Gorn urged the horse forward, hooves drumming against the packed earth. William held on from behind, Gorn's tunic scratching against his cheek. Not comfortable, but better than walking through mud all day.
"Sorry for the tight fit, lad," Gorn said, glancing back. "This old mare's all we've got."
"It's fine," William said, grinning. He was just glad to be off his feet.
They followed a narrow track through dense woodland for hours, the air thick with wet earth and rotting leaves, branches catching at their faces as they rode.
Eventually the trees thinned out and gave way to a wide cobblestone road stretching toward the horizon. William felt himself relax a little. This had to be the main road Gorn had mentioned, the one connecting all the scattered villages.
"What's the city like?" William asked. "How big is it? How much farther?"
"Alderanth," Gorn said, eyes on the road. "A few days out, but that's where we're headed."
William nodded, though his mind kept circling back to the wolf. He'd read about griffins, sprites, dragons, all sorts of fantasy creatures back home. None of it had prepared him for the real thing, fur black as a moonless night, eyes burning red, a smell that clung to the air around it.
Even the goblins hadn't come close.
"How big is Alderanth?" he asked again, trying to pull his focus back.
"Not the capital," Gorn said, "but sizable. We'll find help there."
They kept riding, the road cutting through changing land, forest giving way to hills, farmers in their fields, shepherds watching flocks. They passed a group of merchants leading packhorses, bells jingling in the breeze.
As the light started to fade, Gorn pulled the horse off the road into a hidden clearing. Time to make camp.
"Traveling at night's a bad idea out here," Gorn said, tired from the ride. "We need rest, and there's no telling what's out in these woods after dark."
William agreed. He'd camped plenty back on Earth, but the idea of running into something unknown in this world put a different kind of unease in him.
"Any inns along the way?" he asked, thinking longingly of an actual bed. "Somewhere to rest properly?"
"There's taverns ahead," Gorn said. "Won't be roughing it more than a night or two."
Gorn had a fire going in minutes, gathering dry branches with the ease of someone who'd done it a thousand times. The flames crackled against the coming dark.
He set up a simple tent next, stakes driven deep into the ground. Not much, but enough.
"Back soon," Gorn said, grabbing his bow. "Should be game nearby."
William watched him disappear into the trees and felt the quiet close in around him, every rustle suddenly louder than it should've been.
Gorn came back under an hour later with two rabbits at his belt. He skinned and cleaned them fast, hands moving on instinct, and soon the smell of roasting meat mixed with pine and damp earth.
William watched him work, feeling something between admiration and guilt. Gorn moved like he belonged out here. William felt like dead weight by comparison.
"Feels wrong just sitting here," he said, picking at his rabbit. "You're doing all the work."
Gorn laughed, low and easy. "You're still healing, lad. Someone had to watch the camp anyway, that matters too." He tore off a piece of meat. "Good instinct, wanting to help. But knowing when to rest matters just as much."
"Yeah," William said, giving in a little. "I'll rest." He knew pushing too hard wouldn't help either of them.
The forest hummed through the night, leaves, owls, the odd distant howl.
William slept badly, dreams full of the corrupted wolf and everything it meant for the village. Gorn slept like none of it bothered him at all.
Dawn came in gold and red. Gorn was up first, stoking the fire back to life, and soon they were packed and moving again.
The road kept changing under them. Forest thinned into hills dotted with farms. More travelers showed up, merchants with loaded wagons, pilgrims on foot, even a knight in polished armor. The road that had been empty the day before was busy now, proof they were getting close to Alderanth.
William watched everyone they passed, taking in how they dressed, how they moved, all the small differences between this world and the one he'd left.
Then Gorn pulled up short, staring at something in the road ahead. "Someone's hurt," he said, already swinging off the horse.