"The Targon Mountains! I have heard that is a place of great evil where the monsters of the fallen Malachim have gone to live in great number!"
Kuri shrugged, "So? What are facing such beasts in open confrontation to you? Haven't you been slaying such beasts for over the past year now?"
When he said it like that my objection to what he proposed didn't make much sense. Nevertheless I said, "I've heard it's worse there."
With a smile Kuri asked, "And when have you heard this Benaiah? You've been with me for two years now and we've seen no other in all that time."
"In the towns where I grew up. It was a thing of common rumor," I said defensively.
"Ahhh rumor. Rumors are tricky things, Benaiah, and most often not to be believed, as there is little truth to them."
"You're saying there are no monsters?"
"Not at all, rather I'm saying that it would be best for you to approach the unknown without preconceived ideas about it or else you will find yourself bound up by many fears. Every step you take in the mountains could be haunted by the fear of being discovered by a monster that may not even exist, while on the other hand you walk across a market yard of one of the seven kingdoms in blind trust that you are safe when really you are in the midst of a den of vipers more harmful than any monster. As you learn diplomacy over this coming year you will learn the value of approaching every situation you encounter with watchful caution, but also with a willingness for things to go right instead of wrong. If you do so you will not be motivated out of fear to engage in unnecessary actions as so many others are want to do. Instead, you will be the master of your own actions and able to chart the best journey forward regardless of the situation at hand."
I shook my head as I stared out at the dusty miles that lay stretched out before us. Diplomacy and its accompanying attributes might not be such an easy lesson to learn after all.
It occurred to me then, as to something else that I had heard about the Targon Mountains. It was said that most of the remnants of the Yesathurim people lived there. Kuri's people.
"Do you mean to rejoin with your people when we reach the Targon Mountains?" I asked, curious to see what reaction I would receive from Kuri.
Completely unfazed he said, "My people are scattered across all of Ayenathurim, but yes, there are many of my people held up in the mountains to the far south. I intend to gather them and lead them to a safer place. A place within the borders of my people's ancestral land. The same place that we've just come from."