Chapter 10

The cart was small. Much smaller than they had thought. So small, in fact, that only two people could conceivably fit in it. The couple had also loaned them their donkey, after Pua steadfastly refused to pull the cart. However, the donkey looked rather old and hungry, so all it could do was to pull the cart. There was no way anyone could ride on it.

Fender had jumped onto the cart and plopped herself down. The rest of them hesitated, not sure if they should also get on the cart. Vennoa took the opportunity to also sit down beside Fender in the cart. Soon, the party was off.

To help keep up their spirits, Fender started playing some tunes in the cart. This time, she managed to maintain a reasonably cheerful tune, and everyone felt happier. Vennoa sat back and enjoyed the tune, glad that she didn’t have to walk the entire way.

A few hours into the trek, Pua, who was in the front, suddenly stopped and motioned for everyone to stop moving.

“What’s wrong?” Tempest asked.

“Shh!” Pua shushed. “They’re near.”

Vennoa squinted her eyes and looked ahead, but all she could see was the streaks of rain coming down on an endless, muddy road.

“I don’t see anything,” Tempest said. “Are you sure there’s something there?”

Pua nodded. “They’re there, I can sense it.”

Agate added, “He’s right, there’s something up ahead.”

Pua smiled at Agate. “This one is capable. The rest of you are not.”

“So what’s the plan?” Fender asked.

“They don’t know we’re here yet, so we can get the drop on them,” Pua said.

“How are we going to do that? It’s an open road,” Tempest commented. He looked around and Pua was missing. “Where did the turtle go?”

From a distance, Pua’s voice came, “It’s Tortle!”

How did he get there so quickly? Vennoa saw glimpses of Pua’s shell moving quickly away, but somehow, Pua blended in very well with the environment. If she took her eyes off him for a second, she wasn’t able to locate him again until he next moved. Soon, Pua was just a small speck in the distance.

“So what’s our plan?” Agate asked the rest of them.

Vennoa said, “Unless any of you can do what Pua did, I guess we’ll have to go down the road with our cart.” She looked around and everyone nodded.

Fender stopped playing her music and looked intently around, while Vennoa laid face-down in the cart, hopefully making herself less visible from the outside. Through the gaps in the cart, she could see glimpses of the surroundings as they made their way forward.

Before long, some sounds could be heard. Vennoa couldn’t quite make out where the sounds were coming from, but it did sound like they were coming from just a couple of hundred feet away. Vennoa poked her head up quickly and darted back down again. In her brief survey, she saw a few figures working in the fields, and maybe a few more figures down the road near them. Were they farmers? Vennoa didn’t notice Pua at all, but assumed he had made his way near the figures by now.

The cart stopped. Tempest and Agate walked over and discussed the situation with Fender and Vennoa.

“Those are kobolds up ahead,” Agate whispered.

“Have they seen us?” Vennoa asked.