The Old Road south was kept up by the town for a short distance, but cinders and gravel soon gave way to disrepair, and mud pooling in old wheel ruts. Elocant was the end of the line for the Trade Consortium, so no official merchants took this route anymore. That's not to say it wasn't traveled at all. People still headed into the Hollow, and some even headed out, keeping at least a narrow trail from being overgrown.

They walked in near silence and hypervigilance for most of the day while the rain tapered off. Old farm fields increasingly turned wild, the route dotted with abandoned houses, sheds, and barns. Trees became more common, casting long shadows as the afternoon wore on. The trail continued, occasionally graveled, usually dirt, trending uphill.

"Does this road go all the way to Rabidi?" asked Dev.

"This one? No, it went to Endo."

"I've never heard of that."

"That's because at one time, north of Endo no one had heard of Rabidi. Once they did, Endo was no longer quite as notable, and other routes were faster to Rabidi. But Endo still remained an important sea port."

"Then we're headed to Endo?"

"We're headed this way. I'm not sure of the exact route."

Omega and Dev halted. Ahden was ranging far ahead of the group. "I thought you were guiding us," said Omega.

"I said the ways change. You've dipped your toes in the Hollow, but did you ever look back the way you came?"

Dev and Omega turned to look north. From their vantage on the hill they climbed, they saw their trail winding through the trees, then it quickly blended into a thick deciduous forest that grew all the way to the horizon.

Dev called "Ahden, stop!" Nom could see Ahden in the distance turn back, then stagger slightly, visibly startled. "Nōm, what happened to the farms?"

"My best guess is they're still there. If we walked back maybe we'd see them. Or if we waited here until a different time of day."

"Does the same thing happen the way we're going?" asked Omega incredulously. "No wonder we got lost so often, looking for Elocant. How are we supposed to get anywhere? I can't possibly manipulate the entire landscape to see its true path."

Nom said, "Of course you couldn't, but sticking to a road helps. Most of them go back decades if not centuries, so they are stable. More or less."

Ahden returned, overhearing the last part. "Then we consider the road, but tomorrow. Time to find shelter. We have our routine, Nōm, but what do you recommend?"

"There's likely a farmhouse up ahead. We're in an old orchard, it seems." Nom poked an apple with his staff and pointed to regularly spaced trees somewhat off the path near a brook. "I'll adapt to your routine, but we may as well follow that creek up a bit."

They picked their way through the roughage alongside the rippling water. Dev led their advance using a large knife that sliced through the brush like paper. Daylight waned, and Nom hoped Ahden would call a halt. He'd gladly look a fool for the sake of a decent camp setup. He jumped when a loud clang ran through the forest.

Dev gave a cheer and pulled the weeds back from his find. He had sliced into a wheelbarrow full of heavily rusted tools: pitchforks, scythes, sheers. They picked up their pace with renewed energy and soon found an old woodframe house in a level clearing, the lumber grayed with age, the stone chimney cracked, but all still intact. Ahden gave Nom a friendly slug on the shoulder, then he and Dev started through the grasses toward the front door.

"What's it look like?" Nom asked Omega, and made his own visual scan of the area. The knee-high grasses seemed undisturbed. The trees were close around the clearing. Here at dusk, the space between the trunks turned black only a few feet into the forest. Bird sounds blended with the rolling of the brook, and occasional miniscule rustling seemed to indicate only rodents or other wildlife.

"It's bright, I mean dark. Well, equal to everything else around here. Sorry, I don't usually have to describe it. They just ask me if it's safe," Omega said, gesturing to the other two. "It's safe."

"Aye. Come on." He touched her arm and they joined the other two as they crossed the front threshold.

"Cozy," joked Dev.

All the furniture was overturned, broken, and covered in cobwebs. The floor was clear around the cooking fireplace which looked more recently blackened. Ahden continued on into one of two side rooms, and Nom went into the other. This was a storage room, shelves filled with broken jars and food rotted into dust, fully looted long ago. Even the floorboards were pried up and missing, in search of a hidden cache or used up for firewood.

"Safe," Ahden called.

"Empty storage," Nom called back.

Returning to the main room, Dev was gone, and Omega was rummaging through his big pack, pulling out the fresh food Casey had provided. Her face lit up and she showed off a bag of ground coffee. "Hey everyone, Casey's coffee!"

Everyone cheered. Casey's small gesture helped lift their moods, and gave them something to look forward to in the days to come.

Dev walked in shortly with some deadwood, then lit up the fireplace a few moments later. He pulled a hatchet off his belt and twirled it. "Back in a bit," he said, and walked out. They heard the chopping of wood, and Ahden went to watch from the doorway. Omega started laying out the sleep gear.

"Those horsemen in the rain," Ahden said, still surveying the tree line, "or of the rain, the None," he turned to Nom, "were they really there? Could they even have hurt us?"

Nom replied, "It was terrifying, the raindrops ricocheting, the sound of that horse screaming—"

"They were there," Omega said, "like black holes in reality outlined in the shape of men and beasts." She looked up. "Your attacks didn't damage them. More like," she shook her head looking for the words, "healed what should have been there. We've seen people and places suffering or causing chaos, but never such a manifestation."

Dev returned with a large bale of firewood. "This should do. Lock 'er up." Ahden sealed the door and moved onto the windows while Nom set up his own sleeping bag. He grabbed his spear, unlocked the blade, and pulled it off.

"That's a nice mechanism," said Dev.

Nom tossed the blade to him. "That's a hallmark of Rabidian spears. Phylo helped me balance the strength and convenience of the system. I need to treat the blade from the rain, but light as it is, the spearhead gets heavy by the end of the day. I'll be carrying it in my pack."

---

Nom looked at the blade on the end of his spear. Didn't he just take it off? His spear was wet and his head was sloshed. One or both of those was bad, but to be fair, everything was wet, and they had no warning. His phalanx technically had the day off, and was on a supply run rather than combat, but even so, this deep in disputed territory, and in unfamiliar terrain—Nom had never seen such enormous trees, all seemingly covered in thorns and dripping with moss—Halqu should not have commandeered and opened that cask of Reticulum wine. His friend's sense of entitlement at the time seemed daring, exciting, especially for two teenagers that started conscript only two months ago. They felt like giants on the edge of the world. However, in four-hour hindsight it was clearly a poor choice.

He had no more time for excuses. Their phalanx couldn't assemble in the midst of the current onslaught, and in the torchlight he could barely see the attackers. They streamed through the trees, wearing face paint that blended them into the forest like ghosts, wielding axes and other short weapons optimal for easy swing in the close space. The underbrush was crowded, but luckily there was enough room between the huge tree trunks for Nom to at least maneuver his spear up high. He breathed heavily as he wildly knocked away attacks, his head spinning. An axe grazed his arm as though a phantom had run past, then another wound to his leg. Where was Halqu, dammit? Maybe it was better that his friend wasn't closeby to witness Nom's demise. Hopefully Halqu's wasn't the voice in the dark he heard scream in fear. It was quickly choked off, then just gurgling.

He saw bright white eyes in front of him and he thrust his spear forward. He felt the weight of the man impale on the blade, then was pushed back himself. He stubbornly and perhaps foolishly refused to let go the spear shaft, and fell awkwardly. He landed in the mud, wishing he had a sword. He and the dead man stared at one another on the ground. Nom held his breath, hoping the other man would expand his chest. Surely it would happen any moment. As Nom waited, blood turned the muddy water between them to black. He blinked the bloody water out of his eyes, and willed the other man to breathe.

---

Ahden sat down with the rest. "Nothing's getting in without serious effort." He looked at Nom. "Where are we headed tomorrow?"

Nom inhaled sharply, blinked again, and took his blade back from Dev. "These hills keep building into the Rachis Mountains. We'll need to find a way through. Historically one could sail around from Endo port, but such an option there is unlikely. There are other routes to try."

They prepared dinner over the fireplace, and through the warmth of the fire and camaraderie, the conversation relaxed toward favorite cuisines. Nom was thankful to find such a shelter on his first night in the wilderness. It helped him ease into the abrupt change of his life. They decided on two-hour watch shifts to keep the embers going. Nom agreed to the second watch, fell asleep quickly, and later traded from Dev, then to Omega without incident.