7

Balock's eyes fluttered behind his closed eyelids. I placed my finger over my lips to silence him. Sekka's bedroll was already rolled out so all he had to do was lay down, and relax. I let my head droop so I could get some sleep as well. I could let him sleep until late in the day, but I wouldn't.

He could catch up on sleep tomorrow. For today he would suffer a bit to keep up our cover. It wasn't my fault that he needed a full six hours to call it a good nights sleep. I only needed an hour or two at most. Even if I completely ran myself ragged I wouldn't need more then three hours.

Ethan was disappointed I didn't stick around to chat with him. I didn't have time to chat with him. I needed some sleep for now. I'd done a crazy amount of work this night. I was both physically, and mentally exhausted. I debated on relighting the fire, but I let it slide for now since I was tired.

It wouldn't hurt to let the chill of the night bite at them a little. It wasn't cold enough to threaten a human life. Although it seemed as if the dwarf couldn't handle the cold as well as Sekka. He'd been in a hot forge for years. He wasn't used to the chill of the night.

I motivated myself enough to gently place a few more blankets on the old dwarf before sitting back down to actually sleep. I was the only one that was able to sneak up on a light sleeper like that little dwarf. I fell asleep not long after that. My muscles twinged slightly as I drifted off. It seemed they refused to go slack today as well.

That was fine. I could handle the strain. I woke not long after the sun had risen. Stretching some of the stiffness out of my limbs, and turning to the others. They could rest another hour.

It wouldn't hurt our plans at all. I started up a fire, and started cooking something for breakfast. My tastes weren't exactly the same as a human so I couldn't cook anything that tasted particularly good. My dominance over fire did allow me to cook it evenly without putting much effort into it. I could just tell how well the fire was heating the meat.

Balock woke on his own without much persuasion. He looked at me cooking for a few moments in confusion.

"I didn't know that you could cook," Balock frowned.

"Anyone can cook," I smirked, "That doesn't mean I'm any good at it."

I tossed him a good sized chunk of cooked meat.

"You are aware of how dangerous this road is aren't you?" Balock caught the meat, and shrugged.

"I'm looking forward to it," My smile widened.

I was genuinely looking forward to it.

"I'm personally hoping to see some bandits," I refocused the majority of my attention on cooking the meat.

"What do you plan on doing with the bandits when you find them?" Balock asked.

"He's probably going to eat them," Sekka rolled over grumpily.

Balock laughed seeming to think it was a joke. I just shrugged, and Sekka grumpily sat up. He only got about three hours of sleep. I understood why he was so grumpy. I shrugged off his irritation, and handed him some meat to eat.

"Time to get going," I rolled my shoulders, "We need to make good time through the swamplands."

"You were joking when you said you were going to eat them right?" Balock persisted on this line of inquiry.

"I might eat a few of them," I gave him a serious glance, "I am a predator after all."

Balock swallowed nervously.

"Relax," I frowned at him, "It's in bad taste to eat intelligent beings. They tend to frown upon it, and group up against you. I only eat enemies."

"I've never heard of a predatory species shaped like a human before," Balock lapsed into serious thought.

"I am not normally shaped like a human," I decided a bit of honesty wouldn't hurt him, "I can perfectly imitate one though. It's the only thing I can perfectly imitate so don't worry about me doing any sneaking in on the other races."

Balock strode along right next to me in lock step with the birds. Sekka was slightly ahead of us.

"You seriously plan on eating some of the bandits?" Balock questioned again with some concern.

"I am hungry, and it's a good way to make some bodies disappear," I shrugged off his concern, "You won't be with us long enough to see that though so consider yourself lucky."

"So you're going to get rid of me huh?" Balock shrugged.

"I'd rather you stay alive, and we're planning on doing some dangerous things that will leave our camp empty," I flicked my wrist with a bit of irritation, "As it is I will have to worry about the birds dying while we're in these swamplands. There are a few designated hiding spots off the road that are on the map, but I'd rather not use those since everyone knows of them. The only one of the road encampments I'm considering using in the old fort. The building might be something of a joke, but at least it has sturdy walls, and only one small entry point."

Balock nodded thoughtfully. He could tell I'd put some real though into our travel plans. I just didn't trust this road. I was certain we could survive traveling on it, but I was a bit worried about our pack birds.

"It just makes sense to send you to my human allies," I shrugged, "I've purified your core, and with your level of resistance to miasma you should be fine for at least a couple of years without my assistance."

"Miasma?" Balock looked up to me thoughtfully, "That's what you call the poison in the mana of other worlds."

"I think of it more as impurities," I shrugged, "I didn't come up with the name. I came across the word in a book I read. Fantasy books are hard to find for someone like me. The word stuck out to me. It means harmful energy so I thought it was fitting."