“Not dangerous enough to hurt the Princes?”
No.
I breathe out a sigh of relief, “I guess we’ll go back to the room and wait, then. But if they’re not back come tomorrow morning, I will alert Lord Daniel.”
Golem agrees with the plan.
We head down the hall with Storm on my shoulder, the two of us pushing through the door and into my room. Stormfall immediately glides to the bedpost and walks across it, his beak clasping on the window slats above as he pulls.
“You can hunt, Storm,” I walk to the window and open it fully, “but I need you to check in every now and then. I can’t be worrying about you, too.”
Stormfall jumps onto the ledge and stands within the opening, turning his gaze to me before he lets out a caw.
“It’s okay, Storm. I trust you’ll be safe.”
I turn around to get the fire going and place a few logs over the small embers. I hear Stormfall caw again from the window, probably in goodbye, but it takes Golem walking over to the fire and pointing me to the Bird of Ash to realize he hasn’t yet flown away. Storm’s beady yellow eyes meet mine before he looks out to the inn’s courtyard, turning back around to look at me again.
“Oh…”
Stormfall caws in agreement.
“Okay!Shit, yeah. Let’s do it.”
I hastily grab my cloak from behind the door and make sure Golem’s jar is hidden in a good spot in the room before checking my daggers. I walk to the window and give Stormfall a steady nod, ready to close the slats behind his long tail.
“We’ll meet you outside,” I grin, watching as he jumps off the ledge and into the night. I turn around and pull my hood over my head, grinning like a fool.
“Another adventure, Golem!”
We walk down the hall as quiet as possible, careful not to wake anyone from our group. Cal’s deep chuckle greets us when we pass by his door, the sound making me pause before Alanna’s cool laugh joins in as well. Golem and I slowly turn towards eachother with smirks and continue to the common room, the two of us meeting Stormfall in the courtyard.
“Alright Storm, we’ll follow you,” I whisper to the baby beast.
He pushes off a tree limb and glides down the road towards Gaumond, his black body and tail feathers melding perfectly with the gloomy forest surrounding Fumagalli. We follow behind him for a while and let the village fade far behind us, the cool air of the forest reaching temperatures far too cold for my liking. I tighten my cloak around my front and press into Golem’s side for warmth, but my magical friend just looks atme and shakes his head sadly, reminding me that his body is a cool product of summoning, not of blood and heat.
We walk for another long while until Stormfall finally glides around the tall glittering black pine to the side of the road, the marker for the path to the mills.
“The mills,” I glance at Golem who nods in agreement.
We follow Stormfall down the thin path that cuts through the trees before Golem pulls out his lantern of moonslight. We tread carefully through the thick forest until the sound of rushing water greets us from ahead, the two of us quietly stepping out from the trees as he extinguishes the light.
“Golem,” I whisper, “the first night in Agnor when we spied on the Princes and Alanna from their room…”
He looks at me like he knows what I’m about to ask.
“Were you hiding us then? Keeping us quiet and undetected in case they spotted us?”
He nods.
“Can you do that now? I’m not the most adept in stealth but my gut is telling me they’re in mills. I don’t want to be caught sneaking up on them.”
Golem nods again.
“Alright then,” I turn in determination, reaching my hand up to Storm. He lands on my fingers before I bring him under my hood.
“Let’s find out what’s going on.”
We follow the water as silently as possible, our already quiet footsteps shielded by the sound of the rushing stream. The first mill, the one with the water wheel, is smaller than the other building, and if I remember correctly from Keane’s tour it is primarily used for water tapping and storage. We walk around that building, hearing no sounds or spotting any lights or movements in the windows. The small unit is seemingly unoccupied, so we continue against the west facing wall and head towards the second building, spotting a dim flicker of a candle on a second-floor window.
