Surprisingly he was still up early in the morning despite how much he had drunk. We rolled out just as the sun poked over the town walls. The merchant’s voice still held haggard traces of last night's impropriety. The same groggy voice that woke me up to help harness the donkey and get the rest of the group up. He then laid out the plan for today’s grueling trek.

“We gotta get a move on. The locals said the fires will be bad this year. They haven’t seen Altai in weeks so there is a good chance it’ll start soon. We’ll take the old imperial road to see if we can catch up.”

I gingerly raised my hand.”What fires and what is the Altai?

He chuckled as I sat up. “I forgot you guys lived in cells most the time. This grassland is called Kephrii or the morning sun because you will wake up and find a wall of fire around you. In the summer the fires rage across the plains. The Altai are the nomads that live here. They are our best bet on not getting roasted.”

I staggered up and nudged sleeping pride next to me. He had developed the habit of waking up and sleeping next to me. I couldn’t complain because his wings were nice and warm during the night. Wrath and Lust were sleeping over by Esper in a pile. It was no surprise that the merchant wanted me to do it. Wrath could be grumpy in the morning especially when being woken up. That's why I got the still bleary Pride to do it. 

Groaning but still awake the group helped pack up. I helped Esper up onto Birch and held the reins for her as we set out. The merchant was always so paranoid that my horse would bolt with his daughter. Birch was a superior creature and would do no such thing. As that thought went through my mind, Birch took it upon himself to try to embarrass me by taking a massive dump. Such a graceful beast. 

An hour rolled out in the usual way. The grass swirled along at knee height along the road broken periodically by trees. They had green fruit bustling along the branches practically begging for consumption. With that in mind I wandered over to pluck one. Before I took a bite though a voice rang out from the grass. Instantly I jumped back, as the rest of the sins realized there was someone there. Taking a peek behind me, the merchant had pulled out a knife and Pride was brandishing a spare wheel spoke. Fearsome. The voice sounded out again.

“Calm down. I meant no harm, cause if I did you would have an arrow as a new necklace.”

A grizzled greying lady pushed out of the grass with a little bird on her shoulder.

“Where are youWhere you coming from? It ain’t here. Even the bandits know not to eat manchineel fruit.”

The merchant called out behind me. “You are Kesunyian, aren’t you? The villagers told me we might run into you.”

“Guilty as charged. I was just heading back. My place is about a day from here. You folks should follow me. The side trail is safer. Usually the Altai chase off the bandits but this year they left earlier.”

Just as soon as she popped out, the grass swallowed her. As we lead the animals into the grass it becomes apparent that the grass was almost shoulder height in some places with only the raised road to give a sense of direction. The wagon shuddered a little then settled down acting like a giant wedge, pushing a wide path of grass. With no warning the woman was back slipping out of the grass right beside me. 

“Nice horse you got. Northern breed? They have such wide hooves compared to the Altai’s. You can call me Kes by the way. This little guy on my shoulder is Harapan. He helps me spot the fires. Makes such a ruckus I’d have a hard time ignoring it. Got any other beasties?”

Her easygoing voice was pleasant and mellow, matching her simple garb. Loosely draped robes with varying green hues. She kept on rolling out sentences with no real haste or purpose.

“Not much of a talker eh? Not a problem. See the trees along the roadside? They have poisonous fruit, leaves and bark. Pelorus planted them when the empire built the road in hopes to make their horses sick. It worked, but now the trees remain and the empire isn’t.”

She then gasped upon seeing Wraths kids diving among the grass. 

“What the hell are those?”

A snort came through my nose. “Who knows. Watch out, they nip.”

She didn’t seem to mind, jogging after them with the persistence of a child chasing birds.

The day began to scald my skin as the heat became more blistering. Reddening was something new to me although I doubt I was supposed to feel burning pain along my arms. Kes popped back after a while to check our progress on the trail and burst out laughing.

“Silly child. Here take a shawl or you’ll be too sore to move tomorrow.”

Draping over the burning sensation felt nice and surprisingly the shawl was light and flowing. Even still my body was drenched with sweat. Looking around Lust seemed to be in the same predicament. He at least was sitting in the cart. Wrath seemed comfortable, her braids keeping the hair off of her neck. My locks did no such thing, instead forming a wet pile down my back. 

Pride was probably gone, swooping along the grass with a cool breeze….  Bastard. Esper seemed fine. Dead silent though. Strange kid. Maybe a chat would get her to open up. 

“Hey Esper? Have you been here before?”

A barely audible whisper came back. 

“Dad said not to talk on the road in case bandits hear us.”

If only Pride would be this smart. 

“Don’t worry about that. Look at me, I’m big and strong so I can protect us from bandits.”

She giggled, a genuine sound that felt so much more natural than the silence. Envy would have loved this child.

“You silly. Even dads bigger than you”.

“Widthwise maybe. He’s practically a boulder.”

She thought about it for a second, scrunching her nose.

“He wasn’t before. Only on our last trip, he started eating a lot.”

She leans in to whisper  conspiratorially in my ear. “He also started guarding his coins more carefully. She then flashed a smile. “I used to sneak some for apples. He caught me though and got really angry.”

Sounds about right. The merchant definitely came off as miserly. 

I soon discovered that Esper was just as chatty as Pride. The kid had been almost everywhere. Apparently they had caravan guards before but some bad guys got in a fight. Her dad said that they were taking a break. No wonder she was messed up. Sounds like a bloodbath happened.

The evening finally brought a little respite and with it a change in scenery. The grassland began to be spotted with little hillocks, on one was an odd structure that I assumed was Kes’s house. 

A squat stone building with holes dug along the bottom and a wide chimney sprouting from the back. Kes held up her hand and motioned to follow her. With some trepidation the cart wobbled up the hill behind a crouching Kes. Suddenly a great burst of creatures left the building piling onto Kes. Terrified I moved to help her when I realized she was laughing. A pack of dogs wagging their tails.

“Meet my children guys. Give them a second to sniff you and they’ll be as tame as lambs. Don’t be shy.” 

I crouched to let a black dog sniff my hand. I passed apparently because suddenly I had a dogs tongue kissing my face. Who deserves a good belly rub? Kes suddenly said “don’t do that”

Turns out that specific dog pees from excitement when he gets belly rubs. Luck burst out laughing as I received an impromptu golden shower. Esper laughed too and her dad chuckled. But it wasn’t all that funny to me.

The inside of the house was odd as well, split in two with one side being filled with supplies and the other behind a locked door. Kes was explaining loudly as her bird flew to a perch in the corner.

“The dogs sleep in dens I dug under the house and my cat, wherever the hell it may be, usually sleeps over here. I’ll take you to the barn for the night. It’s mostly filled with hay and my cow so hope you don’t mind lowing.