Free Aphrodite's Acolyte by J.E. Spatafore

way back to the camp, both expressing interest in watching this particular sunset. The first sunset of their unbridled friendship.
    On their way back, Fidel shared Fardicus' theory of Abby being a spy for some corrupted Puldechran army. After Abby finished laughing at the notion, she denied the accusation, stating reasons of paranoia on Fardicus' part, but did say their was merit to his reasoning.
    Fidel asked about the death of the dwarf and Abby just shrugged and asked what Fidel would do if he saw her in the same situation. He grinned and stated he'd do exactly the same thing, except he would have used a bolt of lightning.
    Abby asked why a mage would give up his cover under a wagon to charge into a battalion of enemies, forcing hand to hand combat, surely not a specialty of a mage. Fidel chuckled and said the excitement was overwhelming and it sounded good at the moment. And so the conversation continued back to camp, sharing the stories of the ride to Puldechra and questioning each others thoughts. Forming a lasting friendship in the process.
    As they crested a small hill toward the camp, they saw large plumes of smoke rising in the distance. Both of their hearts sank, fearing an ambush had come about. They sprinted toward the camp to investigate the scene, Fidel pulling his staff from his pack and Abby pulling her twin daggers from their sheaths. It became rather clear within a few hundred yards before their arrival that nothing was amiss.
    The fire was in lieu of having a leisure tent this evening. The caravan intended on sleeping under the open sky this night, enjoying nature's scenery laid out before them. Everybody's cots formed a circle around the fire. The buffet tables were filling up with food and the pungent smells of various roasted animals were making Fidel's and Abby's mouths water. Fidel placed his staff back in his pack, Abby sheathed her knives, and they both looked at each other. “Time to eat!” they said in unison and headed off toward the tables.
    The sun was just starting to dip below the tops of the trees to the west. The group was ramping up their celebration. Various conversations filled the air as the caravan and their newest member engaged in mingling and games. The lighthearted atmosphere was full of laughter as the sun set behind the trees of the Puldechran forest. Fidel watched it all with happiness in his heart. The festivities continued late into the night and faded away as the members of the caravan started to settle in one by one.
    The night air was still cool and the fire was burning low when Fardicus woke Fidel. The eastern horizon was just showing signs of light in the far distance as Fidel rubbed his eyes. Fardicus motioned for Fidel to join him in his tent.
    The conversation the two engaged in was about the delivery of Fidel to Puldechra. Fardicus gave Fidel a parchment containing their travel plans for the next three years, telling Fidel he would always be welcome. Fardicus gave him advice over the customs and traditions of the elven community. On the back of the parchment, Fardicus drew a rough map of the region, showing Fidel many landmarks to stop by and the general structure of the cities among the trees.
    Fardicus tossed Fidel a coin purse, filled with coins from six major regions of the northeast corner of Mirater. Fidel asked why and Fardicus stated it was his pay. He let Fidel know he was the bravest warrior he had ever met and his courage was pivotal in the bandit raid. Fidel departed Fardicus' tent as the sun pierced the darkness over the eastern horizon.
      The caravan headed west, into the forests of Puldechra. The trees blocked out much of the suns rays, making the walk feel like a perpetual walk in the hours of dusk. Many buildings lined the bottoms of the canopies, various shops, taverns, inns, and houses. Each tree containing a building had signs printed at the base of the corresponding tree with rope and pulley contraptions to bring a traveler up to the