We reach our landmark as the sun begins to set.

Alva looked up at a twisted tree with lines and branches of crystal interwoven, irritation in her lovely eyes.

"Let me guess, you'd be making better time alone?"

"Yes." I nearly laughed at how blunt her response was, but decided against it. I had been thinking over the events of the afternoon, and wanted to run some thoughts by her. Better to antagonize her as little as possible, to make her take my words more seriously.

"Might not be a bad thing, Alva." I said, gesturing for the Dryad to sit. She smiled and nodded, wandering over to the crystal tree. "Taking things slow."

"The Witch might claim more victims in the time we waste." Alva said flatly. She frowned as I quirked an eyebrow at her.

"Respectfully, boss, that's fucking bullshit." I spread my arms out, palms up. I was only assuming, but I had a feeling things weren't as dire as she was making it out to be. While I hadn't entered Barley, I had at least caught sight of the palisade and it hadn't had the look of a town in panic. "I doubt there's been a dozen victims in the last six months."

"A dozen too many." Alva caught my skeptical look and offered a few more words. "There have been seven missing people over the last four months, with three of them being from Barely proper."

"And the rest from farms, presumably." I said, raising a warding hand. "Now, I'm not ignoring that, but it strikes me that's not going to increase anytime in the next few days. I mean, with that many people, I assume there's warnings and curfews and shit; people being cautious."

"Yes?"

"And would it be fair to assume this Witch's been picking off stragglers, and not raiding farmholds?" I also felt safe making this assumption, if this Witch had only killed a few people over several months then it was unlikely she was being proactive in conquering the area. I could have killed several the other night, and I doubted this Witch was as harmless as a **** starved boy. "Which brings me to the reason I'm bringing this up."

"Yes?"

"I need practice, and we need to understand each other better if we're going to be working together." I gestured to my Dryad, who had settled against the tree. "And, if you and this beastie learn to cooperate in a fight, it'll just go the better as well."

"I don't need the help." Alva said flatly. "You will learn in time, there's no need for this now."

"You seem the reckless type, leap before you look. And, I'm sure it's worked out for you." Another safe assumption, based on earlier interactions and my intuition. "But, any good merchant knows there's no venture that's 100% guaranteed to make a profit. And going off half-cocked is just going to lead to losses, eventually."

"I'm not a merchant."

"Figure of speech, Alva." I waved my hand in a vague circle. "So, rather than that, this is my proposal. Let's go deal with the goblin pack 'round here; I assume they represent a more immediate threat to people and travelers, while also being weak enough for my to practice magic on and such. I want to practice while I still have that feeling from before, and I figure this is the most efficient way to maximize our profits. People are safer, and I'm more ready for this witch-hunt, and we bring the risk from 'low' to 'absolutely zero'."