They made it to the edge of jungle by nightfall, and Falcon decided they should stop when they found a small river that wasn’t muddy like the last one. Julia gathered wood and started a fire while Falcon set up their tent for the night.

“So, how far…” Julia's words drifted off as she turned around.

Falcon had taken off his dirty, bloody shirt and was now splashing river water on his face. It was the first time she had actually seen him shirtless. He was always up before her, and always wearing a t-shirt. She had known he was strong, even that he was muscular, but she had never imagined what he might look like underneath his clothes.

Now she was stunned by the splendor of just his back. He wasn’t built like the men on magazine covers―he wasn’t tight and chiseled like they were. Falcon’s muscles were looser and looked more natural, though still well-defined. Was he really so breathtaking? Or was it because it was Falcon? His body was just another addition to his growing list of great attributes. It really was a shame he was staying in this world.

Julia almost rolled her eyes at herself. It didn’t matter: those men—the good ones—never went for her anyway. She always seemed to attract the jerks. That was why she hadn’t been on a real date in years.

Still, her breath caught in her throat when he stood and turned around. He ran a hand through his hair. Water ran down his face, over his parted lips, and dripped onto his thickly muscled chest, wetting the sparse patch of tiny brown curls there and trickling down the perfect contours of his flat stomach, each drop glistening in the evening sun.

She closed her mouth and swallowed hard. Her gaze dropped quickly to her lap when he glanced at her. Jade was thankfully curled up on her lap, giving her something to focus on. She started petting him, and ignored the feeling of the cat’s amusement.

“How far is what?” Falcon asked.

“Far?”

“You started saying something about how far.”

She willed herself to think instead of continuing to picture him half naked. “Oh… I, uh… was just wondering how far the Snow Peaks are from here.”

“Not sure. Get the map,” he said, coming to sit beside her.

Picking up and holding her cat, she got it from his pack, and handed it over without looking at him.

“What’s wrong?”

She focused on stroking Jade’s soft fur. “Nothing.”

It was quiet for a moment. “Does me having my shirt off bother you?” he asked seriously.

She wished her hair wasn’t still in a braid so it could hang down and hide her face. She shook her head. “No, course not,” she said softly. “I’m just… not used to it. But it's fine… I… I don’t mind.”

“Good, because I’m going to jump in the river. I seriously need a bath.”

“But―” She forced herself to breathe. “Here?”

“We’re in the middle of nowhere. There’s no one around,” he pointed out.

Just me, she thought as her mind conjured the image of him with nothing on, with water glittering over his completely naked body. She really didn’t want to be thinking about him like that. He was just a friend. A friend. Never anything more. She was going home. He was staying here, and that was that.

She stood abruptly and grabbed her bag. Jade complained at being dumped off her lap, but she ignored him. “Yeah, good idea,” she told Falcon and quickly left, following the river west, and disappearing into the forest.

__________

By the time she got back, he had already bathed and dressed in clean clothes. He must have taken much less time than she had, since dinner was almost ready now.

He smiled at her when she came and sat down beside the fire. “Feel better?”

“What?”

“All clean now?”

“Oh. Yeah. Much.”

He flipped some fish over in the frying pan while she started brushing her hair. “So, it’ll probably take about a week to get up to the peaks.”

“A week?” She sighed. “And that’s only the second piece. I wonder where the others will be. How long will this take?”

“I don’t know.”

She sighed again, but then she realized it was just as bad for him. He was away from his home too, even if this was his world; this wasn’t the simple life he had been enjoying before she came. “I’m sorry for dragging you into this," she told him earnestly. "We’ve only just begun, there’s so much left, and you’ve already been hurt because of me. I’d really understand if you just want to go back. I can―”

“No.”

“I wouldn’t be upset,” she reassured him, not wanting him to feel any guilt. Though she was scared by the thought of him leaving her, she kept her voice steady. “I just… I don’t want you getting hurt. You don’t have to be here.”

“Would it make you feel better to know I’m not staying just for you?”

Her brushing paused as she looked over at him, meeting his gaze. “What do you mean?”

He shrugged. “Two fairies have said now that I’m supposed to be doing this. Apparently, something bad is coming; King Xavien is already doing damage with his decree to worship only Malluk. And who knows what this priestess is planning?” he said gravely. “This is my world, if I have to save it to keep it as it is, I will… or die trying.”

“You like Kelstone that much?”

“Yes,” he said without hesitation. “This is my home.”

She resumed her brushing. “So you’d be doing this even if I said I didn’t want to go back to Earth?”

“Yes. Have you changed your mind?” he asked, sounding hopeful.

“No, of course not. I hate this place,” she told him firmly. “And every horrible monster we face, every night without a comfortable bed, every day without good food… it just adds to the desire to get home as quickly as possible.”

“The monsters don’t get into the towns, the guard makes sure of that,” Falcon said, obviously feeling the need to defend his world. “There are plenty of comfortable beds―you had one when we were in Rosewall. And the food will get better after a while. Right now, I’m guessing you’re just used to food that has tons of salt, sugar, and a whole lot of crap in it. But microwavable meals and fast food is not good food.”

“Tastes good,” she said stubbornly. “And I still hate this place.”

“Suit yourself,” he told her as he handed her a plate of fish and potatoes. Suddenly he smirked. “By the way, that spider this morning… it exists on Earth too.”

She shuddered. “There’s no need to tell me that,” she grumbled.

He just chuckled as he took a bite of his dinner.

“It’s not funny. You’re mean.”

He grinned at her. “Should I remember that the next time a big hairy spider’s about to get you?”

She just stuck her tongue out at him, and he laughed more. But even after the reminder, her dreams that night had nothing to do with spiders. They were about him, and even though she shouldn’t be having them, they were very pleasant.

__________

After picking up their horses in Everette, they headed west on a wide road running parallel to the Soran River. They had planned on passing through the town of Whitewood, but when they came to the road that lead there, they found a sign: Recent goblin attacks. Travel at own risk.

“So, do you want to chance goblins?” Falcon asked. “Or would one more day on Kelstone be better?”

“What’s another day?” she said.

He chuckled, having known what her answer would be, and kicked his horse lightly to continue west.

When they arrived in Chendal, the found it to be more of a marina than a town. It was settled where the Soran met the Wahyan River, and had as many boats in the harbor as buildings on the land around it.

The place wasn’t much better than Jaida Grove―the weathered, wooden buildings were almost as gray, and it felt a little seedy, especially around the docks. The worst part about it in Julia’s opinion—which was opposite of Jade’s—was the smell of fish. Falcon told her it was because aside from Lordell, which was just a day’s ride south, Chendal exported the largest number of fish on Kelstone.

They asked around once again about Mount Aylios, but no one knew anything. They did, however, find out about a ruby mine up in the Snow Peaks, which was run by the Nakoha people of Snowy Pine Village.

Knowing now that they were on the right track, Falcon and Julia continued north. The next real city wasn’t at all like Chendal. Brunya City was charming and smelled mostly of the pine trees. Julia fell in love with the town as soon as they got there. Once they passed some farms and pastures, it began to remind her of some English villages she’d seen in pictures: creamy stone buildings with quaint little gardens in front, all nestled among rolling hills and surrounded by lush green forest.

They dropped their horses off at a stable, then walked across a stone bridge over the Wahyan River, which was partly canopied by maple trees on either side. She imagined the place was gorgeous in the autumn, with colorful leaves spreading over the bridge and floating on the water below.

They headed north along Ceder Street, past more homes and then some shops. The sun was just setting and the street lamps were being lit by an older gentlemen. They walked past as the sidewalk became illuminated, and the man moved his ladder on to the next. Eventually, they found themselves at the town square. A Mages Guild was to the north and there was a Fighters Guild to the south—which looked like a small castle—a forge and a weapons shop were among the buildings to the east, and various offices were set along the road to the west of the square. In the center of the roads, which were made of light-colored cobblestones, was a grassy square with a beautiful flower garden in the middle, and several stone benches.

Julia wanted to see more of the charming town, but when they followed some streets northwest, they came across something they didn’t want to see: Temple Row. They turned down the street that was lined on both sides with temples to various gods. They were boarded up―all except for a sinister-looking building at the end. Set into a black stone facade was a set of large double doors, a red hellhounds head painted on it. On either side were long narrow windows. In the darkening evening, the lights from within the temple caused the red stained-glass to glow like angry eyes. A shiver ran through her. She didn’t have to ask if that was Malluk's temple.

Falcon stopped in front of a tall, white temple with a stained-glass window depicting a sun in a blue sky, and shook his head. “Shit. I didn’t even think about that.”

“What?” Julia asked.

“This is a temple to Aryst,” he explained. “The people might be able to do okay without temples to the other gods, but not this one. Aryst is the Goddess of Healing.”

Julia gasped. “Is this where people go to get healed? Is this like a hospital here?” She got chills as she said it, knowing it was true by the look on his face.

He nodded. “Her clerics have the divine power to heal.”

“What about mages, though? They can heal.”

“Only basic wounds. The healing clerics are like nurses and the priests like doctors. They can treat almost anything. Mages can’t deal with things like heart attacks, serious trauma, infections… not to mention simpler things, like childbirth.”

“This is horrible.”

“Yes. Another reason to be doing what we’re doing,” he told her, his voice firm and determined. “This has to be stopped.”

“Yes,” she agreed earnestly. The idea of people suffering made everything more real. This wasn’t just about her anymore. This was about a whole world of people. Even though she wanted to leave Kelstone, she wanted to help more.

Down another street, Aurora’s Potions and More caught their attention. They went inside, curious to see if healing potions were still being sold.

The small, square room had stone walls that were lined with shelves from the pine floor to the wooden beams of the ceiling. On the left were many perfume-sized bottles. Strangely, they all seemed to be void of any color behind their labels, unlike the colorful ones she had seen at the Mages Guild. Thankfully, though, there were healing potions. It seemed Xavien and Kieran didn’t think of arcane magic like divine magic; though it originated from Eolys, the God of Magic, the guild wasn’t a temple, nor was it affiliated with Eolys’ temple.

On the right wall was a wide array of plants, from mushrooms and flowers of all kinds, to cinnamon sticks, and acorns. There were also things like unicorn hair and pouches of ground minotaur horn. Each kind of item overflowed its labeled box. To the side of these were bottles of tiny hearts, tongues, cat eyes, and vials of animal blood, monster blood, and an assortment of other liquids.

Two twin brothers, perhaps in their young twenties, stood inside, having a disagreement over some items. They reminded Julia a bit of the Goth people back home. They were identical in every way, from their pale faces and slate blue eyes surrounded by black eyeliner to their long, straight black hair, and wearing all black, down to their nail polish.

“No, crow feathers make it darker,” one said.

“No, goblin hair does,” the second argued.

“I think I know more about this than you do,” the first retorted. “Remember, I was the one that colored in that alchemy book.”

The second rolled his eyes. “It was a cookbook, and neither has anything to do with paint anyway.”

“Fine. Why don’t we just put both in?” the first suggested.

“Then it’ll be even darker,” the second said, looking pleased by this idea.

“Maybe the darkest black ever,” the first said.

“Excuse me,” Falcon interrupted them. “Do you work here? I have a question.”

The brothers turned around and stared at them for a moment. “People,” they whispered in unison. They quickly grabbed a handful of the items they wanted and left the shop.

“Strange,” Julia commented.

“The twins?” an older woman asked, coming out of a back room. “They’re so weird,” she agreed, shaking her head and looking amused.

“They just took some stuff,” Falcon told her.

She nodded. “They can take whatever they want. They have everything paid for them. Anyway, how can I help you?”

“I was just wondering about these potions,” he said. “Why are they so clear and cost so much?”

“These are Dilutik Potions,” she answered.

“What are those?”

“The safest potions around, and very effective too.”

“How are they the safest?” he asked. “I wasn’t under the impression that others were unsafe.”

“Oh, yes,” she said seriously. “They are. But mine go through many steps of dilution until only a spirit-like essence is left, which is where the power is.”

“Dilution?” Falcon repeated. “As in water?”

She nodded.

“I’m sorry, but it sounds like you’re saying that these are basically just bottles of water.”

She smiled as if he were a child who just figured out that two plus two equaled four. “That’s why they aren’t just effective, but also very safe. These potions can be used on anyone and at any age because they have no chance of side effects.”

“Or any main effects.”

“They are just as—“

“Of course,” he said, cutting her off, but keeping his voice polite, if a little clipped. “Well, thanks for your help,” he told her, and led Julia out of the shop.

“Talk about a scam,” he said once they were outside. “She’s selling bottles of water for twice as much as the real potions cost. And at a time like this, when people really need healing potions that work!”

Julia nodded. “I can’t believe she actually gets away with it.” Then she asked, “Do any of the regular potions have side effects?”

He shrugged. “I haven’t heard of any. But healing potions and magic are this world’s medicine, so… maybe. On Earth some people are allergic to a particular type, like I’m allergic to penicillin.” He laughed when he saw the look on her face. “Don’t worry about it. So far so good, right?”

She nodded.

They walked in silence for several blocks before Julia suddenly asked, “So, what happens when you beat the game? Normally, I mean.”

“Everyone lives happily ever after,” he told her lightly.

She frowned, not amused.

“Okay,” Falcon said, serious now. “The hero just goes on with his or her life. That’s it.”

“So it won’t… like, reset or something when we beat it?”

“No. Everything should go back to normal, and we’ll both go home.”

She raised a brow.

“You to Earth, me to Jaida Grove,” he clarified.

“You know, you should move here when this quest is over,” she told him as they walked in the direction a sign pointed them, towards Kalos’s Tavern and Inn on the north side of town. “If I were staying in this world, Brunya City is definitely where I’d live. This place is so quaint and beautiful.”

It was his turn to raise a brow.

“I said if.”