Chapter 27: Lost and Found

The trip to Strendor took five days, and Aeris felt worn out. Never had she walked so far in her life. Although it seemed unlikely their traveling companions would try anything, Aeris and Janine slept in shifts. More than a few times, Dennis tried to probe them for information, but they made a point of staying tight-lipped. His constant badgering worried Aeris, so she made a point of not talking to him at all. It wasn’t until she threatened to charge him for asking questions that he stopped.

But the hardest part for Aeris was keeping up with the others. At first it was easy to hide her fatigue, but there was no hiding it after the third day. By then every step caused her paws to ache and she fell more than once.

But Aeris refused to slow down or give up. Aaron was looking for her—that was certain. She needed to get as much of a head start as possible.