Onward.

You resolve to press on a little longer. No more than ten or fifteen minutes, so that you can return to this place if necessary. You are trembling despite your resolve, as the growing discomfort in your belly is beginning to drive you to distraction. Even the sturdy Aegis seems to be getting the jitters; head darting from side to side despite your efforts to keep him focused on the meagre trail ahead.

The warhorse is gingerly picking his way down a small downhill scree track when you hear a worrisome branch cracking, ahead and to your left. Your weakened nerves defeat the years of incessant martial training and your head and shoulders jerk to look in the direction from which it came, perhaps betraying your awareness of the noise to whatever may be watching. Cursing yourself for the momentary lapse, you attempt to appear unconcerned, fixing your gaze ahead and straining your other senses for more clues.

Smell... there is the musky scent of horse sweat, straw dust and your own exhaustion. You reek, apparently. Yes, it is partly natural from exertion and travel soil, but there is also cloying stink of the daemon's cum about you which causes your belly to lurch and spasm. Tightening one hand's grip on the reins and the other on the hilt of the holy sword, you are able to **** yourself to ignore the intense smells immediately around... There is the smell of humid air; of wet earth and trees, which hints at the imminent arrival of rain... There is the smell of decaying leaves crushed beneath Aegis' hooves... and there is the somewhat distant stench of smoke from a fire.

Fire! Warmth. Comfort. Perhaps even hot food!

And... strangers.

Returning to the interrogation of your senses, you listen further... there is the now unsurprising crackle of embers. You hear also another loud cracking branch, and conclude that the previous one which alerted you came from somebody not by the fire, but ranging gathering fuel. You are concerned, as this may mean several worrying things. First, they may be closer by than the camp. Second, they may not be an inept traveller who allows their clumsy footfall to break branches. Third, there is now a better than even chance that they are not alone with their fire. The one upside that you can see is that if a confrontation should occur, they are likely to be laden with gathered logs and so encumbered - if you are able to surprise them that is.

It begins to rain: a fine drizzling which rustles in the leaves and deadens all other sound. Worse, it soaks through your gown in a matter of moments adding cold to your list of worries. Steeling yourself for an uncomfortable decision, you prepare for action or for flight.