clearly visible, and perhaps have magic of some sort visible, or easily called on to prove you are a mage.  Not many would dare to impersonate a mage, but I suppose it is possible, and you are quite young.  From what I understand, the Iron Quills are pretty decent people, so you shouldn’t have any trouble with them, and I don’t think you will run into anyone else you need to worry about.”

“Ok, Mom, but this is boring, could we continue it later instead of keep going now?” Dawn cut off her mother’s constant stream of words.

With a startled expression, Amilya paused for a moment before replying, “I hadn’t realized how much I was droning on and on.  Sure, go play with your friends for a while, perhaps?  We still haven’t gotten the school opened back up yet, so the other kids have been out and about lately.”

Dawn smiled, nodded, and replied, “Thanks, Mom, I’ll be back later, and then you can keep going about what I should expect and do when I leave.”

Before Dawn could leave, Amilya reminded her, “Be sure to either take your staff, or remove the necklace from it and take that with you just in case anything goes wrong.”

“Oh, you are right, I totally forgot I wasn’t wearing it anymore!  I can’t play with magic without it, can I?” she replied with a light chuckle before heading back to her room.

After releasing her pendant from the staff and putting it on, Dawn returned to the living room, seeing Amilya finishing tidy up the pile of maps.  Dawn then headed outside with Niphru in her arms, trying to make sure he was comfortable and could see what was going on.  She headed towards the western gate at a sedate walk, glancing around as she noticed the looks the other villagers gave her.  Dawn was not used to being looked at like she was special in any way, and it was fairly unnerving to her.  Some of the people even bowed towards her!

Eventually she made it to the gate, where the guards nodded respectfully to her before they opened the large doors to let her out.  She was glad they at least didn’t join in the bowing some of the others had done, as that seemed way too much to her.  Looking towards the hill she had met Niphru at, she noticed more kids than usual playing around it, many of them much younger than she was used to.

Perhaps, she thought, the parents just hadn’t considered it safe enough until now.  After all, the Black Tide had driven off or killed many of the predators in the forest, before meeting with the village and being destroyed itself.  Shaking her head to clear her mind and quit woolgathering, she focused back on the hill and began walking again.

When she arrived, she was glad to see that the other children didn’t treat her any differently than before, unlike the adults.  Several of her friends did come to meet her, though, shouting about how they missed her and hoped she was feeling better.

After explaining how she had gotten scars but otherwise recovered, she began playing with magic, much to the delight of the others as they watched the flames whirling through the air.  Unlike before, she didn’t strain herself or try anything new, simply relaxing as she played with the fire.

As she manipulated her magic, she had the thought that perhaps she should be scared of the fire, given how she was badly injured by flames, but somehow it felt more comfortable to her than before instead.  It was as if the flames were a part of her now rather than something she controlled, and she just couldn’t feel any fear of them anymore.

Feeling curious, she asked the other children to step away so she could try something.  As they got far enough away, she held out her hand and sent some of her flame darting towards it from the side.  Her gut instinct was proven right as the flames parted harmlessly around her, reforming on the other side after leaving merely a sensation of warmth as they passed.  The children around her shouted in fear as the flame passed over her, only to gasp in awe as she was unharmed afterwards.

With a smile, she realized she could probably now do what she was attempting before with the flames skirting across her skin to keep things off of her.  Attempting to do so, she realized it didn’t work quite so well, however, as her clothes were singed and one spot even caught fire and she had to beat it out.

After that mistake, she decided it was probably time to head back home, as several hours had passed while she was playing around.