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For most of the previous day they’d only seen the occasional farm or cottage, but little other signs of habitation.  It was only after a few hours of walking on this cool but clear morning that they saw in the distance the perimeter of a town.  After breaching a high hill they could see the full size of the town, looking down on it; it was small.  Off to the east they saw another town that looked like a mirror image of the town straight ahead of them.  To Kyra it seemed like one of them must be a mirage.  She looked to Doci to see what he thought about them.
    
“Oh yes, I remember those towns,” he said.  “The one ahead of us is Northtowne and the one off to the west is Southtowne.  They’re sister towns, meaning they were founded at the same and trade a lot with each other.  Northtowne has the main road access, while Southtowne sits on the bank of the river.”
    
“Wait a minute.  You said ahead is Northtowne and west of it is Southtowne?  How does that make any sense?”
    
“It doesn’t actually, but it’s thought that when the towns were founded the founders had no sense of direction and just decided on the directions they thought the towns were in.  Of course, everyone knows they should really be called Eastowne and Westowne, but people have gotten used to the names through the generations and no one wants to change them now.  I’ve never really spent much time in Northtowne, so we should check it out, maybe we’ll spend the night there at an inn.”
    
“Do you have money?” Kyra asked.
    
”A little.  Not enough for us to be able to have a room for the night, but I’m hoping that word has spread quickly through Enchantus about us and we might just get free lodging.”
    
“What about Southtowne?” she said.
    
“It’s a more interesting town, being close to the river and all, but I’ve never seen Northtowne before, plus there’s another town, Whyte I think, that sits on the river, which we will be visiting further down the road.  Now, let’s get into Northtowne and hopefully I can get us a couple of beds for the night.”

They headed off down the hill and within an hour had reached the main gate to the town, just off the road.
    
Doci walked up to it and knocked as hard as he could on the high gate made of very thick wood.  His knock barely made a sound.
    
Kyra hoped someone would hear them and then saw a small opening revealed above her head and a man on the other side looking at them.
    
“How can I help you two today then?” the man asked.
    
“We seek an inn for the night.  We’ve been walking for a few days now and are quite tired.  We’re on a quest.”  Doci winked at Kyra as he said this.
    
“Why, you’re not the Guide are you?”
    
Doci nodded.
    
“Well that means you must be the Chosen One,” the man said, looking at Kyra.
    
She nodded.
    
“Then by all means come in.  Please come in.  Open the gate!” he called to someone and it soon swung open and Kyra saw a classic town setting before her with two-story buildings running along a single main street.  There were street vendors and people everywhere.  A few carts, but mostly people.  There was a hustle and bustle of everyday town life and Kyra breathed in the smells of fresh baked bread, cooking foods and other wares - clothing, spices, and leather.
    
Once inside, Doci gave a nod of thanks to the gatekeeper and then started walking up the main street with Kyra following.  He soon saw a sign hanging from the building on the left side of the street: Towne Inn.
    
“That looks like the place,” Doci said, turning to Kyra.  “Let me do the talking and I’ll see if I can get us a room for the night.”
    
Doci opened the door and led the way.  Before them was a small entranceway, with a coat rack along one wall and a bench along the other.  Straight ahead was a sturdy oak counter with a little bell.  They walked up to the counter and Doci rang the bell.  It was a soft tinny sound that echoed through the room. 
    
A man soon appeared from a doorway and introduced himself as Jon the innkeeper. 

“And how might I help you on this fine day?  Interest you in a room for the night?  Or will you just be dining with us then?”
    
“We do need a room for the night,” said Doci.  “We’ve been traveling for two days now and we’re tired and need a soft bed for the night to rest our weary bones before we set off tomorrow on the continuation of our quest.”
    
“A quest you be on then, eh?” said Jon.  “And what sort of quest might that be?”
    
“A long and arduous quest with much danger and peril.  I know not if we will even complete our quest.  But all we need now is a room and a couple of beds for the night.”
    
“Is that so then?” said the innkeeper.
    
Kyra had had enough of this pointless banter that seemed to be getting them nowhere.  “I am Kyra, the . . . Chosen One.”  It was the first time she’d ever called herself that, and while it was the truth, it still sounded strange coming from her mouth.
    
The innkeeper turned to her now, his eyes widening and his mouth opening slightly.
    
There was a pause.
    
“Well, why didn’t you say so?  That means you must be the Guide,” Jon said to Doci.  “In that case I’ll have a room ready for you in a jiffy.  And no charge necessary.  Consider it a favor from me and the Towne Inn of Northtowne.  With such important guests, I wouldn’t dream of charging you.  Just gimme a sec.”
    
The innkeeper looked behind the counter, deciding, and selected a key.
    
“Follow me then.”
    
He walked around the counter and opened a door and led them along a hallway with doors on either side.  At the end of the hallway was an open door and they could see it led to the restaurant and bar where there was already quite a crowd gathered for lunch.  The innkeeper opened another door and they went up two flights of stairs, through another door, and along another hallway.  The walls were just as plain and bare as downstairs.  Here again, there were wooden doors along both sides.  At the end was a larger door that was in better condition, with a white coat of paint and a shiny knob.  The innkeeper unlocked the white door, leading them into a large room with two queen-size beds.  There was a small but beautiful chandelier dangling from the center of the ceiling and two large windows looking out onto the street below.
    
“This is the best room I have, and before you think to disagree with my choice, I will not have it.  You will have this room for the night and longer if you so wish.  I will leave you now.  Lunch will be served for another hour and then dinner starts at dusk.  If you require anything at any time, do no hesitate to ring the bell downstairs and I will help you however I can.  Good day to you two.”
    
“Thank you,” they managed before Jon quickly bowed closed the door.
    
“Wow,” Kyra said.

    
Dinner was a delicious feast that was almost as good as the food Kyra had eaten at Enchantus palace.  Again, there was no charge and they spent the early evening relaxing by a warm fire and listening to a musician play his instrument.  Kyra thought it was a cross between a lyre and a harp: larger than the former, but not as big and cumbersome as the latter.  The music it made was soft and melodious, and as the musician sang in a lilting voice, Kyra felt her eyes grow heavy.
    
When the song ended, she awoke and looked around, seeing that Doci had also fallen asleep.  She tapped his arm and he woke up, startled.  She indicated they should head off to bed.
    
“We’ve got a lot more walking ahead of us and we need all the rest we can get.”
    
He just nodded, his eyes only half open, and followed her up the stairs to their room, and then into this own bed.

    
They got up a little after dawn the next day, thanking the innkeeper for his hospitality, and then were on their way.  It was another beautiful day and the start of the walk was refreshing.
    
As they left through the same gate they’d entered the day before, Kyra noticed how fresh the wood of the gate and surrounding walls looked, as if they’d been chopped and constructed recently.
    
As they walked back onto the road, Kyra asked about this.
    
“Yes, the last time I was in Southtowne a year or so ago, there’d been no gate or walls, but it seems like they’re all really new.  I even saw sap running from the some of the wood.  My guess is with all the news about Jolus the Malignant, and things not being as safe as they were in Enchantus; the towns are starting to defend themselves again.  They won’t be able to amass any major forces, but they’ll do what they can, as we’ve seen.”
    
“Things not being safe?  Like what?  I haven’t heard anything about that,” Kyra said.
    
“It began once word started about Jolus the Malignant regaining his forces and becoming strong again.  About six months ago.  Since then crime has become worse throughout the kingdom.  Queen Anita has dispatched more guards to protect the towns, but things are getting worse every month.  I don’t know what it’s going to be like once we pass the border of Enchantus, but we need to be on the watch for anything.”
    
They continued on in silence, Kyra no longer quite as happy, while the day remained warm, bright and colorful.

    
They reached the next town, Whyte, a little before dusk.  They saw much of the same: a high gate, this one larger because it was a larger town and had a lot of merchants and carts passing through, with high spiked walls surrounding the town.  Once they identified themselves, they were let in without question.
    
Whyte consisted of two streets and the buildings were three stories high.  They did a quick search around the town and found three inns: The Great Whyte, The Little Whyte, and The Rose.  Kyra decided on the last one because of its different name and they discovered the innkeeper was a friendly woman.  Again they got the best room and this time had dinner brought up to them and had a personal servant.
    
The following morning Kyra woke before Doci and decided to have a look around the town; she wanted to see what a lively port in Aisis Lip looked like.  She left Doci a note and quietly left.
    
The sun had only been up for a short while, nevertheless, Whyte was alive and filled with people going about their daily business.  A cornucopia of sounds and smells filled her ears and nose.  As she walked up the street, she was paid little attention, which made Kyra happy.  She bet if they stayed here a few more days, word would soon spread, and everyone would soon know who she was, but for now she was a stranger in a strange town.
    
The two streets were named Major and Minor, and it was at the end of Major that she found the port she’d so wanted to see.  And if she’d thought there were a lot of people in the two streets of Whyte, it was nothing compared to the noisy crowds at the market in the port.  There were the same sounds but new smells: fish and sweat.  This was where the true life of the town was, where it made its money and where the major trade took place.  The docks were large, stretching out halfway across the river and were filled with boats.  Two quays were for fishing boats, though there were a few open berths.  Kyra looked upriver and saw a fishing boat heading out again.  There were also old wooden yachts, not as large as galleons, but large enough to have a crew of fifty, and she could see them all weighted down with supplies.  On some boats great boxes and crates were being loaded on, on others, they were coming off.  It felt quite amazing to Kyra, to be seeing busy life happening before her.  She’d never seen anything like this back in Huntington Beach, what she could remember of it.  This was something right out of one of the fantasy books she loved so much.
    
She began walking through the market, looking at all the different kinds of fish, as well as the other foods and exotic wares that had come off the ships.  Everything was kind of jumbled together: fish, followed by clothes, followed by bread, followed by shoes, followed by meats.  She came to the end of the market and found a little beach nestled between two quays.  There were grooves in the white sand, where boats were beached at the end of the day.
    
She stepped onto the beach, feeling her feet sink and her shoes fill with sand.  It felt good; she missed the beach.  She could remember being on the beach the day Marie had come to her.  She walked to the water’s edge, kneeled down and touched the water.  It was icy cold, but refreshing.  It looked so much cleaner than the sea back at Huntington Beach.  She scooped up a handful and washed her face, wiping away the dregs of sleep.  She scooped another handful and sipped a little.  It chilled her mouth and cooled her as she swallowed.  It tasted just as clear and fresh as it looked.
    
Kyra heard a sound behind her, someone approaching.  She quickly stood and turned to find a short man standing before her.  His clothes were so soiled and wrinkled that she couldn’t tell what their original colors were.  His face was warty and spotty, while his thick beard was filled with bits of food and dirt.  She was sure there were animals living in there as well.
    
“Hello luv,” he whispered to her, his voice sounding like glass being crunched underfoot.  “How’s about a kiss.”
    
Kyra panicked, now wishing that more people knew who she was.  She looked around for a rescuer: the market was crowded, but they beach was deserted, and there was no one nearby. 
    
He took a step towards her.
    
“I-I am the Chosen One, you can’t do this.  Leave me!” she cried at him.
    
With the noise of the crowds, her voice reached only the dirty man’s ears.
    
“That so then.  Well I reckon once I have some fun with ya, someone will want ya, for a good price, o’course,” he growled at her.
    
She didn’t think; she just reacted.  Grabbing a handful of sand, she threw it at his face and then aimed her foot at his groin.
    
The man was soon rolling around on the beach, curled up with tears in his eyes.
    
Kyra didn’t give him a second notice and started running through the market, back up the street, and didn’t stop until she reached the inn and their room.
    
She found Doci up and dressed and fell into his arms all shaky.  He held her until she calmed down and she sat on her bed and told him what had happened.
    
“That’s a sad thing to hear,” he said.  “Things seem to have gotten a lot worse in such a short time.  Well, from now on, we just need to stick together, all the time, and help each other.  Seems like you handled yourself pretty well, though.”
    
“I suppose I did,” Kyra said thinking to herself.  “But you’re right, we just need to stick together, just like we’re supposed to, all the way from now on.”
    
“Right,” Doci said.

A short while later, they were back on the road and leaving Whyte in the distance behind them.

A crackle sounded and they looked in the direction the strange noise had come from.  They were both staring at a rather large rock by the roadside, which seemed to be a boundary marker of some kind, though there was no writing or inscriptions on it.  Perhaps it had borne them at one time, and they had since washed off or worn away, or perhaps there’d never been any markings on this stone, and the people simply knew its significance; whether it told someone that this was the end of his or her land, or that this was the beginning of someone else’s.

The rock was a light gray, almost white, with flecks of black and an even brighter white within it.  The sound had clearly come from this rock, for there was smoke coming from it, also gray and white.

Kyra and Doci looked at each other and then stepped closer to the rock, somehow knowing that it was nothing dangerous, but rather something important that they needed find out about.

As the two watched, the smoke began to clear and then there was a hazy appearance to the face the rock, as if its surface were in some mixed state between solid and liquid.  Then a face appeared.

“Demto, the wizard,” Kyra whispered to herself, and Doci recognized the name as the famed wizard of Queen Anita and Enchantus Palace.

It was Demto alright, looking fraught and unsettled.  He looked at Doci, and studied him for a second: this was the Guide who would take Kyra to Jolus the Malignant.  It made Demto realize that he really did care about Kyra and her survival, not just for saving the people Aisis Lip, but also because he really cared for her and didn’t want any harm to come to her.  That was why he was trying so hard, and using so much energy to contact her at this very moment.

“Kyra!” he spoke to her.

“Yes, Demto, what is it?” she replied.

“I don’t mean to scare you, but I have received a vision, a nightmare which I have not felt since ‘The Bloody War.’”

Kyra stared, her fear rising uncontrollably.

“It is Jolus the Malignant.  He has made a new creature, this one more terrible than anything he has yet made.  He has also unleashed this creature already . . . sent it to come after you, hunt you down, and stop you.”

“No!” Kyra cried, unable to stop her outburst.  “What does it look like?”

“I don’t know” Demto replied, “I only saw a black cloud with teeth in my nightmare, for it was a vision, and my powers were not strong enough to reveal its true form.  But I am warning you now that it is on its way to find you.  So beware, watch the skies, remain under cover at night, try to stay hidden as much as possible.  Keep your eyes out for anything unnatural that you do not understand.  And you too Doci, even though you don’t know who I am, trust me, for I am the great wizard Demto, and know what is coming for you two.”

“Do you know how long we have, Demto?” Doci asked, trying to get some idea of how to prepare for this oncoming attack.

“Sadly no.  Judging that I had the nightmare early this morning, it was probably around that time or shortly before that the beast was unleashed to the world and began its flying towards you.  I have no idea how much time you have before it finds you.  I also don’t know how it will find you, what system of navigation it will use, how quickly it will find you.  The creature could take weeks, or even months.  It may never find you.  Then again, it could find you tomorrow, or even today, though I think that most unlikely.

“Now I must go, for my energy is sapped and I can no longer continue this draining connection.  Remain safe Kyra and Doci, for the future of Aisis Lip hangs upon your success.”

The smoke began forming once more, obscuring the shimmering surface of the rock, and then it dissipated and the rock was merely a boundary stone was more.

“He sure knows how to set us at ease, doesn’t he?” Doci said.

Kyra looked at Doci, saw him smiling sheepishly at her, and then burst into raucous laughter.  Doci soon joined in and it was some minutes later before she could calm herself down and wipe the hot tears from her cheeks.  She couldn’t remember laughing since the celebration for her arrival.  And she couldn’t remember laughing that hard since . . . since she was in her old world; maybe she’d never laughed that hard. 

She understood that it had a lot to do with fear, but she was left feeling refreshed and clear minded.  Like a good cry, sometimes a good hard laugh was needed.

*

Before them was a wide road, running straight through the middle of nowhere.  Kyra looked all around her, twisting in a quick circle without stopping.  All she could see was a flat dirt land spreading out in all directions. 
    
“How much more of this is there going to be?” she asked.
    
“Don’t know,” Doci said.
    
The sound of their voices in the sizzling air was dull.  Dead was a word that came to mind.  Kyra found her mouth dry and gritty, just from asking that one question.  It made her not want to talk, which explained why they’d said so little since passing from the Kingdom of Enchantus into this barren land.
    
If only there were some way to communicate without actually using their voices.
    
She thought about the many fantasy novels she’d read.  That part of her memory had returned, and she could remember all those books from the cheesy ones to the epics.  She thought of how the non-humans had communicated, but the best she could come up with was that they spoke in their own language.  Well, what about science fiction then.  She began rifling through the sci-fi books she’d read.  At least it was killing time for this boring part of the journey.  So how did all those alien races communicate?  Sure, they all had their own weird languages, some just grunts, some just clicks.  But for the ones that didn’t have mouths, they communicated through . . . telepathy.  Yes, that was it.
    
Telepathy only required the mind: no voice or mouth was necessary, and it would work perfectly where they were.  No energy or moisture would be wasted.
    
The only problem was how she was going to telepathically communicate with Doci.
    
“Does anyone communicate telepathically in Aisis Lip?” she said in a whisper, trying to stop the desert heat entering her mouth and getting into her body.
    
“Tele what?” Doci said.
    
“Telepathically.  Telepathy.  It’s a form of communication where you don’t talk, well not with your mouth.  Not vocally.”
    
He looked at her in complete confusion.
    
“Vocally,” she said.  “You don’t need to use noises to talk, you can talk mind to mind.  I say something to you telepathically and you here it in your heard.  And if you speak telepathically to me I hear it in my head.  There’s no actual talking from the mouth with voice and noise.”
    
“Oh,” Doci said.  “Well, the answer then is no.  Never heard of anything like that before.”
    
“O-kay.  Guess that solves that.”
    
The silence descended upon them and Kyra just listened to the sounds of their walking, the sounds of their breathing, and yes, the sound of her heart beating, her pulse in her ears.  It was that hot.
    
Then she had an idea.
    
She glanced quickly at Doci and saw that he was just staring straight ahead with a blank look in his eyes.  He looked like he wasn’t thinking about anything in particular, and he certainly wasn’t looking at anything specific.
    
She formed a sentence in her mind: Doci, can you hear me?  She saw it there, in her mind, suspended and real.  Then she focused and imagined sending it out of her head and over into Doci’s.
    
Nothing happened.
    
She glanced at him again and saw his look hadn’t changed.
    
It wasn’t working that way.
    
Maybe the problem was that she was concentrating too much on sending the message to him, trying to get it into his head, and not on the message.  She just needed to communicate with him, only not by talking.
    
She breathed, thinking about the various magic tricks and abilities she’d learned and been taught by Demto.  Telepathic communication should be a cinch compared to what she’d already done.
    
Doci, can you hear me? she just thought.
    
Nope, again nothing happened.  They were still walking along the Great Continental Road in relative silence.  But wait, the sound of their footsteps had changed.  It was less apparent, as if . . .
    
Kyra stopped and looked to her side.  Doci wasn’t there.  She turned and around and saw him about five steps behind, just staring at her.  The blank look was gone, now there was surprise and shock.
    
Doci, can you hear me? she thought again.
    
His eyes widened even further.
    
“That was you?” he asked.
    
Yes, she said telepathically.
    
“I thought the heat had gotten to me and I’d gone crazy for a moment.  But that’s you talking to me?”
    
Yes.
    
“And you’re not moving your lips or making a sound.”
    
Yes.
    
“You’re talking tele- . . . telepathically?”
    
Yes.  And now you give it a try.

“Me?  How.  You have magical abilities.  I’m just a Guide.  How can I possibly do it?”
    
You can, she thought.  You’re the Guide, just as I’m the Chosen One.  You therefore have power, have magical abilities also.  You can do it.  Just think what you want to say, only don’t say it, just think it, and think about talking to me.  Just like you would talk to someone, only don’t actually speak, just think it in your head.

“Hmm . . . ,” he said.
    
Like this, he thought, and looked at her to see a reaction.
    
You got it.  See, I told you you had the ability, she thought.
    
Amazing.  So we can just communicate like this from now on.  No talking or voice necessary.  No more dust and grit in our mouths.  No more wasted energy.

Yep, she thought.
    
Lets keep going then, he thought and began walking again.  He looked ahead and stopped.  And lets find out what that is, he thought.
    
She followed his direction and saw in the hazy distance structures of some sort.
    
Is it a town? she thought.
    
Could be, he thought, though I didn’t know there was anything else out here.  But it’s a lot better than staring at a big fat old nothing, followed by more of the same.

Sure is, she thought.  Now lets find out what it is.

Since we have these telepathic powers now, we no longer have any need to communicate through speech, Kyra thought, as they drew nearer to the what they thought was a town.

Yes, this way we will not alert anyone to our position and can still communicate freely with each other without anyone hearing us.  It will no doubt come in very useful when fighting.  I wonder if there’s a distance range on this telepathic ability? Doci thought.

I don’t know, though it would be great if there wasn’t any.

Doci, even though things seem extremely dim at the moment, and even though we now know that Jolus the Malignant has sent some creature out to get us, I still have this feeling inside me that we’re going to succeed.  I don’t know how.  I just know that we’re going to get to him in one piece and then we’re going to stop him, somehow, and that will be that, and everything will be saved, Kyra thought.

Yes.  I feel it too, like this comforting warmness in my chest, an assuredness that we’re really going to make it, Doci thought.

I’ve also realized how we’re going to make it and why it’s actually going to work, Kyra thought.

Why? Doci thought.

Because we’re going to find that evil creature that Jolus the Malignant has sent to us, and we’re going to kill it.  And then we’re going to go to Jolus the Malignant’s lair, find him, and kill him too, Kyra thought.

Yeah! Doci thought right back at her.

Because we have each other and Jolus is just one man, no, just one thing, one monster.  And I don’t need any warrior or wizard to tell me that two is always better than one.  I know that for a fact, and I know that that’s why we’re going to win, Kyra thought.

Doci smiled at her.

The two turned and started walking up the path, away from Heb’s and Rola’s home, away from Doci’s farm, away from Enchantus Palace and Queen Anita, and away from the place where Kyra had come through from her old world, and would perhaps never return to.

*

When they were a mile away they could tell it was a town.  A little larger than the others they’d visited in Enchantus, but relatively small and insignificant in this vast empty land.
    
The closer they came to it, the more they could sense that this was an important town.  As if a voice from the hot air had told them, they knew that this was the last town, the last bastion on the Great Continental Road before there truly was nothing for many many miles. 

This was it.  After this town, they would be on their own.

A while later they reached the edge of the town, for like the others, it was heavily fortified, more so in that there was also a moat surrounding it.  They looked down into the moat, but could see no water, which wasn’t must of surprise, considering the heat and dryness.  But at the bottom some thirty feet below they did see a thick mud.  Quick mud.  Whoever fell in that would be sucked down and suffocated.

Kyra looked to the side of the road and saw a stone signpost with a single word carved upon it:

OLAGUE

Must be the name of the town, Kyra thought.
    
Yep, Doci replied.  So how do we get in?
    
Kyra now noticed something very different with this Olague: every other town they’d been to had been a little off the main road; this town had the Great Continental Road running straight through the it.  Kyra wondered what happened to it inside the town.

They looked straight ahead, across the moat and could see the firmly drawn up drawbridge.
    
Maybe we need to call out, Kyra thought.
    
“Okay,” Doci said, his voice dry and cracking.  He swallowed, loudly cleared his throat and then called out:  “Hello there!  Is anyone there?  Hello!”
    
Nothing happened.
    
They looked at each other, and Doci just shrugged his shoulders.
    
“You there!” a voice spoke from nowhere. 
    
Kyra put her hand to her head, blocking the bright sun, and tried to see the top of the wall.  There was a dark shape, human, but she couldn’t tell much more because the sun was directly behind the man.
    
“What do you want?” the voice asked.
    
“We are on a quest,” Kyra said.  “We just need a place to stay for the night, and then we’ll continue our journey in the morning.”
    
“Where is it that ye be headed then?” the voice asked.
    
Doci held out his hand in front of Kyra, stopping her before she spoke.
    
“Let us in first.  I want to see the man I’m talking to before I give away such details,” Doci said.
    
The man was hesitating, not sure what to do.  They could both tell that from what they could see of him.  He was looking at them, then looking down at the moat, then looking behind him, then looking back at them again.  Finally he looked behind him and waved his arm in some sort of signal.
    
Almost instantly there was the sound of chains loosening and running free, and the drawbridge separated from the wall and came down.  There was a heavy boom when it landed on the road across the moat.  Kyra and Doci felt the vibrations in their feet.
    
Kyra stepped onto the heavy thick wood of the drawbridge, Doci joined her, and they crossed the moat into the town.  The Great Continental Road ran straight through the middle of the town, down the main street, for a hundred feet, and then split in two.  Wooden buildings, one-story high, lined each side of the road until they reached the Y-junction, then they split and lined each side of the two streets.  Kyra could tell from this distance that the street to the left was the same width as the main one and continued in a pretty straight direction.  It was still the Great Continental Road and continued on through the town and across the continent.  The road to the right was narrower and less significant, heading in a more northerly direction.
    
The guard had come down from the wall, with two others behind him, and demanded that they explain themselves fully: why they were here and where they were going.  Doci answered their questions, and they knew little about the Chosen One or the Guide, but when he mentioned Jolus the Malignant, this made them worried, one might even say scared.  They soon told them to move along, and without watching them leave, the guards disappeared up the stairs back to the top of the wall.
    
Very strange, Doci thought.
    
Kyra nodded.  Word has traveled far, she thought, of what Jolus the Malignant can do, or has done already.  Maybe they know of his past as well.
    
Whatever it is, they’re not happy about it.  We’ll be lucky to find many people who will give us any respect here.  From now we’re just travelers.  Don’t mention our quest or our titles.

Kyra nodded.
    
They walked up the street until they reached the division of the roads.  Between the split was a building with just the word INN upon it.  It had taken them a little while to travel this far, but in that time they hadn’t seen a single other person.
    
This place is deserted! Kyra thought.
    
Sure is.  But what do you expect, we’re in the middle of nowhere.  And northwest of here, far distant, is the lair of Jolus the Malignant.  No wonder few reside here.
    
Northwest? Kyra questioned.  You mean we will no longer follow the Great Continental Road, nor this other road?

No, Doci thought.  We are to go between the two, straight out across the land, following no roads, save the one in my head.  I can feel it now, our destination, drawing closer, like a force that is pulling at me.  I wasn’t sure what it was at first, because it was barely there, when we began our quest.  But it has become stronger each day.
    
Why didn’t you tell me earlier? she asked.
    
I have only come to this full realization recently.  But I know the way now, without a doubt.
    
Kyra nodded and led the way across the junction, up to the door of the inn.  As she looked down the two streets ahead, she still failed to see a single person.  She knocked on the door, but there was no answer.  She did it again, harder; Doci beat upon it with his fists.  The noise was loud and echoing, but there was no response from inside.  Finally she tried pulling at the large handle.  It turned in her hand and she swung the door open, stepping inside with Doci closely following.  It was must cooler inside and Doci was quick to close the great door with a reverberating slam behind them.
    
This seemed to awaken something from deep within the building.
    
There was no counter here and there seemed to be no innkeeper.  There was a table and chair to their right, with a guest book, but no actual person.  There was just one main hallway with doors on either side, eight in total, a solid wall at the end.
    
The noise great louder, movement in one of the rooms, then a door opened on the right side near the end, a rectangle of light forming on the opposite door.  A man stepped out and walked towards them.
    
“Welcome to the only inn in the town of Olague.  If you need a room for the night, that can be arranged.  There’s not a single occupant here.  The good thing about that is I’ll take any price you offer, to a certain extent, of course.”
    
While the dark shadow in the light had seemed sinister, up close, the man was kind and warm, with a strong smile on his face.  Doci negotiated a good deal with him for a room for the night. 

They would share a bed again, but this was much less of a problem now.  In their time together, Kyra and Doci had grown a lot closer and secretly, even though they would never admit it to each other, actually enjoyed being close to one another each night, along with the occasional touching elbows and arms.

Early in the night, the innkeeper brought them a very simple meal, but it was graciously received and after a long night of rest they were up shortly after dawn and headed out of town.  They left via the smaller road which had no name, but once beyond the town, Doci turned off the road and headed straight into the harsh land, stretching as far as the eye could see.