Eric sat in the cart and heaved a weary breath. Emotion mixed with building anxiety interrupted his breathing, causing the air to come out in fits accompanied by sudden body shakes. His mind refused to settle, to process this new normal for him. 

“Rose,” he said aloud. “I don’t…” Words died in his mouth, a sudden exhaustion billowing up into his throat. 

“Eric,” Rose said, voice tender. “Your body, mind, and soul are tired. It is to be expected. Rest and sleep must be a priority for you right now.”

Clanker was sitting across from Eric, looking at him with a concerned look on his skeletal face. 

“I’m not some savior like Buddha was,” Eric said. “I’m just a sci-fi writer who is fascinated with space, weird science, and good stories. I love anime, video games, and I love my Rose.” A silence settled on Eric, Clanker continuing to stare at him, unconcerned of him talking to no one. 

After the silence stretched on, Rose spoke again.

“Whether or not you are a savior, just be good, and do good.”

Eric’s breath caught, a sudden wave of emotion pulling a few tears from his eyes. Clanker noticed and raised his hand to Eric.

“Are you alright?” Clanker said, voice uncharacteristically soft. 

“Rose used to say that,” Eric said, a griefed smile on his face. “‘Just be good,’ she would say. She said it all the time. She was far more religious than me and believed in a higher moral code. I was never good at faith.” 

Clanker’s hand hung in the air, slowly drooping to the ground. 

“I’m no savior, Clanker,” Eric said. “I just want to find my Rose, maybe make the world a brighter place while I’m at it.” 

Clanker tapped his bony chin in thought, looking upward. 

“From what I remember,” Clanker said. “I was never good with emotion or people. But, I was pretty good at taking the next step. Maybe just stop worrying about who people think you are and just be who you are as you try to achieve your goal. If you are part of some prophesied future, then things will just work out anyway.” Clanker smiled his creepy skeletal smile, then gave Eric a thumbs up.

Eric laughed, then nodded. 

“Where’s Sophia?” Eric asked. 

“Walking farther back,” Clanker said, thumbing behind the cart. “She’s…trying to figure out her place in this. I guess the Hero of Splinters is kind of a big deal to some around here.”

Eric sighed. “Yeah, makes sense. I bet Bracharest has already gotten word of today.” 

“Not unless they had a shifter run ahead,” Clanker said, shrugging. “Not like it’s possible to nearly instantaneously transfer information between two different places across unfathomable distances effortlessly and erroneously.” He smiled at Clanker, a knowing smile. 

“Auron doesn’t have cell phones, does it?” Eric asked. Saying it out loud made him feel stupid. Of course, they don’t, he thought.  

“Is that some kind of cancerous growth of the ear?” Clanker asked. 

Eric stared at him in utter confusion.

“Well,” Clanker said. “You mentioned cell, which I would assume you are referring to that which makes up all living life, then mentioned phone, which is similar to many words that relate to the ear and sound. I just made a logical leap. And by the look on your face, I perhaps lept into a pile of feces.” 

Eric couldn’t help but smile, silently expressing his gratitude that he had found some friendly people in this dark world. I wonder who else will come into my path…

A light knock sounded on the side of the cart, making Eric turn his head to see Sophia looking down at him. 

“Are you some kind of god?” Sophia said, tone serious. 

Eric frowned at her, trying not to laugh as well.

“I’m just me,” he said. “Eric Schaffer. Nerd and hopelessly out of my depth here.”

Sophia stared at him, then spoke. 

“So no Hero of Splinters?”

“Not intentionally,” Eric said, shrugging. “I got pulled here against my will, but I won’t discount your world’s history. There’s nothing divine about me, Sophia. I hope you aren’t disappointed.” 

She smiled. “Nah, I was kind of hoping it wasn’t like that anyway. Makes keeping my agreement with you easier.”

“Good,” Eric said, smiling. “Then, I guess business as usual. Rose?”

“How may I be of assistance?” Rose responded. 

“That gargoyle mentioned seeing me from far away,” Eric said. “Am I shining or something? How did he see me, like a ‘beacon’ as he said?”

“It is possible that he can see or sense your power,” Rose said. “Especially if his perception capacities are sufficiently advanced to visualize and detect the power in you.”

“I can understand how he saw you,” Clanker said. “I mean, that blinding light is a bit distracting sometimes.”

Eric stared at him. He looked closer at his eyes and could see a strain on them that he had never noticed, never bringing himself to really see Clanker’s eyes.

“You can see that light?” Eric asked.

“Oh yes,” Clanker said. “Can you turn it down? I basically have a permanent after-image version of you swimming across my vision. I once started talking to it thinking it was you the other night. It was embarrassing.”

Eric just shook his head.

“What about you, Sophia?” Eric asked. 

She shrugged. “Nope.”

“Rose,” Eric said. “Can I turn that off, somehow?”

“Perhaps in time,” Rose said. “You may be able to learn to suppress it. Your body is quite inefficient in holding that power inside, so it leaks out tremendously fast. With a magnitude such as yourself, due to two splinters coexisting together, a great deal of it flows into you. Like any mage, you’ll be able to improve all aspects of using your power, such as the ability to hide it as well.”

“I only understood some of that,” Eric said. “But I get the gist.”

“Sooner the better,” Clanker said, holding up a shaking thumb. “It seems to have gotten brighter since your engagement with the flying statue.” He smiled through clenched teeth. 

“Who would be able to help me with that?” Eric asked.

“There’s a hunter’s hall in Bracharest,” Sophia said. “I bet there’s someone that might be willing to proffer some knowledge for a coin or two.”

“I like that idea,” Eric said. “How much longer until we reach Bracharest?”

“Probably not til near nightfall,” she responded. “Hey bones, do you ever get tired?”

“Not particul–” Clanker began, but was then yanked out of the cart and tossed behind it.

Sophia hopped in and sat where Clanker had been, grabbing a blanket that was near her and wrapping it around her. 

“Wake me when we’re close,” She said, then laid down to sleep. 

“Well that was rude,” Clanker said, dusting off his brown tunic and beginning to walk next to the cart.

Eric smiled, but let his eyes shift to the passing landscape. Mountains peaked high in front of the cart, a low plain dominated by forest behind them. The beauty of it kept Eric’s gaze, so he let his mind wander, let himself drift in thought as he waited for the caravan to arrive. Clanker seemed fine to just walk in silence, eyeing the landscape as well, but with a critical eye, like looking for something that’s about to jump out at him. 

The caravan entered Bracharest easily, filling the large stone gateway from edge to edge as carts and caravaneers filled the entry. Eric had dozed off a bit in the cart and was awoken by Clanker nudging his shoulder. He did the same for Sophia, who started awake and nearly ripped Clanker’s forearm off. 

It was late as they entered, so most of the city was dark, with the occasional lit window from a fire or candle. The lack of light made it hard for Eric to make anything out as the carts moved into the city. 

I’ll have to explore tomorrow, Eric thought. 

But one thing was easy to see in that darkness. The castle seemed to glow in the night, fires lit all around it and even a few along the ramparts of the structure. It bathed the area around it in light. Even with that, buildings stretched out from it into the darkness. With a dazed eye, Eric noted the largeness of the city, surprising him. 

The cart pulled up to a dimly lit entrance to an inn and the three of them shuffled into the door. An innkeeper rested against the bar, a few patrons still talking softly in the tavern common area, having long finished their drinks. A few of them were even plastered across the top of their table, drooling over the wood of them. 

Next thing he knew, they had a room and he laid down on a somewhat soft, yet prickly bed, barely having the strength to pull off his boots before drifting off to a much-needed night's sleep. 

His dreams came to him in spurts, faint images of his Rose, memories made fantasies as he remembered dates they had gone on. Many of them returned to him, settling his soul and allowing the soothing peace of sleep to heal and recuperate his being, giving him the strength to continue on in the crazy world he had found himself pulled into.