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	‘Not much else to say,’ she told him. 

Jack remembered what Theolan had told him when he found Jack on the side of the road that morning, that "It is not safe to be sleeping on the side of this particular road. You should know this, unless you are not from around these parts.” Apparently Theolan was referring to the dangers Amber was now talking about. 

‘If it’s so dangerous around here,’ Jack wondered, ‘then why do people still take this rout? I mean, there had to be other ways to get to the western cities before this road was laid, right?’ 

‘Good question,’ she laughed lightly, took a second sip of her beverage, ‘and it has a good answer. This rout really does cut a lot of time out of ones journey if they are in a rush. Plus, a lot of people tend to be attracted to the dangers around here, for whatever reason they might have. So if people aren’t in a hurry, or they don’t care much for the sense of peril that this land has to offer, they take the old routs. Simple as that.’ 

‘I see…’ Jack was tuning the information over in his head. 

‘Yeah…’ 

Candice started to eyeball the bandage on Jack’s left hand. When she first arrived he had that hand on his lap out of sight under the table. Now that she was looking harder at it, she could see a trace of blood coming through the fabric of the bandage. The bandage itself was also of a material similar, but certainly not the same as the material normally used on wounds. She also noticed that on top of his shoulder there was a tear in the leather of his jacket, and another drop of blood could be seen in the hole of that tear.  

‘So what happened to you?’ She eventually asked, and gave a nod to the bandage on his hand, a glance to his torn jacket. It was then that she did for the first time also take note of a trace of light-blue power around the rear sides of his neck. Before he answered, right after she asked the question, the residue of powder had already answered her. She giggled at the realisation, and asked, 'Did you encounter a Chilli?'