A peaceful night

Angelo quickly caught on as he said, "It's true Madam, your father new a Mage since he was a child, the charm I carry with me was once that Mages, it had spent many decades at the Mages side and was gifted to your father to protect him." Angelo said before the carriage stopped, the second stop of the journey, the halfway mark of the Mage's time with them.

Happiness soon filled Lauren's face, she smiled at Angelo before exiting the carriage.

Strangely the ground was mostly dry, the opposite of what one would expect after experiencing that storm.

Richard soon followed after bidding the two men fair well, Angelo closed the door before turning to the Mage.

"Quick thinking there, at least I hope you didn't spend all that time writing in your notebook actually forming that plan," Angelo said while chuckling.

"Of course not, I actually saw someone peddling broken bones as 'Mage bones', they claimed that sleeping with one under your pillow would give you good luck!" The Mage said before they both shared a laugh, their lives were dangerous because of the number of people wishing to kill them, study them or enslave them.

"I'm surprised it took so long for something like this to happen," Angelo said while leaning back and looking at the ceiling.

"I won't be able to stay much longer, I can't use the charm excuse for everything. She has already had doubts about my age since I was a Vampire before she was born." Angelo said before sighing.

"Do you plan to live in Blackriver?" The Mage said sensing the mood, he too leaned back and looked at the ceiling, contemplating the future.

"We both know that we will never be truly safe, I plan to set up somewhere to lie low but no, I do not plan on living there," Angelo said, it seemed to lift a weight from his shoulders talking like this.

"A safe house? I believe that's what royal families call them at least, that does sound pretty interesting." The Mage's voice was filled with slight curiosity.

"Do you not plan on getting somewhere to lay low?" Angelo said while looking at the Mage.

"I plan to have a place to live there, anytime I'm not travelling I will be staying there." The Mage said plainly, "It may be dangerous to live there but by the time it is built, I should be able to defend my own house."

They both chuckled before sitting in silence, Angelo stood up before leaving the carriage, not before giving a farewell to the Mage.

The Mage soon settled into the carriage before heading to sleep early, no Vampire interrupted him that night so he had a fulfilling sleep.

Sunlight came through the window, waking the Mage. He soon had some breakfast before cleaning himself up and preparing for the new day.

Leaving the carriage The Mage watched as everything was slowly being packed away. Angelo came over when he saw him, nothing had happened during the night and they were doing better for time than they thought.

They might be able to make the rest of the journey without needing to stop for the horses.

"Good news indeed." The Mage said while watching around, he could smell a lingering smell on one of the servants. She was slightly pale but presides that, the Mage couldn't notice anything wrong. The smell was sweeter than Angelo's and only had a trance of burnt flesh.

"My meal," Angelo said simply.

A chuckle came from him upon seeing the Mage document it down.

"I look forward to the day I can see a complete version of your notes," Angelo said while directing workers to their tasks.

"I can give you something to write down for your own kind," The Mage looked up and glanced at Angelo, "Take it as payment from saving my hide." The Mage quickly flipped his pages before nodding.

"Most Awakened can undergo an evolution of sorts, it is different for everyone but it will allow you to better understand magic and use stronger magic," Angelo whispers before walking away, having overpaid his debt.

'It seems I've become too soft while serving these humans.' Angelo thought while contemplating how he would explain his retirement, and desertion, to Lauren.

The Mage double-checked his backpack before he continued to walk around the camp, checking that everything looked alright. He soon found the two nobles talking while workers packed away their things.

"Morning you two." The Mage said walking towards them, their worried looks evident from this far away.

"O-Oh Sir Mage, your timing is convenient. One of the guards reported something which worried us." Richard said while calling over a guard, he was young and had short brown hair.

"What did you find?" The Mage asked the young guard when he came over, the guard gave the Mage a once over, the hood and cloak arousing suspicion within the young man.

"I saw a woman in the forest," he says pointing towards the west, "She had raven black hair and was crying, as soon as I turned away to ask if anyone else could hear her, she was gone when I looked back." The young man mutters out, his face filled with unease remembering the events.

"When was this?" The Mage asked the young man, the young man in question looked at the Mage for a second time. His face showing his true thoughts.

"It was only a few hours ago." He said before glancing at Richard, seeing no response from him, the young guard didn't continue.

"We were hoping you would check it out Sir," Richard said while looking to Lauren. The young guard looked shocked before afraid.

"Hm, I will bring the young man with me." The Mage said while smiling under his hood, "As long as you're ok with that Richard." He said while facing Richard.

"N-No problem at all, please go ahead," Richard said with a strained smile.

The Mage chuckled before saying "Thank you. Come with me, show me where you saw this woman." The Mage said while walking towards the now scared young man.