"Have you ever heard that success requires a little bit of crazy?" Walter asked Isaac and Lenna as they worked. The duo were using some of Walter's spare knives to help skin the Silent Stalker.

"That sounds a bit familiar, sure." Isaac replied. Lenna spared Walter a glance but went right back to work.

"Well, it's wrong." Walter declared.

"Oh?" Isaac asked. "It's worked out pretty well so far."

Walter chuckled. "No, your luck has held out. See, even luck can be lucky. If your bad luck strikes at a time that will still let you recover, then even your bad luck was lucky. That's why I say that Lady Luck doesn't actually count. She gives where she gives, and she takes where she takes." He explained. "Luck is what success requires."

Isaac nodded along. "Sure, I can see that." He confirmed and Walter continued.

"But Lady Luck will only ever do so much for you, what you need is intuitive companions." Walter explained. "You see, I've spent a lotta time on, what many would call, my own. I don't really see it that way. I've gone through five horses. A good horse will carry you for fifteen to twenty years, walk alongside you for another ten to fifteen. Every now and then there might be one that'll blow those numbers outta the water but they are pretty standard."

"Does Copper know she isn't your first?" Isaac joked.

Walter smirked but continued on: "There are a few things I've learned traveling with just a horse and sometimes a fox for company." He went on. "One of those things is to never go anywhere a horse won't go. They notice things that only a prey animal can. Small signs, off scents, discolored ground, a stray hair clinging to the bark of a tree. They don't realize they notice those things most of the time, but they know when something ain't quite right" He continued monologuing while they worked.

"I can't ride." Isaac explained. "And even if I could, horses are too fragile to be in combat and I can't use my magic on them to heal them or remove their exhaustion."

"Why not?" Walter asked and then shook his head. "Think about that and we'll circle back to it." He cut Isaac off before he could reply. "You see, mortals aren't actually prey animals, that fact dulls our sense of danger. We are sometimes preyed upon, but we are still around eighty percent of the way up the food chain. Our levels, each one raises us up about one percent. That's why those at the top are at the top and not just stronger than most. Those of us at level twenty, we can see the world the same way that the predators do." Walter said and stretched his back out. "Think about this big cat." He told them. "If you were out roaming around your territory and caught wind of something sweet and delicious on the breeze, you'd want to check it out, right?"

Isaac shrugged. "Sure, probably. It's something unusual at the very least." He offered.

Walter nodded. "And when you get there, you see three large dragons, older adults, maybe younger ancients. Piled in front of one of them is a strange meal that you've never seen before but smells like a few of your favorite things. Behind that same one, there was a buffet table of all of your favorite foods. On top of this mouthwatering sight, you haven't eaten in days. What would you have done?" Walter questioned Isaac who was the only one going along with him.

"Didn't you say the wards around here discourage beasts with headaches and confusion?" Isaac brought up a slight problem with Walter's fable.

Walter waved him off. "That's little more than pushing through some briar bushes. It's enough that you'd normally just leave the area alone but it's definitely not impassible." He countered.

"Well, regardless of the difficulty of arriving at said draconic campsite, I probably would not have gone straight for a meal at their expense. Power should be respected, even if it is rarely trustworthy." Isaac countered. "What about you?"

"Well, in a drunken and starved state, with two said dragons in an apparent state of inaction, I probably would've 'risked it for the biscuit'." Walter returned. "You were the one who brought up the wards, remember?"

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"Touche." Isaac replied, which got a confused look from Lenna.

"It's French." Walter explained for Lenna. "A language that no one here speaks. It means that I was right and he is acknowledging that fact."

"Thank you." Lenna said with a nod.

Isaac grabbed the side of his head. "How do you make me say things that give me a headache? I'm pretty sure I've said that before." He groaned.

Walter frowned in thought. "You might've said it before but whatever's automatically translating for you probably translated it without you knowing. It most likely defaults to whoever you are talking to's native language. In my case, 'touche' was used often enough that it probably counts." He postulated. It was around that time that they finished skinning the large cat and had moved on to removing the meat from the bones. Walter got to work collecting all of the important parts and let the duo handle the simple muscle from bone that would make a decent meal later.

"You've picked up a lot on the road, haven't you?" Lenna asked. She saw a lot of Isaac in Walter and it helped her warm up to him a bit. Though, the parts she saw in both of them were not the dark and brooding or general disregard for stranger's lives so maybe that also helped.

Walter nodded. "Yeah, I've been around." He agreed.

"Isaac mentioned a school to Guild Master Cain, have you ever thought about it?" She questioned their guide.

Walter shrugged. "I have, from time to time, but sitting still doesn't suit me. I've been on the road for too long to settle down for long. I feel my edge slipping with every night spent in a bed under a solid roof." He confessed. "I belong on the road, exploring all that there is to see. This is my second chance at life, one I probably didn't deserve, if I'm being honest. I wanna make the most of it. Maybe someday I'll get myself an apprentice, but I doubt anyone is gonna wanna tag along with me for years at a time."

Lenna hummed in thought. "You never know. There are all kinds of people out there." She offered him.

"Yeah, I know." Walter agreed. "But, I've lived a long time. Too long for someone born as a human. We aren't meant to live as long as I have, and some days it takes its toll. Humans are very well acquainted with their short mortal lives. In my old world, I buried great grandparents and grandparents before the age of twenty. I would've buried my parents before the age of seventy." He sat back and looked up at the blue sky above them. "I've seen a child be born, then grow up, have a family of their own, grow old, and then die of old age. He was a kind and righteous man. I'd like to think that I played some part in that. But in the end, his short mortal life, a short mortal life that I should've had as well, came to a close and I still looked the same as the day that he was born. It was after his funeral that I decided I couldn't stay in one place for that long anymore."

"Burying friends is hard." Lenna agreed. "But it will always be a risk. You could bury an elvish friend as well. The Fatebreaker is approaching his end. If even a man like that will die of old age, no mortal will be able to escape it."

Walter nodded. "I know." He sighed. "Okay, enough of this depressing shit. Hurry up and finish so we can get back on the road."

Lenna nodded. "Agreed." She told him.

"Oh, but Isaac, remember what I said about asking why your power doesn't work on a horse? Why is that?" Walter pressed the dark mage.

"A horse is a 'light' creature. My power only heals 'dark' creatures." Isaac explained.

"Well, find a dark horse, or rabbit, or seed eating bird." Walter instructed him. "There has to be some of those around somewhere."

"I certainly haven't found one." Isaac replied.

"Does a spider count?" Lenna wondered.

"No." Isaac put his foot down. "Absolutely not. I refuse to have a pet spider."

Walter chuckled. "I had a pet spider once. He roamed my house and ate gnats and mosquitos. I named him Lucas." He unhelpfully offered. "I'm not sure a spider would be a very good pick regardless. They aren't as close to the bottom of the food chain as you would need. Herbivores, specifically ones that prefer to flee rather than fight, are what you want."

"I don't think that exists." Lenna told him. "There aren't any true herbivores in the Innerworld."

"Are all dark creatures from the Innerworld?" Walter wondered.

"No." Isaac replied. "But most are."

"Maybe you could make one." Walter offered. "Are shadow-wolves dark creatures?"

Isaac nodded. "Yes."

"Then just abduct some poor random surface herbivores and pen them up in an area saturated with your power, maybe they'll mutate and you'll have a magic cow that you can use to pull a cart or something." Walter half-joked, half-instructed the duo.

"I am not making a shadow-cow." Isaac argued.

Walter waved him off. "What about a spider-pig? No, wait, there are already Innerworld mutated pigs." He hummed in thought. "A shadow-rabbit? That sounds kinda cool. Good luck taming or confining one though."

"What, do you want me to pull a rabbit out of my hat whenever I need to decide on where to go or set up camp?" Isaac retorted. "Also, you said something that is giving me a headache again. What was it?"

Walter thought for a moment. "Telling you would be a marvel-ously bad idea. One so bad I doubt even a Simpson would do it." He smirked to himself as Isaac clutched his head.

"Please, stop." Isaac pleaded. Lenna put her hand on his shoulder and then turned to glare at Walter.

Walter put his hands in the air. "Fine, I'll try to keep a lid on it. No promises though." He told her. He went back to work, finishing up the processing of the large cat, and then returned to his food. He reheated the metal plate as he stuffed the pieces of the cat into his saddlebags one at a time or in small wrapped bundles. The meat was wrapped in clean cloth, the bones were either put in solitarily or tied together, the teeth and claws were tossed into a bag that barely fit into his saddlebags. The eyes found their way into a jar filled with salt water, and the rest of the organs ended up in their own jars as well. There was one bone from each of the cat's paws that was put into a special pouch. Each of those bones had a rune grown into it that must've had to do with the silent steps of the feline stalker. Once Walter was finished with his breakfast, they packed up and hit the road again. Their plan was to reach the bottom of the mountain and the edge of the forest by mid afternoon or early evening. Either way, they would have to wait until the following morning to begin traversing the forest itself.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.