The morning in Haimdel was a mix of woodsmoke, damp earth, and the nervous chatter of adventurers. We had spent the previous night meticulously preparing, having left our magnificent, if somewhat disparate, mounts at a secured stable just outside the town limits.
Lord Moomoo, the River Lord Bull, was already hitched to the reinforced carriage Reddy had acquired: a surprisingly robust piece of engineering designed for hauling heavy furs and logs, not people.
Azure, Cass's Crystal Hart, was too precious to put to labor, and Vice, as promised, was going to rely on his own two feet.
"Are we sure about this carriage?" Reddy asked, running a skeptical hand over the carriage's rough, but durable, wooden side. "It's heavy. Azure could outrun us in an hour."
"That's the point," I replied, checking the heavy pack strapped onto Lord Moomoo. Qwy was already resting comfortably on the bull's massive head, pulsing a calming rhythm into its elemental brain.
