"To a more friendly city, Ralthor willing," Nymira muttered in reply, scowling as her horse whinnied and smacked her in the face with its hair, "And somewhere we don't need these damned things... It's making my entire body ache, riding on this animal." It was better than walking she supposed given the sorry shape of her leg, but it sure would be nice to be able to ride in the cart instead. Complaining wasn't going to make the pain go away and would only serve to give the horse more reason to make the ride unpleasant for her. Sighing under her breath the Dimuran gingerly nursed at her aching head, wondering how far from Warren they should travel before stopping for the night. After a strenuous day like today they all needed some rest, goodness knows tomorrow had plenty more in store for them.

"Also... I don't remember when this became a matter of "we", or when you joined our group. Though I suppose beggars can't pick... Is that how that saying goes?" Stupid colloquialisms, she'd gotten confused so many times speaking to residents of nearby towns, unable to follow what they were saying. Another reason to keep other people around, they could translate whatever backwater slang those she spoke with used. The inner cities would no doubt be even worse as they were a melting pot of peoples, if her information was anything to go by. All kinds of dialects, races, lifestyles, so much coming together in one place that it nearly made her head spin just thinking about it. Or perhaps that was the near-concussion she'd suffered.

Perhaps it was the events of the day weighing on his mind, or perhaps it was his naivete that everything would work out fine beginning to fade. Whatever the case Ethan was finding it increasingly difficult to remain optimistic about Cedric's safety and his own ability to find the man. He couldn't think of a reason for the Church to kill his mentor and yet he couldn't think of a reason for them to keep him alive either. Cedric was old, well past his prime even though he was a powerful Magi, so they couldn't use him for anything really. Heart sinking at that thought Ethan felt a small tug on his arm and glanced down, meeting the gaze of a worn down Amuné. Then there were her parents to find as well, something else that was weighing heavily on his mind. They had found those Ydrans earlier and gotten them free but who was to say her parents weren't in a similar situation? Maybe they had already been sold off, which would mean finding them would be even harder. 

Giving up on her parents now wasn't going to help them though, nor was giving up on Cedric. Even if they were past the point of being helped they still had to keep going; never knowing what happened was infinitely worse than any alternative, even the negatives. At least they could have closure if worst came to worst. Putting on a smile for Amuné he hugged the young girl to his chest, resting his chin on the top of her head and closing his eyes. "Things were rough for a bit, but they're going to work out for us. We just have to keep moving," he whispered, looking down at her. It was as much reassurance for her as it was himself, he desperately needed to hear those words right now.

[hr]

Sleeping out in the open was rough that night. It cooled down considerably making aches and pains that much worse. Even with a fire going there was a chill in the air and it kept Ethan up most of the night. His nerves hadn't helped him any either as flashes of what went on in that building yesterday kept racing through his mind, his stomach turning each time a bloodied face crept into his mind. They didn't need to kill those men, most of them had no clue how to fight and could just have easily been locked away to keep other safe. Instead they'd been essentially slaughtered by a group of far better fighters than them. Maybe they had deserved it for capturing and imprisoning those Ydrans, for hurting Amuné. Maybe they had saved them all from a horrible fate by doing that, but did that mean it was necessary still? Even with no blood on his own hands there was an insurmountable level of guilt over what had happened, like he should have tried harder to prevent it. For the umpteenth time in just half a day Ethan rubbed his hands over and over against his pants as though trying to wipe something off of them, as if he could just wipe away the guilt that plagued him. By the time the sun had finally risen into the sky he'd only barely slept, the sound of birds singing grating on his ears.

Nymira had little issue sleeping herself, the cold was hardly an issue when your body was naturally warmer than others. That said the heat did little to prevent the stiffness that set in from sleep or the aching of her head as she stirred from her sleep, taking extra time to rise to her feet that morning. A restful sleep perhaps not but she counted herself fortunate she'd been able to go to sleep at all given how others had fared yesterday. Any day your enemy lay beaten and you lived on was a fine day indeed. Rubbing at her arms to wipe away grass she went to the cart to fetch some of their food reserves, handing them out before reigniting their campfire for others' warmth. No one knew where they were going now since Geoffrey's departure meant loss of a guide, their only idea was to continue heading east. East was where the cities were and where eventually the capital itself sat, though no one thought they would travel that far. With virtually no support from foreign leaders yet Nymira loathed to think she'd make it through her journey without so much as a single ally but it was becoming increasingly likely that would happen. Next stop she would make it a point to visit their leader and negotiate some kind of deal. Anything, she couldn't return home empty handed, she refused to.

It couldn't have been later than 9 in the morning when they were back on the road again. Until they reached the sanctuary that was another town resting for too long was dangerous given their penchant for being attacked. Ethan still struggled to understand why they seemed to be so unfortunate, why at every turn they ran into some form of trouble, be it bandits, beasts or other Magi. It seemed like no matter where they went the Saints had some kind of obstacle in their path and each encounter proved to be as harrowing if not more so than the last. All of this over trying to save Cedric? For Amuné to perhaps see her parents again? Cecil had to know where he'd come from and Nymira needed to help her clan, they all had reasons for traveling, even Asta. But was any of that really enough to warrant what they had been through? It was like they had a target painted on their backs for some reason. 

High above their heads the sun hung over them and bore down, warming the area and erasing the morning's chills. Blue skies and warm weather, a perfect day for travel. Yet an almost paranoid Nymira couldn't relax despite the wonderful conditions, her eyes constantly shifting back and forth between the sides of the road as they went. Though she knew soldiers could experience stress after a battle she'd never done so herself and doubted she'd been so badly shaken; the slavers were a pitiful lot save for their leader and even he was felled, so why should she be rattled? Even trying to reason with herself the Dimuran was unable to shake the feeling of impending doom, as though just around every bend in the road might lead to another battle. Time passed and they continued on without issue yet the sensation of an enemy nearby never left her, as though someone was right with them the entire time, biding their time to strike. It had to just be residual tension from yesterday, the wound to her head was making her worry unnecessarily. With no cause to speak out she kept silent on her concerns and continued along, remaining alert to the threat that wasn't there.