Mentor and mentee walked through the moonless night together.

  Willow had Eos and Xandra out to help light their way, with her small reflection spirit helping to direct and focus the light coming off of her candleflame friend. It was surprisingly effective even if it did deepen the darkness where the light wasn’t shining. Which was fine as she could still “see” any living thing surrounding them with her spiritual sense. With so much plant life still surrounding them it was about as good as seeing with her eyes.

  The girl had no idea where their destination lay, but her teacher seemed confident in where they were heading, even if she was growing increasingly uncomfortable as they drew closer to wherever it was.

  “Where are we going?” Willow wondered aloud.

  “We can’t head back into the city, and I don’t wanna waste money on an inn, so we’ll be stayin’ somewhere I’m ostensibly the caretaker of.”

  Since the wanderer woman refused to answer any further questions on the matter, Willow decided to bring out some more of her friends so she felt less alone right now. Plus she felt they hadn’t had enough time out in the world yet and this could be a good learning experience for them.

  Phoebe was drawn out and placed on the top of her head, much to the little stone’s surprise and delight.

  Calypso was placed on her left shoulder, while Andrea was placed on her right. Technically those two could float around in much the same way Eos and Xandra could, but she wanted them to stay close to her for now.

  She didn’t let out the twins due to the potential for them to be seen and identified by greedy strangers.

  She was still sad that her inability to deal with crowds correctly had led to her missing out on meeting her sister tonight, but at least her friends were here to comfort her.

  Calypso’s attention was focused on the beam of light being cast by her two other spirits, and the tiny raindrop would wibble in interest whenever something new was revealed.

  Phoebe was content where they were, taking in the sights and focusing on the sliver of sky available to them through the surrounding trees.

  Andrea seemed sleepy due to the lack of sunlight, and the normally energetic flower nestled closer to Willow’s neck, tickling her with their petals.

  This wasn’t where Willow wanted to be right now, but she could still be content with her friends at her side.

  “Got quite the little group there, don’t ya girlie?” Her mentor commented when she noticed the spirits perched on her apprentice.

  “Figured I should let them out more often.” Was all Willow said on the matter.

  “Fair enough, could do the wee ones some good.”

  All that could be heard was their steps on the road and the rustling of foliage whenever some wildlife skittered nearby, until they eventually reached a fork in their path, and Mu’s discomfort began to peak.

  “All right, we turn here, and there should be a place to sleep for the night. Likely won’t be comfortable, but it’ll be a sight better than camping on the ground again.”

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  Willow grunted her assent, but her curiosity made her ask. “Couldn’t we just sleep at the stable with Rotter? You’re awfully nervous about going wherever we’re going.”

  Mu barked out a laugh at the question. “Nah, they don’t allow that, tried it before.” She let out a deep sigh and rubbed at her face with a gloved hand before she started walking down the path.

  “There’s no danger where we’re headed if that’s what you’re worried about, just a lot of bad memories dwell there for me.”

  That only increased her curiosity, but Willow felt the undercurrent of sadness coloring her mentor’s qi, so she let the matter lie.

  The girl then spent the time walking down the rougher path quietly playing with her friends to help soothe the stress of the day.

  Until they eventually reached the ramshackle compound that would be their home for the night.

  There was a moss covered stone wall that Willow could just barely peer over revealing an old and barren elm tree surrounded by three rundown buildings. There was a swirling pattern of qi cycling throughout the wall that the girl felt would be a bad idea to disrupt.

  The path their little group walked terminated at an old wooden gate set into the low wall.

  A crooked and dangling sign declared it the home of the Lennox family. Though the property’s general state of disrepair left Willow doubtful of its homely status.

  Mu placed her hand on the gate’s surface and pulsed a pattern of qi through a section of it, temporarily disabling the cycle of energy and allowing them safe passage onto the estate.

  Her teacher stared at the old tree in front of them for several silent seconds, her qi colored by melancholy.

  Until she eventually gestured for them to head deeper inside.

  Instead of going to the largest building at the farthest point from the entrance, the two humans and five little spirits went to the smallest one on the left hand side.

  With the light shining on it, Willow was able to see that while it was smaller, it seemed to be in better shape than the other two buildings, and their group entered through the creaking door.

  Eos’ light revealed a sparse room with a cot in the corner devoid of any bedding. She expected to see dust and cobwebs everywhere, yet every surface was surprisingly clean.

  “I get the bed, but you get my bedroll, deal?” Mu asked her while holding up said bedroll.

  Frankly Willow didn’t think that was a fair trade, the cot looked about as comfortable as the floor, and she’d be denying her teacher the small amount of padding the bedroll provided.

  “We could share?”

  She had shared a bed with Maple a bunch of times when she was younger, so she didn’t really mind the idea of sharing a bed with Miss Mu.

  Mu, pressed the bedroll into her arms. “Nah, I prefer my space. Plus I toss and turn in my sleep and I wouldn’t want to inflict that on you.”

  Something seemed to occur to the wanderer woman and she started rummaging through her bag before pulling out a small sack and tossing it to her apprentice, its contents clacking together as it travelled through the air.

  Willow almost dropped it while trying to juggle the bedroll in her arms, but she managed and took a peak inside, seeing it was about half full of roasted nuts. Her stomach rumbled at the reminder she hadn’t eaten anything this evening.

  “Just realized you must be famished since it’s been a time since our midday meal. I know it ain’t much, but it’s better than nothing. I’ll treat you to a proper meal in the morning when we’re let back inside, promise.”

  Willow began to feel guilty. They were only out here because of her, and her mentor was doing what she could to keep her comfortable at a cost to herself.

  She felt some tears come to her eyes but she fought them down. Now wasn’t the time to cry, it would just make Mu more miserable, instead she showed her as genuine a smile as she could muster.

  “Thank you, Miss Mu!”

  The food wasn’t filling, and the bedding smelled of smoke, but she felt the effort her teacher was putting in to keep her safe and comfortable.