Chapter 17: Chapter 15: A Long Road Ahead

We had spent the morning getting ready for the trip. Getting a few changes of clothes, weapons and armor, camping supplies and more. From the moment we all woke up to the moment we were placing everything inside the carriage it was a hectic few hours. The sole moment of rest I had was the few minutes after waking up, getting to talk to Fate before getting out of bed and eating a quick breakfast together before the chaos started.

Carver looked to be in high spirits, and in good health besides. I was still worried, but didn't have the heart to try and get him to give up anymore. The mark on his neck and the determination in his eyes made me feel... safe. At least I could ease my mind with the knowledge I'd be there to protect him.

He was also wearing light leather armor, a shield strapped to his back and a sword in its scabbard on his belt. He had light makeup on, and looked slightly shorter than usual. I assumed the potion had been doing its thing, and that he simply enjoyed a more feminine look; it suited him. I let out a sigh of relief, happy to see him getting as comfortable in the kingdom as I was.

Fate, on the other hand, was the very personification of nervousness. Fiddling with a coin, constantly checking and re-checking each of her potions individually and making sure all her ingredients were in place. Whenever I could I would try to calm her down with some silly joke or obscure knowledge from the tabletop RPGs I enjoyed. Though it helped, it wasn't near enough what she needed to relax.

As for me, I got myself a brand-new set of half plate armor. It didn't cover my entire body, but it was light and sturdy enough to protect me without getting in the way. I got myself the biggest sword I could find, and I quickly got used to the weight of the blade. A silver greatsword that should protect me against man and beast alike, at least in theory. I picked up a helmet for myself as well, one that covered my head and the back of my neck. Much like the rest of the clothing around the kingdom, it fit as soon as I wore it, but this time the changes were more noticeable; Everything quickly re-shaped itself to fit my head, and two triangular spaces on the top of the head were created for my cat-ears to fit. The ears were really the strangest part of my transformation, and I had to get used to them being on such a different spot.

"You know..." Carver suddenly broke the silence. "I hadn't really noticed your whiskers before, Nay."

"Huh?" It took me a few seconds to process what he had said after being lost in thought for a while. "Oh, yeah. It's easy to forget they're there myself, I thought they'd be much more of a bother at first."

"Right, expedition team!" Robin said, finally having finished her business in the castle to see us off. "Is everyone ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." I replied.

"Yes, ma'am!" Carver exclaimed.

"I think so..." Fate said in a shaky voice.

"Good. To recapitulate: You will head directly north until you find yourself in The Nothing-"

"-Which is a completely dead area. No flora or fauna." I continued for her, trying to sound confident.

"Correct. Next, you will track down the Church of Lost Paladins, who - without warning - left the kingdom soon after..." She stopped herself from finishing the sentence.

"Soon after my latest death."

"... Correct. And you will find a way to bring them back and ward the kingdom. Any questions?"

"I don't think so." Carver said. "It's a pretty simple mission, really. At least on paper."

"Any idea what we'll find out there?" Fate asked.

"Your path should be clear, at least that was the case before she returned.

Whenever anyone talked of the previous queen of Lumalight, they did so with anger and resentment. During the briefing, we got slightly more information, but she had been gone for over a thousand years now and the only one alive for that long is the current Queen - Sky as she asked to be called - and so most details were lost to time. I knew she was the voice I heard during my headaches, the same as when I fell in the Other World right before coming here.

Her primary form of warfare was summoning. She would call upon demons, monsters and various other entities to fight her battles for her; Each more terrifying than the last. During her reign, which lasted hundreds of years, everything was done with the sole intent of causing harm to all living beings not summoned by her. If there was a hidden meaning, a grander design behind her actions it was not known by anyone other than her and her right-hand summon. A monstrous creature, resembling a fox or wolf depending on who tells the tale, which served as her executioner and protector at all times. One day, Sky appeared seemingly out of nowhere, slayed the foul beast, sealed the wretched queen's powers away and took over the kingdom, freeing all within. She was awfully quiet whenever we pried for details, and Robin was the only one willing to tell us the tale.

"Listen." The knight continued, holding me by both shoulders. "This is going to take you a week or more to accomplish, and I will keep the castle safe in the meantime. I'd grown complacent before your arrival, and due to my incompetence... Here we are."

"I trust you, don't worry."

"Listen. Naomi." She moved her hands from my shoulders to my face, holding me gently and coming closer. "Please. Come back. Don't take stupid risks and don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"You got it."

"You have done well in your training so far, so I know you're up to the task. But I want you to swear to me you'll return this time." 

"I swear, Robin."

I slowly pulled her hands off my face, holding them tight and looking in her eyes. I felt as if I had something else to say, I felt it in the back of my mind but couldn't find the right words. Yet another lost memory, I thought, of someone I used to be. I wanted to pull her close to me, kiss her and reassure her with body and words and that I would return to her as soon as I could, and I'd do it in the most dramatic way possible. Instead I just released her hands, smiled and said the first thing that came to mind.

"Swear to me I'll have something to come back to."

"I swear." She smiled back, painfully and insincerely. "I... I wish you luck on your travels. All of you. Stay safe."

With a deep sigh, I got on the carriage next to Fate, who would be the coach woman. Carver climbed inside with the equipment and made himself comfortable. As we started to move I looked back to the castle, just now realizing how long it'd take for me to see it again. There was no turning back, however, and we were ready for whatever came after. Though the journey was uncertain, we were sure of the dangers ahead, and knew it would be a perilous, eventful trip to the deadlands.

First day.

The first day was a very boring, uneventful ride through the outskirts of the kingdom. We saw a few farms on the way, and passed through a small town that I didn't catch the name of. The environment was nice to look at, at least. It would change pretty frequently, and every few minutes the colors of the foliage and types of trees around us would change. Eventually we found ourselves out in the wilderness, with a small dirt path alone to follow. For now, it kept to the north, so we wouldn't need to go off-road just yet.

We spent the whole time talking about the mission, what we would do once we found the church and how to approach any obstacles in our way. We decided I would do the talking, with Fate to back me up with information on the kingdom if needed and Carver to watch our backs the whole way through. All we could do was speculate with the small amount of info we had, and we took turns guessing what the dead zone looked like.

Come nightfall we set up camp and hid the caravan. We weren't too far from the closest town, but still we didn't want to take any chances. I didn't feel good stopping for a whole night, but I understood everyone else had to rest, as well as our trusty horse that was carrying us and our equipment. I tried to not let my anxiety show and helped set up the tents, happy that my camping skills from childhood had not been lost on me.

Carver decided the best way to spend our resting time would be to finally play some tabletop games with Fate, and so the responsibility of DMing fell on me. Since we didn't have any rule books, I tried my best to remember what I could from Demons & Drakes to make some character sheets and start an adventure. It was a little chaotic but everyone seemed to have fun, even if Fate was a little confused when it came to the world building.

Spending time with these two around a campfire, telling stories and laughing at our stupid decisions finally calmed my nerves somewhat. It was as if all had fallen into place; Travelling, training and fighting just felt right to me now. Whenever I looked at Carver and Fate, especially out in the wilds, I knew I could trust them with my life. I felt as though I had been doing this my whole life. I held onto that feeling, not knowing how to communicate it to the others. Carver and Fate were getting closer as well, and we all understood each other a bit better with each passing moment. We ended up falling asleep outside our tents that night.

Second day

The second day was a lot more intense. As we were making our way through the entry to some woods, we were ambushed by a band of thieves. They dropped suddenly from the trees and surrounded our caravan. I counted five of them on the ground, one on the trees and hoped I had not missed any. The leader, wearing a red scarf and studded leather armor, stepped out in front of us and crossed his arms.

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"I think we all understand what is happening here." He said, with little emotion in his voice. "Just leave your shit behind and walk back to where you came from, there's no need to get our hands dirty here."

"Damn." Fate whispered to me. "I was expecting we'd have to deal with monsters and magical creatures, not some thieves. What do we do, Nay?"

"What's your name?" I asked the main thief, hoping to stall him long enough to come up with an answer to Fate.

"Irrelevant. I'm not here to talk." He snapped his finger and the others started to creep closer, weapons drawn. The one on the trees aiming a crossbow at me the whole time.

"Well, mister Irrelevant..." Carver shouted from behind the caravan, having left it once the thieves appeared. "I'm not so sure this is a fight you want to pick."

"Listen, kid." The man sighed and shook his head. "This really isn't the moment to try and be a hero. Let's just do this quick, easy and with no blood spilled, shall we?"

"He's right." I followed Carver's lead, trying to stall them as Fate reached for something inside the caravan behind her back. "I don't think you'd fare well against the royal knight of Lumalight on her own, let alone with the company I have."

"Oh, for fuck's..." He scoffed, unsheathing his own sword. "Now that's the worst attempt so far. Did ya not get the news, darling? Knight's dead. Now, I won't say it again, get out of the godsdamned caravan and-"

In the blink of an eye Fate threw a bottle in the year and hit it hard, making it explode into a blinding light. Although I was looking directly at it, it didn't seem to do much. The bandits, on the other hand, all covered their eyes and shouted. A bolt hit the side of the caravan right next to my neck, having been fired from the woods. During the chaos I heard shuffling from my blindspot behind us, and noticed the leader not struggling much to get back on his feet.

"Fate, go help Carver! I'll take care of their leader." I ordered, jumping from the seat beside her and quickly making my way to the man in the scarf.

He got his bearings in time to block my first strike with the sword, and quickly got into a defensive stance while stepping back away from me. The man clearly knew how to fight, and I was excited to finally try my skills against a real opponent - especially one that didn't move at supernatural speeds. I advanced, slashing at him as quickly as I could. He struggled to defend against the attacks of my greatsword, and I was careful not to give him an opening. I tried to overwhelm him with speed, but he managed to stand his ground.

I heard shouts from behind me and the clashing of swords, and hoped the others were doing fine. The other bandits were finally getting back to shape, and I had to try another strategy. I rushed forward, trusting my armor to stop his blade as I punched him in the gut and ran behind him. I turned the both of us around with ease to face his thieving allies and held my sword against his neck, with my other hand clutching his fighting hand tightly.

"Drop the sword. Now." He obliged without a word, and finally I had the full attention of the rest of our enemies. "Fate, Carver! How are things back there?!"

"All good!" Fate shouted back. "Why did everything go silent all of a sudden?"

"You're fast. I'll give you that." The bandit leader said, defeated. "Drop your weapons, boys. We're not taking this one." His allies begrudgingly complied, lowering their arms but keeping them close at hand.

"Fast enough for you to give up this quickly?" I provoked, my heart still pounding with adrenaline, looking for a further fight.

"Can I see the mark?"

"What?"

"You said you're the royal knight. I'd like to see the mark."

"So you can strike me down while I show it to you? Good try, not happening."

"Nah. I just really want to hope. But I guess I shoulda known it was too good to be true." He laughed and slightly turned his head around, enough to look me in the eyes. "Used to be part of the royal guard. Then she died and I left, alongside a great many others."

"Wait..." I loosened my grip on him and kicked his sword into the woods. "Did you leave with the Church of Lost Paladins?"

"Yeah, that's the one. I wonder where they are nowadays."

"So you don't know?"

"No. I don't." I released him and let him slowly walk out of the path. Fate and Carver were already back in their spots, glaring at the others in the woods. "What. You're just leaving now?"

"Yeah, we don't exactly have the time to deal with issues like these!" Carver shouted inside. "Come on, Naomi. Let's get out of here before they change their minds."

I looked back at the road and saw the man my companions had dealt with tumble across the road, hand on his stomach as he lied down on the floor and groaned. I looked at their leader one final time before heading up on Fate's side and leaving the area. I didn't look back as we went, half disappointed I hadn't gotten a proper fight and half intrigued at finding someone related to the kingdom in such a random location. Then again, if they had left with the church it couldn't have been that random.

"That went better than I thought it would." Carver said, leaning out of the caravan to talk to us face-to-face in an unnecessarily dangerous move.

"Carv! Be careful!" I shouted back. "And, yeah, I think so too. But... Seriously? 'Mister Irrelevant'?"

"It sounded cool in my head."

"I'm glad those guys weren't offended by bad one-liners." Fate chuckled, then let out a sigh of relief. "Hopefully that's the only bump in the road."

"Hopefully." I closed my eyes and felt the wind against my hair, letting myself wind down and relax my muscles.

We kept going until it started getting dark once again, and hid the caravan even deeper into the woods. We decided someone should stay up for a few hours to keep watch, then wake someone else for a second shift. I took the first and Carver the second and we set our tents; we fully intended to sleep inside our shelters this time around. This night was quieter than the last, but we still had a few nice, useless conversations. We told Fate more about the Other World, and she was of course fascinated by the internet more than anything. She dismissed the concept as "too much trouble", but loved the idea of computers for information storage.

Carver mostly missed fast-food and tv shows. He clearly still held his home close to his heart, and I knew he had hopes of returning home still. Until now I held that idea as the default as well, that of course I'd go back home when given the chance, but at that moment I realized I didn't really believe it. I wasn't so sure I wanted to go back to my old life anymore after having found purpose in the kingdom. I wanted to get to know Fate and Robin more and to pull my weight. I wanted to keep people safe, and to learn more about the new world I was in. I also wasn't sure I could go back to my old body, losing the happiness I felt when looking in the mirror once again. But that would have to wait, after all we had a mission to accomplish.

The others went to sleep and I started my lookout shift. Not too far into it, my mark started to burn again, though this time I could handle the pain. I clutched my arm and clenched my teeth, trying to power through the process without screaming. Thankfully it passed soon after, and as I removed my gauntlets I could see the results of said pain. There were more lines on the back of my hand, forming an incomplete circle around an incomplete sword. I put my gauntlets back on and returned to my shift, annoyed that the mark was still not yet complete after hurting so much. 

My mind wandered as I stood watch, and I realized I really didn't miss television that much, let alone the internet.

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