The next morning, Mara pulls her hair into a tight bun. She spears it diagonally with the hairpin Kimala had given her and checks out her new clothes, marveling at the flexible fabric Surana had used. She is in a green tunic and brown pants, her new daggers strapped to the outside of the snug material. Aeserast’s trinket rests underneath her shirt, unseen and out of the way.

Ezra, helping her pack the last essentials, closes the top of the travel bag. “I want a letter when you arrive and when you’re accepted into the Academy,” Ezra demands. “Ask Kimala or Codi if you need help sending them. Remember all of your lessons. Make sure not to lose your father’s ring.”

Mara glances down at her right hand’s smallest finger. The goldstone sparkles at her as if encouraging her forward. “Sure thing, Mom.”

“One last thing,” Ezra says, handing Mara the packed bag. “If you ever need help or you’re in trouble, just call for Highlord Aeserast.”

Mara’s eyes narrow. “You seem to be really close to him. Did there used to be something between you two?”

Ezra shakes her head, chuckling. “Highlords, no. That man is too innocent for his own good; it still baffles me how he and Shaniel became such good friends, seeing as they are polar opposites of one another. Let’s go; no need to keep the others waiting.”

Mara has a hard time wrapping her mind around this casually mentioned information as they walk through the hallway to the front entrance of the mansion. She hears Codi and Kimala arguing about their bags as Jonan tries to play mediator between them. Three guards stand off to the side, wearing a mix of what looks like leather and plate armor. One is significantly shorter than the other two, but all three look to be middle-aged and well-trained.

“Wait.” Ezra grabs Mara’s arm and stops her before she can follow them into the street. “Be safe. Stay on guard. Don’t strangle your cousin.”

Mara grins lopsidedly at her mother. “I love you, too, Mom.”

Ezra taps the pendant around Mara’s neck. “You can contact Aeserast through – ”

Mara grabs Ezra’s hand, squeezing it tightly as she smiles. “It’s okay, Mom. It’s only a few nights of camping, and then we’ll be there.” She kisses Ezra on the cheek. “I love you, Mom. I’ll see you when you get there.”

Ezra strokes Mara’s hair, her smile wavering. “I love you, too, Mara. Just… try to keep an open mind. And no matter what, know that your father would be proud of you.”

Mara’s eyes sting at the thought of her father’s praise. “Really?” she asks softly.

Her mother nods, stroking her hair one more time.

“Mara! Are you coming?” Codi yells from the road, in a simple tunic with breeches and boots. His backpack is nearly the same size as his torso, and an odd sword with a two-handed hilt bumps against his waist.

Mara waves. “Yeah!”

Kimala cocks her hip off to the side and flicks her hair behind her. She is in a nice-looking shirt with skin-tight pants and thin shoes. Surprisingly enough, her small backpack looks light and easy to carry. “Great. This is going to be a fun trip.”

“You sure you have everything you need, Kimala? That’s a really small bag…” Mara comments, staring at the tan satchel.

Kimala huffs. “It has a translocation spell anchored to the inside, so the outer appearance does not matter.”

“What about those shoes? They might fall apart,” Mara comments, now examining the girl’s slippers.

Kimala crosses her arms. “These shoes are meant to be walked in.”

“She’s going to snap if she steps in a mud puddle,” Codi mumbles.

“I’m not that oblivious, Codi,” Kimala snaps. The three guards behind Mara chuckle softly.

They walk down the road. Mara turns and waves, grinning at her mother one last time before disappearing around a corner.

~ • ~

Several hours later, they are meandering on a dirt-packed road that trails through the woods. Codi whistles as he strolls ahead, following behind the guard, Rick, in front. Kimala walks in the middle like the little princess she thinks she is. Mara hangs behind, glancing around in curiosity. “So we’re going through the forest?” she asks, noticing the nearing tree line.

Kimala trips on another rock. “Ow! Yes. This is the fastest way.” The two guards behind Mara, Beral and Don, sigh. Mara wonders if Kimala will be complaining every hour of the trip.

“Enrollment ends on the eighth, so if the portal engineer had been here, we could have left this weekend,” Codi informs Mara.

Mara does a quick calculation in her head. “So we have a week to get there.”

Codi nods. “It only takes about four to five days to get to Quasala by foot, but it’s always good to take precautions.”

“Owww!” Kimala yelps, stopping in the middle of the road.

They watch the duke’s daughter clean out her flimsy shoe for the fifth time since they had started their journey.

“Do we need to turn around?” Mara asks.

“No.” Kimala jams her shoe back on.

“You sure? The road could get worse.”

“I’m fine!” Kimala snaps.

Splock.

They all glance down to see one of Kimala’s shoes completely submerged in filthy stagnant water. Kimala squeals in horror and disgust.

“Told you so,” Codi mumbles. The guards turn away, but Mara can tell by their quivering shoulders that they are all fighting their laughter.

Mara sighs and takes off her travel bag. She digs through it and pulls out her hiking toe shoes that had been in her original duffel bag when they had arrived in Veera. Tugging off her boots, she tosses them at Kimala. Hopefully, they will fit; she looks about the same size. “Put those on.”

Kimala wrinkles her nose up at the notion of sticking her feet in the worn boots. “I refuse to – ”

“Either we turn around – thus wasting a whole day – or you wear my boots for the rest of the trip.” Mara takes off her socks and fits her toes into the slots. She rubs her ankles, wishing she had something to protect them in case she ran into bramble. Her pants leg ended two inches above her ankle, leaving the area between her anklebone and the cloth bare.

Kimala wrinkles her nose as she tightly laces the boots. She storms ahead of Codi and Mara. The other guard, Rick, hurries after her as the others take their time.

“You’re welcome,” Mara mutters to Kimala’s retreating back.

“This is her first time outside of Veera,” Codi informs her.

Mara glances at him, surprised. They follow after Kimala through the forest. “How can you be worried about me?” Mara hisses. “She won’t last twenty-four hours out here.”

Codi rolls his eyes. “There’s twenty-six hours in a day here, just so you know. Also, she’s been trained.”

“At what? Fashion?” Mara raises her eyebrows at Codi, and he sighs. They catch up to Kimala and Rick.

Codi’s eyes widen as he stares ahead. “Is that…”

Kimala covers her mouth. “It’s spread since the last Heakalius storm…”

Mara stares ahead, confused. A few hundred yards in front of them, a grey border separates the healthy green trees from the dead, warped woods. Even the grass suddenly ends. It reminds her of some Halloween movie.

“We’ve made it this far. What difference is there if we have to go through the creepy woods?” Mara asks.

Kimala shuffles her feet. “If the Heramus is bigger, that means the next storm might just send the borders closer to Veera.”

Rick gestures to the right. “But this is just the edge. We should be able to avoid the Hemius easily, as the puddles are smaller on the outskirts. If we turn around now, we will just have wasted that much more time.”

Kimala nods. “He’s right. The bigger puddles don’t form until deeper into the forest, so we should be fine as long as we’re careful.”

“Let’s go, then.” Mara walks alongside Rick, continuing down the worn trail. Sounds like there’s some special puddles called… she pauses, mentally sounding out the Xharos word to help herself memorize it, Hee-mee-us. I wonder what’s so important about them.

As they approach the grey border, a chill runs up her spine. It is as if someone had drawn a monochromatic grey line between the two different sections; one can clearly see where the grass and dirt had turned a dark greyish color.

Before the indescribable line between the two regions – the lush green forest and the warped grey woods – Mara’s foot stops. Something feels… wrong. She feels like she shouldn’t go any farther or something terrible will happen. Her fingers itch, wanting to reach for the blades on her legs.

She shakes her head, dispelling the feeling. There isn’t anything wrong with walking through some creepy woods. We’ll be fine.

“You okay, Mara?” Codi asks, pausing beside her.

“Yeah.” Mara steps forward.

They cross the line between the forest and the Heramus.