Continuation

I really don't like horses. They're smelly, foul, and no matter how well they're trained, there's always a chance that they could trample you. James often tells me that my father was one of the greatest elven horsemen when was alive. My mother, on the other hand, was a clumsy human that never once in her life rode a horse. I wonder what father saw in mother. It can't have been her charm. She was even foul-mouthed than I was (if the stories I've heard from the villagers are true). Either way, it's quite obvious that I take more after my mother than my father.

I wouldn't make mention of this, but for the fact that we were to carry out our journey on horseback. This, of course, made me absolutely miserable. The horse the Order had provided for me was a temperamental mare that was fond of going into a trot without notice. The humans were ridiculously oblivious of my discontent, and the dwarf smirked at me from her perch on her shaggy war-pony.

My dislike of our mode of transportation aside, we made good time, and were halfway through the Bona forest by nightfall. We halted only when Sir Knocks (our official leader) declared that it was unsafe to continue traveling. I could see fine of course, but the humans eyes weren't used to such an absolute dark. The only light we had was from our lanterns, and even that only illuminated the nearest trees.

We pitched our camp, working together almost seamlessly. The dwarf and I cleared a space for sleeping and gathered firewood while the men unpacked the necessary items and built a fire. Before long, we were all sitting around on logs with rats roasting on sticks in the fire. Occasionally Leonard Stone would shift them for better cooking, but apart from that there was little movement, and even less talking. When the rats were done, we ate, tearing at them with our fingers and spitting out any bones we came across. When we were done with our meal, we threw the sticks back into the fire, but still said nothing to each other.

Soon enough, we got tired of the silence, and one by one, began to crawl into our blankets. Sir Knocks agreed to keep the first watch, promising to wake Leonard Stone up in a couple hours. That night, I dreamed of a vast underwater cavern, covered in blue stones. I woke to the dwarf's unpleasant face as she shook me awake for my watch, the last one before sun-up. I blearily arose, and poked at the fire as I went by it on my way to relieve myself. The other three were sound asleep when I returned, and I shook my head at them as I made myself comfortable by the fire. There was some advantage to having companions, but I still would have preferred to be alone.