Rel had mustered every ounce of courage to go in Pike's stead to the witch's carriage. He explained the situation to the guards, and was granted permission to fulfil the duties that neither were willing to accept for themselves.

Pike does this every day, he told himself, there's nothing to be afraid of.

The door was unbolted, and enough space for an arm to pass through was opened.

"Do I just throw them in to it?" asked Rel.

The taller of the two guards smiled. "It's chained up too tight to move," he explained, "You have to go in there and feed it yourself. Careful it doesn't bite."

The dark of the carriage and the fetid air that escaped it were far from welcoming. Rel imagined he heard a low and rumbling growl from within, as the guard shoved him closer to the door. With trepidation, Rel climbed through the narrow gap, his hair standing on end at the unmistakable scrape of the bolt that locked him in with the Maddening Witch.

"I've been thinking all night about what you said," came the masculine voice of the prisoner, "I think it's best to accept the fate I've been given... it's better for you to accept it. I cannot allow you to risk your soul to save me."

Rel dropped the flagon as the witch's words settled on his chest.

"I'm sorry," he said, bending down to collect it; the witch finding himself startled by the unfamiliar voice that answered him.

"I... I'm talking nonsense," explained the witch, "You're just the warden after all... I must have confused you with someone from home. I've barely come to my senses. Please, don't misunderstand me." 

His hurried tones were intended to correct his mistake, to spare his usual warden from suspicion, but they only served to convince Rel further. Pike was planning something stupid.

Taking a seat beside him on the bench, Rel carefully pressed the flagon to the witch's mouth.

"What has he suggested?" he whispered as the witch drank, "There must be something, right? My friend is fool enough to make a stand when he fears injustice."

His own fear had subsided when faced with the prospect of Pike becoming entangled with the witch. He remembered how things had gone with Ursa. His little brother, whose heft and propensity to overeat, had left him at the mercy of a fierce and nasty gang of youths. They took great delight in taunting him, and making him run for their amusement. While Rel advised his brother to deal with the problem himself, only Pike had thought to take action on Ursa's behalf.

He'd stepped between the boy and the barrage of rotten foods pelted in his direction, declaring that the next to throw would be forced in turn to eat their missile. He stayed true to his word, and they hadn't let him alone for a year after that. While Ursa found respite from the bullies' punches, Pike's evenings were spent keeping watch over the animals they tried try to steal in retaliation.

Eventually, Rel had no choice but to pay them off in secret.

"Is he your friend..?" asked the witch, "The other one that came before..? Is he safe? He stayed too long last night."

"A fever, that's all. We left him to sleep it off. He didn't mention, that you were a man. You are? Aren't you?"

"You see it clearer than he did," offered the witch.

"If you were a woman, I might have thought you'd bewitched him. But if he means to save a man, he must think you innocent. What does he intend to do? There's not a soldier here that wouldn't kill him for trying to help you escape."

"I don't know," confessed the witch, "It troubles me. But he needn't try to help me; there's no sense dragging another into the mud... we would only sink together. Please, don't let him risk himself. I'm not worth it."

"I see it now," said Rel, "All his talk of monsters..."

"He seems a good man, better than most at least. I trust if you're his friend, that you'll keep him out of danger."

It had only taken a few moments in the witch's company to see the rumors had been wildly exaggerated, and why Pike would pity his situation enough to try and do something about it.

'Think the best of everyone,' he'd said, 'Don't let anyone convince you otherwise... not unless you see it with your own eyes.'

Fuck. Whatever Pike was thinking, Rel needed to put a stop to it. So what if the prisoner was falsely accused? it had nothing to do with them. Once the witch reached Velmund safely, their job would be done; it was up to the witch to prove his innocence to the Protector.

Having fed the remarkably calm and dignified man in the carriage, Rel left to find the others, with a promise to straighten out his friend's noble scheming. He couldn't bring himself to help the witch to the extent that Pike was willing, and so left the flagon in a pair of chained hands, that he might figure out how to angle himself and fill it again.

The pair from Hofingrad were in the same space that Rel had left them in that morning. Only the fraught urgency of Pike's voice belied his desperation to be at the witch's side, rather than Min's.

"You're back? Well? How did it go?" asked Pike.

"As it should I suppose," Rel told him, "I fed the water and scraps to its mouth and left... I didn't hear it speak a word of gratitude in the darkness. With these gray clouds hanging over head, it's a wonder I could even make out where its mouth was."

"She failed to bewitch you too then?" asked Min, "You know, I'm starting to wonder why the Cimbrans are so fearful of her power."

"Does that mean you're next in line to feed her then?" teased Rel.

"Well..."

"I'm in good health now," said Pike, "There's no sense failing to meet my duties as I was forced to this morning. Rest assured, I can handle things from now on." 

Min shrugged, and proceeded to empty his 'pillow' before rolling the case and stuffing it in the gap between his neck and his armor. Rel was watching Pike closely, observing the nervous thoughts running through his head. It seemed as though he was drifting away from them, that reality was failing to hold his attention.

"Pike," cried Rel with a snap of his fingers, "Hurry and ready yourself to leave; the pace will quicken now we're on the home stretch. If you can't keep up, it might be better you stay behind."

"And fail to earn his wage?!" asked Min, "We haven't traveled so hard just to forfeit our share, not when there are those in Hofingrad depending on our return."

"He's right," said Pike, "No turning back."

"Not until you've enough to give your mother at least," reminded Rel, "Don't forget she's waiting for you, Pike. She's waited in vain for your father... she must be counting the seconds until you're home."

"And weren't you the one telling him to stay on a while in Velmund with you?" asked Min, "If you know she's waiting then you shouldn't try and hold him back, no matter how great you think the capital to be!"

"You're right, Min," said Rel.

"I am?"

"We all have people waiting for us. Once the job is done... we should waste no time in heading back; together."

Min had rarely such a victory.

"Well since Pike didn't seem to mind either way," he said, "Then let's hurry up and get this done! Whatever's left over after mother's satisfied, I'll use to buy you both a drink in Forinstad."

He marched off to join the formation with a satisfied smile, content in the knowledge that he'd no longer be starved of company when making the long journey back. 

"Just because your friend turned out to be an asshole, it doesn't mean you should let it stop you from seeing the city," said Pike, "You'll have enough to find a place to stay if you wanted to. Don't worry about me or Min, we can take care of ourselves."

"We stick together, like you said last night." Rel wasn't sure how much he could say with so many soldiers still milling around. "Just focus on what we have to do and how we're getting home. No one else's business matters. Okay?"

Pike gave a half-hearted nod.

The day ahead was long, and Rel felt that he could hammer his point home on the road. Pike's mother was waiting; that had to be reason enough to be cautious. Despite his offer to feed the witch that night and let his friend continue to recover his strength, he was unsurprised that Pike refused him. If nothing else, he would want to apologize, and part on good terms with the prisoner.

As the journey continued onwards, Pike broke ahead from the group; keeping step with Rel's false friend at the front. The soldier sneered when he saw the yokel from Hofingrad by his side, expecting he'd quickly tire himself out as he competed to pull ahead. He didn't expect him to adapt so easily, or dare to make conversation.

"What's the travel time like?" Pike asked, "How long 'til the next stop? And how long 'til Velmund?"

"I thought you were quicker on the uptake," came the reply, "We're not friends here."

"That's fine," said Pike, "but can you answer my questions anyway? I'll fall back out of your sight once I know."

"Oh hurry and tell him Elion," begged a portly soldier to his left, "you keep increasing the speed like this, and we'll none of us survive the march."

"We'll stop once it's dark, same as usual. I'd have thought you'd have picked up on that much at least?" Elion scoffed, "Likely reach Velmund Drum by then."

"Velmund..? So soon?"

"You really are from the sticks, aren't you? Velmund Drum is the highest peak on the Cimbran Isle, and two days from the capital. If the weather keeps up, it shouldn't take more than that before we throw the Maddening Witch to the feet of the Protector." Elion locked eyes with Pike, "I've answered enough don't you think?"

He watched with a scowl, waiting until Pike had vanished into the ranks before focusing his sight once more on the road ahead. Two and a half days... thought Pike, less than that. They'd make camp at the mountain, then press onwards to Velmund; only stopping once more on their journey. He should have asked further, what to expect on the other side of Velmund Drum. If he couldn't free the witch tonight, then tomorrow would be his final chance.

"What were you doing up there?" Min asked breathlessly, as Pike arrived beside his friends, "You're not thinking of staying in Velmund after all, are you?"

"Just wanted a word," Pike half confessed, "I've no intention to stay in Velmund." I've no intention of setting foot there at all...

Only when the road began to incline did the distant mountain come into view; the gentle slopes surrounding Forinstad paled in comparison with the large rock ahead of them. Elion may well have called it a peak, but its appearance was better suited to a drum - a large plateau stretching out at the highest point, as though the top had been sliced clean off.

"Should we try and climb it on the way back?" asked Min, "I bet you could see the whole of the Witling Forest from there."

"Do you intend to paint the view?" asked Rel, "It's not like you can bring it home with you."

"Well, no. But I could tell my mother what it looks like. Her father was said to have been to Velmund Drum when he was barely a hundred, though the stories were passed along through my grandmother, centuries later."

"What do you know of it?" asked Pike.

"That it's not a bad spot for climbing." 

Rel rolled his eyes. 

"And that's not all," continued Min, "there are fruits that grow wild amongst the rocks. Sweet red berries worth the climb. Not to mention the land around it. Lush trees with birds to catch, and places to fish dotted everywhere."

"Fishing?" asked Pike, his ears pricking up.

"Oh yes! Besides the streams and waterfalls, the lakes are filled with big fat trout and catfish. Even though they'd spoil before we make it home, we could eat them as we go. How about it? Velmund itself doesn't appeal, but a brief spell in the countryside doesn't sound too bad."

It didn't sound too bad at all. A body of water was all the witch needed.