The sun hung high in a clear sky, its warm light painting the fields in soft gold as Elynara walked through the fields surrounding the town.

She had to leave the path she followed as it led to the nearby village, and nowhere near the forest edge where the herbs could be found.

Her legs soon took her there, and she made sure to veer a safe way away from the deeper tree line. She didn’t plan to test her luck, and if she does, it will be on her own terms. A little caution, she had learned, went a long way.

Her basket hung over one arm, her eyes scanning the swaying grass and soft earth below. The herbs she was after weren’t too rare. She had even seen most of them before during her last trip. And this time, she wasn’t relying on blind luck.