20 The Queen's Journey, pt. 2

Jin watched the land skim by as he sighed once again. His half-closed eyes had been locked on to the outside world for a while now.

Yet, all he saw were people killing each other in the darkness. The carriage rumbled with the stone terrain it drove over, but all Jin heard were feral yells, panicked screams and pained cries.

"They were too spread out, didn't commit to a focused attack." Theresa said, her attitude towards yesterday's battle more analytical than anything. "Had all of them focused on the queen, this mission would have been over." She continued.

For a brief moment, Jin looked around, seeing his allies' faces.

Decena was hunched over, fidgeting with her fingers.

Ker'Tallen was stoic, his expression stiff and still.

Mariana looked the worst out of all of them, her knees were huddled up to her chest, her eyes wide open and spaced out.

Jin gave a quick shake of his head, before returning to the lands outside.

"So, did yesterday's display convince you of my innocence?" Ker'Tallen asked Decena who sat next to him, suddenly exiting his trance.

She looked up, made eye contact with the Griffin, and gave a small nod before returning to whatever it was she was pondering.

"We lost a total of twelve bodies." Theresa continued, almost as if she was speaking to herself.

"This trip is three weeks long." Decena added. "If yesterday's events repeat themselves, we won't make it past four days.

"We can't let that happen." Theresa replied.

"But how?" Decena asked. "We don't know where they are, how far behind, how many of them still remain. They could have an entire army on our tail."

"No," Ker'Tallen said. "There are battles going on right now as we speak, south of Nova. Sure, they want to kill the queen, but they won't risk losing too many fights to do so. This must be some kind of limited squadron."

"Considering the fact that they probably didn't send all of their soldiers after us, they must have known we'd put up a decent resistence. Maybe we can thank the Saviors for that." Theresa said.

The Saviors. Jin remembered seeing them in action, almost like supernatural beings in and of themselves. Yes, it made sense to him, even with his lack of experience. If he were going up against such an enemy, he'd be fairly cautious as well.

"Even then, they almost failed to protect the queen." Theresa said, glancing over at Jin for a second. "Were it not for our foreign wonder over here, again, this mission would be over."

"Good job." Decena simply said, while Ker'Tallen gave him a respectable nod.

"Thank you." Jin replied. He noticed Theresa staring at the smaller girl to the right of Decena. She still wasn't moving, wasn't speaking.

An hour passed, and both caravans came to a halt.

The enlisted exited the carts, confused as to why they stopped.

A single man, dressed in golden armor exited the queen's carriage. Jin could see, that even in the sunlight, he radiated a brilliant aura.

"We are approaching the Guillotine Canyons, we're stopping for a moment to gather our wits before proceeding." He said, his voice reaching all eighteen people standing before him.

He looked at the group in front of him, squinting his eyes before they fell on Jin. Jin squinted back, as the man pointed at him, and made a "come here" gesture.

A sort of nervousness creeped inside of Jin. What did this man want with him?

When he reached him, the man nodded towards the cart, opening the highly decorated door on the side.

Jin saw two other Saviors sitting on one side, with Cerena and her daughter sitting on the other. One was a young, gaunt looking man, Jin couldn't quite pinpoint his age. The other was an equally young woman, who had a fierce expression on her face.

Eliara was looking away, as Jin had been before, but instead of staring at a landscape, she was staring at the cart's closed door. Her head snapped towards Jin when she heard him enter, and Jin could see a hint of a smile on her otherwise depressed face.

Cerena cleared her throat, getting Jin's attention.

"Ah, Jin, was it? I wanted to thank you personally for the bravery you exhibited yesterday. When," she sighed, "my Saviors did not come to my aid, you did. We are grateful."

"I was only doing what I had to." Jin solemnly said, earning a smile from the queen.

"Yes, but doing so means we get to live another day, and that is because you were there." The queen bowed, and Jin assumed that meant the conversation was over. He turned, when he felt a hand land on his shoulder.

"You did good, enlisted." The Savior that had been dishing out instructions so far said to him. His face was wrinkled, and covered in small scars. His hair, and his large beard were a mist-like grey, and his eyes pressed down on Jin's with an apparent intensity. "What's your name?"

"Jin." He replied, watching as the man raised an arched-eyebrow.

"They don't do formalities where you're from?" He asked.

"Not really." Jin replied. The man shook his head before continuing.

"Well, my name is Olyneces, Sir Olyneces. Follow me." He said, leaving Jin standing outside of the queen's closed cart.

Theresa's POV

Leaning against one of the few trees nearby, she watched the cart she had come out of earlier. Mariana still hadn't followed the others out.

She remembered seeing her yesterday during the battle. The small girl was huddled near a pile of corpses, with shock written on her face. It stung Theresa's heart that a child had to bear witness to such acts, but this was a war she had gotten herself into. She was lucky that a stray Griffin hadn't found her and promptly murdered her.

Theresa pushed herself off the trunk, and paced over towards that cart.

She placed a foot on the edge of the cart's floor, and lifted herself inside.

Mariana's eyes went to her immediately, studying her movements. Theresa decided to sit on the opposite bench, as to hopefully not intimidate her.

"How are you holding up?" She asked. Mariana didn't respond, instead, she looked away. I see how it is, she thought, reminding herself that she was speaking to a child.

She looked away with her, staring at the landscape on the opposite side.

It was beautiful, small hills of green meshed with a blue sky, and a blinding orb set above them.

"You're a lot stronger than I am." Theresa added, earning a confused expression from the girl. She understood it as proggress, at least she wasn't acting distant. "You must think me intimidating, do you not?" Mariana looked away shyly. "Well, if you had known my past self, you'd have laughed quite a bit." Theresa's eyes half-closed as the memories played out in front of her. "In my first large-scale battle, I ran away." She said.

The girl was looking at her now, her eyes firmly on Theresa, but not rejecting her. She was curious.

"It's true. I remember seeing many, many more than those people we fought yesterday. Hordes of people dressed in iron, all running towards me, all trying to end my life. So, I did what I thought was the smart thing. I ran. I turned, threw my sword on the ground and ran. Of course, my commanding knight caught me and forced me to stay, but I tried anyway." She added.

There was a slight pause. The child looked down at her feet, dressed in black, stained cloth before Theresa spoke again.

"You though, you saw people die right in front of you, and you stayed put."

"I was frozen." Mariana said. Theresa looked up. She spoke. For the first time since yesterday, she spoke. "I was afraid." She said, her accent adding to the scorn in her words.

"Still, your fear made you brave. My fear, almost made me a traitor." Theresa stood. "Come, we have to get some food inside you."

Eliara's POV

"If I had been out there..." She said, rubbing her shoulder as she tried to soften the sensation she felt of the cart's walls closing in on her.

"You would have done what, exactly?" Cerena asked.

"Maybe I could have healed some of them. Maybe I could have fought alongside them. But no, I have to sit here, where it's safe." Eliara accentuated that last word, trying her hardest to get her sarcasm across.

"Do you seriously believe it would be wise for the queen's daughter to fight in an open battle?" Cerena replied.

Eliara crossed her arms and looked away, though she couldn't see past the closed cart doors.

In her mind she uttered a small prayer.

In times like these, her beliefs were all she had.

Her perception, her relief in understanding that there was a superior being watching out for her, all she needed was for Charlotte to let her mother see how talented Eliara really was.

She heard a crowd forming outside the cart. Curiosity made her tug at her mother's sleeve.

"Can I see what's happening?"

Cerena glanced over at Hera, a female Savior sharing the cart with them, who wore long wood-tinged hair with a stiff face and thick eyebrows. She nodded and slid the cart's right door back, looking outside for a moment. Her brows furrowed with confusion.

Eliara was surprised this woman was even capable of such an expression. She was statue-like most of the time, even in battle.

"Olyneces is training that boy from earlier." Hera said. Goran, the other Savior sitting next to her, scoffed. He was the most handsome man Eliara had ever seen, sporting silky black hair and sharp features with a perfectly trimmed beard to go with it, but at the same time, he was the most hateable person Eliara had met.

"He's being an old man again. Couldn't resist, could he?" He said.

Eliara's eyebrows shot up, and she looked back at her mother who was trying, and failing, at hiding a smirk. Cerena nodded and Eliara nearly sprinted outside.

Ker'Tallen's POV

He stood with his back to the enlisted, staring out into the distance. Yesterday, he'd shed his kin's blood for the first time.

He didn't feel a thing.

He could still remember the feeling of whips slashing across his skin. The stinging sensation left over that refused to leave.

Still though, he couldn't ignore the irony of his situation.

From behind, he felt a presence drawing closer. Turning his head, he spotted the redheaded girl, Decena walking up to him. She looked like she was debating whether or not to stop her stride, even as Ker'Tallen noticed her.

She didn't speak, instead, she simply gestured at him to follow her. Ker'Tallen nodded, and did so.

She led him to a small clearing the enlisted had made, where he saw that brown-haired boy standing a few feet away from one of those radiating soldiers he'd seen yesterday.

In his battle-caused haze, he almost failed to notice the blinding brilliance exuded by those three warriors, but here and now, it was completely unavoidable.

"Come at me." He ordered. Ker'Tallen rubbed his chin as he watched the young man raise an eyebrow.

"How? I-In what way?"

"Just attack. Trust me, I'll be fine." The older man replied.

The brown-haired boy paced forwards a few times and lifted his sword. He descended a vertical attack on the older man, that the latter easily deflected.

"Commit. Your attack was half-hearted." The older man said. Jin breathed in, and lunged forwards. This time, the older man threw his sword to the left, causing Jin to swerve along with it. "You need to have a follow up in your mind. Don't just count on one attack to beat your enemy."

Ker'Tallen didn't miss how the older man's eyes fell on the other enlisted as he spoke to Jin. He understood then what he was doing. This was as much a training session for those watching as it was for Jin.

He took a few steps back and sat on the ground, taking mental notes of every word the warrior said.

"Move unpredictably. Be aware of your surroundings. Counter-attacks win fights more often than anything else." And so on. His gruff voice registered in Ker'Tallen's mind easily.

Suddenly, a second voice emerged.

"How about we give them a show then, Olyneces?" Ker'Tallen looked to his right, finding Theresa standing just a few feet away, with a thin smirk on her face as she locked eyes with Olyneces. The warrior set his sword to the side.

"I'm too old for this shit, Theresa."

"Good. That'll make it a fair fight, you're the swordsman here, after all." She replied, stepping forwards. "Just an exhibition. No need to leave ourselves exhausted." She continued.

"Hm... Fine." Olyneces said with a smirk of his own. The way they spoke, Ker'Tallen wondered how these two knew each other.

They moved towards each other, Olyneces raising his near-golden sword, and Theresa raising a basic steel sword of her own. She whispered something, and suddenly, a white aura enveloped her silhouette.

"It's not enough that I'm old, you have to buff yourself too eh?" He said.

"You caught that?" Theresa asked, but her voice showed no sign of surprise. "I've been discovered it seems."

As the warrior was about to reply, in an instant, Theresa was in front of him. He cursed, and raised his sword just quickly enough to deflect a horizontal slice from the elven woman.

"Of fuckin' course." He said. "I forgot, you don't play fair." He scowled as he responded with a few straight slashes.

Ker'Tallen's scaled brows raised as in a few seconds, they were moving at an outrageous speed. He could barely register their attacks and defenses, much less tell who was winning.

Theresa's aura clashed with that of the warrior she faced. She spun in place, trying to land a slash at the warrior's waist, which Olyneces blocked, letting out a grunt before he took a few steps back.

"We should stop." He breathed.

"Oh? Why would we-" Suddenly, as Theresa spoke, Olyneces' sword as at her neck. A moment of silence passed through the area as the onlookers internalized what had just happened. Theresa chuckled. "Oh, you clever piece of work." She said, backing off.

"I'm old. I can't afford to play fair either." The warrior said, as he sheathed his sword.

Several questions appeared in Ker'Tallen's mind. This man was the oldest of the three knights he'd seen yesterday, were the rest of them faster than this? Not to discredit Theresa, who he knows is primarily a mage, how tempered was her magical prowess in comparison to her skill with a blade?

They made eye contact for a brief moment as she walked towards Jin. He smirked at her, a gesture she returned in kind.

He expected a lot from the Queen's White Flame, and he was not disappointed.

Jin's POV

Jin was nearly shaking.

He had told Theresa he wanted to become the strongest he could possibly be, but the level she was at, he couldn't even imagine himself reaching.

He glanced down at the floor in front of him. Should he just give up? Right here, right now?

A hand in front of him snapped its fingers, causing Jin to raise his head. Theresa stood in front of him.

"Jin," she started. "I'm a mage. I'm not a knight, I'm not a swordsman, I'm not a fencer. I am a mage, and I got this far." She said, as if she had read his thoughts. "That, my apprentice, is what you're aiming for. No, you're going to be far stronger than that."

Suddenly, Theresa's body tilted, as though she were going to fall for a brief second. Jin immediately went to catch her, but she lightly pushed him away.

"I'm fine." She said. "Used up a bit too much magic too quickly there."

Jin raised his eyebrows.

"When?" He asked.

"From the start." Jin heard a female voice say from behind. "That white aura." He looked back and saw Decena approaching them. "I know because I've done it."

Jin raised his adventurer's ID, and aimed it at Theresa.

"Theresa of hourse Varys. 521/1354"

As Jin read the numbers, he looked back at the redhead. Another question appeared in his mind.

"But you can't use magic, how did you do that?" Decena recoiled from the question as though she weren't expecting it. Her expression turned nostalgic.

"It's a long story." She replied.

"Ahem." Ker'Tallen cleared his throat. Jin turned to see him approaching, his arms lazily hanging by his side, "could I share in that training?"

"Ah?" Theresa replied, placing her hand on her chin. She stared at him for a moment. "Sure."

"Uh," another voice, one much smaller than all the previous ones said. Jin turned to his right, and for a moment he couldn't see anyone, until he glanced down slightly and saw the girl dressed in black from earlier. "Can I?" Jin swore he wouldn't have heard that if his senses weren't as refined as they were. Theresa seemed to have caught that as well.

Jin saw Ker'Tallen raise an eyebrow, Decena smile warmly, and Theresa tap her chin with her index finger.

"Okay." The elven woman said. "Ker'Tallen, Mariana, Decena, and Jin. We'll all train together from now on."

Eliara's POV

Could she? It was unlikely. No, it was nigh impossible that Cerena would allow it.

Eliara slouched in her cart's bench as she pondered whether or not she was even brave enough to ask. Then, an idea appeared in her mind. Why bother asking?

She waited for a few hours, until Cerena was having trouble keeping herself awake.

She hadn't slept at all yesterday, and Eliara was fully ready to capitalize on that.

She looked at Cerena, and asked a simple question.

"Mother," she said, her voice turning as sweet as she could possibly make it, "I want to go talk to Theresa."

Theresa had been her mother's mentor at one point and time, so Eliara knew she would at least consider it.

Immediately, she saw the apprehension in Cerena's eyes. After what happened yesterday, the last thing she wanted was to let Eliara out of her sight. But, in her rest-hungry state, she buckled.

"Well, I guess..." She started.

"I'll be back quickly, I promise." Eliara stated. After another brief pause, Cerena sighed, turning her half-closed eyes away from her daughter.

"Sure. But, make it quick." Cerena replied.

Eliara was out of the cart before Cerena even finished.

She ran around the enlisted, still gathered around a burnt out campfire, heading for the second caravan.

Leaning against it was the woman she was looking for.

"Theresa!" Eliara called out.

"Hm? Oh, princess," Theresa bowed. "How may I help you?"

Eliara breathed in, making sure she kept that same tone in her voice she'd used earlier.

"I heard you earlier, you said you were going to train those people, right?"

"Yes..." Theresa maintained a respectful expression, but Eliara could tell she was apprehensive to hear was was coming next.

"I was thinking... Could you possibly train me as well?" Her words were coated in the sweetest of verbal sugar. She saw Theresa hide a scoff before she replied. Damn woman looked right through her.

"Your mother would kill me if she found out. You know the last thing she wants is for you to be fighting." Theresa replied.

"I know, but," the honey left her words, and Eliara was now speaking with the same angst she had exhibited earlier. "What happens if my Saviors aren't there to protect me? Yesterday, both me and my mother came inches away from dying, what if that happens again!?" She stressed.

"I won't allow it." Theresa replied.

"You already did." Eliara hissed. Theresa would have taken a step back if she weren't pressed against the cart. She rubbed her chin. Eliara's eyes turned hopeful. Eliara could tell Theresa was looking for any possible reason she could scavenge to prevent the princess from participating in this training. Theresa continued to ponder the situation, but she finally sighed and answered.

"Fine." Theresa said. It took all of Eliara's willpower not to cheer in front of her.

Instead, she bowed and walked back with the full grace of a teenage princess.

The next day.

They barely stopped moving during the night, sparing just a few gift-wrapped hours for sleep. The previous attack had turned the Saviors, and the queen for that matter, paranoid.

It seemingly paid off though, as no attack took place this night.

Finally, during the morning, while the caravans moved at a slower speed, Olyneces exited the queen's cart and announced something with a booming voice that reached every single enlisted.

"We will be arriving at the Guillotine Canyons in a few minutes!" He called out.

Jin saw Mariana wince. He extended his head out of the cart, and noticed that at some point, the green plains had been replaced by a large bed of sand.

Sand that began turning grey as they approached the location in question.

A mist rolled through the dead space that caused Jin's eyes to squint on instinct.

Just as quickly, they were approaching two giant walls of dirt that gave in to a crevice, acting as a road stabbing through.

Instantly, Jin felt claustrophobic.

"Don't worry." Theresa whispered, as much to Jin as to Mariana, "the dangerous part isn't going through here itself, this is just uncomfortable. The dangerous part is staying at the town that's up ahead. Snowfall Village."

"Why?" Jin asked.

"We have no idea how far behind the Griffins are. They could catch up the moment we decide to stop. Snowfall has some natural defenses, and the guards there may provide a helping hand, but that might not be enough." Theresa said.

Fuck. Jin cursed. Just one thing after another, huh?

Both caravans slowly rolled through the cramped space, eventually, the canyon started to shift into an almost cave-like system.

The humidity rose, and the smell of death along with it. How much longer are we going to be here? Jin rubbed his shoulder. He glanced to the others, Ker'Tallen seemed slightly unsettled, but he was otherwise fine. Decena, on the other hand, appeared to be the only one in the group completely unfazed.

"How are you just sitting there like that?" Jin couldn't restrain himself from asking.

"Eh? Oh, I was once in cave that was like this, it was a lot worse though. Couldn't see anything, the slightest sound echoed throughout the entire structure. Compared to that, this is kind of fine to be honest." Decena shrugged, but her expression told Jin that his question caused her to tap into some unpleasant memory.

He slouched, trying to take his mind off their surroundings.

He heard a slight commotion up ahead, and then, the cart stopped. Poking his head out, he saw one of the Saviors, the younger man he'd seen earlier, stepping out of the queen's cart.

Several curious enlisted followed suit. What's going on? Jin thought.

Theresa walked past him, fearlessly heading for the front of the caravans. Jin went with her.

What he saw nearly turned him to stone. A single shape, a blue silhouette, walking down the path.

He remembered Mariana's warnings. Had this been what she was referring to?

His blood ran cold, but he breathed in and reminded himself of the people surrounding him.

Those Saviors were no joke, surely they could handle anything this place could conjure up, right?

Before he could fully convince himself of that, the silhouette disappeared.

"Nothing to see here." The Savior quickly said, walking back to the queen's cart.

Jin breathed a sigh of relief, and turned to walk back to his own cart, but the look on Theresa's face made him pause. She was cotemplating something, and he could tell it was rather confusing to her. She shook her head, and turned back as well.

All in all, it took them just another ten minutes to traverse the canyon. The walls around them shifted, the lighting changed, going from grey to orange, and even blue occasionally, but other than that, it was just as normal as the travelling they'd done to get here.

When they were just about to exit the canyons, Jin noticed that look on Theresa's face again, and asked.

"What's wrong?"

"Guillotine Canyons aren't known for being this peaceful, Jin." She replied, looking out at the canyon walls. "No monsters. No bandits. Nothing. This place is dead." Theresa continued.

"I haven't been able to smell any wildlife for a while." Ker'Tallen spoke up.

"Maybe they just grew tired of living in such a depressing place?" Decena said with a smirk. That had to have been the first joke Jin heard her say since he'd met her.

"It's strange." Theresa said.

Jin noted Mariana was looking around herself, as though she couldn't believe how safe this place was.

"We're out." Theresa said, as the grey gave way to a brilliant orange haze. "Snowfall should be just up ahead. They set this village up here specifically to help anyone travelling through the canyon."

Just like that? Jin wondered. Have we actually gotten lucky for once?

They rolled along at a brisk pace, until Jin could see some structures in the distance. He recognized it this time around, it was a village.

A smile threatened to appear on his face. Maybe the rest of this journey would be easier than he thought.

Within a dozen minutes, they were there.

Both caravans stopped, and Olyneces popped out of the queen's cart.

"Open the gate, the crown commands it." He yelled, looking on with his arms crossed, waiting for the black, wooden gate to open.

No response.

"Open the gate!" He yelled louder, this time, several enlisted popped their heads out. "For the love of..." He rubbed his forehead.

All of the enlisted were out of their carts at this point. The Saviors came out as well.

"What is the matter?" One of the other Saviors asked.

"No one's answering. Are they in hiding?" Olyneces wondered.

"Then we should go in by force. They could be in need of our assistance." The younger man said.

Olyneces pondered it for a moment, before nodding.

"Tell the queen about it. I'll open the gate."

"Aye." The young man replied.

In a second, Olyneces stood a few feet away from the large double-doors. He breathed in, and before Jin could register his movement, his leg was up, and savagely kicking the gate down.

A puff of smoke launched up with the door's descent onto the ground. But the thud from the gate's fall, was the only sound that came out of this action.

"What the...?" Jin heard Olyneces say, and with that, he moved up.

Standing a few meteres behind the Savior, he saw what had him stumped.

There was no one there.

Each brown home appeared to be surrounded by nothingness, there was no wind, and there were no people.

It was then Jin noticed another thing about the village.

Several places appeared broken, or damaged in some way. A fight had happened here, it was clear to see.

Burn marks, arrows in wooden homes, swords lying on the ground. Not just a fight, but a large-scale battle had taken place.

Weirdly enough though, there were no corpses.

It was as if everyone involved in the fight had simply disappeared.

"Enlisted." Olyneces called out. "Gather your weapons, and be on your guard." He turned and walked over to the queen's cart, presumably to tell her about this unsettling sight.

Jin did exactly as ordered, and walked back to the equipment cart to get his sword. As he was picking it up though, he paused. Would a bow be better here? Maybe.

So, he disregarded his blade, and grabbed Viscerin's bow instead. There were twenty arrows in the quiver next to the bow, which Jin quickly threw on his back.

Several of the enlisted began moving ahead, but Jin noticed a few of them moving at a different pace.

Decena, who was currently next to him, seemed particularly shaken.

"Decena," A male voice said. Jin looked to his right and saw two enlisted heading their way. "This is... kind of similar, isn't it?" He said. His rough features crunched together.

"Yes, Floren. It is."

"What do you mean?" Jin asked.

"Before the journey began, I, along with several others, went to investigate a town that had supposedly been attacked by monsters. The scene was very similar to this... But," she explained, "there were plenty of corpses back then. Here, there's just... Nothing." She said.

"I can't smell anything here either." Ker'Tallen spoke from behind them.

Theresa, who was ahead of Jin, turned and began walking behind him. He turned with her, and spotted her beelining towards Mariana, of all people, who looked utterly terrified. Her eyebrows raised and her eyes wide.

He strained to hear their conversation.

"Mariana, dear." Theresa crouched beside the shaking girl. "Can you do me a favor?"

"W-What?" She asked.

"You're the quietest and the sneakiest of anyone here, I want you to go around the village, look for survivors. You don't have to talk to them, just see them and come back, okay?" She softly placed her hand on top of Mariana's head.

She recieved a blank look for a moment, before Mariana nodded slowly.

"Okay." She muttered.

"Good girl." Theresa replied. "Get to it."

Mariana ran off instantly.

Jin turned back around, as he slowly began to walk through the barren streets of this bleak village.

The silence was the worst part.

All he could hear were the ragged breaths released by the other enlisted.

"I don't like this." A blonde woman said, beside Decena. "I don't like this at all."

"Stay calm, Jess." Decena replied. "Just stay back, and let us handle this up front."

Am I included in that 'us'? Jin wondered what he had done to qualify for such a stressful position.

Something made him look down. He then noticed the fact that his hands were trembling.

The last time he felt fear like this, was when he was staring into the eyes of the yargoth he had fought some time ago.

Metal boots continued to clank across the street, when finally, a sound spread throughout the area.

Only, it was not a pleasant one.

A high-pitched screeching appeared, causing Jin to wince. Then, as though that weren't enough to cause the less scared members of the party to start shaking as Jin was, he spun around trying to see if what his eyes were registering was real.

Sure enough, a blue mist had begun surrounding the village.

"Ambush?" Theresa immediately whispered.

"By who?" Decena asked. "You remember, don't you? The monster we fought? Last time, it just appeared out of nowhere. I don't think this is the same thing."

Olyneces, who had taken the point once more, began barking orders quietly.

"Enlisted, are any among you healers?" Two shy figures raised their hands. Theresa raised hers afterwards. "Theresa, stay near the queen. The other two of you, get in the middle of the group. Enlisted, get in a diamond formation around the healers. Without them, we're all basically dead." He said.

Jin stood behind them. One was a young elven boy, looked fifteen years old. The other was an elderly, human woman.

From the queen's cart, another Savior emerged. The rough looking woman.

"The queen ordered me to protect the cart along with you." She spoke to Olyneces.

"And Goran?"

"He's staying with her highness." The woman continued. "Her highness doesn't want to repeat last time's events."

"Alright." Olyneces replied. "Hera, stay alert. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

Had the woman been worried at any point? If so, Jin hadn't noticed.

Then, a few more sounds registered in his ears.

Animalistic grunts, muffled roars, slow croaking. He wiped his forehead with his right wrist. He hated waiting like this. Couldn't the enemy just come out already?

As if on cue, a figure appeared in the mist.

It looked like a regular person at first.

"A survivor?" Olyneces asked no one in particular.

When the figure stepped out of the mist, Jin's eyes went wide.

The "person" in front of them was putrid. His skin was rotting and even from a distance Jin could see the maggots writhing on him. His eyes were purely white, and his walk carried a sort of limp. His neck was wrapped in some sort of restraint tied to a chain that extended into the mist.

Olyneces quickly pulled his sword out.

"What is that?" Jin asked.

"Thrall." Theresa replied. "A product of necromancy."

More people, just like this one, appeared from the mist. Each with that same collar tied around their necks.

"Alright, listen up." Olyneces whispered just loud enough for the enlisted to hear, but not to startle the approaching thralls. "These things tend to go down easy, but they aren't the problem. It's the people holding the other end of those chains that we're going to be on the lookout for. Okay?"

Several of the enlisted nodded, the rest weren't even paying attention, their eyes fixed on the approaching creatures.

The mist began to dissipate, and for a brief moment, Jin saw hooded figures far away, almost at the other end of the village.

"Theresa," Decena whispered, "you see them?"

"Black robes? Yes." Theresa replied, nodding.

"Remember the corpses? Back at the town we investigated."

"Yes." Again, Theresa nodded. "But those had been killed by the beast we fought."

Jin could see Decena putting pieces of a puzzle he didn't know in her head.

Their time to think was cut off though, as the thralls went into a full sprint.

In an instant, the battle had begun.

Jin froze, equally as terrified as he was when the Griffins attacked. He looked around, the other enlisted appeared to be in the same condition.

But then, the sounds of clashing weapons filled his head. He looked forwards and saw that Olyneces, Hera, Decena, Theresa and Ker'Tallen, among a few others had already begun fighting.

Fuck me. He thought. He clenched his hand around the bow's center. He hated this. Hated being this weak. No. He thought. Not again. This time, I'm pulling my weight.

He immediately nocked an arrow, and aimed it at the first target he saw. It happened to be a female thrall running towards Decena from her right.

Taking a quick breath. He let the arrow fly. The projectile found the thrall's skull, nearly taking the creature's head off due to it's neck's decayed state.

Jin wasn't a master archer by any stretch of the imagination, he wasn't as good as he remembered Viscerin being either, but years of hunting meant he could at least be somewhat effective.

Decena turned when she heard a thrall next to her collapse. She saw the arrow, traced its origin to Jin's hands, and smiled slightly. She mouthed the words "thank you", to which Jin replied by simply nodding and nocking another arrow.

He found his role then and there. To ensure no harm comes from any of his allies' blind spots.

One by one, he located incoming thralls and placed an arrow wherever he could.

He didn't kill all of them, but he settled for severly injuring them.

The fight seemed to be going well, as none of the enlisted had yet fallen, but then, a spike of ice travelled through the air.

It was so fast, Jin nearly missed it. But, he clearly saw its landing. In an instant, it was embedded in an enlisted's throat.

He gurgled blood before falling to the floor, and immediately, Jin was spinning.

Where had the attack come from? It didn't take too long to figure it out.

The black robed figures were joining the battle.

More of those spiked began flying. Some hit other enlisted, some hit the thralls they were fighting. The battlefield turned too chaotic for Jin to keep track of what was happening.

Someone had to do something about those guys. Jin had to do something about those guys.

He crouched, ducking beneath a spike that would have decapitated them, and went to work, nocking another arrow.

They were too far away for Jin to get a clean shot, but his arrow caused one of them to flee to the sides. That was good enough. He decided to try to interrupt their spells as much as he could before someone else could get to them and finish the job.

A sudden flash caused him to place a hand in front of his eyes. When the flash dissipated, he lowered his hand to see what had happened.

Theresa had seen Jin, and figured out what he was trying to do. So, she raised her hands, and let loose her trademark white flame upon the black-clothed figures.

The spells were so brilliant that Jin struggled to continue his attempts.

A concern appeared in his mind though. Quickly, he pulled out his adventurer's ID, and aimed it at Theresa.

872/1354M

822/1354M

772/1354M

And so on, the card read. Each orb of white flame Theresa released caused her magic to diminish by fifty units.

Jin ran towards her.

"Theresa!" He yelled. She turned towards him, the look on her face made him pause. Her eyes were wide open, her features stoic. This was the look of someone drowning in battle adrenaline. "Help us fight the thralls! I'll handle them!" He yelled.

Theresa tilted her head, before looking around. The enlisted were struggling. Some had died from either the thralls, or the flurry unleashed by the necromancers. The rest were, at the very least, lightly injured.

"You're right." She quickly replied before immediately turning to face the thralls.

You just made a promise, Jin. He thought. You said you'd handle this. So, handle it! She's relying on you. The rest of them are relying on you. Don't fuck this up!

He yelled a determined cry, and nocked another arrow.

If he didn't kill the figures, he at least caused them to hesitate.

Then though, he noticed something.

All of the spikes were aimed at him now. Just as one was about to introduce itself with Jin's left eye, someone pushed him to the side.

He fell, bracing himself against the floor, his savior falling with him.

He opened his eyes, and was surprised to see Ker'Tallen lying next to him, a spike of ice stuck in his thigh.

"Shit." Jin muttered.

"No, it is fine." Ker'Tallen replied. "Keep doing what you were doing earlier." The Griffin started to move behind one of the nearby houses. The good part about his wound being caused by a large spike of ice was the fact that it kept the Griffin from bleeding out.

"Let me help!" The elven healer from earlier said, running towards them, but as soon as he got close, a spike of ice drove itself through his head.

The sight staggered Jin. A scaled hand placed itself on his shoulder.

"Get back to it!" The Griffin yelled. "Don't let that happen again!"

"Y-Yeah." Jin replied, coming out of their hiding place.

On one knee, he nocked another arrow.

However, he didn't release it. There were suddenly no targets to attack.

Jin lowered his sight, and he saw why they had disappeared. They were running towards the battlefield.

What are they doing? Jin wondered. Why would they give their position up?

He looked to his left, and saw why.

The enlisted were dying. From the eighteen they had counted on before this fight, maybe eight remained, all of which were heavily injured.

Of the ones he recognized, Ker'Tallen had been incapacitated, Decena had a large piece of skin hanging loosely from her left shoulder, as though someone had bitten through it, and Theresa's clothes were ripped and stained red.

They want to finish us off. He reasoned.

Something caught his eye though, behind a house opposite where he was.

He found Mariana, crouched, with her back to a wall.

She was crying, her hands on her mouth and her body shaking.

However, an idea appeared in Jin's mind. It was worth a shot, she'd die anyway if they failed.

He ran through the streets of the village, till he drew close enough for her to hear him.

He crouched in front of her, and she hadn't even noticed his arrival.

"Mariana." He said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

She freaked out, pushing him away.

"No, no! Mantente atras, bestias!" She yelled.

"Mariana, it's me. The, uh, guy you came here with." She hesitated, looking up at him.

For a brief second, she seemed a little more relaxed. Jin cursed himself for what he was about to ask her to do.

"You have to fight." Jin said.

"What!? How!? I'm gonna die!" She cried. Jin shook his head.

"You've stayed undetected this entire time. You can get behind them, take them out by surprise!" He stressed.

"No, no, no, no, no," she repeated.

Jin looked back at the street. They were losing time. The necromancers had arrived, and the battle was close to ending as yet another enlisted fell, making the number of them seven now.

"You can do this." He said, noticing a dagger by her side. It was Jin's. When had she even taken it from his equipment bag? "Just trust me."

Deciding it was now or never, he pulled her up by force.

"No! Sueltame idiota!" She cried, harmlessly punching his back.

Sorry. He apologized in his mind. But, we need you.

He threw her down on the street.

As soon as she landed, she curled up, crying.

Jin started picking targets off, but he would glance back at her every now and then.

A thrall approached her. Mariana's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as she started scurrying back.

And, almost on instinct, she began to crawl away at a miraculous speed. Jin was surprised as, even while trying as hard as he could to keep an eye on her, she disappeared.

He found her a few seconds later, crawling behind one of the thralls. Her expression had turned from one of fear, to one of panic-induced anger.

She was dry heaving, but still, she jumped up and like a spider, she wrapped herself around the thrall in front of her.

Within seconds, her dagger was going in and out of its neck.

That's it! Jin thought, turning his attention back to the robed figures.

There were about twenty of them, thirty or so thralls, and seven enlisted.

Jin swore the battle had already ended, that their fates had been sealed. He almost lowered his bow.

Until he saw Olyneces charging into a small crowd of thralls.

The old Savior cleaved their heads off before Jin was done breathing.

He looked to his left and saw Theresa setting a few necromancers on fire.

To his right, Decena fought like a wild animal. Ripping into her enemies with her sword as though she had just started fighting.

Jin realized then, this battle wasn't over. Not by a long shot.

He continued nocking arrows, and letting them fly into enemy skulls.

Through the corner of his eyes, he saw Olyneces fall.

The old man cried out, as a necromancer had stabbed a shortsword into his left arm, even managing to penetrate that golden armor.

Jin wondered how that was even possible, and it seemed Olyneces was wondering the same as the figure raised his shortsword in the air.

However, as he was about to lower it, another Savior appeared.

Hera relieved the figure of his ability to process thought, and smirked triumphantly.

"Need a hand?" She asked Olyneces, extending a hand towards him.

Then, another blue spike of ice flew threw the air, through her armor, and directly into her waist.

She screamed, and for a second, the battle stopped for all involved.

Jin saw Theresa's expression of pure disbelief. The older woman sprinted towards the fallen Savior, but there were still too many enemies in her way for her to reach Hera.

Jin internalized what had just happened.

Those three Saviors, the best fighters in their company, had been reduced to two.

Jin heard a cry coming from behind them, behind the battle itself, and saw the princess screaming from the queen's cart. She was crying her eyes out at the sight of Hera's still body.

Another flash spawned, and Jin covered his eyes once more. When the flash dissipated, this time, the sight caused his heart to skip a beat.

Theresa's hair had turned white. Jin recognized the white aura around her, it was the same as when she was sparring with Olyneces.

It was her mostly her expression though, that chilled Jin to his core.

She was beyond angry. Furious was an understatement. And, moving with the speed of a Savior, she began cleaving her way through the thralls that stood between her and Hera.

It was like a white light had decapitated his enemies.

A second later, she was crouched beside the fallen savior.

With her white flame, she melted the ice away, however that caused Hera to begin bleeding out.

Without speaking a word, Theresa placed both her hands on Hera's waist, and exuded even more of that white aura.

Jin felt like he was in a dream when he saw Hera's gaping wound repairing itself.

Once it finished, Hera started breathing again. What had Theresa just done? How much power was she hiding away all this time?

Whatever amount, Jin understood it had gone away when Theresa fell over.

He ran over to her, worried that she had died. But, when he pressed his hand against her neck, he felt her pulse still going strong. She was just unconscious.

Hera tried to stand, but she couldn't do so.

"What's wrong?" Jin asked, when the other healer walked towards him.

"Light Magic can cure wounds, but at times, it doesn't take away pain. The mind sometimes, registers the wound as still being there, it can't comprehend what just happened." She explained. "Stand!" She ordered.

Jin looked around.

From twenty figures, there were now five. From thirty thralls, there was just one now.

Jin tried to nock another arrow, but his quiver was empty.

Then, he remembered something, and just as the final thrall was about to end Ker'Tallen's life, who was still sidelined, Jin launched a [Fireball] at it.

It was nowhere near strong enough to do any real damage, but it stunned the creature and distracted it.

Jin launched another, and another, and another, trying to hold the thrall's attention. He felt really tired all of a sudden. What was happening to him?

Luckily, Decena stepped in and killed the creature before it could harm him.

There was one enemy remaining, and a black coated arm quickly appeared behind it, carrying Jin's dagger.

The dagger was plunged into the creature, causing it to fall forwards, revealing Mariana straddling its back. Jin could tell the smaller girl was blood-drunk.

Jin looked around, his hand outstretched, ready to send out more [Fireballs].

But, finally, there was no other target to attack.

The village had been covered in a sheet of death, with grey winds passing over its dirt streets.

Houses that had been still standing when they arrived now had either fallen, or would carry spikes of ice for the forseeable future.

The calm silence from earlier returned briefly, before pained moans filled the air.

Jin saw Mariana walking towards him.

"Hey! You did gr-" He started, before a pair of hands punched his gut, knocking the wind out of him.

"IDIOTA! QUE CARAJO ESTABAS PENSANDO!? ME QUERIAS MATAR?" Mariana yelled until Decena managed to carry her away from Jin.

Not my smartest move. Jin thought as he stood back up.

He looked to his right, Theresa was still unconscious.

"Magic Exhaustion." He heard Decena say from behind him. "Its what happens when you use up all your magic. The stress on your body knocks you out for a few hours."

Jin aimed his adventurer's ID at Theresa, sure enough, it read:

0/1354M

"The closer you get to 'none', the more tired you feel." Decena continued. She sounded so calm, Jin barely noticed how half her shoulder had been torn off.

Jin aimed the ID at himself, and it read:

30/120M

He nodded, but the implications of Theresa's condition circled in his mind.

This meant, that for now, they'd have one healer in the company.

One of the doors on the queen's cart opened.

Cerena stepped out, as though she were walking over lava. When her eyes fell on the mounds of corpses the battle had built up, she had to place a hand over her mouth to keep herself from retching.

She saw Hera in the distance, and Jin could see the pain in her expression.

"Dammit." She whispered. "Dammit, dammit."

Eliara stepped out afterwards.

"Oh Goddess." She muttered. She looked so heartbroken, Jin had to turn his head. He couldn't bear the sight of her.

He counted the survivors. Seven individuals, not counting the Saviors, the queen or her daughter.

Ker'Tallen, Decena, Mariana, Theresa, Decena's two friends, and the female healer.

Thirteen people in total, counting himself.

... Dammit.

...

They let another cart go. With only thirteen people remaining, the caravans were arranged in the following way:

The queen's cart carried five people, her, Eliara, and the three Saviors.

The second cart carried five people as well, those being Theresa, Jess, Floren, Mariana (who wanted to be as far away from Jin as possible) and the healer.

Finally, the remaining cart contained Decena, Ker'Tallen and Jin, all of which sat with their minds wandering at a million miles per hour.

"Those necromancers." Decena randomly said. "I know them. Well, know of them."

Ker'Tallen shifted. After the remaining healer had worked on him, Jin and Decena decided to allow him to lie down on one of the two benches, which left Jin and Decena sitting side by side.

"How come?" Jin asked.

"They attacked Nova three years ago, but they were stopped. I was the one who killed the last of them, later in some other place. I saw some corpses wearing those clothes a few days ago, but I didn't recognize them. Wasn't until I saw the thralls that I knew who we were dealing with. I don't get it." Jin could sense her frustration. "How are they still around? I saw the last of them die!"

"We won't get anywhere worrying about that." Jin spoke a line he'd read in a book once.

"Sigh Yeah. But, the last time they made their presence known they tried to sack Nova. If they're back, that's not good. Not good at all." Decena said.

"How were they beaten last time?" Jin asked. Decena rubbed her chin.

"Some girl appeared out of nowhere and just sort of wiped them out."

"Who?"

"I don't know. I don't think anyone knows. She kind of disappeared after that." Decena shrugged.

Jin sighed. What are we going to do?

Eliara's POV

She shifted in her seat. She wasn't used to seeing her mother show emotion, much less shed a tear.

Cerena sniffled.

"From here to the Midland Bridge is about a week's ride, with a few stops in between." Olyneces said. His tone sounded even more gruff than usual.

"Alright." Cerena replied, Eliara could tell she was trying to regain some semblance of composure. "We will spend a day at the nearest village, as Snowfall was a waste." She said.

Eliara pondered their situation. Twelve bodies stood between the enemy, whether it was the Griffins, those beasts, or these necromancers, and Cerena.

On top of that, they only had two healers available for use.

It was simply a fact that they wouldn't survive the next fight, unless...

"Mother." Eliara spoke before she could properly think of what she even wanted to say.

"Yes?" Cerena tilted her head.

"Let me be one of the company's healers." She said.

A silence passed over the cart, with all eyes on Cerena, who blinked when she heard her daughter's request.

"Absolutely not." She hissed. "Absolutely not!" She said, as if giving herself strength.

"Why? Mother, you know we need another healer! She's incredible, but Theresa is going to spend most of her time fighting, and that other healer doesn't have the talent to manage eleven people at once!"

"You saw them, Eliara, you saw how they went through our company, killing and maiming. You want to join those corpses we left behind?"

"If I don't do this, we all will." Eliara said.

Cerena's jaw hung low, clearly trying to find a response, anything to grasp on.

"If I may," Eliara was shocked to hear Olyneces' voice. Most people knew to stay as far away from these kinds of arguments as they could. "The girl is right."

Cerena couldn't believe what she'd just heard.

"Seven healers wouldn't be enough, and right now, we have two. One of which will be unavailable most of the time. If she doesn't help us, we are all as good as dead." Olyneces said.

"But... But..." Cerena muttered.

"Your highness," Olyneces leaned forwards, daring to touch the queen's wrist, "I wouldn't be saying this if I did not believe it whole-heartedly, we need this. We need her."

They paused. Cerena's eyes fell on the floor.

"Alright." She conceded. "Starting now, whenever we stop, you're to assist Theresa, and the Saviors in any way you can. But leave the rest to our other healer. I don't want you over-extending yourself." She said.

Eliara was annoyed at the restriction, but her joy overtook the slight bother.

She'd finally get a chance to prove herself. And then, her mother would see the prodigy she knew herself to be.