G. lays sprawled about. I’m surprised anyone else can rest at all with his snoring. His spear lies above his head, allowing him quick access to it. David rests on his side with his map in hand. Fell asleep studying it again. Not a sound comes from him. Even among the quiet ones, David stands out. It’s as if he isn’t even breathing. One night, I held my hand above his mouth to check. Following his friend’s example, his slingshot lies in his hand. If a monster attacked while we slept, he’d hit it with several shots before anyone woke up.
Looking around, I wonder whose job it was to keep watch. Can’t remember. With today’s battle, I guess no one cared or had the will to remain awake. Based on the brightness of the dark sky, dawn cannot be too far off. G. claims that some enemies strike just an hour before dawn; that explains why he and David sleep in their armor, unlike the rest of us. I might as well stay awake, not that I believe anyone will attack us today. Besides, my pounding heart is a sure sign that I won’t fall asleep again this morning.
Watching the low burning fire, I wonder what I had dreamed about. Was it my past? Not that it matters. There’s no point in dreaming if you can’t remember it. It only succeeds in leaving me with a feeling of emptiness. Each day is tough enough with this constant emptiness of not knowing who I am. Still, the questions about what happens to my mind when I drift to sleep plagues my mind some days. Plenty of times, I wake up with tears in my eyes. Are my memories sad, or am I weeping for what I can’t recall? I hope they are memories. If they are, at least my memories are somewhere down inside of me. The thought is a comfort, if nothing else. Something tells me that the longer this journey takes, comfort will be harder to find.
CHAPTER FOUR
Current Situation
4
I take deep breaths, trying to maintain my strength. This is one of the hardest foes I’ve faced yet. This makes the Serpopards seem easy by comparison. Gripping my staff, I hope that it doesn’t shatter against what I’m facing now. A long, metal spear lashes out at me, and a split-second block keeps it from skewering me. I backpedal, keeping myself as far as I can out of my opponent’s range, but he doesn’t plan to let that happen.
“Good,” G. says, swinging his spear, which I avoid with a roll. “You know how to avoid an attack. It’s your best quality, but there’s one glaring issue.”
“You don’t have to remind me,” I yell. Holding my staff by the end, I spring forward to land a blow across his waist while maintaining a safe distance. It connects and a resounding thud fills my ears. My staff’s new form has its advantages. Leaping back, I avoid another slash of his spear tip, but I’m not fast enough. Stepping and spinning into the attack, he catches me in the stomach with the butt of his spear. Just before the impact, I block, but the force of the blow throws me all the same. Crashing into a tree, a gasp of air bursts from my throat.
“Dah,” I grunt, pushing myself up to my feet again.
“You’re improving,” G. laughs, rubbing his waist. “That one stung a little. Woah.” No real effect, I grimace. He raises his spear in time to block a flying shield. He whirls around, smiling at Harva, who returns her own grin.
“You’re looking the wrong way,” Queen yells. G. spins back on his heel, but not fast enough to avoid nor deflect Queen’s two chisels as she drops from a tree. She aims for his head, not being one to hold back, even in practice. Her attack misses when Aurora’s scythe swoops in, knocking back both chisels. “Yah,” she yelps, unable to rebalance her descent. Eating dirt, she scrambles away before Aurora can land a good counterattack.
Harva rushes over, and the three of us eye our competition. Since our battle with the Orthrus, we knew that we had to improve as a team. G. took it upon himself to help the three of us, the clear weaker links of our party, become stronger. Well, he offered to train us, and Queen wasn’t interested at first, but I took up his offer at once. The girls agreed to work with me by the second training session. With his guidance, Harva and Queen learned how to pull off their dual attack. Unfortunately, he’s not the only one interested in our improvement. When Aurora suggested helping as well, I thought it was a joke. I wish it was. “You have to be prepared for the worst-case scenario,” G. had said. I would say that G. and Aurora fighting side-by-side is a worst-case scenario.
Both of them have clear skills that make them two of the most powerful members of our group. Queen, Harva, and I are the only ones to face them. If only we had one more on our side. Zero is nowhere to be found. No surprises there. David and Maris are our options, and neither has any interest in it. David watches the practice match with some intrigue, but he’s in charge of cooking today, so we can’t expect any help from him. Besides, cooking is only an excuse. What he’s paying attention to is the map, which he rarely takes his eyes off outside of battle.
When Maris’s eyes pass on us, she rolls them, as if all we’re trying to do is a waste of time. Outside of battle, she does little to contribute to the group. When we started, she had insightful comments, even if they were a bit rude. However, she stopped giving much input, allowing David and G. to make the decisions. If I could talk to her, I’d ask what was with this sudden change, but I doubt I could get any answers out of her.
“I hate her,” Harva whispers, clear jealousy in her voice.
“Focus,” I remind her. If any one of us drops our defenses for a moment, this will all be over. “We can’t give up yet.”
“What’s the point?” Queen hisses. “That was our best chance, and we blew it.”
She’s not wrong. Though we lack strategy, we devised that plan to take G. out first then take on Aurora. There’s no way we can pull the same stunt twice. “Can you both try another dual attack?”
“With both of them?” Queen scoffs. “Forget it.”
If only I could summon that inner strength on command. I could rush them and give the other two time to try a better attack. “If you aren’t going to do something,” G. calls. “I guess it’s my turn.” He crouches. I gulp, knowing that he is about to launch a powerful attack. Aurora springs back, positioning her scythe where she can follow him up. My muscles tense, knowing that we will scrape through this by the skin of our teeth.
All of a sudden, G. straightens up and rests against his spear. “Let’s call it a day,” he announces. G. and Aurora forfeited. You gained 50 Exp. “We can try again tomorrow.” Turning to David, he adds, “Is supper ready?”
David nods, walking over to our fire. He grabs the ladle and takes a careful sip from the pot, a souvenir from the caravan. “Almost. It’ll be ready in a few minutes.”
“C’mon,” Queen shouts, tossing both of her chisels in the air. They thud on both sides of us. Harva jumps as one almost hits her shoulder. “You’ve gotta be kidding me. Another loss?”
G. smirks at her. “That makes fifteen wins for Aurora and me, and nothing for you.”
“Don’t remind me,” she scowls, and G. saunters off, no doubt to make water, as he likes to put it.
“We’ll get them next time,” I reply, trying to sound confident, but one glance from Queen shakes that confidence.
“Don’t lose faith,” Aurora agrees. She grins at us, and I look awake Something about that look in her eyes sends my heart aflutter. “All three of you are improving.” Her eyes narrow when she spots Harva rubbing her shoulder. “Are you okay?”
“Just sore.”
Aurora rushes over to her satchel and removes her bottle of sav. Before Harva can repeat that she’s only sore, Aurora runs back over and pulls the child’s sleeve up to her shoulder. Removing a small dab of the green substance, our healer rubs it on Harva’s shoulder blade. The sav glows before vanishing. “There. All better.”
“Yes,” Harva answers with a grin, moving her shoulder without the slightest indication of pain.
“Good,” she smiles in return. Stretching her own arms, she says, “I think I’ll take a quick walk. Be back in a minute.”
As she walks away, Queen jabs me in the ribs. “What are you waiting for? Go with
her.”
My face flushes. “No way,” I stammer. “I could never do that. Besides, she didn’t say she wanted any company.”
“She didn’t say she didn’t either,” Harva chimes in with a playful grin. It would seem that some of Queen’s habits are rubbing off on the girl.
“Would you both leave me alone?” I hiss.
“C’mon Felix,” Queen replies. “We just want the best for you, and I think you should go spend some alone time with her.” She pauses, shaking her head. “But don’t get any funny ideas.”
Harva and I raise our eyebrows at that. Why does she always make jokes that I don’t understand? “What are you talking about?”
“Forget it,” she sighs. “Besides, the kid’s still a little too young to overhear that stuff.”
“I am not,” Harva insists, putting her hands on her hips. “I’m eleven, and I’ve probably read more books than both of you.”
“Maybe you have,” Queen retorts, ruffling the child’s hair with a laugh. “But that isn’t a big accomplishment in Felix’s case, and I’m too busy living life.”
At that, Harva’s fists ball up. Her eyes water. Over the last few weeks, Harva’s temper has made an appearance. It isn’t close to Queen’s, but when she gets angry, she doesn’t know what to do with it. However, we don’t have to worry about it. One person knows how to deal with her. “Hey,” David calls, glancing over his map. “Stop picking on her, Queen, and let’s eat.”
Harva’s body tenses at the sound of David’s voice and the fact that she realized he watched them. Her face flushes. Perhaps next to my feelings for Aurora, Harva’s cute puppy love, as Queen once called it, is obvious to everyone. Though David hasn’t said so, I doubt he doesn’t know. How many times a day does she stare at him with childish longing? When I watch her, I wonder if I come off the same way to everyone when Aurora is near. If I am, I wish I could improve, maturing my actions. Wish I knew how I dealt with women before I lost my memories.
“Great,” Queen sighs, forgetting her petty squabble with Harva, who remains where she is with her fists clenched and a burning face
Placing a hand on her shoulder, I whisper, “It’s okay. She gets on my nerves sometimes too. C’mon, let’s eat.”
Sighing, she follows, hands in pockets. Sitting around the pot, David prepares everyone a bowl of soup, leaving both G. and Aurora’s on the side for when they return. He doesn’t take his eyes off his map for a moment. “You want to join us, Maris?” David offers. Harva’s eyes flash with jealousy. Nothing would make Harva happier than if he would have that kind of attention toward her, but instead she has to watch him pay attention to someone else. Maris says nothing, choosing to sit by herself. It’s hard to say whether or not David’s interest in our loner companion is romantic or not.
The soup is good, far better than the one I made a week ago. No one spat mine out, but it lacked the special oomph that David’s has today. Whenever I eat, I can feel new strength coursing through my body. No doubt, the others feel the same way, but I doubt they notice the floating words that accompany me when I eat. Replenishing Vitality: H.P. +3, Magic Points +3, Stamina +3. If they did, someone would mention it by now. Looking at the words, I realize David’s food offers more than mine did in terms of nutrition.
G. returns, picking up his bowl. Raising it to his lips, he takes a long slurp. “Everyone needs to eat quick. Got a long march before the day ends.”
“How much longer until we find a town?” Queen asks. There is a slight edge in her voice. My muscles tense. An argument was close to making its appearance, but I’m glad that she asked this. It’s weighing on my mind too.
All eyes turn to David and G.; if there were any among us with an idea, it would be the two road-weary adventurers. To my surprise, David only shrugs his shoulders and defers the question to his counterpart. G. reaches up to his beard and scratches for a long time. “It’s hard to say,” he admits. “Raka is different from Sorin. The train and roads connect many of the towns, with Astra serving as the center, with a few exceptions. Raka is just the opposite. Towns will be difficult to find. The further in you go, the more mountainous it becomes. It will be rocky trails most of the way. Most towns will be nestled in the valley areas. Who knows when we’ll find one once we reach the mountains.”
“Okay. Then tell us. How much longer are we going to play in the forest?” she asks.
It has been a month since our battle with the Orthrus and Zero became a member of our team. We were a few days travel into the nation of Raka’s territory, but it doesn’t seem like we’re any closer to those mountains than we were a month ago. It would not be a problem if we had more monsters to slay, but the Serpopards were the first we’ve seen since that battle. King Aedan said that the monsters must be in Rakan territory. Why are we not going where the beasts are?
“We’ve been over this before,” G. retorts, though not in an unpleasant voice. “At the edge of this forest, we’ll reach the true border between Sorin and Raka: The Great Boundary of Raka. Do we have to explain it again?”
Queen’s eyes narrow and shoots him a look. Her voice takes a sudden sharpness. “No,” she replies, huffing. I have to admit it’s been a little tiresome to hear about the Rakan wall. It stands high, over the heads of the largest monsters. It is solid stone, so thick that even the strongest creatures cannot scratch the surface. Guards stand atop it, looking for any enemies that would threaten to storm into their kingdom. These vigilant soldiers are powerful enough to keep any intruders out of their nation, perhaps with the monsters terrorizing the world being the only exception. If we cross the boundary at the wrong point, we’ll end up in a hard-pressed battle, one that we won’t flee from with ease. The Rakan military is famous for its ability to track any target for long periods of time. If anyone escapes them, it is because they find that target not worth their time.
“Crossing the border undetected is not impossible,” David reminds us. “But with a group this size, we can’t cross using the usual methods. There are too many chances for error.” G. and David said that in their adventures, they crossed Raka’s border twice. Each time they got through by the skin of their teeth. No doubt, we would fight our way through. I don’t want that.
Despite our current profession, I am not too keen on fighting many battles. After what happened with the griffins, I know that death is a reality, and it’s not one I want to face. The caravan massacre, as I’ve taken to calling it. Sometimes, it feels as if it didn’t happen at all. When I woke up a week ago, I thought it was a dream; in a matter of moments, I realized that it was real. Other times, the terror rears its ugly head, trying to ensnare my heart. Even now, I can feel that horror at the edge of my short memory. One of the worst realizations occurred after facing the Orthrus.
I shouldn’t have survived that battle. It doesn’t matter how I look at it. The answer is the same. I should have died that night. Those monsters should’ve torn me to pieces. The only reason I survived is a mixture of having a team and my own dumb luck. Knowing that I could’ve died is unsettling, but this has spurred on my desire to increase my strength. I haven’t discussed my problems with anyone. It’s pointless to make them worry. Besides, we have more important matters at hand. Everyone else can focus on the current task. I should be no different.
“And just when will we find the ideal crossing?” Aurora asks, her breathing strained. This is a concern I need to devote my time to. Last night, she spent almost an hour healing everyone’s wounds. Aurora’s the only one of us with any skill in healing. Not even G. and David have any knowledge of it; they always had to wander around until they found a healer. She performs the task of keeping our team healthy without complaint. It’s hard to imagine that it doesn’t tire her, but she smiles anyway. She’s amazing. It’s great having someone with Aurora’s skills in our group, but she shouldn’t overdo it.
David looks back with a shrug of his shoulders. “It’s hard to say,” he replies, motioning at his map. I have tried to read the map be
fore when he isn’t looking. It was a lot harder than I thought.
One of his fingers rest on a wooded area, no doubt our current location. Glad he knows where we are because I don’t have a clue. With his free hand, he slides over to a thick line, running across the continent. “The wall runs from coast to coast. It could be anywhere.”
“Do we even wanna know how long it’ll take us to travel from one side of the border to the other?” Queen asks, her voice displaying how tired she was of wandering around.
“No,” he replies with a shake of his head. “But from our current position, it should take, what would you say, Mr. G.? A month.”
“At least,” his large friend replies. “And that’s if the weather holds out.” During the last week, the weather keeps coming back up. It would seem that we are drawing close to the more unpredictable time of year. No one has been too specific about what will happen, but all I know is that the longer we take to get across that border, the harder our quest will be.
“Not to mention the bandits,” Queen reminds them, a topic they mention from time to time. We don’t talk about them, but G. made it clear before that there is a chance that we’ll run into bandits. They love forests and national borders, as he once put it. So far, we have avoided them with only faint traces of a camp they abandoned.
All at once, G. wears a big smile, adding, “But there’s no need to worry. We might cross that wall any day now. Just wait and see.”
“Of course,” Queen retorts, her voice dripping with how unconvinced she was.
“So, what are you looking for?” Aurora asks, getting up for another bowl of soup.
“It’s hard to say,” David ponders. “I’ll know it when I see it.”
Mind's Journey 2: Of Monsters and Men (A Gamelit Fantasy Adventure - Book 2) Page 5
