Chapter 295: 2.13 (Sofie)

I could only stare down towards the gruel in front of me. I had no appetite. My parents … the villagers, the soldiers that came to my rescue, they all died. I sat alone on the table of an otherwise packed canteen, crying my heart out as I finally reached safety.

Slowly, reality sunk into my consciousness as I wasn’t in panic mode anymore. I could see my parents’ death in front of my eyes each time I blinked. I could see the pain in their eyes as they reached out to me, one of these green ugly monsters stabbing into their back. But thankfully, I had some kind people dragging me out of these day dreams rather abruptly.

“So … what´s your name?” The constable asked while sitting down right next to me and ignoring how tears dropped into the gruel.

“S-Sofie.” I sobbed quietly.

“Sweet. My name is Paul.” He said and lifted up his cup to drink something.

“How … how do you live with … their death?” For him, it almost seemed as if it was business as usual, even though I could see his hand shaking slightly.

“Nothing of this is your fault, Sofie. None of them, not the villagers, nor my comrades died because of you. We were on a scouting mission, trying to figure out what is going on in the north and were already fleeing from the demons as the commander changed our destination towards a village that was already overrun. If you need to blame anyone for what happened, blame the incompetent king, or even us. But you certainly have no reason to blame yourself, trust me.” He words, even though they were meant in good will, didn´t help at all.

“It is my fault! Everythi-“ I muttered, but was immediately interrupted by a tall man placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Constable, what did you learn about the enemy?” He asked immediately.

“… Sire, if I may say so, your timing is rather bad.” Paul said and glared at the person.

“I don’t care. Who is she anyway?” He asked and finally let go of me. He was certainly curious about me – a simple girl who was rescued by using the life of so many others as payment.

“We found her in the forest, running away from a few demons. At least we found out why so many demons were heading north through the plains. They were preparing for a full out war, just like the commander claimed.” Paul lied … but why?

“They are animals.” The other man stated plainly.

“With enough intelligence to work together … at least for the most part. Oh, thanks for keeping the bridge intact though … or should I rather say thanks for being incapable to blow it up?” Paul asked with barely hidden hostility in his voice.

“Be grateful.” The other man hissed angrily, turned around and went outside the canteen again, only to stare at the female soldier who just wanted to enter. They both looked at each other in some kind of battle as both refused to look away for several seconds. Apparently, he did lose that duel though as he went around her to leave the room quietly.

Shortly afterwards, she was at the counter to get the exact food I had in front of me, minus the tears of course. With a completely blank expression, she sat down opposite of me, still hooded with a new black cape. Without saying anything, she started eating the gruel without complaint.

“I am always amazed you can eat that.” Paul said while looking down at his barely touched bowl.

“Some have it worse.” The woman commented dryly.

“Yeah, but since I ate at a high class restaurant once, I really cannot forget how good food tastes.” He enthused and smiled bitterly.

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“I knew I shouldn’t have taken you there.” The blonde commander said in between gulping down the rest of the gruel.

“Are you … two a … a couple?” I asked after several seconds, earning a deathly glare from the woman and a laugh from Paul.

“No, not at all. If anything, she comes close to being my mother.” Paul admitted, confusing me considerably. She looked around twenty, while Paul was probably in his mid-thirties.

“What? She is barely twenty while you are …” I muttered but stopped as I noticed how the commander raised her eyebrow.

“Old? Ouch, that hurts. She hasn’t changed since she saved me from a horde of monsters all these years ago.” If she didn´t change at all, that could only mean she is already quite old. The only race that immediately came to my mind were our eastern neighbours.

“You are an elf?” I asked, but never got an answer as her gaze wandered upwards behind me and then bit on her lower lip.

“Departure in twenty minutes. We leave the wounded here, but we still need a cart or a carriage for her. I´ll get us new horses.” She said and stood up while Paul looked grimly as well.

“Does that mean this place here will fall as well?” She didn´t even answer my question as she rushed out of the room through the gaps between the tables.

“Let’s get going.” Paul stood up as well, but I refused to do so as I still didn´t have my answer. Staring into the gruel, I grabbed the tableware tightly.

“Why is nobody telling me anything? Why is nobody listening to me?” I asked, only slightly despairing as my feelings rose up again.

“… you are eight, Sofie. You have no achievements whatsoever. You are clearly not in the state to think clearly right now. How many more reasons do you want?” I couldn’t answer. For several seconds, I could only stare at the gruel until I opened up my grip on the tableware. Paul immediately grabbed under my armpits and lifted me up from the bench I was sitting on.

He put me down on my own two feet immediately afterwards and slowly walked out of the canteen, looking behind him from time to time to check if I was following. We directly headed outside where a few soldiers were already packing their things again, incredibly tired by staying up for too long. The elf was ordering everything, packed meals onto a cart and pointed towards a black carriage as soon as she spotted me.

“Well, guess we take the one of the fortress commander then.” He said and strolled towards it with me in tow. After opening the door for me, he helped me inside the by lifting me up again and made sure that one of the rests of those who went out to save me acted as my coachman.

It took only a few more minutes and a heated discussion between the fortress commander and the elf, and then we were heading out of the fortress once more, heading south in a slow pace compared to before. The atmosphere was grim, even I could see that from my cage that rumbled across the landscape.

Only as the carriage came to a sudden halt and we set up camp in the evening was I dragged out of my own depressing thoughts again.

“Well stay here for the night.” The constable said while letting go of the slowly closing door again. He immediately turned around and went back towards his own horse to retrieve a bedroll. Shortly afterwards, he made himself comfortable on it near a campfire and closed his eyes, ignoring me completely as I sat on the edge of the floor of the carriage.

 After a little while, I hopped down onto the ground and walked towards the elf who stood there a bit away from the camp, gazing into the distance of the flat plains.

I wanted answers. And it was either that time, or never.

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