Isida punted the small pebble with another kick of her foot. Its oblong shape followed a jumbled route down the dusty path. When she caught up with it again, she gave the stone another swift kick. It hit another pebble and careened into the air, bouncing erratically, until it eventually veered off and tumbled into the swift river that kept pace along the Swelwood Road. Pity. Isida had kept that rock traveling for the last hour. She had plucked it out of a group of similar stones, selecting it to explore the vast unknown that lay beyond that particular area of dirt. It probably had seen all it needed of the dull forest, electing to instead go off on its own to investigate the depths of the babbling brook. Isida wondered how far it would end up travelling from its original home. That rock might end up seeing the Ionian Bay one day. Pity. That a simple forest pebble could have a better chance than her at seeing the ocean.

Her gaze wandered, now that the pebble had left her for bigger and better things. Isida listened to the low hum of the wildlife that often faded into the background in the early evening stillness. Birds nestled in the trees, playing their whistling tunes, their attention-seeking calls ushering in the new spring season. The spindly trees and small saplings harbored a vibrant hue of fresh growth mottled in the sun that had already begun its descent below the trees. Golden wildflowers presented themselves to the piercing rays of light that dappled the forest floor, illuminating specks of dust that danced and sparkled just above the road ahead. The road itself, however, held no reverence for the new life. It carelessly split through the surrounding spring foliage, a barren strip of brown, overly-beaten dirt that nature was slowly attempting to reclaim.

Isida and her father had made the journey to Eluteia nearly every spring since she was eight, and the tenth trip was shaping up to be just as boring as previous ones. The barrels they’d placed in the cellar last fall were finally ready, and her father hadn’t wasted any time loading the cart up with their first batch of wine. Not the best barrels, of course; they had stowed those away for a special task. Though any barrels of Loralis wine were considered some of the best in the region. Isida checked on the wine barrels they had brought. Eight in all, they jostled only slightly inside the cart, but she did adjust the small casks they had brought to showcase their product. She briefly checked the reins on their cart horse, Berral, then scanned the path for another rock to take on an adventure.

“I’d say we’re almost out,” a cheery, lighthearted voice announced from the other side of the dappled mare. “Another hour or two and we’ll be at Karna’s enjoying her fine cooking.”

Isida mustered an acknowledging grunt in reply. That was all well and good; they had left Racema early in the morning, and had been travelling through the Swelwood nearly the entire day. However, Isida wasn’t particularly keen on seeing the innkeeper again. To be perfectly honest, Karna intimidated Isida. She seemed to always be annoyed at someone, and when that trusty broom of hers began to swing about, it might as well be the finest sword in Pareth; no one was safe. Isida’s stomach, however, grumbled in protest to the trepidation. Well, okay, she was a good cook when she decided you were worthy enough to feed.

Isida had set her eyes on a rather fine pebble up ahead of her, nice and round. Going to give it a light kick, she started as her sandal caught in the dirt, sending her off balance. She sent a hand out, searching for the side of the cart, and found purchase. Humiliated, yet determined, Isida brushed the dust off her white tunic and turned back, intent on the small rock. Instead, she found herself stopping in her tracks. The low hum of the forest that had been quietly droning on in the background was suddenly not so quiet. No… it wasn’t the hum of the forest, but of something else. Isida couldn’t quite place what it was, but the dull moan was coming from behind them, and it was getting louder. She tucked in her dark, shoulder-length hair behind her ear to listen more intently.

“Dad… Do you hear that?” The words came out quieter than she had intended them to.  She found she wasn’t quite able to turn around, her ears strained to catch more of the unsettling sound. The soft creak of the wheels as the mare continued pulling the cart along the road kept distracting her from the distant noise. Though the low hum was becoming a rolling thunder, growing ever louder; it laced energy throughout her entire body. Fear was slowly taking control, a fear of the unknown, something she hadn’t experienced in her quiet rural life.

“Dad!” she called with more force. She managed a couple of awkward steps backward, the second step almost tripping her up. She heard the thunder intensify a few times, before returning to its consistent growl. Could her father really not hear that?

“Dad!” Isida yelled.

“What is it Isida?” the man finally replied, turning back to Isida in confusion. Her father, Vasso Loralis, turned about with his walking staff. He was not an old man, despite the teasing of his children, yet his eyes often carried an air of a life lived fully. His dusty traveling cloak covered the light tunic he wore beneath, while a reddish headband kept the dark curls out of a face that held an inquisitive eye at his daughter.

“Listen! Behind us!” Isida was pointing back down the trail where they had been. The hum was roaring to life, closer than ever before. Isida froze as, out of the trees, a hulking mass crashed onto the path, sending rocks and dust flying.  As it settled in the middle of the road, Isida and her father could only stare on, dumbfounded. She was unable to comprehend what exactly she was looking at. A giant green and black… creature had just barreled through the trees, and now loomed over dirt Isida and her father had trekked across only minutes ago. It stared at the road ahead, squat and motionless. Fierce eyes blazed with their own intense daylight, sitting above a strange wide-open maw. It supported itself on four, thick, black circles that — looked a lot like wheels? The mysterious entity didn’t look like any type of animal Isida had seen; her head was having trouble taking in its overwhelming presence.

“Botahra save us, what kind of monster is that?” her father said, the breath left his mouth in a whisper. He moved to grab ahold of Berral’s reins, but his movements were still unsure.

Suddenly, the creature jerked to life — a move that paralyzed Isida down to her core — and continued along the road. They were wheels, Isida realized, as she watched the black appendages rotate along the road. They trampled over the dirt, sending small pebbles flying from the pressure of its (surely immense) weight.  What struck Isida was that the wheels were turning by themselves. Nothing was pulling it along; it simply moved of its own accord. How could something that big move so fast? And why was it coming towards them?

“Isida! Into the trees!” her father yelled as he yanked the reins on Berral with a frantic pull. He was leading Berral to the side of the road opposite the river. “We can only hope that it’s too big to follow us!”

Isida complied without argument, shaking herself from her paralyzed stupor. She frantically ran towards the side of the road, joining her dad as he shuffled Berral and the cart towards the tree line. Within ten breaths, however, the hulking thing had closed the distant gap between them. They hadn’t gotten Berral five feet. Isida yelped as her father grabbed her from behind. He haphazardly dragged her between two thick tree trunks, but the awkward pull caused her to tumble into him, bringing them both to the ground.

Isida scrambled to her knees, eyes searching for the beast. Glancing over the cart, she saw it emerge from the road, not ten paces from them. Slowly it began to inch its way forward, coming up alongside the cart. She could sense the vibrations in the air and in the ground as it towered next to the cart, growling.  Suddenly, the noise died, and a quiet stillness came over the beast as it again stood motionless. For a moment the only noise in the forest was Berral, who had found a nice patch of grass, happily munching away, as if nothing in the world was amiss. Of course, she wasn’t spooked; nothing had ever bothered the animal before, why would a giant, grumbling, behemoth be any different? She would have never survived in the wild…

Thankfully, at least, the cart was between them. Still, Isida could not take her eyes off of it. Its upper body encompassing the entire other side of the cart. She noticed that the upper portion of it looked glossy, and almost transparent. It resembled that glass the peddlers from down south had the last time she was in Eluteia. Isida watched the glossy section separate from the top of its head and open up. Out of its insides, a young woman’s head with thick, black curls popped out. Her face creased with worry as she looked down at Isida and her father.

“Oh God, Sorry!” the woman called out to them, “Please, we didn’t intend to scare you!”  Her voice was almost pleading.

A young man came around from the front. He rushed over to the cart, leaning over it as he tried to see them better. His dark brown hair framed a soft face that was overrun with concern. “Are you two alright? We aren’t here to harm anyone, I promise.”  His voice was surprisingly light, and it pulled Isida out of the stupor that the intense situation had put her into.

Before anything else happened, however, her father stepped in front of Isida, holding his walking staff in front of him. She could see the other hand he held in front of her slightly trembling. “Who are you? What do you want? What… what is that?” he stammered, pointing with his staff towards the green mass.

The young man backed up from the cart slowly, raising his hands as he bumped up against the side of the thing he came out of, beside the young woman’s head.

“I’m — my name is JJ. We’re just lost…” As he said it, Isida couldn’t help but sense a hesitation in his voice. The young woman beside him put a hand on JJ’s shoulder and continued on as nervousness encompassed him.

“I’m Maya. We found ourselves in this forest somehow and we have no idea where we are. We just need some help getting our bearings,” she said. “Also, this?” She tapped the side of the thing she was sitting in. “This is Sierra.  Have you… never seen a car before?”

Her father’s hand stopped trembling in front of her as it started to fall down to his side. His face was still wrapped with a wary expression, but he looked a little calmer. “No… can’t say that I have,” he said, eyeing it once again. “The beast makes quite an entrance; does it always growl that loudly?”

Just like before, a panel next to the woman began to descend as the beast revealed three more people sitting in a row behind the woman. The closest guy, wearing a scruffy beard and the strangest cloth headpiece, stuck his head out as well, a wide grin on his face.  “Sierra isn’t a beast, it’s a machine! You don’t think this thing is alive right?” He paused in thought, gave and turned back to another woman who was sitting next to him. “Forget carbon emissions, could you imagine the ethical issues if that were the case?”

The woman rolled her eyes, not replying. Instead she climbed over the man and took over the opening of the… car. “Just ignore him, it’s not alive, don’t worry. More importantly --” She paused, as all of the sudden she had worked half her body out of the opening and was holding out an intricately bound blue book. “Are either of you able to read this? I think it might be the reason we’re lost.”

JJ sighed, eyeing her from the side of the car. “Katya, I’m not sure this is the best time for that…”

She shot a look back at him. “Well, when is the best time? What if these are the only people we see for miles?”

“Well they must be going somewhere,” he said in a quieter voice. “If it’s this close to sunset, and they’re simply walking, it should be close. Just… hold on, we can ask about it later.”

It was then that Isida realized just how strange their clothing was. JJ was wearing blue pants made of a thick material with a tailored green garment that had the hood of a cloak, while the woman hanging out of the car was wearing a silky shirt with absolutely no sleeves and a silver necklace with a star-shaped pendant.  They were unlike anything she had seen before, yet the outfits looked… fascinating. The woman’s shirt might have been the most revealing piece of clothing she had ever seen, though. She could feel her face flushing while looking at her. Isida thought she might have some elvish ancestry to her, she was very pretty, but she didn’t have the ears.

Her father, however, did not seem too fazed by their style of clothes. In fact, it wasn’t until the woman held out the book that he seemed to tense up all over again. The young man standing in front of him continued speaking.

“Look, I know we are strangers, but we haven’t eaten all day and we are just looking for a place to maybe buy some food. We want to get back to our home as well, but again, we don’t know where we are… Have you ever heard of California? In the United States of America?”

The names of the places mentioned sounded completely foreign to Isida, like they were in another language. She had never heard words like that; what if these people were from the Far Lands? She’d heard stories of ships that attempted to sail across to the other continent, but none had ever returned.  At least that’s what everyone said, and she had asked nearly everyone about it. Though they were speaking Parethni as if it was their native tongue, these people got stranger and stranger by the minute, but they seemed genuinely lost. She decided to finally speak up.

“We don’t know where that is, sorry…” Isida said, “But there’s a taverna in the town we’re heading to. Karna might feed you, if you get on her good side… and you’re in the Swelwood, about two towns east of the city of Eluteia.”

Her father let out a long groan, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Isida…” He looked back up at the group of strangers, sighing. “Alright, yes, Duem is not far down the road, it’s just outside the forest. We’re… heading to the taverna ourselves.” His voice was coated in annoyance and resignation. Isida was certainly going to get a talking-to for answering them so readily. She didn’t see the problem with telling them what was down the road, especially since they were probably going to go that way anyway.

The group seemed to brighten up at that. They did look rather weary, now that Isida was giving them a closer look. She wondered what might have happened to them, and how they’d managed to lose their bearings in a small forest in the Ionian Foothills.

“But you can’t ride that… car, or whatever, into town. You’ll cause more of a panic than an ogre coming down from the mountains, and then nobody will help you, least of all us.” As he was talking, the group exchanged glances at each other; the woman in front, Maya, mouthed the word ‘ogre’, looking incredulous. “If I were you, I’d hide it before you hit the tree line and walk into Duem instead. You’ll get enough looks from those crazy clothes as it is.” Again, they all exchanged looks, eyeing each other’s attire with a more critical eye.

Maya finally spoke up. “Thank you so much, we will do as you say. Sorry to be a bother to you both.” She motioned for JJ to get back in, and he followed suit. Walking around to the other side JJ opened up the entire side and climbed on in.

The guy in the far back who had yet to speak had climbed up on the other side, looking over the car and gave them a questioning look. Isida couldn’t help but notice how handsome he was, his short black hair framed his chiseled face far too well. “You… You were kidding about the ogre, right friend? They don’t really come down from the mountains, do they?”

Her father gave the man an appraising look. “Last one came about fifteen years back. Left Tomai in ruins before a group managed to drive it back up. Doesn’t happen often, but it's never good when it does.” 

The blanched color on the man’s face was slightly amusing to Isidia, it was not an expression that suited him. Did he think ogres were feytales or something? She could only wonder where they had come from. She had so many questions.

“Well… I guess we might see you at this... taverna later,” JJ called as he settled into a seat with a strange wheel perched in the front.  “Hopefully the owner takes a liking to us!”

With that, JJ turned something in the wheel in front of him, and the car, or Sierra — it was hard not to think of the thing as alive — roared to life again. As he fiddled with the knobs, a strange sound began to come out of the car. Music? It sounded like a strange assortment of instruments, along with a disembodied voice that was singing along with it. She couldn’t understand the language the person was singing in, but Isida found herself more surprised at how beautiful it sounded than at the incredible fact that she was hearing music come from the car. What else could it do?  

Maya, though, turned her head around and yelled, “Flynn! Are you really going to waste your battery on the Red Hot Chili Peppers?” Isida heard yet another phrase at the end that seemed all but garble to her.

The guy with the strange hat, presumably Flynn, replied, “Of course, I am! They are completely deserving of being the last good music I might ever hear!”

Maya huffed as JJ looked over to the two standing by the horse cart, standing dumbstruck yet again by the scene they were witnessing.  After giving a pleasant wave goodbye, JJ somehow jerked Sierra back into movement. It slowly increased its speed along the road; massive wheels crunching the dirt beneath them. 

As the group rode off in their… car… machine… creature, the two of them stared after them for what seem like minutes. Finally, Isida made eye contact with her father, who was giving her his best disappointed dad face. “You know you can’t trust people so readily like that, Isida. You have no idea what kind of people they are, or what they might be capable of,” he said.

“Well, neither do you, right? They seemed genuine to me, they just needed help. And now we can keep an eye on them.”

Her father gazed at the road ahead for a few moments, then got to work bringing Berral back onto the road. After a few minutes of walking, he spoke up again. “That book…” He seemed hesitant to continue. “I’m pretty sure that was an Avalmancer’s Tome. I’ve only seen one once before.” His face looked graver than she had ever seen. “If they keep asking around about it, they aren’t going to attract the kind of attention they’re expecting…”

“Forget the book,” Isida said. “What about that thing they were riding? A car? Are those normal where they’re from?!”

“I have no idea…” He stared ahead for a few more moments before they continued walking down the road. It was strange how much slower she felt like they were going. Seeing the strangers sail down the road like a boat caught in the wind made their walking pace seem terribly inadequate. Though Isida found herself beginning to worry for the strange group. They seemed so kind; she would hate to see them get into trouble.

Her father spoke up again, sighing, “It’s a shame this trip took such a turn. I fear it will only get more complicated once we get to Duem.”

Isida gave another one of her acknowledging grunts, but inside, she couldn’t help but feel a bubbling excitement grow within her.  This was turning out to be the best trip by far. She couldn’t wait to get to the Inn now. Despite Karna’s inevitable ire, she was intent on talking to them more. Finally, something different.