*Katerina's POV*

As the village disappeared from sight, Brandon murmured, "At least we know the mages didn't come through this village."

"That just tells us where they aren't, not where they are," Randel grumbled, "and we checked four villages already. I'm glad we're calling it a day. My feet are getting sore."

I remained silent, still trying to decide if skulking around villages and trying to keep Randel out of mischief was better or worse than finding the mages and the ensuing battle. Admittedly, Randel had adapted to his role as a trader remarkably well and hadn't needed assistance at this village. He'd even made four coppers with all of his trading and re-trading.

As we moved to the side of the road to let another cart pass, Brandon frowned at all the people ahead. "There's a lot of traffic."

"Most of the city markets start dispersing mid to late afternoon," I said, "so anyone heading this way would be passing through here right about now. The side roads will have much less traffic." I nodded at one such trail ahead that branched to the side.

"We'll have to do that. Even Diondin is getting impatient. Most of the others gave up waiting and are already heading back."

"Let's get going then. The sooner we get back, the sooner we can start a fire," Randel said, already veering toward the dirt track.

I exchanged a look with Brandon, then shrugged. I kept an eye on the sky as the road entered the forest. The dragons were able to sneak pretty close to the villages without being seen, so I wasn't sure how far we had to go before they'd appear.

Like every other time, there was just empty sky above us one moment, the next, huge wings blotted out the light. There was no noise or anything to signal their presence, and by the time we stopped walking, the three dragons were landing.

Without prompting, we got into the saddles. I glanced at Brandon and Randel, noticing that both of them had the shoulder straps over the secondary ones. Mine were underneath, as per Rakota's original instructions.

I examined the webbing of leather straps, although as far as I could tell, mine looked just as secure as theirs. I also remembered the aerial maneuvers Rakota had done during the fight with the mages, so I knew I'd stay in the saddle even if he flipped upside down. As the dragons took flight, I made a mental note to ask the riders once we were at the campsite.

The flight back was quick, and as soon as we slid out of the saddle, the dragons ambled toward the lake, where two others were already waiting.

"Where are the other dragons?" I asked Brandon. "Didn't they leave earlier?"

"They went hunting," he replied. "There isn't much for them to do here, and it wouldn't surprise me if they decided to fly high and watch the roads and villages in hopes of spotting one of the mages."

I set my backpack on the ground and asked, "When you put your harness on, why don't you slide the shoulder straps under the secondary ones?"

Brandon scratched his head. "Why would you put it underneath?"

I pursed my lips and glanced at the dragons near the lake. "Because he told me to." On a hunch, I didn't use Rakota's name. Every time Brandon wanted Diondin to hear something at a distance, he always used his name.

Brandon shrugged. "Diondin's never told me that. I don't think it matters."

"It's a tactic dragons sometimes use when giving rides reluctantly," Randel commented, dropping the coil of rope near me. "The clips tend to snag, and it flusters people. Some dragons find their reactions amusing." He dug the spool of thread out of his belt pouch and lightly tossed it to me.

I caught it. "Thanks. You also paid a quarter copper for this?" I pulled out my coin pouch to repay him.

"Keep it. Andar says if I take any money, he won't take me to a city for an entire month."

I paused and stared at him. "But that isn't right."

He shrugged. "I'm not about to argue with him, and it's really his copper. Besides, it's been a long time since I had that much fun. I can't wait to check out the marketplace the next time I go to the city. I even got a firestarter!" His face lit up in a big grin as he brandished something in the air.

"Is that rope?" Brandon asked, leaning over for a better look.

Randel was more than eager to show off his new toy and held it out where we could see it. The metal rod was similar to mine, but the flint was attached to a small rod with some sort of frizzy string under it.

"That almost looks like a wick cord," I commented as I came over for a closer look.

"It is! It works really well!" To demonstrate, he struck the two together, and several sparks hit the frayed ends of the oiled cord. As smoke appeared, he blew gently on it and was rewarded when the wick caught fire.

"I've never seen one like that before," I said, taking mental notes even though I'd continue using seed fuzz, bark bits, and other free materials to start my fires.

Randel held the tiny flame near a dry twig, and once it caught, he put it in the firepit. Then he lit another one on fire, then another.

"You're going to burn through all the cord at this rate," I told him. "Just add more kindling to the ones you have in the firepit."

"I have more cord in my belt pouch, and this is fun!" He continued lighting the small sticks on fire.

Since he was distracted with his new toy, I added branches to the firepit so we'd have enough coals to cook bread. At least I didn't have to worry about him wasting wood when he was searching for the thinnest and driest branches he could find.

Once the fire was big enough that I didn't have to babysit it, I turned around to grab the two pots, only to realize they were gone. I blinked at the grass where they had been sitting, then looked around.

Brandon was by the lake and had several objects in his hands. On a rock near him, were two dark objects that looked suspiciously like my cooking pots. It wasn't long before he returned, carrying the two pots with water and my waterskin.

"I wasn't sure how much water you needed, so you can dump the extra out. It's all been purified."

"Thanks," I said as I took the two small pots from him.

He set my waterskin by where I had been sitting and pulled the sugar, oil, and bag of flour out of his backpack. "This should keep you out of mischief for a while."

"I don't think I have anything else to do," I replied with a growing grin. It had been a very long time since I got to cook with flour like this – and I even got to use sugar and oil!

While waiting for the fire to create enough coals, I mixed the dough and put some of the smoked venison on a rock to warm up. Randel finally extinguished the wick but was now trying to use the sparks to set bark and dry plant matter on fire.

We nibbled on the meat while waiting for the bread. I was careful to cook it slowly so it didn't burn and wasn't raw in the middle. When they were done, I dumped the two loaves onto a couple of large leaves to cool and started mixing the next batch.

"Give that a try," I told the riders.

"These look good," Brandon said as he pulled out his knife and leaned over to cut them in half.

"Don't worry about sharing those," I said. "It won't take too long for me to make more."

He raised an eyebrow at me. "That's not fair to you."

"You bought it, so you get the first loaf." With a smirk, I added, "Besides, if it's not edible, then I know I have to tweak the recipe."

He burst out laughing and gracefully gave in. Picking up the loaf, he tore a small piece off and tossed it in his mouth. The lure of fresh bread was enough to make Randel put down his firestarter and claim his loaf.

Randel took a bite. "Not as chewy as the other kind, but it's good."

"Indeed," Brandon agreed. "We'll have to put the flour in the shelter tonight since there are storm clouds building on the horizon."

I nodded. "Once I finish cooking, I'll put it in my backpack in case it rains. It'll stay dry in there."

As the evening wore on, I continued to cook small loaves of bread until even Randel couldn't eat another morsel. It put a dent in the bag of flour, but there was still a lot left.