20 • RAEHERYS

THE SUN ROSE AT ITS PEAK when Sevyh told the group to take a break. The entire morning they had traveled south, leaving Rath Village before the light of dawn touched the heavens. A long walk it had been. And it was just about time for their noon meal.

Raeherys, however, found no liking on the food they had brought. The round and light … thing, which they called a flatbread, had no taste at all—too bland it was—he could not even describe the texture in his mouth when he chewed it down. He had grown used to eating dragon fruits and finelities and berries from his isles—roasted fish and meat and all.

They settled at the end of the pine forest, where they could spot the Shajara Ranges ahead of them. Sevyh suggested they should wait until nightfall. A lot safer it would be for them to climb the ranges in the dark.

Raeherys sat upon a large boulder, watching Larice and Sev spar with their swords under the shade of an oak tree. In the meantime