A Journey You Wouldn’t Believe

The night sky was in full effect by the time Peter returned to The Punjene Paprike Tavern. A full moon would be in full effect before long, serving as all the more of a reminder to Peter for how much time was truly of the essence, as the Striga at their full power under its glow would be all the more terrifying if they managed to gain enough strength to reach The Capital. He reached his room and packed what little he could think to bring with him, his bedroll; his new bow and enough leftover bread and mead to last him for a few days. From what he understood from Jakov when travelling to Ragusiic, it would only take a couple of days for him to reach the Dragica Lakes, where he would then find some way to drive the leshy out of hiding. What he couldn’t do is keep risking Lyana’s & Jakov’s lives on this journey, nor would he let them talk him out of listening to Tinnie’s advice, just to have him keep training at the cathedral, where he knew he wouldn’t be ready in time for when it came to retake their land. This was going to be his struggle, his battle, and he was going to face it alone.

When he reached Bura to pack his belongings onto her back, right outside the tavern stalls, she whinnied and snorted in defiance. Peter raised his finger and attempted to hush the mare, but she continued to make far more noise than he wanted. At best he hoped to avoid having to explain to Jakov and Lyana why he had to do this, and at worst he didn’t want his own horse getting him mistaken for a horse thief by some half-drunk evening guard. By stroking the lower part of her main, Bura finally steadied enough for him to try getting on horseback. He took a deep breath in anticipation for trying to mount the already temperamental mare.

“And where in the hell do you think you’re going?” Peter felt his heart pounding all the way up into his throat once he knew he was caught. He turned around to see Lyana, groggily pulling back a throwing dagger to release on her aloof suspect. She lowered it just enough when she noticed it was Peter. “And what in the hell do you think you’re doing while you’re at it? You’re lucky I didn’t paint the stable doors with your brains.”

“I could ask you the same thing.”

“Watching for horse thieves, unless you’re naive enough to think they aren’t crawling around the city, ready to line their pockets off poor Bura here.”

“And here I was thinking you were waiting for me to return.”

Lyana turned up her nose in defiance, “You wish. Judging by the way you’re walking, looks like the priest had his way with you in more ways than one.”

“Gross. Have anything else cute that you want to say?”

“Yeah, like how in the hell did you think you were going to head off alone when you haven’t killed anything bigger than a spider in your entire life.”

“That’s not true, I vanquished that Drakavoc.”

“Jakov slayed it, and barely at that. All the more reason why I’m wondering what’s gotten into you.”

“I…I need to find a leshy… around the Dragica Lakes.”

“Why?”

“Tinnie told me-”

“-And you’re going to listen to that jester when he left us to fend for ourselves? Maybe that priest hit you on the head a little too hard while he was at it.”

“You don’t understand, they grant any wish that you desire if you can make one laugh.”

“And did you have some great joke in mind you were going to tell it?

“...no.”

Lyana sighed and mounted onto the mare. “You really are helpless, aren’t you? Come on, if you’re foolish enough to do this alone, you might actually make it back in one piece if you have me around. That vineyard you promised isn’t going to plant itself you know.”

“...and you want me to join up there with you?”

“Keep asking dumb questions and you’ll be chasing after me all the way to the Dragica Lakes. You coming or what?”

Peter jumped onto Buka, Lyana brushing tightly up against him as he clicked for Buka to gain her stride. He tried his best to ignore the sensation, but he could feel himself blushing as she continued to tease him by rubbing up against his arms, before yanking the reigns away from him. The mare broke into a light gallop as she broke away from the tavern, back towards the gate of Ragusiic. While Peter felt a hint of remorse growing within him as he left Jakov and the priest to fend for themselves in their absence, without giving them a hint to their whereabouts, he knew this was the only chance he had at mastering his powers in time. He just hoped Tinnie’s advice would be as sound as it’d been in the past, as mad as the thought seemed to him. Peter still couldn’t tell if he was the wisest or most foolish creature he’s ever come across.

Under the torchlight around the entrance, the guards were far less concerned with who left the city walls, as their attention was almost entirely focused on who, or what, came in instead. Peter and Lyana slipped out from the comfort of the city, ready once again to face the wild, and all that it came with, in full force as the two reached the river again, its water flowing upwards towards the Dragica Lakes. Where it’d go from there, Peter could only imagine.