After returning home, Amilya had them sit at the table while she headed into her room to grab some maps. A few moments ter, she emerged with them, pg them in a pile oable and shuffling through them. She quickly picked out the one she was looking for and spread it out before them.

  “This map shows the rough location of the nearby vilges and towns. As you see here, it should be a retively straight trip to the west, o worry about any of the forks in the road. Just tinue following the road in front of you and it will lead you to Granitehill, the town that is in charge of our vilge. Once you are there, you should seek out the one who rules the town, Lord Jerald. Last I heard, he had moved into the same area as the merts, though I’m not sure where exactly, so you will have to ask the people there,” Amilya expined.

  “That seems simple enough,” Dawn replied, as she looked at the map. She theioned, “What about the bandits I heard mentioned? Where are they likely to be? I know I was told not to worry too much about them, but I’d rather be prepared for the worst just in case, after what happened with the Bck Tide.”

  “Ah, that is right, and a good idea. The most likely pce is before the fork in the road that heads towards Bearcrest Vilge, as each group tries to spread out and only block the route to one location. There may be anroup closer to Granitehill, but that isn’t always the case,” responded Amilya, as she poi one of the interses on the map.

  As Dawn nodded, Amilya tinued, “If you want to be careful, be sure your staff is clearly visible, and perhaps have magic of some sort visible, or easily called on to prove you are a mage. Not many would dare to impersonate a mage, but I suppose it is possible, and you are quite young. From what I uand, the Iron Quills are pretty det people, so you shouldn’t have any trouble with them, and I don’t think you will run into anyone else you o worry about.”

  “Ok, Mom, but this is b, could we ti ter instead of keep going now?” Dawn cut off her mother’s stant stream of words.

  With a startled expression, Amilya paused for a moment before replying, “I hadn’t realized how much I was droning on and on. Sure, go py with your friends for a while, perhaps? We still haven’t gotten the school opened back up yet, so the other kids have been out and about tely.”

  Dawn smiled, nodded, and replied, “Thanks, Mom, I’ll be back ter, and then you keep going about what I should exped do when I leave.”

  Before Dawn could leave, Amilya reminded her, “Be sure to either take your staff, or remove the neckce from it and take that with you just in case anything goes wrong.”

  “Oh, you are right, I totally fot I wasn’t wearing it anymore! I ’t py with magic without it, I?” she replied with a light chuckle before heading back to her room.

  After releasing her pendant from the staff and putting it on, Dawuro the living room, seeing Amilya finishing tidy up the pile of maps. Dawn then headed outside with Niphru in her arms, trying to make sure he was fortable and could see what was going on. She headed towards the western gate at a sedate walk, gng around as she noticed the looks the other vilgers gave her. Dawn was not used to being looked at like she ecial in any way, and it was fairly unnerving to her. Some of the people even bowed towards her!

  Eventually she made it to the gate, where the guards nodded respectfully to her before they opehe rge doors to let her out. She was gd they at least didn’t join in the bowing some of the others had done, as that seemed way too much to her. Looking towards the hill she had met Niphru at, she noticed more kids than usual pying around it, many of them much youhan she was used to.

  Perhaps, she thought, the parents just hadn’t sidered it safe enough until now. After all, the Bck Tide had driven off or killed many of the predators in the forest, before meeting with the vilge and beiroyed itself. Shaking her head to clear her mind and quit woolgathering, she focused ba the hill and began walking again.

  When she arrived, she was gd to see that the other children didn’t treat her any differently than before, uhe adults. Several of her friends did e to meet her, though, shouting about how they missed her and hoped she was feelier.

  After expining how she had gotten scars but otherwise recovered, she began pying with magic, much to the delight of the others as they watched the fmes whirling through the air. Unlike before, she didn’t strain herself or try anything new, simply rexing as she pyed with the fire.

  As she maniputed her magic, she had the thought that perhaps she should be scared of the fire, given how she was badly injured by fmes, but somehow it felt more fortable to her than before instead. It was as if the fmes were a part of her now rather than something she trolled, and she just couldn’t feel any fear of them anymore.

  Feeling curious, she asked the other children to step away so she could try something. As they got far enough away, she held out her hand a some of her fme darting towards it from the side. Her gut instinct roven right as the fmes parted harmlessly around her, ref oher side after leaving merely a sensation of warmth as they passed. The children around her shouted in fear as the fme passed over her, only to gasp in awe as she was unharmed afterwards.

  With a smile, she realized she could probably now do what she was attempting before with the fmes skirting across her skin to keep things off of her. Attempting to do so, she realized it didn’t work quite so well, however, as her clothes were singed and one spot even caught fire and she had to beat it out.

  After that mistake, she decided it robably time to head bae, as several hours had passed while she ying around.