The next morning arrived swiftly. Everyone gathered at the northern edge of town with their supplies. The merchant who owned the caravan was the esteemed Sir Duncan Filbus. He made sure to introduce himself to Damian and Astrid. Before, when Pert first brought him to the inn, I had a decent first impression of the man. That impression had since soured greatly. He treated Sadie poorly the moment he saw her, he flirted with Astrid and worst of all, he constantly stared at Jaime. She never noticed, but if looks could kill, she’d be dead right now. He never did it with any strange expressions; his face was always blank when he saw her.

The caravan consisted of four carts, plus the one that Pert drove which had been piled high with lumber. The two freelancers rode with Pert on his cart while Jaime and Hamil rode in one of the covered wagons filled with large wooden boxes. Every box was the same size and was nailed shut. I peeked inside each one to find that they were full of an assortment of colored ores. Bark had tried to get inside a couple of the boxes, but Hamil stopped him each time, setting the wooden dog back into his lap where it curled up.

At the head of the caravan, Sir Duncan sat quietly, staring at the road ahead. From what I heard, it would be a full day’s travel to Renae. There was a tenseness in his appearance, like he was nervous about something. Getting a better look at the man, I felt that I recognized him from somewhere. Something in the back of my mind told me that it was from my time as a soldier, but there were so many names and faces that it was hard to believe that I would remember one.

Jaime and Hamil, who were both occupied with the training that their teachers had given them started to speak. I was oblivious to it at first, but Jaime started to feel some strong emotions. I rushed back to find the two kids in a hushed conversation. 

“So they’re both…” Jaime whispered, her face bright.

Hamil seemed to have an even brighter smile on his face than Jaime as he hushed her. “She never actually said anything, but I could… feel it. During our training, I think I felt her emotions.”

“I can’t say that I felt it, but something has been telling me that he feels the same.” Jaime replied, her eyes pointed towards the cart behind them.

On Pert’s cart, both Astrid and Damian were sitting awkwardly. The seating for his cart was on the outside all the way around, so they both sat opposite of Pert, facing either side of the road. Damian was obvious with how he looked around impatiently, but Astrid was much better at hiding it. At first glance, she seemed perfectly fine, but after looking more closely, I could see that she was bouncing her leg up and down rapidly.

“So what do we do?” Jaime asked in a hushed voice, her eyes brimming with excitement.

“We need to get them to tell each other. I’ll work on Astrid. You work on Damian.”

The kids nodded to each other and continued their training. I knew about Damian’s feelings, but I’d never have guessed that Astrid liked him back. It was almost like watching young teenagers, shy with their feelings. My Jaime and I did something similar with Levi. He was the younger of our sons and was very shy while his older brother was almost fearless. Him and Callum were nearly inseparable as children and Callum was very protective of his younger brother. Any of the kids around that tried to pick on Levi would receive a verbal beat down from him. He could have easily resorted to violence, but would always choose to solve things peacefully if he could. He was always very well spoken. We considered sending him to get a better education, but then I was drafted and everything fell apart. I wanted more for Jaime, more than I could give when I was alive.

For the next few hours, I hovered in the air above the caravan, searching the distance for anything that might look suspicious or dangerous. The road ahead was clear for quite a while. I stretched out far enough to see the checkpoint and the small stone building set in the middle of the road. The checkpoint had no guards present at the moment, but they frequently left to go verify the reports of nearby civilians, such as when Campo’s goons had been taken away.

As I hovered through the air, I noticed something strange. It felt like my insides were twisting in knots, even though I didn’t have and, and realized that Jaime was experiencing the same symptoms. I rushed to her side to find her rolling on the floor of the wagon, clutching at her chest and crying out in pain. Hamil was leaning over her, concern filling his eyes as Astrid and Damian rushed to the wagon to find out what was happening. The feeling got worse as I felt a sinister aura nearby, slowly approaching our location.

I reached out to Jaime, even though I couldn’t actually touch her. My hand passed through her, though I could feel something inside her, something that I could actually touch. Wrapping my hands around the object, I tugged on it. The object slowly budged, leaving my daughter. Then in an instant, the object came loose as I stumbled back. What I had pulled out was a tiny, cross-shaped dagger. The dagger was a sinister, violet color with an aura coming from it that matched the one slowly approaching us. 

As I inspected the dagger, it melted apart, covering my transparent hand in its sinister aura. My hand quickly absorbed the liquid as it faded completely. Soon, the pain in both Jaime’s and my chests faded. Nobody noticed what had just happened with the dagger and my hand, so it must also be invisible. Whatever the dagger was, its effect had faded, but the idea that it had found its way inside me made me worried.

Everyone who had suddenly gathered around Jaime showed relief as she sat up, her breathing regular. It was nice to have people there to physically care for her in my absence. The pain was gone, but the approaching aura was still there, growing closer, and it seemed that Jaime felt it as well. She turned in the direction that the feeling was coming from and her face paled.

“What’s wrong? Is the pain still there?” Astrid asked, concern covering her face.

“No… S-Something’s coming. I can feel it. It’s horrible.” Jaime whimpered, her whole body trembling.

Just as Jaime finished, a terrible, inhuman, bloodcurdling shriek came from not far away. Both Damian and Astrid went completely pale as they heard it.

“This close to town? It’s coming from the west. Is there anything in that direction?” Damian asked his companion, his voice quiet.

“Not that I know of. It sounds close. It definitely knows we’re here.” Astrid replied. She was obviously terrified, but something drove her forward. 

“I don’t have much mana left after yesterday. You?”

“Me neither. But it will have to do.”

Pert spoke from his cart, “You two go. I will watch over the children.”

The Freelancers exchanged worried glances. Whatever was out there was very dangerous, enough so that everyone in the caravan became visibly afraid.

“Listen, we have something important to do.” Damian spoke up, looking at Jaime and Hamil. “You need to tell Sir Duncan that they need to wait at the checkpoint and that if we aren’t there in an hour and a half, to leave and tell the Freelancer’s Guild in Renae that a Plague Beast was spotted to the south.”

The shrill cry of the Plague Beast was heard once again, this time much closer. Hearing this, Astrid and Damian leapt from the wagon and ran in the direction of the shriek.