Chapter 8

This was outside of anything I could have ever imagined. The being wasn’t just a dragon it was the first dragon, Kalastrovax. I had heard tales of dragons. They were beings of myth and legend. I had heard this name in stories. Kalastrovax was the right hand of the first Demon King. He was betrayed by the Demon King in the first war or so the story goes. It seems that he was sealed away in the necklace. I had thought all of these things were merely legends. Stories that you tell children in the night to make them behave. The power Kalastrovax was said to possess was second only to that of the gods. He was a legendary figure. Just by telling me his name he had revealed so much. I still didn’t know why he had been betrayed and imprisoned. That could wait till later, for now I needed to know what he knew about what was going on with the monsters and the new Demon King. Kalastrovax said “The first Demon King betrayed me because he thought I was a threat to his power. I had thought of him as possibly my best friend in life but it turns out he could not be trusted. His suspicions of me found me imprisoned and eventually he too fell to the blade of the Hero.” I had heard the legend of the Hero. They had saved the world from the clutches of the Demon King. I had always assumed that too was just a story but I guess all that was once fiction had been turned to fact before my eyes. Kalastrovax said. “ For now all you need to know is that the Demon King is coming. If you want to stop that from happening you’ll have to do as you've already decided. Reporting to your human authorities will help in the short term. Humanity is in no state to fight the Demon King. While you humans master the blade and your paltry imitation of true magic. You cannot withstand the power of the Demon King’s army.” I said. “Well I at least have to try. We have a long road ahead of us to even inform the Capital of what has happened. I hold no allegiance to the Kingdom but I am a Human and I believe we deserve to have at least a fighting chance at this Demon King.” Kalastrovax replied. “If that is what you wish to do, so be it, but if you manage to help free me or even bring back a little of my power I may be able to assist you. With your course decided I must retreat back into the necklace. It hasn't been long enough since our last meeting for me to have appeared to you again and I have over drafted what little power I still retain. I am but a shadow of my former self, but if you can help me I will bring you power that you would never have believed possible. Farewell for now Alex. I will try to meet with you again. Though it may take more time than it would have if I hadn’t over drafted my power. By the time you make it to your human Capital I may have the power to visit you in a dream once again.”

With that his image was gone and I was left alone in the darkness. True sleep soon overtook me. I slept deeply even with the thoughts of what may be coming heavy on my mind. I awoke to the smell of eggs and bacon being cooked over the fire. Sora said. “We need a good meal for the journey ahead.” I replied. “I couldn’t agree more.” We ate our breakfast before heading out for the day. We should manage to make it to the next town before nightfall so that was today's goal. With food in our bellies we set out on our journey. We walked without pause. We snacked on some fruit and crackers while we walked. Just before the sun set we saw a town on the horizon. We made it to the gate just before they were going to close up for the night. There was the normal toll to enter the town of only a couple coppers. We paid our toll and asked for directions to an Inn. “ Three blocks north on the right side. There’s a blue sign with a raven in the center. It’s called the Raven’s Nest. It’s the only Inn in town.” The guard said. “Thanks for the information.” I said. We made our way towards the Inn. It was right where the guard said it was. We walked through the door and were greeted by the innkeeper when we arrived. “Welcome to the Raven’s Nest. Will you be wanting a room for the night or just a meal.” She said.. “We will take a room each and also a meal if you have anything for us to eat. If we could also get a bath that would be great.” I said. She said, “Alright, I’ll send someone up to get those rooms and a bath ready. It will be a bronze each for a night with meals included. Have a seat at a table and I'll bring out some food.” We made our way to a small table to await our supper. She brought out a platter of pork chops with potatoes on the side with a steaming loaf of bread. The food smelled wonderful. It had only been a few days since a meal that was not cooked over a fire, but I had already gotten used to eating very well after only a short time. We ate with gusto. A maid came to our table and told us our bath was ready. I let Sora go first and while she did that I carried our bags up to our separate rooms. Not long after Sora knocked at my door to let me know that I could make use of the bath. I went down and took a quick bath. I scrubbed my body and washed my clothes. After I got done bathing I went to Sora's room. We talked about what the plan was for tomorrow. We decided that we needed to resupply and then let the town guard know what we had seen. With that settled I left her for the night and went to my room. I pulled myself into the bed. It would be nice to sleep in a bed for a change. It didn’t take long for me to fall asleep. No dreams plagued me in the night and I awoke feeling refreshed. I knew what needed to be done. We had to inform the town guard of the dangers that may await. It seemed like the monsters were in the infancy of their plans so it was best cut off while we could still affect them. If I could convince them of at least monsters being around maybe they would be more careful of the things going on around the town. I got out of bed. I made my way over to Sora’s room and knocked. In a minute she was there and ready to go. We went downstairs for breakfast. The maid from the night before bright us plates with eggs and bacon with fresh bread. It was a pleasant meal. After we finished eating we asked for directions for a general store where we we could resupply.

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The store was a short walk away. We made our way to the shop that said general goods and went inside. There was a human male standing behind the counter. He came out to greet us. “My name is Arthur, is there anything I can help you with.” He said. I replied. “ We need general food supplies for about a week and an extra water skin apiece.” I wanted the extra water supply because I didn't want to have to worry about it like we had to the last time. “I can have that ready in a few minutes just wait right here.” Arthur said. He went into the back room. We heard the sound of rustling and in a few minutes he came out his arms loaded down with supplies. “The total comes out to two bronze and four copper.” I paid the man and gave my thanks. We packed away our goods and asked for directions to the guard post. Arthur pointed the way for us and we headed over. Much like the last town, the guard wanted us to know why we needed to talk to the guard captain. We told him what we told the last guard we had some information we thought that the guard captain would need to hear. He went back to ask if the captain would see us. He came back and waved us both in. “What is it that you have to tell me? We aren’t a bustling metropolis but I can't have you wasting our time. If you've got information for me then say it and get out of my office.” I hadn’t expected the man to be this rude but I needed to let him know of the threat that he may be facing. “We’ve had multiple encounters in the last two weeks with monsters on our way towards the Capital. We have also heard and seen bandit activity along the road. I just wanted to bring this increased activity to your attention.” He said. “Thank you, for bringing this to my attention I will send out a patrol to start looking around the local area for monsters and bandits. I didn't mean to be so abrupt earlier, but this isn’t information that I am happy to receive. Either way I appreciate you bringing it to me.” I also told him of my meeting with the other towns captain. So that maybe they could communicate and coordinate together to secure the area. I hadn’t told him everything. It would have needlessly complicated the situation and possibly lead to the captain not believing me at all. With that we left the office. I didn’t want to waste anymore time. We needed to get back on the road we had at least a week until we would make it to the Capital. If our previous travel was anything to go by we may have some monster encounters to contend with. I hoped that would not be the case.

We made our way out of the town and back onto the road. We went through the city gate and headed back down the trail. We kept a good pace walking well into the afternoon. We didn’t stop for lunch. We had some trail rations that we ate while we walked. We had a lot of ground to make up after our errands earlier in the day. We finally stopped when it started to get dark. I set up the tent while Sora set up a fire. We met around the fire and we cooked up some salted pork with vegetables. We ate in silence. It had gotten a little tense between us. With what we had seen the other day things had gotten complicated. Neither of us felt comfortable bringing it up and the tension just sat between us. “We should talk about what happened the other night.” I said. Sora said. “ I don’t want to talk about it right now. I was kidnapped by those goblins. It was not a pleasant experience.” “We need to talk about it though. Keeping it bottled up will not be good for either of us.” I replied. “I felt helpless. I have never felt that way in all of my life and I never want to feel that way again. Being raised in the nobility my needs were always met, but I decided to run away. Look at what it brought me. Captured by goblins and then saved by a stranger. I know nothing about you. Though I am forced to trust you somewhat for what you did to save me. Maybe you can earn more of my trust but for now I still can’t trust you fully. There is just too much about you that I don’t know.” I thought about what she was saying. I had felt the same way.My whole life I felt like I was a prisoner. What I had done to escape from that was not in any way redeeming and I knew that on some level it was wrong. It was the only way I had seen to get out of my situation. I decided that since we were being vulnerable I would tell her a little about my past. I started my tale. “I was born into this world as an orphan. I never met either of my parents. I was dropped off on the front step of the Church of Laluna. I lived my life as a servant of the Church constantly doing the bidding of the Church fathers. Beaten at every turn for any would be transgression.” I paused. Thinking of if I wanted to reveal the truth of my life. That I had killed a fellow orphan to cause a distraction and secure my freedom. I had made up my mind. I would tell her. She was listening to my tale with rapt attention. “ Just before I met you. I thought of a way to get my freedom from the Church. I was tired of my life. I wanted a way out. My life had seemed to have no meaning. I needed my freedom. As long as I was there I was a prisoner. So I had made a plan. I would do something that would cause a distraction and I would be able to make my escape. I had made attempts at escape many times in the past. Every time I would be beaten almost to death as punishment and still I resisted and planned my escape. I had stolen a knife from the kitchen. Which I was beaten for of course. I was beaten for everything just like a dog that nips its master. I snuck into the room of a fellow orphan that had tormented me for years. I used that knife to take his life. The boy's name was Sloan and I won’t lie I relished killing him. That may make me a terrible person and I was almost caught but I did manage to make my escape. And because I was freed from my prison I was able to help you in your time of need. Please don't hold that against me.” She looked at me with wide eyes. After a while she seemed to regain her senses. “I am happy you revealed some of your past to me. While you may have a checkered past you did save me and that's worth more than the life of some evil boy. Since you revealed the truth about your past I will reveal something about myself that I have kept hidden. I am not just some low level noble of the Sakura Empire. My mother is the current Empress Ayame Tanaka and I am the first Princess of the Sakura Empire.