It was only a few hours of walking before there was a fork in the main road that they were on. Earlier in the morning they had already loaded Lance up with supplies. Even Marcus was generous with him, giving him a handful of silver that he’d had squirreled away. Michael embraced him, briefly squeezing tightly enough that their armor started to groan a bit in protestation.“Be safe Lance. I hope to see you again someday.”Lance nodded, the certainty from the previous night still clear on his face. Michael remembered what he’d looked like when they’d first met. Clear eyed, focused, not a mark on him, as full of sureness as he was of uncertainty. Now his face had scars, his eyes were sunken, but his expression was more true. There was less bluster to him now, even though he was weaker without the Titles he’d inherited.When he began to walk away, Michael felt dread. It was similar to when he’d watched his own kids walk up to their dorms when they’d moved out, though this time he wasn’t crying his eyes out. Michael held up his hand toward him.“Seras, Nykas, and all the rest of the divine, please look over and protect Lance. Let him reach his destination safely and find what it is that he’s seeking.”He heard their whispers in his mind as he lowered his hand, and felt as if he'd done something, given something from himself to Lance.~protection~laughter~guidance~granted~Michael nodded and turned around to follow the others as they headed East. Marcus was fairly certain that they were within less than a week of Swandia. They’d started to encounter other travellers. Some were merchants, wary of unruly looking men like them until Michal healed their donkey’s hurting shoulder or their wife’s hurt foot. They passed a few groups of mercs as well, but when it was clear that they were deserters, they were ignored. There were also some Svict soldiers on horseback here and there, but they mostly seemed to be messengers. (...)