Chapter 134: 2.44 Expedition’s End

Wild turkey, shot not too long ago while in the middle of a military operation and a day of death and slaughter behind us. There wasn’t much else that could have made me feel like this world was so different than Earth. And yet, the closeness to my friends that this occurrence gave me was priceless, and I wouldn’t want to return back home for anything.

In this moment, I was truly happy that I lost so many memories. There was no pain, no grief, just unknowing, and that was something I could live with.

We ate, laughed, talked, and then ate some more. There was so much meat that we ended up sharing with the nearest soldiers, who were surprised to have a meal handed to them, but welcomed it nonetheless. In fact, even after that, we still had some leftovers, which were dried and then wrapped in some leaves. They’d serve as a snack for tomorrow.

Finally, it was time to call it a night. It had gotten way later than we’d gone to sleep the past few days already, and I felt sorry for those who were on watch duty today.

Velariah cuddled up against my front after the others had laid themselves down trying to get comfortable. Once she was as well, I hugged her and whispered ‘good night’ into her ear.

“Good night, El,” She whispered back.

I woke up to bright light shining into my eyes. The morning had come without anything happening, and I had slept surprisingly well which had me feeling energized. This was further proven by me waking up well before the horns sounded.

“Morning, El. How are you feeling?”

“Great, actually. How about you?”

“Doesn’t get much better than this.”

I could hear it. She too was awake well in time, and she sounded happy and relaxed. I could only imagine the burden that was lifted off her shoulders by the ruin we’d brought upon those who’d plagued Dawnleaf for so long. Still, we weren’t quite there yet, but I knew our mission was getting close to its end. There wasn’t much forest left to comb.

“No kidding,” I said. “Think we’ll finish today?”

“Possible. Very much possible. I doubt there will be many goblins left after yesterday. We weren’t the only ones that encountered them judging from the many pauses we had.”

I looked around and saw the others were still sleeping, minus Eric and Draco obviously. The two of them were still seated next to the campfire, and the lizardman acknowledged me with a nod.

“Morning, Miss Elania, Miss Velariah.”

“Hey, Draco, Eric. Quiet night?” I asked.

“It was,” Draco said with a nod. “And it looks like it’s almost time to start the day.”

“Yep,” Velariah said, before letting out a chuckle. “And I would say I’d be happy to go home to get a proper meal, but after last night, that doesn’t sound so credible anymore.”

Eric chuckled, and Draco smiled widely before speaking.

“That was certainly something else. I never even properly thanked her.”

“You’ll get plenty of time for that today,” Velariah responded. “Speaking of, let’s wake them up so they can enjoy breakfast without pressure.”

“You’re just looking for an excuse to wake them, aren’t you?” I asked with a sly smile on my lips.

“Maybe,” She replied in an equally mischievous tone. “You didn’t think my excuse was good?”

“It’s pretty good, I’ll admit that.”

Not much later, everyone was awake and having breakfast, during which the horns inevitably sounded. The usual ten minutes after that, they sounded again, forcing us on the move once more.

Today felt much better than yesterday. Even though we were constantly looking for traps and I was left checking for tremors that could indicate enemy movement, the general and predominant mood was elevated and relaxed.

We didn’t talk much, but when conversation did arise, it was mostly about last night. With everyone in a good mood, I even saw a chance to slip the question that was on my mind the day before.

“Seralyn, what was that yesterday? I mean, regarding the…” I had to halt myself as I almost slipped and called it a ‘turkey’. I was thankful I realized what I was about to ask in time. “Kul-Kul feathers. As you know, I have no experience with archery and would like to know more.”

“To put it simply,” She replied. “Kul-Kul wing feathers are the best feathers there are. Strong, yet supple, there isn’t anything out there that beats them. Unless, of course, we’re talking magical feathers, which are difficult to come by, require practice, and may or may not require your inherity to be compatible with them.” She shook her head. “Nope, these are always a solid choice.”

“What about the left or right wing part? That has me completely puzzled.”

“You can only use the feathers of the same wing on an arrow. Otherwise, its flight gets all fucky.”

I chuckled at her words. Scientists on Earth probably had the exact explanation ready as to why this was a thing, and, while it intrigued me to know more about it, this would have to do. Besides, this was way funnier.

“If you’re right-handed like me, you use the feathers from the right wing. If you’re left-handed, you use the left wing’s feathers.”

“That’s so interesting. I never knew about that,” I replied in amazement. “Did you, Velariah?”

“Nope. This is the first time I hear about it. Never thought it’d be that complicated.”

“I keep telling you archery is an art. All you do is swing a piece of metal around. I mean, you can’t even miss.”

“And you don’t have to put yourself in any kind of danger,” Velariah said before chuckling. “But anyway, interesting stuff. Did any of you know this?” She asked, looking to her sides, at the others who also shook their heads.

It seemed this wasn’t common knowledge here, after all.

And here I was afraid I’d look stupid for asking.

“You’re gonna have to teach me how to shoot one day,” I let out. “Funnily enough, I’d love to see how terrible I am.”

“We’ll have to find you a bow first, then,” She replied. “Doubt this one will do, and I’d prefer to not have others use it anyway.”

“That’s perfectly understandable. I wonder what kind of bow I’d need. Suggestions?”

“A simple recurve should do. Hey, Velariah, you should wear her out some more with that strength training of yours. It really helps out when it comes to drawing a bow.”

“We’re working on that. Don’t you worry.”

“I’ve been getting plenty of exercise the past few days,” I nodded at my polearm. “There’s no need to hurry.”

“Speaking of hurry,” I continued after a few seconds of pause. “Today seems quiet.”

It had been an hour or so with uninterrupted movement. There wasn’t even a sound that could indicate anything was out of the ordinary. It was just the usual, cheerful forest sounds in the form of birds and a few other critters in and near trees that were heard.

“Don’t jinx it now, El,” Velariah called out with a bit of a forced chuckle. I could tell she meant it as a joke, but it was clear she thought my assumption could cause things to take a turn for the worse.

“The quiet is what we aim for, isn’t it?” Draco said casually but focused. “Or at least, it’s our mission to make it so, and we’ve come quite far already.”

“Not far enough,” Velariah said, determined.

The lizardman nodded but didn’t say a word.

After that, it was quiet for another two hours as we slowly advanced. It was after this time that we were interrupted by the sound of horns, but after a mere five minutes, we were signaled to move again.

Then, there was the incessant running back and forth of horses. I wondered what was going on as we weren’t called to stop, but on the other hand, it meant that stopping wasn’t needed.

Another boring hour followed until we ran into our first encounter.

Before us in a small opening in a giant bed of dried leaves, lay a large Saibon Boar. It was sleeping peacefully, and none of us had the intention of waking it up, much less starting a fight with it.

When combing the forest like this, it was bound to happen that some people would run into the more dangerous wildlife. It may have already happened before, several times even, but this time it seemed it was our turn.

However, Saibon boars were a protected species, and we were lucky to have found a sleeping one. Everyone instinctively knew what it meant, and we walked around it in a large arc, trying to make as little noise as possible.

Once we were far enough away, and in relative safety, it was Seralyn who cracked the joke.

“Can’t believe how that thing has managed to stay asleep with these horns sounding every so often.”

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“We should be thankful it’s not a Bunbear,” Velariah joked back. “That definitely would have been awake.”

“So we’re lucky for once,” The archer responded. “Neat.”

Nira giggled from my back, just as the sound of another horse passing by was heard. For a moment, it had me worried the large animal behind us would wake up, but we’d already created more than enough distance and were clearly out of its hearing range.

“Speaking of luck,” Velariah continued. “Up ahead, we’re almost at the end.”

I paid close attention to what she meant and saw that the trees were starting to grow more and more apart from one another. After another few minutes, I believed I saw a lighter shade of green that stood out against the darker one belonging to the woods themselves.

“Stay alert. Soon we’ll be done.” She spoke the words with conviction, but it didn’t take a therapist to hear the incredible amount of relief in her voice. Everyone was silent and continued on and I couldn’t help but feel a smile grow on my lips.

And then, after a while longer, it was finally there, the end of the forest that we’d grown to love and hate at the same time.

Velariah sighed deeply as she took her first steps outside, into the pasture beyond, looking up, and then left and right.

Outside the woods, as far as the eye could see, a line of soldiers formed as they left the vegetation behind. Elves to the left, and then a few more to the right, before the line continued with human soldiers who’d been assisting us. The rear was brought forward and all the supply carriers and other retainers stepped outside as well.

Horses with messengers ran back and forth, stopping at several officers to relay messages, but none of that seemed to be on the average person’s mind.

Some people were cheering, others were quiet. Yet others looked at the heavens above and fell to their knees. One of those people was Velariah.

She’d collapsed and had her eyes closed. The ever-so-serious elf didn’t seem to be able to hold back any longer as a few tears rolled across her cheeks. Nobody said a word, and to distract themselves, they took some water from the saddlebags before taking a few steps back.

I, on the other hand, felt obliged to get to her and lower myself to hug her from behind. Trying to help her contain her emotions. It was all too clear what, or rather, who she was thinking of at this exact moment.

“It’s okay,” I whispered. “It’s done.”

“Finally,” She managed to say between sobs. “Now, she can truly rest in peace.”

I had no idea what to say. I thought about what the correct words would be, but I couldn’t find any, so I chose to remain silent, and just keep hugging her. Her sobs soon ended, but she held her eyes closed, lost in thought.

“Thank you, El,” She ultimately muttered.

I nodded, but kept her close until at last, she sighed deeply and moved to stand up, at which I removed my hands from her stomach.

“We’re done,” She said softly. “I still can’t believe it. Today was… odd. I didn’t expect to finish like this.”

“What did you expect?” I asked with a whisper. “More goblins? Hell, I feel like what we found yesterday was more than enough considering all the earlier missions that were completed.”

“You’re right, but still.”

She looked up to the skies, her serious expression returning.

“I’m so happy this is over. It feels so strange though. Suddenly, I feel so… empty.”

“Because you’ve been working towards this moment for so long,” I said. “I’ve heard that this isn’t uncommon, so don’t feel bad about it. All I can say is that there’s plenty to still look forward to.” I shook my head with a smile. “I sure am bad at this, am I not?”

“Nah,” Velariah said, turning around and for the first time, smiling. “You’re pretty good at what you do, whatever you do. You’re right. There’s plenty to look forward to.”

Another messenger passed us, grabbing our attention for a moment, before the elf continued.

“We may be finished, but it seems there’s still work to be done.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I replied. “We’ll leave that to your dad.”

“I wonder how he feels about all this…” She thought aloud.

“You know, I think he feels the same as you, but I don’t think he quite realizes that yet. I think he wants everything finished here, every t crossed, every i dotted, before he comes to that conclusion.”

“That does sound like him. Hey, El, could you pass me some water?”

I nodded as I reached for the saddlebags with one of my legs, fishing out a canteen and handing it to the white-haired elf. She drank some, heaved another deep sigh, and sat down in the grass. I placed myself behind her and sat down as well. It was at this point the others, Nira included, decided to join as well.

It was awkward for a minute as nobody knew what to say. That was, until Seralyn broke the silence.

“So…” She let out. “Now what?”

“We wait,” Velariah answered. “We’ll get more info soon. Have something to eat and drink, I suppose.”

“I mean, what is next for us?”

Both the elven party that had joined us and Eric looked at the elven knight with curiosity sparkling in their eyes. Technically, this was none of their business, but I didn’t think anyone really cared.

“I suppose it’s the usual,” She said. “Training, throw in a dungeon run here and there, and find information on any on our way. Elania just said to me that there’s plenty to look forward to.”

“There certainly is,” Draco said. “But first, I suppose a celebration is in order.”

“Yeah. We’ll get to that when we get back to town.” She looked at our newfound allies. “And I’d be happy to invite all of you to celebrate with us.”

Krelion chuckled and smiled.

“I’d be happy to join you. Katus, Melsa?”

The other two elves nodded, as did Eric.

“Can’t think of a better way to close this out. Thank you for your trust.”

“You’re more than welcome, Eric,” I said. “You earned that.”

“You know what?” Seralyn suddenly asked with a smirk. “I’m just gonna say it. Elania, I’m happy you didn’t evolve your inherity. I can’t imagine having to carry you across such distances.”

“What the hell?”

My outburst caused her to grin, hard, before it eventually erupted into laughter, contagious laughter. Velariah, Draco, and even Nira joined in as I shook my head. Yet, I couldn't hide my own smile.

“That actually happened?” Eric asked after the laughter died down.

“Just once,” Seralyn replied. “Had to hightail it out of a dungeon the moment she felt it coming.”

“I’m still surprised they managed to get me home. Must be all that exercise paying off,” I made a joke of my own, prompting a few grins and chuckles.

A mounted soldier, one of the officers of Valtheril’s battalion, made his way from group to group and eventually reached ours, explaining the current situation.

“The mission is over,” He said loud and clear. “Scouts will continue to roam the forest for the near future, but right now, we are reassembling in the west, where we’ll make camp before returning to the village. Please make your way over at your earliest convenience.”

Velariah nodded in acknowledgment and started packing our belongings.

“We better get moving,” She said, while looking at the humans further east. “It seems they are planning to do the same, but in the opposite direction. We’re the easternmost group, so we’ll have quite a ways to go.”

“At least we do plenty of running,” I said. “Does that count for exercise too?”

“Only counts for one fourth in your case,” Seralyn said with a grin.

“Because of eight legs. I get it. Haha.” My sarcasm was terrible, so terrible it caused Velariah to have another fit of laughter. When she finally calmed down, I merely smiled at her as I swung my weapon onto my shoulder and started walking, leading the way.

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