Chapter 50: Safe Travels...?
The main road curved gently ahead, winding through rolling hills speckled with wildflowers. The afternoon sun had already begun its slow descent, washing the landscape in amber and gold.
Damon had finally stopped sweating.
They walked in a loose formation.
Rook led the way, her hand resting casually on the pommel of her sheathed sword. Lena stayed near the middle, her gaze flicking between the treeline and the road, taking in every plant she passed. Sera walked beside Damon, her staff slung across her back, her breathing at last steady.
"You know," Sera said, "this is actually kind of nice when we’re not sprinting for our lives."
"Don’t jinx it."
"I’m just saying. The scenery. The fresh air. The complete lack of boars trying to gore us." She spread her arms wide. "This is what portal expeditions are supposed to feel like."
"Have you even gone on an expedition before?"
"Let me have my moment."
Behind them, Lena had stopped beside a rune-carved marker to examine a cluster of purple flowers growing at its base. She drew a small notebook from her satchel and began to sketch.
"Moonpetal," she murmured. "I’ve only ever seen dried samples. The fresh petals are supposed to be twice as potent for sleep draughts."
Rook glanced back. "Don’t pick those. They’re protected while we’re here. Academy rules."
Lena’s hand, which had been reaching toward the flowers, pulled back at once. "Protected?"
"The academy wants to test out the plant’s resilience on different ecosystems. This is their most recent experiment. Anyone caught harvesting it gets fined."
Rook’s expression shifted with something that might have been a smile.
"Saw a professor lose a month’s salary that way."
"Noted." Lena finished her sketch and tucked the notebook away. "No picking the purple flowers."
"Don’t worry, once we’re at the main city, there are areas where you can pick them."
They kept going. The road dipped into a shallow valley, where a wooden bridge crossed a narrow stream. Clear water slipped over smooth stones, catching the afternoon light as it went.
Rook raised a hand. "Rest stop. Five minutes. Fill your waterskins."
Damon knelt by the stream, cupping cold water in his hands and splashing it over his face. The chill cut through the last traces of exhaustion from the run. He refilled his waterskin while Sera did the same a little farther downstream.
Lena sat on the edge of the bridge, her legs dangling over the side. Her notebook was out again, and she was writing something down, her pen moving in quick, precise strokes.
"What are you writing?" Damon asked, sitting beside her.
"Observations. Moonpetal locations, stream water composition, monster spawns, and a mix of everything." She didn’t look up. "I’ve been studying portal ecosystems for two years from textbooks. This is my first chance to actually see one."
"You’re enjoying yourself."
"I really am." She finally looked at him. "You really were worried, huh? Sprinting for over an hour because you thought I was in danger."
"I may have overreacted."
"You definitely overreacted." But she was smiling. "It’s fine. Rook is... well, I haven’t seen her fight anything yet, but she’s been calm the whole trip. I think that’s a good sign."
"It is."
"And you’re here now. So nothing’s going to happen."
Damon wasn’t sure what to say to that. There was something absolute in her voice, a kind of trust that couldn’t be forced or faked. She really believed he could handle whatever came their way.
It was terrifying and flattering in equal measure.
"Rest’s over," Rook called. "We’ve got another two hours of light. There’s a waystation about six kilometers ahead. We’ll camp there."
They crossed the bridge and kept heading north.
***
The waystation was a small stone building set back from the road, surrounded by a low wall that hummed with the same protective magic as the trail markers. Inside, the single room was spare but functional: four bunks, a stone hearth, and a wooden table scarred by years of use.
"Academy-maintained," Rook said, running her hand along the wall. The runes embedded in the stone flickered beneath her touch. "The barrier keeps out anything below B-Rank. We’ll be safe here."
Sera dropped her pack onto one of the bunks. "I’m claiming this one. I’ve earned it."
"You’ve earned it?" Damon lifted an eyebrow.
"I killed multiple boars in two days while you were lying in bed. Yes, I’ve earned it."
"Fair enough."
Rook set about lighting a fire in the hearth while Lena unpacked her satchel. She’d brought more than potions: dried rations, a small cooking pot, and a pouch of herbs that filled the room with a warm, earthy scent.
"You brought cooking supplies?" Sera asked.
"Field alchemy needs hot water. And I thought we’d probably want something better than travel rations." Lena pulled out a bundle of dried meat and vegetables. "It’s not gourmet, but it’s better than jerky for two days straight."
Damon watched her work. She moved with the same efficient focus she used in the lab, measuring ingredients by eye and adjusting the flame with practiced ease. In the small stone room, surrounded by protective runes and the quiet crackle of the fire, she looked completely at home.
"You’ve been planning this for a while," he said.
Lena didn’t look up from the pot.
"Since the day you got Solo Authorization. I figured if you were going to be running portals alone, you’d need someone to keep you fed and supplied. And the better I understood the field conditions, the better I could prepare for them."
"So this isn’t just about seeing the ecosystem."
"It’s about that too." She stirred the pot. "But mostly it’s about making sure you don’t die because you ran out of supplies halfway to the main city."
Sera snorted from her bunk. "She’s got you there, boss."
Rook, who had been quietly tending the fire, looked up. "It’s not a bad instinct. Most Resonators underestimate how quickly supplies run out on long expeditions. Having someone dedicated to logistics is smart."
"Thank you," Lena said, shooting Damon a pointed look.
"I never said it wasn’t smart."
"You didn’t have to. Your face said it."
"My face was neutral."
"Your neutral face is very judgmental."
Sera laughed outright. "She’s been traveling with you for half a day, and she already has you figured out."
Damon opened his mouth to argue, then shut it again. There was no winning against people who loved to tease him.
The stew was better than travel rations had any right to be. They ate in comfortable silence, the fire throwing soft shadows over the stone walls. Outside, the last of the sunset faded into darkness, and the forest beyond the barrier came alive with the calls of nocturnal creatures.
Rook took first watch, settling onto a stool near the door with her sword across her knees. Sera claimed her bunk and was asleep within minutes, her breathing slow and even.
Lena sat at the wooden table, her notebook open beside her half-finished bowl. She was sketching something, her pen moving in slow, careful lines.
"What are you drawing?" Damon asked, taking the seat across from her.
"The waystation." She tilted the page toward him. The sketch was detailed, capturing the stonework of the hearth, the arrangement of the bunks, and the pattern of the protective runes along the walls. "I want to remember this. My first night in a portal."
"Is it what you expected?"
"Better." She set down her pen. "I thought I’d be scared. And I was, a little, when we first went through the gate. But Rook is... she’s so calm. And the road is beautiful. And now you’re here."
She met his eyes. "I’m glad you caught up."
"Even though I nearly gave myself a heart attack doing it?"
"Especially because of that." She closed her notebook. "You’re not the same person who almost died in that corridor, Damon. The person you were a month ago wouldn’t have run after anyone."
"The person I was a month ago couldn’t have run after anyone."
"That’s not what I mean." She leaned forward, her expression turning serious. "You care about people now. You let them in. You have friends, a party, and people who rely on you. The old Damon kept everyone at arm’s length because he was afraid of being a burden."
Damon didn’t answer right away. The fire crackled softly in the silence.
"Maybe," he said at last. "But the old Damon also didn’t have a reason to let anyone in. I was just... waiting. For something to change."
"And now?"
He looked at her. At Sera, sleeping soundly in her bunk. At Rook, keeping watch by the door. At the waystation itself, this small pocket of safety in a world full of monsters.
"Now I have reasons, more specifically, I’m actually strong enough to let people in now," he said.
Lena smiled. It was small and private, meant only for him.
"Good," she said. "Then it was worth selling you discounted potions."
RUSTLE!
"We have visitors..."
Rook narrowed her eyes.
