A chilly wind made Perry grit his teeth as he followed Myran through winding streets and narrow alleys. The boy moved slowly, but with purpose. If Perry had to guess, he'd say the boy was proficient in sneaking around the city. Or most places, judging by how he'd maneuvered himself in the secret passageway back at the inn.

Perry's new clothes helped him blend in with the people walking around, even if the fabric felt strange against his skin – rougher than what he was used to, but warm enough against the evening chill.

"Pull your hood down," Myran instructed.

Perry didn't even question him. 

They emerged from an alley onto a broad street that ran alongside a river. The water was dark and smooth like glass, reflecting the few city lights. A wooden barge, simple but sturdy-looking, was moored at the dock, where a gruff-looking man stood holding a lantern and examining people and cargo with squinted eyes. 

At that time, with the evening quickly melting into night, there were few people out and about by the dock. But Perry still pulled his hood down a bit lower and stared at his feet. His stomach growled, and his body protested all of the moving about after only a short rest. He inhaled deeply and ignored it. 

Perry hesitated as they got closer to the water. It looked cold. And dark. Very, very dark. 

Myran kept walking ahead, but stopped and turned when he noticed Perry wasn't following him. "What is wrong?"

"What if I told you I can't swim?" Perry admitted quietly, mouth dry.

Myran stared at him as if he'd just told him he didn't know how to breathe. "How can you not know how to swim? I learned when I was two."

"Well, the orphanage didn't exactly have a pool," Perry said, more sharply than he'd intended. "Or anyone to teach me, for that matter."

Myran's expression immediately softened. "You are an orphan?"

"It's not a big deal," Perry shrugged, uncomfortable with the sudden sympathy. "There are orphans everywhere. I'm nothing special."

Myran approached the man with the lantern who seemed to be in charge and exchanged a few quiet words with him. After a pause, he reached into a hidden pocket and pulled out some coins from a small purse. Perry watched the transaction, guilt twisting his stomach.

"I'll pay you back," he promised when Myran returned. "Once I figure out... well, everything. Or anything, for that matter. I'll pay you back for all your help."

"Do not worry about it," Myran smiled. "Because you saved me from the cart, I can grow up and make lots more money."

"Yeah. So, about the whole cart-saving incident," Perry said and shifted uncomfortably. "I didn't do anything special. Anyone would have tried to escape. You don't owe me anything for that. I was actually more worried about saving my own ass."

"Did anyone else kick down the door?"

"Well, no, but someone would have eventually." Perry shrugged. "Survival instincts and all that."

"It does not matter what someone would have done," Myran said with a solemn look in his eyes and the gravity of someone repeating cherished wisdom. "Only what they do. Maybe others thought about kicking down the door, but you are the one who did it first."

Perry glanced at him, a little surprised. "Another lesson from your father?"

"Yes!" Myran's face lit up with pride.

Perry couldn't help but offer the boy a small smile at the same time that something twisted in his chest – a familiar ache he usually managed to ignore. 

He'd never known that feeling, that simple pride in a parent's teachings. The closest he'd come was one of the teachers at the orphanage who'd sometimes slip him an extra cookie every now and then.

The man with the lantern waved them aboard, pulling Perry from his morose thoughts. Perry stepped carefully onto the wooden deck, his heart rate increasing as the barge shifted under his weight. He sat down on the sturdiest-looking flat surface and braced himself with both hands.

The river lapped quietly against the hull, a sound that should have been soothing but instead reminded him of all the ways this could go wrong.

Myran immediately went to the side, bracing his hands on the seat next to Perry and staring intently into the dark water. The barge pulled away from the dock with a gentle lurch that made Perry grab his seat harder.

"What are you looking for?" Perry asked, trying to distract himself from thoughts of falling off the barge and drowning, slowly and painfully.

"Nothing specific," Myran replied, not looking away from the water. "I like to wait and see if anything interesting happens. Or if one of the strange beings rumored to live in the river are curious enough to break the surface and reveal themselves."

"Lots of creatures living in this particular river?" Perry asked, even though that was a question he most definetely did not want an answer to.

"Yes! The mother of lizards is said to have a nest at the bottom of this river. They say she is very beautiful and will sometimes lure humans she finds particularly savory down to her domain." 

Perry stared wide-eyed at the broad smile on Myran's face. "You sound way too excited to see what basically sounds like a crocodile with a sense of style and a craving for human meat."

If possible, Myran's smile widened. "Do you truly believe she looks like a crocodile?" He sounded disproportionally delighted by the thought.

"Can't say I'd have thought of a human-eating croc coming to chat with us before you mentioned it, kid, but I can promise that's all I'm going to imagine from now on. Thanks for that." Perry tried not to let his mind wander and picture what other nightmare creatures might be lurking under the still surface. 

"You are most welcome," Myran said. 

Perry sighed. He'd either have to stop with all the sarcasm or teach the boy how to interpret it correctly. The second option seemed to be the best one since understanding sarcasm was basically a survival skill. 

As they drifted downstream, the city slowly disappeared behind them. The air grew colder, carrying the clean scent of river water and the forest. Lanterns along the shoreline cast their reflections on the surface. The stars shinning above them grew brighter as the dark deepened. The steady rhythm of the water against the hull became less threatening as the minutes stretched on and morphed into a rhythmic background noise.

For the first time since being pulled through that bathroom mirror – had everything really happened only that morning? – Perry felt his muscles begin to relax. He loosened his grip on the bench underneath him and let out a long breath. 

Everything that had happened so far felt like one long hallucination. The strange figure in yellow, the cart, the so-called Crimson Star Lords, being mistaken for a prince. Perry half expected a giant caterpillar smoking something funky to pop up out of nowhere and hand him a mushroom to eat. It was so unbelievable that Perry's terror and confusion had morphed into a kind of numbness.

As he watched Myran's quiet vigilance and felt the gentle movement of the barge through the river, Perry inhaled and exhaled easier. Maybe it was exhaustion, or maybe it was the simple fact that he'd survived everything the day had thrown at him so far. Regardless of the reason, he let himself relax a bit more.

Perry breathed in the cool night air, tasting mineral and moss and the chill of the night on the water. For just a moment, he let himself believe that everything might work out somehow.

After all, how much stranger could things get?