Early the next morning, Tarun and Shon found themselves traveling in the direction of the rising sun. Shon began to feel a sense of disappointment when the sun reached its highest point in the sky and the only evidence of their traveling away from Life’s Edge was a few dry, ugly bushes and shrubs growing sparsely around their path. As the two of them sat down to eat their small afternoon meal, Shon began to wish that they had waited for the next trading caravan to arrive at Life’s Edge, so that they could have just returned east with them.

Tarun, on the other hand, had a smile that seemed to grow a little bit wider with every step he took further away from Life’s Edge. He never seemed to notice the ground growing harder and rockier, or the incline of their hike growing steeper and higher. The ground continued to ascend as they traveled, until each step sent loose dirt and rocks falling behind them.

Shon began to grow nervous that he would loose his footing, and was very grateful to have Stick in his hands to steady him. At one point, Shon did begin to stumble after slipping on a loose stone, but Tarun quickly grabbed him by the arm, and helped him upright. After that, Shon stayed particularly close to Tarun.

As the sun drew close to the western horizon, Shon began to worry how they would be able to sleep on such uneven ground. Due to his several near-slips, Shon had kept his eyes on the ground directly in front of him, which was the cause of his surprise when they reached the top of the large hill they had been climbing. As soon as the ground leveled out at the top, Shon lifted his eyes and gasped in astonishment.

Below them lay a valley covered with more greenery than Shon had ever seen. The low sun behind them was already casting long shadows on the valley, and Shon realized that anyone in the valley would have already seen the sun set over the hills. For reasons that he did not understand, the sight brought tears to Shon’s eyes.

Tarun was equally excited at the sight before them, and he let out a loud laugh, slapping Shon on the back. He began to move quickly down the hill, but Shon called out to him before he had gone very far.

“I think we ought to spend the night right here,” said Shon to Tarun’s disappointment. “I’m just as excited as you are to go down there, but I really think we should wait until morning. This is the only level spot of ground I can see until we reach the bottom, and by the time we get all the way down there it will be long dark. It would be awfully difficult to set up camp in complete darkness.”

Tarun was frustrated with his friend for a moment, but then his reason caught up with his emotions, and he saw that Shon was right. “Let us set up our camp then,” said Tarun. “We can continue on as soon as the sun rises.”

Sleep was difficult for both of them that night. The ground was covered with large, angular rocks that jabbed their backs and crunched underneath them any time one of them shifted their weight. Shon had first tried to clear the rocks away from the spot of ground where he wanted to sleep, but he quickly learned that the only thing under the rocks was more rock.

When the sun rose the next morning, Shon and Tarun rose to their feet stiffly, but excitedly. The green valley below them looked even more magnificent in the early morning sunlight, and they were anxious to start climbing down the hill.

“I’m confused,” said Tarun as they began their hike down the hill. “Your uncle told us that the green valley was a week’s journey. We only traveled one full day before we arrived.”

Shon pulled the map out of his pocket and unfolded it. As he studied it closely, his face fell a bit. “That’s because this isn’t the green valley Uncle Grodin talked about,” said Shon, pointing to the map. “We’ve only gone a small part of the way. See that line of hills next to the desert? I’d say that’s where we are.”

“Oh,” said Tarun. Then, brightening with a smile he added, “Well then we should continue on. The sooner we pack up, the sooner we get to the real valley.”

Neither of them wanted to look away from the beautiful sight in front of them, but it soon became apparent that the hillside they were descending was still dangerous, and if they wanted to reach the bottom safely, they needed to keep their eyes on their feet. A few times they reached a ledge that dropped straight down much farther than either of them would have liked to fall, and they had to travel a considerable distance off their course to find an area that descended gradually enough for the two of them to continue safely. Shon became even more grateful that they had not attempted the descent after sunset.

By they time the sun had reached its full height, the ground had become significantly more level, there were fewer rocks beneath their feet, and the temperature was already surprisingly cooler than Shon had expected. Grass was growing all around them, and Shon bent over to pull some up from the ground, and smell it in his palm. They were not far from the wall of trees before them, and they both marveled at the abundance of life within sight.

While they still had some height to their vantage point, Shon began looking for the path that they were supposed to follow. After finding it, he was relieved to find that despite their detours on their way down the hill, they were still not far from the trail. Once they were on the path, they both looked back up the hill to see where they had slept the night before. When Shon saw how treacherous the climb looked from below, his knees grew weak. The drop-offs that he and Tarun had managed to avoid were quite a bit higher than he had thought on their way down.

On the trail at last, Tarun and Shon headed towards the nearby trees. Shon stopped at the first tree they came upon, touching the rough bark with his hands. “This will sound ridiculous,” he said to Tarun, “but I have never seen a tree with my own eyes before. I have only seen images like this in the minds of others.”

“That is not strange to me at all,” Tarun replied, walking past the tree. “To my knowledge, I have never seen a tree either. This is all just as new to me as it is to you.”

“That’s right,” Shon said quietly. “I often forget that.” There was a long pause as the two of them followed the path deeper into the woods. Before too long they could no longer see the clearing behind them, and Shon decided to break the silence. “How long do you think it will be before we see the desert again?” Shon asked.

“I am hoping to never see it again,” Tarun replied darkly. “So I suppose you will see it again someday when we have to part ways.” As soon as Tarun had spoken he saw that his words had caused a very troubled expression on Shon. “So I hope that neither of us sees it again for a long time, my friend,” Tarun hastily added.

Shon managed a smile despite the intense worry that was creeping in to his mind. “In that case,” Shon said, “we should travel as far as we can today.”

As the sun drew close to setting far off in the west, the path that Shon and Tarun traveled began to grow wider, the soil was more heavily trodden, and a few other paths began to merge with theirs from other directions. A small wooden sign off the side of the trail informed them that they would soon be entering the town of Duskwood.

“I sure am glad that we’re arriving before dark,” Shon said as they passed the sign. “Sleeping on sand is one thing, but sleeping on the ground with all of these roots and rocks everywhere would be nearly impossible.”

“Isn’t Duskwood where we are supposed to meet the dragon hunters?” Tarun asked quietly.

“Yes,” Shon answered, even quieter, “this is where we are supposed to meet our buyer.” He emphasized the last word. “But if this town is anything like the size of Life’s Edge, then finding him could take us all week.”

As they drew closer to the town, other travelers joined them from different paths. Some were carrying large bundles of wood, some appeared to be returning home from hunting, and others were leading livestock along the trail. Because Shon was still carrying Stick, he had sensed each of them long before they came in to sight. He had never felt so grateful to be able to hear the thoughts of others and know that none of them meant any harm.

Once the tall wooden wall of Duskwood was in view, Shon realized that the town was not anywhere near the size of Life’s Edge. It appeared to Shon to be more like a large fort built to keep out wolves and other creatures at night. He could not imagine many buildings or homes being able to fit into such a confined structure.

Shon was fascinated by the strange pointed logs that formed the bulk of the wall, but right before they reached the gate, his attention was drawn to a much stranger sight. Sitting just stone’s throw from the gate, off the path a couple of steps, was a large green wagon. The color of the wagon matched the color of the woods so closely that he didn’t see it at all until they had come closer to it. Sitting at the front of the wagon was a wild looking dwarf who appeared to be wearing nothing more than a loin cloth and his own thick body hair. The dwarf sat, smoking a long white pipe and keeping an eye on a boar and two massive, thick skinned animals with horns, tusks, and flat snouts. Shon watched the animals chew loudly on the nearby vegetation, captivated by the rippling muscles and obvious strength of the animals. When Shon looked back at the dwarf, he jumped at the realization that he was making direct eye contact with him. Shon hurriedly looked away, but the dwarf continued to stare, constantly muttering under his beard.

Shon wasted no time entering the gate in to Duskwood as soon as they reached it, anxious to escape the gaze of the dwarf. “Did you see that dwarf in the woods?” Shon asked Tarun once they were inside the wall.

“Of course,’ Tarun replied. “He was quite unique.”

“He was scary if you ask me.” Shon said. “He just kept staring at me! And there was something else about him that just didn’t seem right.” Shon then realized that it was not the staring that had bothered him so much. It was the fact that Shon had no idea what the dwarf had been thinking as he stared at him. He wasn’t even sure if he had heard the dwarf’s thoughts at all.