"Ha!" Ed actually laughed, with a jarringly booming voice fitting his tremendous size. "This is a fine change of pace--much better than that flabby, pudgy wreck of a human body I once called home! And I have my manhood back! This is the best of both worlds, truly. Thank you, wizard. I must repay you! I shall right a ballad in your honor!" Audrey rolled her eyes, and Ed added, "...But until then, I shall accompany and aid you in your quest! You are on a quest, are you not? I know the type, certainly. What do you say. my new partners?"
Audrey seemed to like that idea even less than she liked the ballad. "Oh no, no way we're taking this blabbermouth with us. Does he even know how to fight or do anything other than sing? He'd be dead weight, and his jabbering is sure to attract every monster for miles around."
Ed looked offended, and began, "Why I never--"
Mika cut in. "He's big and strong enough that I'm sure he'll be helpful, whether or not he actually has much fighting experience. What monster would mess with him?"
Audrey reluctantly acquiesced, and Mika explained the details of their mission. "We're looking for the Shifting Stones of Sharn, artifacts of magical power that we know are scattered around this area. I'm sure that's one of them," he nodded towards the box containing the stones, "though the gods only know how that stupid innkeeper got his hands on an ancient magical object. I had no idea that it would be this powerful, and I bet that the innkeeper had no idea what he was doing either. Come to think of it, we had best get out of here before the townspeople realize what's going on. We don't know if they were in on it or if they'll be angry that we changed the innkeeper, and I'd rather not stick around to find out. Better to try our luck elsewhere, there's supposed to be another town a couple days down the road."
They gathered all their stuff and loaded it up onto their new female packmule and left Lavenguard. The townspeople seemed a little surprised to see Mika and Audrey, and they were certainly surprised to see them accompanied by a centaur that no one had seen entering the town, but they made no effort to stop them, so they went on their way. They spent a few hours on the road through fields and forests, Ed annoying Audrey with his constant chattering while Mika just enjoyed the opportunity to make the journey in human form for once.
Finally, night began to fall. The party found a suitably secluded grove and set up camp. For a brief while they had a campfire and ate from their supplies while Ed sang his various songs, but Audrey made them shut up and put out the campfire as soon as they were done eating. She claimed it was to avoid attracting bandits or monsters, but Mika had his doubts. Ed insisted that he take first watch, much to Audrey's suspicion, but Mika was too tired to care. The long day of transforming and walking had taken its toll. He climbed into his tent and drifted off to sleep.