Villages only popping up sporadically, as the carriage cast its shadow on open fields in the noonday sun. Ciardis shook herself out of her stupor as the day grew closer to dusk. Alexandra was watching the scenery go by. The carriage stopped at dusk. “I go no farther,” said the driver. Alexandra got up and exited the carriage. Ciardis, still reeling from using her power over such an extended period of time, was slow to follow her. The driver unloaded their two knapsacks and a very large trunk. With a crack of his whip, he turned the carriage around and was off in a storm of dust. “How will he get back without us?” Ciardis questioned. “He’ll make it. It will take him a long time and he’ll have to stop in the local villages, though,” Alexandra said dispassionately. Alexandra didn’t look like she was ready to move in the next few minutes. Ciardis glanced down at her knapsack resting in a pile with Alexandra’s own pack and decided to take her spyglass for a look around. They stood at the base of a small hill, and the road curved around it to disappear on the other side.
