It’d been a dry, dusty week since we’d left the water dungeon, and it was boring enough that I almost wished I’d been back in the dungeon. The only thing that made it bearable was the temperature-controlled armor. And the snacks.

  "I can't believe we're traveling further west." Richard and I were alone on the driver’s bench.

  Why is this so shocking? You're an [Adventurer]. Richard was sunbathing on the front of the wagon while our celestial horses ate up the miles.

  "It's just further away from home." I thought we'd be headed back to Woodsten. We'd agreed with the old administrator of our district that we wanted to be [Adventurers] defending the Ursine Wall, the frontier. How had we gone so far off course?

  This is the perfect moment to get a taste of the West. Your parents are from one of the western cities, right?

  I brought up my interface map. The grayed-out swath of land my dad and mom had traveled was present. They'd taken a western route all the way through the high plains. Mom was from Zin Phrisk, and Dad had grown up in a farming community outside of the metropolis. They'd met when he'd gone into the city to make something of himself. Neither had expected to become frontier homesteaders on the edge of the Ursine Wall.

  "Yeah, they're from the Zin Phrisk region in the Southwest."

  Richard looked back at me, his tentacles curled in a question.

  "I know. It's hard to believe. We're Phriskian."

  You're not Phriskian, you're Woodsten through and through. Being a frontiersman is way more impressive than being a soft-handed city dweller. One of his eyestalks turned towards me. Besides, you keep losing your shirt. I’m pretty sure that’s a crime in Zin Phrisk.

  Maybe I should have been insulted, but I was pretty sure Richard was right. The metropolis had been beaten out of my parents by the harsh realities of farming on the frontier and raising a horde of kids. They'd left the high towers of Zin Phrisk well before I was born.

  "I just never expected to leave Woodsten." That wasn't really it. I never expected to leave Woodsten and miss it. Leo and I dreamed of going out into the world and returning as heroes. We skipped the desperate struggle to stay alive, and the friendships fracturing parts.

  Not what you dreamed of? Richard has returned to gazing off into the surrounding landscape. His body relaxed on the dash as his slime glistened in the sun.

  Nope. In my plans and dreams for life, I didn't include a foot-long slug lounging on the dash of my celestial carriage like a self-satisfied house cat in a sunbeam.

  The desert sands had given way to scrub. Sage, cacti and juniper dominated the landscape. The white-capped mountains of the Ascension Range loomed in the distance. They watched us approach like a canyon raven, a portent of what was to come.

  There were a couple of desert communities between us and Cersapil, but outside of a couple of quick runs to replenish supplies, we kept rolling. Argin had stabilized, but she insisted she needed to get back to her healer in Cersapil.

  I was worried about Tandy.

  Ash was worried about Meredeath.

  Meredeath had gained a new obsession: Briyain.

  I opened the pass-through to find Leyla sleeping. Meredeath held her SCMMOO bowl, staring at the miniaturized Tuli Monster.

  Ash had been moodily staring out the window. He looked at me hopefully.

  With a forced smile, I offered. "Hey, Ash, want to join me up front?"

  Before I knew it, Ash was sitting next to me, bouncing up and down with each bump in the road.

  Did you have to invite the chatterbox? Richard rolled on the dash and curled into a sleeping position.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  I surreptitiously gave Ash a side eye, as he sat uncharacteristically quiet.

  "You okay?" The wagon jerked hard, hitting a rock in the road. I steadily kept my eyes forward, not really ready for his verbal dam to break.

  Silence.

  Woah, something really was wrong.

  I glanced over and my normally irritatingly optimistic and verbose friend stared off into the countryside.

  "You there? Did you hear me?"

  "Uh huh, what were you saying?"

  He turned to me as I studied him. According to Ash's caterpillar eyebrows, we were going to have a harsh winter. I suspected they always predicted a long winter.

  Unlike the rest of us, Ash hadn't burned in the desert sun. His naturally darker skin seemed to absorb the rays of the sun. His hands showed bruises and burns from constantly fiddling with maganical tools and prototypes.

  His mouth was set in a thin line, as though he wanted to say something, but fear kept him from meeting my eyes. He turned, looking back at the countryside.

  Richard had begun to snore lightly. He had definitely left the conversation.

  "I think we should sauté up the Tuli Monster and eat her for lunch."

  "Yes, sure, lunch would be good."

  "Ash." This time I waited until I had his full attention. "Tell me what's wrong. What are you thinking so hard about?" My [Heart] sense thrummed in my chest as he looked at me, weighing what he would say. I willed my skill to tug on him gently.

  "We almost died in there. Leyla did, and her friend." Ash paused. He wiped a tear from his face. "I don't think I'm cut out to be an [Adventurer], Cole. The [System] and the Adventurers Guild forced me into it. I thought it'd be cool, like the games we play at home." He stared off into the landscape for a moment. I almost spoke, but my [Heart] held me back. "It's fucking not."

  I nodded and awkwardly wrapped an arm around him. He leaned into my side hug and started crying in earnest. I held him as he let go, envying his vulnerability. I'd gone numb sometime between Leo leaving and the caravan master dying in front of me.

  "It's okay, you can let go." Ash's shoulders shook. I just watched the horizon. Eventually, the muffled sobs stopped, and Ash leaned back onto his seat, damp and drained.

  "Has Meredeath ever told you how she got isekai'd?"

  "Isekai'd? What's that?" I asked in a neutral tone, not wanting to scare Ash off of this revelation he was toying with.

  "Uh, it's a term from my world that means you've been portaled or reincarnated into another world." I nodded at his definition. Made sense.

  "No, she hasn't told me much about her previous life. I know her mom gave her that protection amulet, and something happened to her sister." While I spoke, I checked that the pass through was shut. The carriage was weirdly soundproof, assuming the windows were closed.

  "It's her story to tell." The carriage was magical. The celestial horses moved around a cactus in the middle of our path without direction. You just had to set them on a direction and a road. Or in our case, a barely etched path in the sand. The magic took care of it. "But I think it's time I told you a bit of mine."

  I held my breath as I waited. Ash was by far the most talkative human I'd ever met. But he never spoke of these things. These deep secrets. It was always an invention, a new experience, or the latest thought that popped into his head. It was never this. These details of his old world he kept to himself and Meredeath.

  “I died in my world. I died and was sent here. Do you think Leyla was sent to my world?” The carriage wheels turned. What could I say? The Everbear takes your soul into its embrace. Death is a peaceful release, not a portal to another world.

  “Maybe,” I allowed. A breeze blew across the desert, it carried the scent of sage.

  “I was born Ashley Haddad," Ash disclosed, his voice tight as though the admission was painful. He looked at me as though judging my reaction. I found the name odd and outlandish, but I knew I was missing some sort of cultural significance. Too embarrassed to ask, I just nodded. "I woke up here like this. And I was happy. For a moment, I was happier than I could have ever imagined in my previous life. I am everything I'd wanted to be..." He trailed off, and I knew I shouldn't press. I wasn't sure why our world was so much better, but it was enough that it was.

  "So there's no going back for you? I think Meredeath still hopes to return to her world. You don’t miss anyone?" It seemed like a safe question.

  "No, no going back for me. I doubt anyone mourned my death." He said it flatly, as though that was an old wound. "I just need to figure out how to get out of being an [Adventurer]." Ash had turned to look at me, longing in his eyes. "Cole, I want to be a crafter. I want to build the things you need to succeed. The dynannomites are a fraction of what I can do for the team. But I'm never going to do well in frontline fighting. That dungeon was a nightmare. If I never have to set foot in another dungeon, it'll be too soon."

  The horse's hooves silently chewed through the sand. We'd be at Cersapil in a day or two. I wasn't sure I understood everything that Ash had told me, but I understood the last. He was a crafter at heart. A builder. I felt protective of my short, crafting friend. He should be able to have the life he wanted in this new world, on this new start. His brilliance would never be wrought by wielding a war hammer.

  "Tandy's got some ideas. Hang in here with us a little longer. I think we can give you the future you want." As I said the words, I believed them myself. If we could build Ash the role he deserved, maybe I could find some peace too.

  The sand stretched before us, never-ending. Cersapil, the city of gold. The home of the [Archmage]. Our wheels couldn’t turn fast enough. Everything we needed was in Cersapil.

  "We just need to get to Tandy."