Leo woke up when he heard a noise in the room. He looked around and saw Garen near the door.
- Hey Leo - said Garen -, good morning. Sorry if I woke you up. I was taking a look around outside to see if all was ok. It seems the dawn is near, we should get going soon, so we get as much light as possible.
- That's true.
- Why don't you heat up some water while I ask Andur?
- Okay, I will.
After that, Leo walked to the back of the room and filled a pot with water, then he hanged it above the fire, and used his magic to strengthen the flame. At the same time, Garen had gone to wake Andur up, and they agreed to wake the rest of the group up.
Andur didn't want to wake Ly up, so he let her sleep. The rest used the water Leo had warmed up to clean themselves, got dressed, and packed everything. When they all were done, Andur put the barrier around Ly and moved her outside, where most of the group was already waiting.
Eanel was the last to meet them outside, and he made sure they didn't forget anything in the outpost, and recharged the barrier so it would last longer.
Andur guided the group again through the darkened world. Even though they already knew what they had to expect, the group couldn't help but feel the heavy pressure that filled the air. Having to fight against it every single step, the group was more concentrated on going on than anything else.
Absorted in the heavy but repetitive act of walking in that place, Leo ended up losing track of the time, and only snapped out of his routine when Andur told the group to stop. Leo wanted to ask why, but he then started to feel the reason. Something was running towards them.
- Leo - said Andur with a cutting voice -, hold Ly's barrier up, and stay behind us.
After opening his eye, Leo touched the barrier and started to give it energy, then he moved it a few steps back, as Andur had told him to do.
- Amy, can you tell me how many are there?
Amy looked in the direction of the noises, then closed her eyes and moved her arms forward. After a few seconds with a faint glow, she opened her eyes and looked at Andur.
- All beasts. There's nine, one of them seems bigger than the rest. They all have auras.
- A small pack, then. It should be easy. I will take care of the leader. Garen, Nathiel, kill the others. The rest, protect Ly and Leo. All of you, avoid using too much energy or making too much noise, we don't need to alert more of them.
And so they did. The fight was short and none of them got any serious injury. When it was done, Andur went to see Ly and found her awake, looking with a scared face to the dead body of a beast that was laying a few meters from the barrier.
Ly had woken up in the middle of the fight and Leo told her where were they. She seemed to remember something, and then her face changed from confused to sad, and she told Leo she didn't want to talk.
One of the beasts managed to jump over the soldiers and hit the barrier with its claws, Ly got really scared with that, but in only a few seconds Eanel launched the beast back, where Jinei pierced its heart with his sword, making the beast drop dead. Scared, sad and confused, Ly just stayed there until Andur went to see her. While Ly calmed after seeing her father, she still didn't want to talk with anyone, and just decided to walk with the group, silently.
The group then continued walking, now faster, with the fear of finding more beasts in the way, and Andur's relieved magic as he didn't have to drag Ly's barrier anymore.
They needed three days more to reach Hystaeria. They slept in caves with improvised barriers to protect themselves, and they managed to avoid all beast packs that could have been around their path. Finally they managed to reach the town, and they were glad to get into its barrier.
Once inside the town Andur told Leo to help the soldiers find some rooms to sleep in, and meet him in the evening in front of the temple in the center of the town, then he left together with Ly, without giving any reason.
Leo and the soldiers spent the following three hours walking around the town trying to find the inns. In the first two they were told the inns are full, and it's not until they found a third one, in the other side of the town, they found enough rooms for all of them. They rented two 4-person rooms, and also a 2-person room, and then they went to eat and rest.
After some hours, the sky started to get darker, and they decided to go wait for Andur and Ly. They didn't have to wait for long and Leo noticed how Ly's face seems less sad than it was before. While he was looking at her, she looked back at him and gave him a still sad smile. They all walked to the inn and sat in a table in the dinning room, where they asked for food and water.
After dinner, they discussed what will the plan be for the next step of their journey, and Andur and Garen agreed that the less dangerous route would be crossing the Pass between the Twins. Leo didn't find the moment to ask what the Twins are, and by the time they stop talking, he has already forgot.
When they saw they all are too tired to keep talking, they discussed how would they organize the rooms and they decided that the girls would take one of the big rooms, Jinei and Garen would sleep in the small one, while the rest would fill the other big room.
The big rooms were in the lower floor while the smaller one was in the floor above, so when they reached the stairs they wished each other good night and split up. The big rooms were one next to the other, not far from there, so they also split up and went to their respective rooms.