Trek For Survival

"I believe so," said Gia with a smile, brushing her hands together to knock any dust off of them from tying the ropes on the cart.

"I can"t believe everything the halflings have gifted us with," said Vonn with a shake of his head.

"It"s a lot," agreed Tom, patting the side of the donkey that was. .h.i.tched to the cart.

"And I get to ride the donkey!" cheered Mikey with glee.

"Someone has to take care of her," teased Gia, wrinkling her nose at him. "None of us have any experience with donkeys!"

"She"s a good donkey," laughed Martha. "She"s got a mind of her own when danger is around, but that"s not necessarily a bad thing, and she will protect that boy with her life."

"Good," nodded Carla, glancing back over the packed cart. "I suppose we should be going then."

"Thank you, Martha, for everything," said Gia.

"Don"t worry about it," she smiled, turning and heading back into the inn.

The halflings that were up and about, waved and called out to them as they left, making all of them feel almost like heroes of some kind.

"Do you think we"ll run into another Bob?" joked Tom as they finally left the halfling town.

"Probably," nodded Gia, completely convinced they would.

She had told them all about her conversations with Bob, and how she believed he was actually a G.o.d, but they all laughed and agreed that even if he was a G.o.d, why should they worship him? They wouldn"t benefit from a G.o.d that ran a bar. Gia wasn"t so sure, considering they had benefited plenty from him having the bars, and had decided to secretly worship him anyway.

Taking a road that would be the most direct route to the mountain they needed to cross, Gia studied the sharp cliffs as it grew on the horizon. Rose had promised there was a road that they could take to cross the mountain, but Gia wasn"t so sure. With Vonn guiding the donkey, and Mikey preoccupied with teaching Sprout all about taking care of a donkey, Gia had plenty of time to think.

"One of the halfling bards was telling me tales of magical creatures that were seen on the mountain," Tom was saying.

"What kind of creatures?" asked Carla, sounding weary of more dangers.

"Dancing nymphs, winged griffons, and small fire creatures left over from some mage that used to live in the keep on the top of the mountain," said Tom, getting more excited as he talked.

"We"ve dealt with nymphs," said Gia, with a sigh. "They tried to convince you, Vonn and Mikey to come to them so they could feed you to their babies."

"No, those were mermaids," said Tom with a shake of his head.

"What"s the difference?" said Carla with a shrug. "These nymphs can"t have anything good about them, if they have to use magic to get you to come to them. Remember those satyrs? They wanted us to come dance with them, and they definitely didn"t" have a good reason."

"Perhaps these nymphs aren��t bad," said Tom. "And besides, we probably won"t even see one. It just sounded interesting."

"Do you think the griffons will be like the winged lions?" asked Gia thoughtfully.

"I don"t know. The griffons are supposed to have beaks and claws like a bird. If we see any, maybe they"ll keep their distance," said Tom.

"How many halfling towns are we supposed to go through?" asked Carla, trying to change the subject.

"Three, I believe," said Gia. "But they aren"t on this road directly. We would have to deviate down side roads to get to them if we want to visit them."

"I don"t know that I want to take the time to see them," said Carla. "I enjoy the chance to get a bath and sleep in a real bed, but I kind of agree with Vonn in that we need to get a house built before winter hits."

"You"re not worried about me, too, are you?" exclaimed Gia. "Honestly, just because I"m probably pregnant doesn"t mean I can"t do anything."

"But we don"t want you to have to try and take care of a new babe while we"re still on the road," insisted Carla. "Trust me, it"s hard enough taking care of one when you have a proper house."

"Besides," said Tom. "In the beginning, right after the babe is born, it won"t sleep much and will cry all of the time because of one thing or another. If we"re still on the road, that could attract unwanted attention."

Gia thought about the griffons and other creatures her dad had just been talking about and nodded. She didn"t want to have to fight off monsters with a baby.

"Look! It"s raining over there!" exclaimed Mikey from the front.

They all turned to see the storm pounding the dry ground off in the distance and Vonn picked up their pace a little.

"You don"t think it will cause that flooding we had at the inn, do you?" asked Carla.

"The wolf riders had said that we should be safe if we took this road, as it was higher than the surrounding land and would make the water run away from us; not towards us," said Vonn over his shoulder.

"I"ll feel better when we get away from these plains," grumbled Gia. "I don"t care for the flat unending feel of it. It"s hard to tell how far something is, because you can see it, and yet no matter how long you travel, it still seems the same distance."

"Don"t worry," chuckled Tom. "Soon we"ll be in the forest wondering what each noise is."

"I just hope that none of the mountain pa.s.ses are blocked. I don"t know how we would get the cart through if they were," said Carla.

Their chatter subsided at that, and they traveled in silence for the rest of the day, keeping a close eye on the distant storms. When it started to get dark, they started making camp in the middle of the road.

"If anyone comes along, our fire should warn them of our presence," said Vonn, as Mikey helped him unhitch the donkey from the cart.

"I"ll brush her down if you"ll get her feed," chimed in Mikey cheerfully, reaching for the brush.

Gia helped Tom set up the tent while Carla prepared the meal. They all ate in silence and settled down, watching the lightning in the distance. The next couple of weeks continued in that fashion, with them traveling all day and camping each night in the middle of the road. The storms never rained directly on them, but there were several times they had to carefully traverse freshly washed bits, where parts of the dirt and sand had washed away and formed ruts and holes that they couldn"t risk a wheel getting stuck in.

The donkey was wonderful, seeming to know where to go to avoid the worst holes. Mikey rode her every day, making sure to check her for wear from the ropes and restraints often, and letting her eat and drink as much as she wanted each evening as he brushed her down. She was really starting to like him, resting her head on his shoulder when he walked near her.

The mountain in the distance grew larger and larger, and the dark smudge that had heralded the coming forest seemed to suddenly explode before them one day.

"I guess we"ve finally reached the trees," said Vonn quietly, reaching out and touching one of the tree trunks happily.

"We"re getting closer!" crowed Mikey, urging the donkey forward again.

"Look!" cried Tom, pointing high up the mountain where small specks were flying. "I think those are griffons!"

"As long as they stay up there, and away from us," said Carla.

"Why?" asked Mikey, shielding his eyes to see the small specks.

"They might try to eat your donkey," teased Gia.

"They might," agreed Tom. "I don"t think they"re as big as the lions were, though."

"Let"s hope not to find out," said Carla.

"It"s so nice to have the shade of the trees again," said Gia, wiping the sweat from her brow. "Those storms always left it feeling so humid and hot!"

"I"m glad we don"t have to live there; can you imagine trying to cook in that heat?" asked Carla.

"We have, mom," said Gia.

"I know," Carla sighed.

As it began to get late, Gia watched Vonn start to set up their camp with a cheerful hum. He was so happy to be surrounded by trees again it made her heart swell with even more love for him.

"Is there an old man over there?" asked Carla, sitting down next to Gia where she was in the middle of preparing the meal for the evening.

Glancing up, she saw a hunched figure picking up something that looked like herbs or wild mushrooms.

"Maybe?" she said. "Vonn, do you see that person over there?"

Vonn looked up with a frown and nodded, heading over to greet the figure.