Serin shot me a sidelong glance as she heard what I’d said. It sunk in how it could have been interpreted.

I waved my hands in front of me. “It wasn’t anything like that… She was watching over the tent. I only woke once, but she turned someone away in the night. I just hope she got some sleep herself.”

Serin seemed to relax a little. “I see… I didn’t realise she was going to take it on herself to do that.” She paused and ruffled her hair. “I’m glad that you got some rest, and I was worried that things might be getting a little out of hand, but it won’t help if Beth ends up getting exhausted looking out for you.”

“I know. I was a little worried she stayed up all night.”

“Well, it was her choice…” She looked at me seriously. “You know you’re going to have to learn to say no, especially when you need to recuperate. It is for your own good.”

“I will… It’s just, well you know, a little difficult.”

“Hmm…”

Aetherin had been quietly listening as we spoke. She got up and moved to the side of the fire where we were sat. “Is it time for you to start making breakfast?”

I knew I was hungry enough. “I’d like to, but we should really wait until the others start waking up.”

“Look.” Aetherin pointed across the camp.

Altria and Beth were both making their way towards the fire.

Serin leant across to her bag. “Well then, we may as well start. Most people will be up soon.”

I was glad to see that Beth didn’t look to worn as she joined us.

I greeted the pair as they sat. “Morning you too.”

Altria was rubbing her hands. “Has breakfast started?”

“We were just about to start.”

“Oh good.”

Beth leaned closer. “I was a little surprised when you had left the tent before I woke up this morning.”

“Yeah sorry, I didn’t want to wake you. I hope you weren’t up most of the night. I heard you talking to one of the visitors.”

“Don’t worry, I had a good night’s sleep and it only happened once.”

“Phew.”

“And anyway, it’s part of teachers duty to ensure their pupils wellbeing.”

Altria tilted her head. “Pupil? What have you been teaching him exactly?”

Beth turned to Altria. “Swordplay.”

Altria burst into laughter. She was almost rolling around she was laughing so hard.

“Huh? You know I teach that!”

We were steadily joined by the rest of our party in dribs and drabs while breakfast cooked on the fire.

After breakfast was eaten, it was time to break camp and prepare to set out on the road again.

It was still early morning by the time we left. This time the harpies were following closer to our group, if still at an altitude where they were hard to spot.

The next two days went past in relative quiet. There was little to break up the boredom of travelling in the carriage. This however, was a welcome change after everything we had been through on this journey.

The first thing that happened of note was when we started to reach the outskirts of the land that surrounded Dunshelm.

It was quiet. Actually, quiet was a bit of an understatement. It was entirely deserted. There wasn’t a single carriage on the road apart from us. No one was in the fields, and we weren’t passed by another traveller on horseback once.

I turned back from the window. “Should it be this quiet?”

Serin shook her head. “No, it shouldn’t… It’s a bit of a concern.”

“What do you think has happened?”

“I’m not sure… We’ll find out soon enough once we reach town. We don’t appear to be in immediate danger, and we have something else we need to worry about before we get much closer.”

“You mean somewhere for the harpies to hide out?”

“Exactly.”

Liz started to unravel her map. “I’ll have a look if there is somewhere on the way.”

Serin turned to her. “There’s no need, I have an idea of somewhere they should be safe.”

“You know somewhere?” I asked.

She nodded. “Yes. There was a small settlement that is on my family’s land. It was abandoned a few years ago after a monster attack. The buildings are in disrepair, but it should provide enough shelter for now. No one will go there, so they should remain undetected.”

“That’s great news!”

“Let’s stop and check it out first. Last time I passed it still looked semi liveable, but it’s been over a year since then.”

“Right.”

Serin slid open the driver’s hatch and tried to catch Rosa’s attention. “Can you look away for a moment?”

Rosa looked over her shoulder. “Sure, is everything okay?”

“Everything is fine. I just wanted to take a little detour before we head towards the city.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem. Where are we going?”

“There’s a crossroads up ahead in about three miles. I’d like you to take the left turn when we reach it.”

“Really? But there’s nothing down that way, except for a small and abandoned settlement.”

“I know. That’s where we’re heading for.”

“Uh okay, mind if I ask why?”

“We need somewhere for the harpies to keep out of sight whilst we’re in town. No one goes that way, and I can’t think of anywhere better.”

“Oh, I see! Sure, we should be there in about thirty minutes.”

“Thanks Rosa.”

Serin slid the driver’s hatch back into position and turned back around.

I looked back out of the window, and it was still completely deserted outside. I knew there was something up. Looking at the rest of the gang I could tell they were concerned as well, even if they weren’t saying anything yet.

The thirty minutes wound down, and I could soon make out the settlement down the ahead. We still hadn’t passed another person in all that time.

The carriage slowed down as we pulled into the small collection of semi decrepit buildings. It was a single street with four or five small buildings spaced out on either side of the road. As we reached the centre of the settlement we came to a halt.

Serin turned to me. “Better call the harpies down and inform them what is going on.”

“I suppose we should.”

“Can I leave that to you?”

I nodded. “Of course.”

It would probably be best coming from me.

I pushed the carriage door open and stepped out. The rest of the girls followed me down. I think everyone wanted to stretch their legs out after being sat inside for most of the day.

I looked up into the sky for any sign of the harpies. I knew they were following us, but if they were somewhere overhead, I couldn’t make them out. I thought about asking Celine to go and call them down, but decided against it.

If I could call them down myself it would save her the effort and energy.

I stepped a little away from the others and started to wave my hands up in the air. I felt a little stupid, but I couldn’t think of anything better. I knew they had great eyesight and were probably already watching us down here.

Sure enough, after about thirty seconds of standing there, waving, and looking up at the sky I could make out their tiny shapes starting to descend towards us.