‘Of course, I wouldn’t mind the company. Especially since I haven’t been before.’

‘See,’ Henry pleaded, ‘he needs me.’

Ally and Bethan laughed, and the whole interaction warmed his heart. Ally reached over from her chair and grabbed Henry’s face.

‘Stay safe, you idiot,’ she said, kissing his forehead.

Bethan rolled her eyes at her parents’ clear affection and love for each other, but Kellan was charmed by it. He wondered if his own mother and father ever acted like that, or if it was a one-time thing that resulted in his birth.

***

Kellan and Henry had been hiking up the Etruscan Mountains for hours, and Kellan was not prepared for such a journey.

When he walked downstairs, Henry took one look at his shoes, had to lend him a spare pair and went into an in-depth explanation about the terrain in the Etruscan Mountains.

He struggled up the hill using sticks to hold themselves to the ground so the snow wouldn’t make him slide.

He used his flames to heat his numb hands that had been clutching a long stick. Despite not being ‘allowed’ to use his powers.

‘I have always wondered how you don’t burn,’ Henry inquired.

Kellan shrugged. ‘My own powers can never hurt me. But if someone directed their flames at me, then I’ll get hurt.’

Henry seemed pleased with that answer. It was reaching to be about midday based on the sun’s position. Kellan couldn’t pinpoint exactly how long they had been there, but Kellan would say around three hours of constant uphill walking. He would have likely taken him an hour to hike it by himself, but he had to slow his pace for Henry to keep up.

He glanced at Henry, who was reading Dana’s map. Kellan tried his best to decipher her handwriting. After months of reading her papers, diaries and journals, he thought that he would have been accustomed to it by that point. Still, her writing reminded him of the healer’s writing back in Zakros, incomprehensible scribble. Henry likely knew both his daughter’s handwriting like the back of his hand.

Henry bristled the map. ‘Where she found the amulet should be around the corner after those trees.’

Kellan nodded and followed him. The ground flattened as they reached the clumps of tall cedars.

They paced faster and moved off the path amongst those high trees. Branches and leaves snapped and crunched underneath the heavy boots Kellan wore. Henry, who wasn’t looking where he was going, narrowly missed headbutting a hanging branch.

Kellan grabbed the man from his backpack and pulled him out of the way. Henry only looked up from his map to thank him.

They journeyed further through thick trees, and Kellan was astonished at how easy the terrain was to walk in, even off the path.