"But why would the effect be specifically matching Anitami? It would be not less weird but less suspiciously specific if you all spoke perfect Voan."

"Is Antimi your native language, the one that you grew up speaking? Or that you're most familiar with? It's pretty unusual in the area to speak multiple languages, I ran a trading fleet for a while so I picked up a little here and there."

"It's my native language, yes."

"That's probably why, then. Not that anyone actually understands the effect. Everyone who would be researching has more pressing matters, like the eradication of the Vallorn - or, apparently, enchanting the Empire so powerfully that armies of Heralds emerge and try to kill everyone in their path."

"Are you suggesting that the language was different before I arrived here and warped in response to my presence?"

"Or you're the only visitor who would notice, so it's always been like that, waiting for you to arrive. I'm not actually sure whether there's a meaningful distinction between those cases - magic has a hard time predicting the future but Day magic is a little better at it, especially if the occurrence itself is magical."

"Why would the magic be set up that way?? Who would do this?"

"Well, the people involved also destroyed their own cities in a huge explosion of people-eating plants that persist to this day, so they aren't necessarily the most sensible or rational individuals. I expect 'because they could' to have featured quite heavily."

"If they left an entire language for me specifically did they maybe also leave me other - messages?"

"I mean, possibly? They didn't get to leave all that much behind, though... you'll see what I mean when we get to Seren, if we make it that far. Seren is the most complete ruin of one of their cities that we have, and even when it was newly being picked over it was mostly 'some walls'. If they've left another magical effect besides the Vallorn and the language, we haven't found it yet."

"I suppose given the givens it might only stick out to me, somehow, but I won't get my hopes up."

An out of breath Thorn catches up with them with a big satchel bag containing a couple of water bottles (glass wrapped in cloth) and an assortment of snacks (mostly dried fruit and nuts, one separately packed pack of little squares of dried meat, in waxed cloths).

"Thank you," says Allegra, taking the bag. "Want anything yet?" she asks Pelape. "Oh, and have they been shared round already or had you better take a pack out to the others?" she asks the Thorn, as an afterthought.

The Thorn fishes one of the packages out of the bag. "It's a clearer run down the trod than finding everyone," she explains, then heads back into the woods alongside.

"I'd take some of the fruit and nuts."

Allegra hands her some fruit and nuts neatly folded up in waxed cloth. "Here you go."

The fruit is mostly dried berries, pear and apple, with a sprinkle of chopped dates; the nuts are mostly hazelnuts with some almonds and walnuts.

Pelape will eat all of those things.

"I feel like I should still be desperately trying to cover topics, but I must admit I'm really more expecting this walk to end in dinner in Seren rather than a portal home for you, I'm afraid. This is further than I've ever heard of a return portal for the Gate being found, already."

"Yeah, that's about what I'm expecting too."

What Allegra was hoping to avoid was the following: a noise in the forest like someone is running through it not very carefully, followed by two of her Thorns barrelling out of the undergrowth towards them.

"Cold Sun! Sammy thinks they might have spotted her, they didn't pursue straight away but they're coming right down the Trod." The Thorn speaking glances at Pelape. "Are we going to need to carry her?"

"Let's start making distance from the road anyway," Allegra says, starting to head for the bushes. "Uh, how bad is the balance thing? If we're lucky they will be intent on their target and won't even try to follow off the road if we're not in sight."

"If I try to run I will fall, though I know how to do it without hurting myself much. I can walk briskly if I am concentrating solely on that."

"Let's walk briskly, then." There's a drainage ditch at the side of the Trod, which Allegra hops over with the aid of her staff. "Get everyone over, let's see if we can stay out of their sight," she instructs the Thorns. "You're all better at spotting them coming than they are at spotting us going, right?"

The Thorns nod; the one who is talking melts back into the trees the other side for the moment, the other nimbly leaps the ditch and offers Pelape a hand.

On the other side of the ditch, the terrain is untended forest with considerable undergrowth - the Thorns all have leather trousers and are just striding through it, Allegra is battering back a path with her staff; this seems more effective than just trying to do it with a wooden stick, some kind of magical discharge is withering the plants a little, but that is leaving a trail.

Pelape follows the trail, concentrating very hard on walking with long deliberately-placed strides.

A few more Thorns show up and go away again. Pelape and Allegra get to a clearer patch where Allegra can look round for a moment. There are two Thorns in sight keeping a close perimeter.

"How is everyone deployed?" Allegra asks.