Seriously, that was the first thing she noticed. It smelled delicious and she was hungry.

How long had it been since she ate? It felt like a whole day. Glancing up at the sky, Mindy figured that most of the day had in fact already pa.s.sed…

She sat up, looked around for the food… and then her head spun.

"Ugh…" Mindy shut her eyes tight. Pain throbbed. "My head…"

"Yeah, Ivan tells us that you and that boy went head-to-head in a literal sense." Father Petrov came over with grilled fish-on-stick. "Here."

"He's still here…?" Mindy took the fish, took a bite, and glanced around.

"Tied to that tree." Father Petrov pointed.

There he was, lying on his side, his hands bound behind his back with a few feet of rope leading to the tree. Darian wasn't the only one tied to it. Vigil was too. They were both currently asleep, the wolfcat cub serving as Darian's pillow. Ivan was standing guard over them, keeping watch while the others ate. Carrie and four other wolfcats were lounging around a stream nearby.

Mindy counted. Along with Father Petrov and Alexei, only one of the students was there having dinner.

"Where's everyone else?" Mindy asked.

"Didn't make it." Father Petrov shook his head. "We lost three in the Bog, and one more when we landed. We're on the other side of Mount Roc, by the way. Your eagle friend brought the super bird and it gave us a lift this far. But then, the minute the Roc left us, an oversized spider attacked. We couldn't get to him in time."

They were already across Mount Roc? Wait, before that… "A spider attacked? Just how big was it?"

"Not counting its legs, about the size of a cow."

Oh. That explains it.

So… now what? Why didn't 'Gramps' Roc take them farther? Why only this far? Now they had to go the rest of the way on foot, and they didn't even know how far 'the rest of the way' was. They only knew it was going to be even more dangerous, and they were already in over their heads.

Mindy sighed. "We should make a deal with Darian."

"What?" Father Petrov blinked.

"Do you remember how I asked the Professor to invite some other Adventurers on this trip?" Mindy mentioned.

Father Petrov thought back. "He said there was no need and no time, that our crew was enough to handle whateer came, and if war started, people would be dying every hour… I'm guessing you have some regrets about that."

"It was his decision, but it was a very poor one." Mindy rubbed her forehead. "Our crew obviously wasn't enough to handle anything we faced, and the way we are now, continuing on sounds like suicide. The smart thing about be to turn back. But we can't, can we?"

"I don't think we can. We have come this far. The mana here is five times thicker than what I'm used to back at Ecclesia. We're close. We can all feel it."

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"The Wilds here are stronger than ever though."

"The richer the mana, the stronger the wildlife will be. That just makes sense." Father Petrov nodded.

"I'll tell you what else makes sense; getting help from the strongest warrior in the Wildlands." Mindy jerked her thumb toward the boy and the wolfcat tied to the tree. "That's him, in case you haven't noticed."

"Unfortunately, he seems to be bent on stopping us." Father Petrov grimaced. "Plus, he seems to have lost his red crystal. That would mean a drastic reduction of the fighting power he had shown us before. In fact, without that crystal, I'm not sure he's even a match for Sir Ivan's squire any more."

"We could have them fight it out and see." Mindy mused. "But that can wait until after we find the Source of Magic."

She went over to talk to Darian.

"You want me to help you?" Darian yawned. "No. Not going to do it."

"We'll set you free." Mindy offered.

"Then I'll lose my excuse to take a vacation. I've been thinking, and in the end, well… I think I'll just stay tied up, thanks."

"You call this a 'vacation'?" Mindy blinked.

"Yeah, I rarely have a chance to go an entire day without training."

"What's so bad about training?"

"Burning blood and freezing cold water, plus tons of lake pressure on top of me, to begin with. I'm really sick and tired of all the pain."

"So quit. Stop following Doom and come join us. The fun is over on our side."

Darian snorted a laugh. "Maybe one day. But not today. Today, I'm just going to chill."

"We could torture you until you cooperate. You're our prisoner, after all." Mindy threatened.

"You wouldn't." Darian stared at her.

"Try me." Mindy pulled out a soft feather that Aeyrie had given her long ago.

"That's not going to work." Darian shook his head, and laid down. "Good night."

Mindy stared, then started tickling his neck with the feather.

A strange s.h.i.+mmer appeared around Darian, covering him from head to toe.

"What's that?" Mindy asked.

"It's a Silhuoette. Just a thin little layer, nothing to be afraid of." Darian yawned. "It's great for keeping bugs away… and ticklish feathers."

Mindy scowled. "I'll… I'll blast you with fireb.a.l.l.s!"

"And draw attention from the local Wilds? That sounds like a terrible idea."

That was an excellent point. They really, really didn't want the local Wilds after them.

"Tell you what. You agree to drop the search, and I'll escort you all back safely." Darian offered.

"No way. Nuh uh." Mindy shook her head.

"Don't be so quick to refuse. Any time now, you're going to wish you'd agreed." Darian informed her.

"Oh, really? And why is that?" Mindy asked.

"Because you people were cooking." Darian said, simply.

Mindy frowned. "So?"

"So every Wild for miles around can smell it."

Mindy's eyes widened. "Alert! Everyone! We have to…"

ROAR! Too late. A scaly horned beast was already charging out from its cover where it had been stalking them. Sensing the rising alarm, it had decided that NOW was the time to strike.

The ground shook. Mindy bounced off it, half-yelping, half trying to say something coherent, almost biting her own tongue. She landed and bounced a second time, a third, a fourth…

At this point, Mindy was on all fours, gritting her teeth and just trying to stay on solid ground. She saw the enormous, lunkering beast trample Sir Ivan's squire into the mud. It was on a full-on rampage. People were trying to cast spells, to run, to…

"Ugh!" Mindy wasn't sure what that student was trying to do, but whatever it was, the beast got to him before he could do it.

There was a rough jerk, and Mindy suddenly found herself being pulled away through the air, then swept around in a tight semi-circle. When the world stopped spinning, she found herself standing with her back to the tree where Darian and Vigil were tied, except that they weren't tied up any more, they were next to her, Darian's back likewise up against the tree, Vigil in one arm, Mindy in the other…

For a moment, one bare moment, Mindy considered throwing his arm off, but considering that he might need to grab her and run away in a hurry, she decided to let him save her life and keep her life safe, for now…

So much for him being tied up. Those ropes must have seemed like a joke to him.

"We're going back…" Darian said decisively.

"No…!"

"You're in no position to argue."

Mindy growled. She sent her thoughts far, seeking out her friend.

[Aeyrie! Help!]