Opening my eyes, I glanced at Odd. Was he trying to upset me more? Or was he referring to his relationship with Wynn?

His distant gaze peered into the past. “If you look at it logically, Ursan was right. It’s dangerous to be a soldier—the chances of being killed are high. Plus you fight differently because you care more about another than yourself. And you take more risks to be together.”

I waited.

“I don’t think Ursan ever found that...person.”

“Person?” The word sounded unemotional.

“Yeah. That person you’ll break the rules for. That person who is worth dealing with all those problems for. That person who’s worth fighting for.”

Oh. “That’s a shame. Everyone should find their...person.” And was he implying I should be happy that I’d found mine? That at least I hadn’t died without ever meeting him?

Odd looked at me. “Do you think there is more than one person for everyone?”

“Right now, I’d say no. But in five or ten years...I might feel different. You?”

“I’m going to remain hopeful. Otherwise the future looks pretty bleak.”

I mulled over his comments. “Was that supposed to make me feel better?”

“Did it?”

“I guess a little.”

“I think it helped me, too.” He ran his hands over the ground. “Something about being in the forest reminds me of Ursan. Don’t know why.” Odd stood and brushed his fingers on his pants. The dirt blended with his fatigues. “We’d better get moving. The detour to the Lily patch is going to add a few hours to our trip.”

Stopping by the cluster of Lilys ended up being a good idea. Two Death Lilys grew among eight Peace Lilys—the largest cluster I’d seen in this part of Pomyt Realm. I harvested four toxin sacks and placed them in my pack.

Odd watched me from a safe distance.

When I joined him, he said, “The corn fields in Ryazan Realm had been abandoned during the plague years. The last time I saw them, the Lilys had taken over. Hundreds of acres full of Lilys. If we run out of toxin, we could travel south. We shouldn’t run into any problems cutting through Tobory Realm.”

“It would depend on how far east Cellina’s army is. With Estrid...neutralized and most of her soldiers fighting for Ryne, Cellina could push all the way through Pomyt and into Ozero and Tobory with little to no resistance.”

“True, but it’s only been a couple weeks since they invaded Zabin.”

Just a couple weeks? It felt like years. “And don’t forget Jael. The last time I saw her, she was heading south.” The air magician had tried to either kill me or use me a number of times. I’d be happy never to see Jael again.

“General Jael’s scared and on the run,” Odd said. “She bugged out before Tohon was neutralized. Unless she finds out what happened, she’ll stay far away.”

Not the way I’d describe her. Cunning, smart, and power hungry would be closer to the Jael I’d encountered. When she’d realized Estrid couldn’t stop Tohon, she’d made a tactical decision to escape his trap, abandoning the army that she’d led. I suspected Jael had big plans and would return. Oh, joy.