24 The Queen's Journey, pt. 5

"Hurry up!" Theresa yelled in the distance.

"Yeah, yeah, on my way." Jin replied.

The group had made a brief stop. Jin took the opportunity to lay down a small, green circlet composed of leaves collected from the few patches of grass nearby.

It was a ritual he had read about once that the old elves would perform for their dead. Although he didn't understand the point, it comforted him to do something, anything, for those who had fallen yesterday.

With a sigh, he stood. The sun graced his skin, covering him in a pleasant warmth. Alright. Time to get a move on. He thought.

The enlisted got back on the cart and proceeded down the dirt road.

They were in the middle of the Diamond Plains.

Immediately, Jin had noticed why the territory was called that when he saw that the dirt began taking a silver, almost chrome color.

"It's the rocks, dear." Theresa said beside him. "It looks like dirt, but the land here is actually composed of a lot of small rocks."

"This is incredible." Jin admitted. He looked around, trying to gauge everyone else's reactions. Mariana and Ker'Tallen both shared his astonishment, with the little girl staring out, completely wide-eyed. Decena, however, didn't even look up from her lap.

"What's wrong with you?" Jin immediately regretted how callous his statement came out, but this had been the redhead's expression for a while. He was curious.

Decena looked up, raising an eyebrow. Hiding a small wince when she heard herself addressed.

"I'm fine."

"Yes, clearly. Can you not see her relaxed nature shining through?" Theresa chuckled. Decena looked away, clicking her tongue.

"Of course, I'm getting sleepy just looking at her." Ker'Tallen said from beside the redhead.

"Alright, knock it off." Decena hissed, before taking a deep breath. "Back there, at the bridge, I failed."

The moment those words left her mouth, everyone took a collective gulp.

"That monster was right in front of me, and I couldn't do anything to stop it."

"None of us could have." Theresa added.

"Bullshit." Decena replied. "Those deaths are on me."

There was a brief silence, until Theresa sighed and leaned back, stretching her legs.

"Well, if that keeps you going..." She muttered. Decena didn't respond.

The cart then pulled into a slow stop, causing the group to simultaneously prop their heads up.

Jin could hear something that sounded like talking, followed by what had to be music of some kind.

Sitting nearest to the outside, he leaned to his left to see what was happening.

Ahead, a crowd of people were sat down on the chrome-colored dirt. Only, they all looked like different variations of Ricca, from Daysinn.

Terreth, that's what they were called, right? He asked himself, remembering that Ricca belonged to one of the three magical races.

Each one of them shared some similar features.

Glittering wings on their backs, attached to small torsos that looked like they belonged to elvish children rather than regular people, and of course, their monochromatic eyes.

Though, some eyes glowed in different colors, and where they all looked small, some had large horns on their heads. Others had red scales running across their arms.

There were about thirty of them.

Jin recognized that they were surrounded by a basic camp setup; tents, an unlit fireplace, clothes hanging on props made from branches, etc.

To the back were a few of them holding large instruments with strings gliding from the top to the bottom, and one terreth passing their fingers along, creating an extremely pleasant sound.

He realized that they fit the description to a word he had learned in one of his books.

Nomads.

After everyone hopped out of their carts, Olyneces, who by this point was basically acting as an unofficial spokesperson for the queen, spoke up.

"We'll be staying for a moment. The queen plans to exchange information with the terreth chief."

"Ugh." Decena turned and quickly returned to the cart.

Jin turned back and watched in awe as the terreth maneuvered throughout the land, collecting nearby herbs, trading pelts and so on.

"An impressive society are they not?" Ker'Tallen spoke up.

"Have you ever seen them before today?" Jin asked.

"Of course not. Slave remember?" Ker'Tallen smiled at him. "But I heard one of my many patrons talk about them once."

"They also, happen to have a ton of interesting merchandise for me to purchase." Theresa said with a sly smile, as she pulled out a few gold coins.

"Where will you even put it?" Ker'Tallen asked.

"Worry not, I won't be buying anything too large." And with that, she began walking towards their camp with not a shred of humility on her face.

Jin was about to turn and walk back to the cart, when he heard someone raise their voice. He recognized them.

Moving up, he saw Eliara yelling at one of the terreth.

"This is the queen, she is asking for your assistance and you're turning her away!?" She yelled out.

"Eliara, please." Her mother, who was standing next to her, beckoned. "If the chief says he has no resources to spare, then that is all there is to this conversation."

"This is why our enemies don't respect us!" Eliara yelled out before returning to her cart and slamming the side door closed.

Jin stood behind the pair dumbfounded, until the queen spoke again.

"She'll learn with time. Putting that aside, would it bother you, Timmet, if my men and women were to recuperate here?" The terreth in front of her, who held one long horn in the middle of his forehead and grey wings on his back, was about to say something when Cerena continued, "of course, we'll pay for services rendered."

This made Timmet pause.

"Well," he spoke with a fluidity Jin hadn't yet encountered, "then in that case we would be remiss to turn you away."

"Perfect. Bonne journee." Jin heard the queen say. That's the 'Old Tongue'. He thought.

"Bonne journee." The elf bowed, turned and walked back to his camp. He entered a tent that was far larger than the rest and covered in rare animal pelts.

Cerena began to walk back to her cart, but before she did so, she looked Jin in the eye.

"Leaders do what they can. Even if that falls below what you want, so long as it's above what the rest can."

With that, she retired to her cart.

Jin stood for a moment, before a hand was placed on his shoulder. He looked to his side and saw Ker'Tallen.

"Come over here." He said. "The terreth are letting us share the camp with them."

Jin raised an eyebrow.

"I'm surprised they didn't freak out the moment they saw you." Ker'Tallen laughed.

"They are neutral. Wasn't always that way though." Ker'Tallen didn't elaborate, and simply started to walk away.

"How are you so smart?" Jin asked.

"Hm?" Ker'Tallen turned.

"You were a slave. I would expect you to know as much about the world as I do."

"Different patrons throughout the years, my friend. Most were extremely cruel, but some took the time to teach me things between beatings." Despite saying such a dark statement, he was smiling. "Still not worth it, of course."

They walked towards the cluster of small people, who regarded them with a few smiles and some cautious looks.

The nomads offered the pair a few custom meals, unique to their own culture.

A few of them started teasing Jin, talking about how it was hard to talk to his people since they were so tall.

Something caught his eye though, causing him to look away from the homey camp.

In the far distance were some terreth standing at about ten meters away from each other.

They were sitting down, with their legs crossed and their eyes closed.

They looked different to the rest. They had no wings and black scales ran down their arms.

"Mages. They're meditating." Jin heard Theresa say. He looked to his right, and saw her scanning a terreth merchant's merchandise, consisting of necklaces, braceletts and other accesories made of weird beast's remains. She didn't even take her eyes off them as she spoke.

"What?"

"Meditating." She reiterated. "You close your eyes and you cancel the outside world until all you can feel is the magic around you." She finally broke her gaze and turned towards him. "And that is how you increase your total amount of magic."

Jin snapped his head back in their direction. You can do that!?

"It's how I got where I am today. Of course, there are other... Darker ways of doing this, but that's the simplest and the most practical. Why don't you go try it?"

She encouraged him with a quick nod in their direction.

"I wouldn't be interrupting them?"

"They won't even notice you're there." Theresa said.

Jin breathed in for a moment and then, he stood to go up to them.

There were a few sheets spread out beside them. Maybe they anticipated that someone would want to join in.

Awkwardly, Jin sat down, crossing his legs and hunching over.

Now what? He asked himself. Right. Cancel the outside world, whatever the fuck that means.

He closed his eyes and breathed in.

Nothing happened. For a few minutes nothing happened.

He was getting uncomfortable. He started shifting in place, shaking his leg. Isn't this kind of ridiculous? He wondered.

Breathing in once more, he tried to entertain himself by imagining the spells he saw Theresa perform, only coming from him instead.

He chuckled at his own arrogance, watching himself throw white flame in his mind.

But just as he was about to stand back up, a strange sensation came over him.

He started to feel something coursing through his veins.

It was alarming. He hadn't felt anything like it. But, as alarming as it was, it was also weirdly euphoric.

He wanted to stop but didn't at the same time.

All of a sudden, he started seeing something.

Despite having his eyes closed, he could see something moving through the air. A blue line of sorts.

The line circled the air a few times before flipping and twirling in place.

As it moved, Jin started to feel his shoulder shaking. Then... A voice?

"...in" It spoke.

Then, louder.

"Jin!"

He snapped his eyes open and saw Ker'Tallen standing in front of him, worry etched on his face.

He looked around, and saw several people, mostly terreth but Theresa and Decena were among them, all looking at him with blatant concern.

"What?" He asked.

"There was... Lightning." Ker'Tallen said. "All around you. It was like it were dancing or something."

What the... He thought. He noticed one of the terreth who had been meditating had opened their eyes and stared at Jin.

"Stormbearer." He said, simply and solemnly.

"What's that?"

"One with great potential." The terreth continued. "A storm is as likely to go in one direction as the other, it does not care who, or what it destroys, if it even does that, as it could pass over a forest or a field of nothing. That is you." Not once did his voice waver, nor did he sound impressed. He spoke as if this was simple fact.

"Truth be told, I haven't seen this before." Theresa muttered, squinting her eyes at Jin.

He waved his hand, chuckling the tension away.

"Alright, alright, I get it." He stood up and started to walk away. "I'm gonna take a nap."

Decena's POV

It was interesting seeing Jin's meditation. Not just because of the lightning, but because it resembled something that had happened in her own life, back at the academy.

Dispelling those thoughts, she shook her head and went to follow Jin back to the cart. A nap sounded just as good to her.

Then, a horn sounded.

A short sequence, nothing that would have stood out in any other situation, were it not for what came immediately after it.

An arrow flew, going through a lounging terreth's eye.

For a few short seconds, everyone stood still.

Another followed, and panic quickly found their hearts.

The Griffins were here.

Decena wasted not a single second as numerous terreth yelled out commands into the air. She jogged through a small volley and quickly found their original cart.

Pulling out her sword, she grit her teeth. There was no fear in her heart, only a subtle sense of gratitude.

Couldn't have come at a better time. She thought, almost smiling.

Jin came right behind her and grabbed his bow. One by one, the enlisted prepared for the apparent battle.

She paid them no mind though.

Weaving her way through scattering terreth, she raised her sword in the air.

And with a desperate cry, she ran towards the approaching beastmen.

Eliara's POV

Her time had come.

Surely, after this her mother would see what an incredible mage she was.

Countless Griffins circled the camp. Eliara tried to account for a few of the terreth, but her focus, as dictated by her mother, was mainly on the Saviors.

She saw Olyneces in the distance and ran after him.

Excited breaths escaped her lungs, but when she reached the Savior, her smile disappeared.

It couldn't have been more than a few seconds, but in that time heads were lopped off, people's bodies were being torn apart in front of her.

Her hands shook, her knees buckled.

Come on, Eli. She told herself. You're the best. They NEED you.

Inhaling, she began walking forwards.

First, she ran towards Olyneces, who despite his superhuman strength and speed, was being hampered by the sheer number of enemies in front of him.

Coming up behind him, she ducked behind his body, trying to keep herself away from the crossfire, and cast [Assist].

The Savior did a double-take, turning to find her standing there. She returned a sly smirk and nodded once.

Olyneces nodded back, and with newly injected confidence, he swung his mighty sword back and forth, slicing through every combatant that approached.

Eliara could have watched this happen all day, but, shaking her head, she turned.

In the distance, she could see Goran having some trouble with three Griffins that had ambushed him.

She flew through the field, stopping when she was sure nothing would get in the way of her plan. Breathing in deep, she extended her hand towards him, pulled it back, and recited in her mind, [Burst Heal].

It took more magic to cast this spell from a distance, but the man needed it.

Just as a half-moon sword was about to fall on his neck, he saw the wounds he'd accumulated disappear.

Without even acknowledging Eliara, he ducked and fought back.

She'd get no thanks for him, so she didn't bother waiting.

Wildly, she spun, looking for anyone in need.

A hand fell on her shoulder.

She reacted as though an enemy were there and swung her fist wildly.

"It's me, it's me!" An elven blonde said in front of her. It was Theresa. "I need you to help the terreth, can you do that!?" There was an urgency in her voice that Eliara hadn't heard before.

"Yes!" She replied, confident in her abilities.

"Perfect." Theresa spun, and almost levitated towards the enlisted in the distance.

The beastman, Ker'Tallen was fighting with a ferocity his kind, were they not the ones being killed by him, would be proud of.

The redhead was in bad shape, with several scrapes and cuts adding up around her body, but out of everyone she had seen so far, no one was working with as many enemies as she was.

Not even the two Saviors. She was almost scary to look at.

Eliara nearly rubbed her eyes when she saw a little girl climbing on people's backs and stabbing a small dagger into their bodies.

Finally, she saw Jin strafing several enemies, launching arrows into their bodies as quickly as he could.

But, as soon as she noticed him, another enemy did as well.

From behind, one Griffin began approaching the tan skinned boy.

It wasn't a decision, it was an instinct.

She ran towards him, trying to get closer before casting one of the few offensive spells she knew.

She was halfway through her magic thanks to that long-distance [Burst Heal], but she didn't care. She had to protect one of the few people here who she respected, and possibly...

Just as she drew closer, she began to recite the spell in her mind, pulling her hand back. But then, Jin, as though he had eyes on the back of his head, spun and shot an arrow into the opponent.

When had he seen him?

With a glance to her right, Eliara realized he hadn't. Theresa had been in front of him this entire time, and she was the one who warned him.

In fact, now that she focused, she saw that Theresa had been helping the enlisted all throughout the fight.

She stood for a moment, unsure of what to do, until the blonde yelled something angrily at her.

"The terreth!" She cried out.

Eliara's eyes widened.

In her haste, she had forgotten the role that Theresa had given her just a few seconds ago.

Turning around, she saw true horror for the first time.

The terreth were being massacred by the larger, stronger Griffins.

One by one, whether it was by way of a sword, or how some of them were currently dying, which was with their necks being bitten off.

Before she could hold it back, a single tear fell from her right eye.

The terreth fought back, sure. Their proficiency with magic was nearly unparalleled, but this specific community was not composed of many fighters.

Bards and merchants, guards and other workers alike were being killed unceremoniously.

And it was her fault.

That was what stung the most. She had been given a task, promised that she'd do it, and failed.

She didn't hear what Theresa yelled as she ran by her, trying to assist the few remaining terreth.

Instead, she fell on her knees, and cast her gaze at the floor.

...

An hour later, the survivors tended to their wounds.

The enlisted had largely been left unscathed thanks to Theresa's assistance, and the Saviors didn't encounter any problems after Eliara helped them.

The terreth community though, had been decimated.

Out of around thirty, only a meager seven remained.

The chief being one of them, he walked around, checking in on the other six survivors.

Eliara was currently sitting on the trunk of a tree that had been knocked down.

Someone approached her angrily, but Eliara refused to look up at them.

"What the fuck was that?" She heard a voice she recognized say. Looking up, she saw Theresa, with her eyes wild and her nostrils flaring, aiming her scorn straight at Eliara. "One job. One job! These people have been ruined!"

She was so belligerent, she spit as she talked. Eliara still though, could not meet her eyes. Theresa opened her mouth, as if she were going to continue her scolding, but Eliara briefly glanced up and when they made eye contact, Theresa gulped her words down.

"... Get your shit together." Theresa muttered, before walking away.

More tears fell from Eliara's reddened eyes.

I'm sorry. She thought.

Someone else approached, placing a hand on her shoulder. She looked up, startled by the contact.

"You're okay?" Jin asked, with a nervous eyebrow raised.

Eliara couldn't find it in herself to respond.

The silence was deafening.

Jin's POV

He stared at the ground beneath him.

Turning on his heel, he saw Ker'Tallen slouched in a similar way, near their cart.

Theresa was speaking with the queen, her head hanging low.

Decena was kneeling beside the small burial mounds they had helped make.

While Mariana was nowhere near as shaken as before, her eyes were visibly clouded as she sat on the ground, hugging her knees.

Eliara and the queen were both outside their carts, with the princess holding onto her mother's arm as if it were her lifeline.

Even the Saviors had their radiance dimmed.

It stung.

As they left the terreth behind to mourn their dead, something about the ambience made him angry.

The group prepared their departure but Jin stopped.

"... Are you serious?" He asked no one in particular.

"What?" Theresa turned to see him. Everyone else merely snapped their heads in his direction.

"You all look like you're ready to give up." Jin continued. "Are you fucking serious!?"

"Jin," Theresa stepped towards him, "we have had a long day, just..."

"Is that how outsiders honor their dead?"

The tone he used silenced the camp. The enlisted stared at him.

"I've been in your society for less than two months, and I'm already massively disappointed. From what I've read, I thought you all would be a lot stronger than this."

"We are strong." A voice cut in. Jin looked to his right and saw Decena glaring at him. "You have no idea what any of us have been through." She hissed. "I watched everything I ever knew crumble in front of me, because I couldn't stop it!"

After a moment's hesitation, another voice joined in.

"I was beaten every single day." Ker'Tallen said. "Not just with whips, mind you. No, the Griffins are far crueler with their abuse. Don't talk to me about being weak." Jin hadn't heard him so angry before.

"I walked all the way from Corona to a village in the middle of nowhere." Mariana stood and marched towards Jin. "You threw me in front of those... monsters!" She tried to push him but failed to get him an inch away from where he stood.

No one spoke, until one solemn voice rose.

"... The things I've seen would never let you sleep at night." Theresa stated. "Women and children burned to death by dragons. Warriors having their flesh torn apart by weapons made of wood. Celestials dragging people into the other realm. Don't. You. Dare. Judge me." Theresa concluded.

With the tension so thick he could drown in it, Jin smirked at them.

"And this is how you react to a victory?" He said. "We're still alive. More terreth died than was necessary, but seven of them, including their leader, survived. It's because you've all seen a lot worse than this that we have no business being sad."

Before long, both carts were moving once more and with only four days' worth of travel left till they reached Nova's capital, Jin smiled as they rode along the chrome, dirt road.