Chapter 2: To the City!
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  Kuranes spent a restless night in a barn on the outskirts of the village.
Disturbing dreams plagued his sleep, so much so that he found it easier to
simply stay awake.
  When morning finally arrived, Kuranes stumbled out to meet a
determined-looking Faris. "Tough night, Eh?" he asked.
  Kuranes noted the sympathetic tone in his voice, and grimaced. "Sleep
offers no comfort for me."
  "Well, I hope you're ready for some traveling, then. I've decided to get
you as far away from here as possible--to Albrook. Hopefully we'll be able
to catch a ship going north."
  "I've never been on a ship," Kuranes said, mildly interested. "and I've
never been to Albrook either. I've heard it is a big city."
  "It's quite big, and easily overwhelming. It's also extremely easy to...
get 'lost' in."
                                  *  *  *
   They left the village less than an hour later. Newly grown forests
surrounded the village on every side, making travel moderately difficult.
When Kuranes asked Faris why they couldn't simply use the road, the old
adventurer laughed. There were no roads in these backwater places; he was
the only person that ever visited the place.
  "How far is Albrook from here?" Kuranes asked.
  "Only about a three days journey. We'll be sleeping under the open sky
for a few nights."
  Kuranes nodded, and frowned in the shadows of his hood. More sleepless
nights ahead.
  During the tedious trip, Faris began to fill Kuranes in on current events
in the world. Things had changed very little--a new empire to replace the
old. Kuranes shrugged with indifference. Faris recited a list of cities
that had been taken over; Albrook was one of them. "Aren't we *going* to
Albrook? We're trying to ESCAPE trouble, not run into more of it."
  "There won't be any problems," Faris replied soothingly. "The city isn't
besieged or anything--we'll just walk in, do what we have to do, and get
back--"
  He was interrupted by a piercing howl that echoed through the trees.
Kuranes whirled around, eyes wide. Nothing. Faris put a restraining hand on
his arm. "Relax, Kuranes! It's probably just a wolf of some sort, and it's
not very close either."
  Kuranes looked around again, then slumped back. The cry was repeated a
few more times, but it did seem to be getting further and further away.
Finally, it stopped altogether.
  The rest of the day was spent in uneasy silence. They picked their way
through the thick forest, eventually coming to a small, grassy knoll. It
looked a good a place to stop as any... at least to Faris. Faris went about
setting up for the night, while Kuranes stared up a the darkening dusk sky.
The overcast sky had broken, and now a few bright stars were beginning to
shine through.
  "We should make it to Albrook two days from now," Faris said, between
bites of his meal. He offered some to Kuranes, who politely refused. "If
we're lucky," Faris continued, "We can find somewhere to sleep tomorrow
night. I remember coming across a village around here some time ago..."
  Faris rambled on, but after a while he retired for the night. Kuranes
insisted on having the first watch--he wasn't tired yet, anyway. Watch he
did... he kept his gaze up on the stars until the sun rose the next
morning.