The western sector began where the northern road ended and the terrain decided that the rules of normal roads no longer applied.
Stone instead of dirt.
Slope instead of flat.
And the kind of silence that belongs to places where people normally don't go.
The three left Valdris at dawn.
Serah at the front, her markings in their steady morning glow.
Kai in the center with the quest sheet in his pocket.
Lira three steps behind with her sunglasses and leather jacket.
The eight-in-the-morning sun wasn't the midday sun but it was enough.
Serah extended her ambient temperature field backward — not much, just enough to cover the radius where Lira was.
She did it without comment and without looking back.
Lira said nothing.
They walked for ten minutes.
"There," Serah said.
"There what?" Lira said.
"That was the one time." Serah kept walking. "I told you once."
Lira looked at the sun.
