Chapter 20

After breakfast, the heroes started out towards the great unknown. Bartz and Nata shared Bartz’s steed. Tomas rode with Falca perched on his shoulder. All in all, they made a fairly official-looking party with their horses loaded with supplies and four looks of determination on their faces.

The road through the countryside was paved and well-maintained. It was dotted with trees and streetlights. Off to one side, they could see farmhouses sitting between rolling fields of maize. On the other, they could see the clone farm’s pens for herds of cattle, pigs, cows, and sheep raised to feed and clothe the people of TechnoLot.

Outside of the occasional complaint from Falca about the smell, the ride was smooth. Bartz and the others knew this smooth riding wasn’t going to last. Once they rode out of TechnoLot’s territory, things would get much rockier, but they decided to enjoy the peace while they could.

They rode along the nice road for a good number of tocs. After all, T