The sky was once again changing colors when Dagger announced it was time to pack up camp. As'rya had already packed her bag neatly with the spare time, as well as doing her best to clean her cloak and her pants from the day before at the tiny stream the mercenary had led her to. They had also refilled their water and would do so one more time before heading out.

Dagger stretched his senses out as twilight approached. He had been checking throughout the day as well, scouting the area occasionally to see if they were being followed. As of yet, he hadn't felt anyone. He tried to feel relieved, but their escape from the Capital had felt too easy.

Only sensing the local wildlife and the retreat of the sun, he deemed it safe to begin forward.

While it seemed they'd avoided the renegade Lysima group, Dagger knew that he himself would become a much more serious danger if he wasn't careful.

The voice of the Beast was getting more insistent, more demanding. Though he referred to it as a voice, it was really more of a feeling. A building rage, bloodlust beginning to boil in his veins, a sucking darkness that threatened to devour him.

The only way to stop it from taking over completely was to do what it asked; to kill.

Of course, Dagger refused to just go after anyone without a reason. That was how he had come up with his current system; find criminals, find the worst of the worst, and kill them instead. He kept careful notes of the police reports from various cities near the Capital. He often didn't even have to leave the Capital, as crime and cruelty ran rampant there.

It was the best he could come up with, but he hated it. He hated knowing he was on a constant timer until he felt the need to murder, until he couldn't control the bloodlust building up like a roar. This was how he had lived his life for the past 100 years, this torturous cycle.

Dagger had looked through his notes while As'rya slept. His next two targets were also planned to be in the Capital, but clearly that wasn't an option anymore. He skipped down the list until he saw the town name 'Harlouve'. It was a medium sized town, situated on a main road where there were few other stops nearby. A man running an inn there had been taking advantage of customers for years, in more ways than one. There was also talk of some lone travellers checking in to the inn and never leaving, but everyone was too afraid to say anything for fear of retaliation.

With his sights set, Dagger rolled open the map the Queen had given him, as well as his handmade more local one. They would need to go around the mountains, leading them southeast. Harlouve was a little farther towards the west, but it would only add half a day or so if he used his shadow step to close the distance. Dagger felt bad about planning to leave the princess, but if he didn't, he would be a bigger threat than any assassins could be. Besides, he'd been checking diligently to feel if they were being followed. Other than the occasional villager hunting or foraging, they hadn't been around any people.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"Where are we going?" As'rya asked from behind him, pulling her cloak on and looking at the maps.

"To the Kingdom of Lysima," he replied flatly.

"May I know by which route we will go?" the princess asked, unperturbed.

"We will have to go south around the Igoera Mountains," Dagger sighed. "But the exact path there is not set. We will travel the safest path; that's all you need to know."

Standing up and putting the maps away, he slung his pack onto his shoulders, shutting down any other questions she might have had.

"Let's go."

*****

As'rya was doing pretty good today, she thought to herself. For one, Dagger was setting a slightly slower pace today. Another was that her muscles had actually felt better once she'd started moving. She didn't know how much of it was the effect of the herbal remedy or not but she was grateful nonetheless.

Even so, the princess still fought off a yawn and oncoming fatigue. She was used to sleeping when it was dark, and her body wasn't happy with her flip-flopped schedule. As'rya wasn't sure how long the side effect would last, but she hoped not too long. Or maybe they would be able to travel during the day soon?

To distract herself, she would try to find the wildlife along their route.

Ever since she was young, As'rya had been particularly drawn to animals. Of course, in the castle, there weren't exactly very many to be found. Mother didn't even have any pets; she considered them 'dirty'. The only ones she found regularly were the sparrows and songbirds that would stop by from time to time. One time a cat had wandered in to the garden. The princess could see some other animals in the market, but only ever from a distance.

But here, in this forest so full of life, even as the day ended for the citizens of the Capital, animals were busy everywhere. As'rya could hear them scuttling through leaves, perched in trees, rustling among bushes while in search of food. It wasn't just that, though. When she really focused, she could almost sense the animals. As'rya couldn't close her eyes for fear of walking straight into a tree, but she did her best despite that. Bats, stretching their wings and getting ready to take flight; racoons, climbing the tree over there, watching them pass with curiosity; the disturbed rabbits they passed by that wiggled farther in their den, more annoyed than scared by their passing. They had even gone by a herd of sleeping deer the night before.

It was beautiful and mesmerizing.

"...cess?...Hello? Princess?"

With a start, As'rya realized that she had stopped in her tracks and the mercenary was looking at her with concern.

"We can take a break if you need," Dagger told her. "In fact, it would be a good time for me to scout the area. Let's find an area to stop."

While it hadn't been her intention, As'rya didn't disagree. Her legs were aching again, and she really wanted a bit of food. She followed Dagger to a small copse of young trees and sat down.

She wasn't sure what time it was, but it was still fully dark out. The moon was just a small sliver, but would slowly be getting bigger each night as their journey continued. That thought gave her a small measure of comfort.

As'rya looked over at Dagger, who stood eerily still, looking out into the dark forest ahead. He'd stopped and done it several times along their journey and she'd wanted to ask what he was doing, it seemed to take a lot of concentration and it felt rude to interrupt. Besides, he had told her that once they'd set up camp after tonight, he would answer some of her questions.

As'rya certainly had a lot of them. Some of them had to do with the journey, but many of them pertained to the mysterious man himself. Through their interactions, her curiosity had only grown. Unfortunately, walking for hours on end through the pitch black was not the environment to start a conversation such as that. So instead she buried the questions a little longer, focusing on their surroundings and their current leg of the journey.