The cliff went on for some ways and on occasion the pair were forced to deviate from its base when the forest intruded and blocked their path. Nysid’s hip ached fiercely with every step but he marched on, resolved not to hold them back no matter how suspicious he was of this stranger that had appeared from nowhere to, apparently, offer them some guidance.

For awhile, the prince thought that perhaps they had been abandoned, but every time he went to suggest as much to Anders, their guide would reappear at the top of the cliff, never gesturing or speaking, simply watching them before disappearing out of sight again. It was eerie, and set Nysid’s teeth on edge, but as Anders had said, it was their only lead, and if he hadn’t been capable of climbing a cliff before, he certainly wasn’t now that he’d hurt his hip and shoulder.

Eventually, they stopped for a break when their guide reappeared and Nysid silently thanked the first riders then sagged back against the nearest rocky outcropping to catch his breath while Anders addressed the armored stranger on the cliff above.

“We’re taking a break, we’ve been marching since dawn,” he said. Nysid had no idea if they heard, or even understood, as they soon withdrew from the cliffs edge, drawing a sigh from Anders in response. “Well, guess we’ll find out if they’re leaving us behind,” Anders mused mostly to himself as he slung his make-shift pack off his back and to the ground so he could withdraw his waterskin, which he passed to Nysid first.

The prince accepted it gratefully and took a drink, careful not to overdo it. Without magic, getting clean water meant boiling it first, not an easy thing to do on the move, so he rationed his intake, no matter how desperately he wanted to down half of it in one go. Nysid re-corked the skin as Anders stepped closer and offered something in the palm of his hand. Curious, the prince looked and saw the man had acquired a number of berries somewhere along the way while he wasn’t paying attention, and seemed intent on sharing them.

“Go ahead,” Anders said with an encouraging smile as he took one and ate it himself. Nysid took one and popped it into his mouth then bit down, only to grimace at the taste. The berry was plump and juicy with a sweet start but a harshly tart finish that was almost enough to make the prince spit. Anders laughed, no doubt amused by the face he’d made, and Nysid scowled. “Yeah, goolsberries aren’t particularly good but they’ll keep you going when you need it most,” the blond explained with a lopsided grin as he shook his hand a little, making the offensive berries bounce in his palm. “Have some more. Beggars can’t be choosers out here.”

Nysid heaved a sigh and grimaced, but reluctantly took another and ate it, unable to suppress the shudder that raced up his spine when the tartness hit the back of his tongue again. “I preferred the suspicious mushrooms and bog weeds.”

“You and me both, beautiful,” Anders agreed with a snort as he ate several in one go and stuck out his tongue at the taste, not seeming to notice his slip.

Torn between mortified and flattered at the casual appellation, Nysid floundered silently as he choked down another berry. Part of him wanted to take Anders to task for calling him beautiful, the rest of him was too busy resisting the urge to blush right up to the tips of his ears and bury his face in his hands. The way his heart practically skipped a beat at the ease with which the man said it, like it was the most normal thing in the world, was completely stupid. He was a prince, dammit - and, admittedly, a rather attractive one. He’d been called beautiful before and barely blinked. Nysid may have had no intention of becoming king one day, but he was realistic enough to know that plenty of the nobles back home had been jockeying for his attention in an attempt to secure a marriage with a royal. That meant lots of tiresome platitudes, dull poems, and being called beautiful at the drop of a hat at any social gathering he couldn’t manage to worm his way out of.

And yet, when Anders said it, something cold and brittle inside of Nysid melted just a bit and made him want to smile like some sort of… sort of… some sort of besotted apprentice.

In the end, the prince took several berries at once and shoved them in his mouth to cover his confusion and nearly gagged as a result.

“That hungry? You can have the rest, if you like,” Anders offered solicitously, seeming amused by the prince’s antics.

Nysid shook his head vehemently and took the waterskin back to wash the taste down with another mouthful of water. “I’d rather perish,” he gasped when he was done, and Anders laughed, loud and heartfelt. The sound of it did funny, pleasant things to the prince’s stomach, as did the way his mate’s eyes lit up with good humor the moment before he tossed the remainder of the berries in his mouth, chewed, and shuddered. Nysid passed him the waterskin and watched him swallow, distracted by the bob of Anders’ throat.

The blond made a sound of disgust and gave himself a vigorous shake, then collected himself and asked, “Okay, you alright to keep going?”

“Yes,” Nysid answered immediately despite the dull ache that still throbbed in his hip. Anything, he thought, was better than sitting about waiting for another untoward realization to occur to him; or, First forbid, for some sort of casual flirtation escape his lips.

Anders nodded and they started off, though when they saw their guide again, they were both brought up short by the fact that they were no longer at the top of the cliff, but at its base, barely a stone’s throw away. They both stopped short and while neither of them could make out any insignia on their guide’s armor, they could now at least determine that they were, in fact, a woman. It wasn’t an easy guess to make, what with her still wearing her helmet, but the cut of the armor around the hips gave it away now that they were closer.

There seemed to be nothing to see on a first pass, as if the woman had simply disappeared into thin air, but on closer examination, they realized that what looked like just another outcropping of rock was in fact a narrow crevasse.

“You really think she squeezed through there?” Anders asked skeptically and raked one hand back through his golden hair as he considered the opening.

“She must have; where else would she have gone?” Nysid mused and bent slightly to get a better look into the darkness within the rock face. Shifting to one side slightly, the prince spotted a glimmer of light and said, “I think it opens up further in.”

Anders hummed thoughtfully, clearly not liking the idea of squeezing into the dark, narrow crack any more than his mate. “Could be it leads to the other side of the cliff.”

“Or the top,” Nysid added as he straightened, wincing a little as his hip panged him. “That would explain how she suddenly appeared down here,” he pointed out, then sheathed his sword and, making up his mind, declared, “I’ll go first.”

“Now hold on, lets not be hasty,” Anders said, reaching out and catching the prince by the wrist, surprising him with the sudden contact. The other man released him almost as quickly, but not before adding, “-again.”

Nysid scowled at the subtle jab. “What else should we do, then? You’re the one that suggested we follow that woman in the first place.” Anders grimaced and couldn’t seem to muster a convincing counter argument, so the prince turned and started towards the crevasse again then slipped carefully inside, forced by its narrowness to sidle sideways. After a moment’s hesitation, he heard his mate follow, so he pressed on.

There was little light to be had for a ways, and Nysid proceeded mostly on feel, forced to squeeze through in places, though by the sound of it, Anders was having an even harder time of it than him. Before long, the prince spied an open space ahead and stepped out into it with no small surge of relief that they hadn’t been ambushed or-

“Wait, wait─ I’m stuck!”

The prince turned back to look at his companion and heaved a sigh when he saw that the man had, indeed, become wedged quite firmly just shy of freedom. “Well suck it in, come on,” Nysid urged as he approached and Anders wrinkled his nose and grunted as he tried.

Anders immediately accepted and Nysid pulled, wincing sympathetically as the other man started to budge, but at the cost of some skin along his back and chest. “Twist a little now, you’re almost there,” the prince encouraged, and was gratified when Anders did as he was told and popped free a moment later, bowling directly into Nysid in the process.

“Sorry,” the taller man gasped, grabbing Nysid to stabilize the both of them, then smiled down at him, abashed. “That was a bit close for comfort.”

Shaking off the thought, Nysid pulled back and scoffed, “That’s what you get for being a muscle-bound meat-head.”

“You noticed my muscles?” Anders quipped, grinning cheekily when his mate glared back over his shoulder at him and refused to comment further lest he wind up in a deeper hole.

The cave they had entered wasn’t a large one, but was lit from above by a hole in the ceiling that revealed a view of the overcast sky they had left behind a few minutes before. There was, to the prince’s delight, an easily climbable pile of rocks stretching up towards the opening, no doubt left over from a cave-in at some point in the distant past.

“Oh, there we go, that looks more your speed,” Anders commented blithely and earned himself an elbow in the stomach from his mate for his wit. The rider sucked in a breath as Nysid stormed off towards the exit and began to climb, then said, “Okay, I might have deserved that.”

Nysid refused to reply again, and instead focused on the climb. For all Anders’ teasing, the prince had learned his lesson, and he was careful to test his handholds to be certain none of the boulders was about to shift unexpectedly on him before putting his full weight on it. This time, his luck held, and he emerged from the cave, poking his head carefully up out of the opening and found…

Nothing of particular interest. Yet more forest, though once he had climbed the rest of the way out, he was afforded a better view of the mountain. It seemed much closer than before, but not so much Nysid thought they might be able to make its peak before dark. Right at dark, maybe, but then they’d be stuck at the top of a mountain for the night and he certainly didn’t relish that thought.

Anders emerged from the hole behind him, and while he too gave the mountain a hard look, no doubt coming to the same conclusion Nysid had, he quickly turned his attention to the ground at their feet.

“What are you looking for?” the prince asked, puzzled as he followed suit on reflex. Despite the hidden cave below, the ground was mostly earth with a layer of dead leaves and other natural detritus Nysid couldn’t find any particular interest in.

His mate, however, dropped down into a crouch, frowning thoughtfully as he looked around, eyes going from the hole, to Nysid, and then farther afield. They weren’t quite in a clearing, there were trees and other underbrush quite near to hand, obscuring their immediate surroundings, as well as any view of the cliff they’d previously been walking along the base of.

Before the prince could lose his patience, Anders looked up at him, dark brown eyes serious as he said, “No footprints.”

“What?” Nysid asked, stumbling mentally at this unexpected topic.

The other man only looked at the ground again from where he still crouched, and pointed. “Here’s your footprints, and mine. But none for our mysterious guide, and no sign that they might have been covered somehow.”

Nysid went still as he realized Anders was right. Having never spent any significant time in the forest before, particularly one like this, he hadn’t given it a second thought. Thinking critically, though, it was obvious to the prince that anyone passing through would have left some sign, whether it be in the fallen leaves, or the dirt; particularly when dressed in full plate armor the way their guide had been.

“She could have used magic to hide her tracks,” Nysid suggested slowly, though without any real conviction as he peered into the depths of the forest ahead.

Anders hummed his agreement and got to his feet. “Assuming she hasn’t been affected the same way we have, I suppose so. But then, why bother guiding us if you’re only going to hide the trail?” he murmured mostly to himself. Nysid had no answer, however, and the man shrugged. “Well, stay sharp, I guess.”

“Some of us never stopped,” Nysid remarked blandly as he drew his sword again and started walking. Before he made it more than a few paces, however, Anders caught him by the arm and pulled him back, making the prince shoot him a challenging look.