The Winter Trail

"Because it is summer, I think that this is going to be the better choice. I do not think that we will be able to catch up with them, though. They started out two days earlier."

"Is there another choice?"

"No. I was thinking about the Winter Trail. It tracks north, and then west through the land of the Red Boar Dunchovians, across a couple of ridges with well-marked passes. There is a bridge not made by man that crosses the river. We could gain the two days on them. It passes through the hunting grounds of the Red Boar Dunchovians, but they would not bother you, being an Aqualarian and magician. But the heptillions that come out in the late spring have blocked the trail by now, and it would not do any good to try it."

"What is a heptillion?"

1. It is a thorny weed that can grow as high as three yards. They grow fast in the spring, and die with the first frost. After that they break off, roll up into balls and are blown about by the wind.
2. The heptillion is a band of rough men that come from the mountains and surprise the unwary in the summer. Sometimes they rob them. Sometimes they do worse. They do not go past the hills.
3. The heptillion is some sort of magic thing, like your kettle. They are shiny, and anyone that stares at them becomes charmed and is lost in the shifting visions. It is named after the seven-pointed star that is said to be part of the vision.

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