Sorry for the late chapter!

Was spending all day drawing and forgot to write, so here's a little longer chapter (just by like 1.5k characters)

Anyway! The journey has begun! \o/

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Chapter 6:

Bound by Fate

*An old saying goes. A new one takes flight*

 *-*-*-*-*

Sitting comfortably in the backseat of a horse carriage -with an open roof- on its way to the capital, was a short girl clad in a white oversized dress that reached down to her feet. Her hair fluttered slightly in the mild wind and the sun stood high up -releasing a perfect temperature for her beautifully white skin- which reminded her of the summers at home. Around her sat four retainers of the king, two seemingly identical boys around the age of ten, one old woman and an even older man who looked about to die any second now. She decided to have gone along with this little charade of being related to some foreign ruler 'Kamin Peeees' and was now travelling on the somewhat bumpy road in a relaxing manner compared to her earlier days. She could, after all, just simply leave if she had had enough.

Is what she would have wished, at least.

"Why won't this fucking lock break!?  Hahh... Im in deep  shit again..."

'And hungry... Didn't they try to feed me anything while I was out cold!? And just how long was I sleeping...'

In reality, Eriss couldn't have been worse off than if dead.

Sitting on a hard wooden plank that -because of the really  rocky road- gave her a slight back pain, in the back of a horse carriage on its way to the capital, along with four seemingly apparent slaves, Eriss was cuffed by a wooden plank over her wrists. There was a storm in the horizon, and the strong wind together with rain was already hitting their current area. It was cold, and she had no hope of escape as long as the fuckiLovely lock was still intact.

"Do you need help with that, little miss?"

"If you can get me out of it then YE-"

"..."

"...You..."

"...Yees?~"

Eriss stared blankly at the old man who spoke to her in a friendly manner! Not everyone was greedy! But the most important thing was, Eriss understood him! And he seemed to understand her, seeing what topic he actually opened up with. His old wrinkled face carried the eyes of a veteran, which were glaring at Eriss. She felt like her soul was looked through, searched, and completely scrutinized by the hawk-like, yellow iris. Snapping out of her trance, the harbinger of misfortune inspected her possible savior. His body was clad in a simple -but tattered- brown-ish tunic attached with an unworn hood that currently covered around his throat like a neck piece. Eriss' eyes turned glossy from the miracle in front of her, although she and everyone else was already soaked in the weather.

"...Can understand  me?.."

"Hmph!" The old man snorted, then showed Eriss a serene look from his countenance -It was such a loving smile that only a parent would otherwise give her- before answering her question in a slightly milder tone. "I would be a disgrace as a Litogarian citizen if I would be unable to recognize one of my own kin."

"Lito-...? Ah! Ahh... Yes..."

'As long as he can understand me, I don't care what part of the world I end up in anymore!'

The old man seemed to look at Eriss with slight pity. Such a young slave, and a Litogarian girl at that. He then looked over to the twins, and made a sad face. It did not suit him. Then he closed his eyes, seeming to have made up his old mind about something, and spoke out, but the voice didn't come through the ears.

*~Do you wish to escape, and get rid of the life as a slave?~*

A croaked, yet soothing voice reverberated through Eriss' skull -which made her jump slightly- and by the looks of the other slaves' reaction, theirs too. The old woman whose face appeared to have gotten wrinkles within her recent days, closed her eyes, and simply nodded before opening her eyelids while turning her face towards the old man. Her brown eyes, though, were looking straight at Eriss who sat to the left of the mysterious man, bearing the feeling of pity. The two twins looked at each other, and then simultaneously shifted their heads towards the girl that looked roughly five, six years older than them, before locking eyes with each other again, nodding once this time. During the quick second they had stared at Eriss, she saw their large, round eyes.

'Red...'

Realizing that she had yet to actually give the old man an answer, Eriss turned her drenched head and looked at him. There was no hesitation in the girls eyes that was slightly covered by strands of soaked, black hair, as she, the only one to actually speak out her wish, spoke out in a low voice that was further muffled by the weather.

"I wish to escape."

Smiling as he heard the quiet words, the old-looking slave opened his eyes, and looked to the grey sky.

"Blood is in my body. Iron is my pain. Shatter these bonds, as time is your gain."

As the last words were uttered, the hinges attached to the rectangularly shaped plank broke, and the two pieces of wood fell down on to the wet floor for all five that sat in the carriage. Eriss and the others were free of bonds!

'There is magic!? No, wait, how else would I end up here? Of course there is!'

But that was the only thing pleasant to the ears and eyes that happened.

Although no harm came to any of those transported, the guards that sat on horses, protecting from behind, and the rider which led the way, all screamed in agony as their whole body turned paler and paler before falling lifeless to the moist dirt ground, stopping the movement of the horse carriage. Eriss saw the whole process.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

It was as if their bodies dried out from within.

"...Remind me to never make you an enemy."

She wanted to throw up, and was now glad for the blessing in disguise of not having eaten for a while. So all Eriss could do in the situation was joke about it, as her mind had already ingrained the image of live mummification. She could live without it, but it was already too late.

The middle-aged woman took the empty reins of the horses in front, while the twins picked up the weapons and shields of the corpses laying in the dirt. When the two boys was back in the carriage, it started slowly moving forward, towards the next town they were about to reach anyway. This time, as fugitives.

Free fugitives.

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Since taking over the carriage an hour ago, nobody had uttered a noise in the heavy rain that poured down on them. Looking in the young girl's eyes back then, he felt compelled to help the poor soul that continuously swore and desperately tried to break free from her shackles. He had asked her if she wanted freedom, which he already knew the answer to, but asked nonetheless. Perhaps it was simply to get rid of his sense of guilt, if anything would happen to her because of the choice, but he still wished to do his utmost to save her from her hellish future.

He just hoped he hadn't made it worse.

The other three: the two half-demons, and the Egitorian woman, were also a cause of concern for him, but for a different reason. Thinking back at it, he had asked them something despicable. Something they would do right in hating him for, if not even trying to take his head as an answer. But they simply stayed silent, and nodded in agreement. And that, was heart wrenching to look at. They had all made their decision. He, too, had decided to do what he felt was right.

The growling of a stomach suddenly intermingled with the sound of rain, and the old magician simply looked at the perpetrator before asking the owner of such a stomach as loudly as he could in the thick rain.

"...Hungry?! We're soon at the next town! It's called Ret'iva! I think we can get something for you to eat there!"

The old man didn't have any food to offer the hungry girl, but at least he could offer his comfort, albeit while screaming. He probably didn't even need to scream, but felt like it would ease up the heavy mood which surrounded the carriage. And it did, as the drenched girl moved closer to him and replied in a corteous manner.

"You do not need to scream, sir. And thanks... For both the question and risking yourself to help me out of that mess."

A smile came after hearing the word 'sir'. He felt more and more that the choice he and the three others had decided to make, was a good one. Wanting to escalate the conversation in this sulky weather, and seeing as they still had some time to go, he continued the talk.

"No need to be so stiff. I'll... Always welcome you as part of my family. Say... What's you name, miss?"

"...Eriss."

'Hiding her surname, or simply never had one?'

Slight pity filled the old man as he pondered on his thoughts, but it wasn't the kind of pity given towards a stranger.

Something else was occupying his mind...

Then, he sank his frail body down on the ground in order to face Eriss at eye level, and made a wide grin while closing his eyes before speaking in a happy tone, devoid of any other emotions.

"Then now you'll be Eriss Granse! How about that? My name is Gherd Granse, and your name is Eriss Granse! Cool huh?"

"...Granse... Family..."

Gherd didn't miss as Eriss' mouth seemingly started to quiver after she had said those two words, probably remembering her already dead parents home at Litogaria, or simply overjoyed from finally getting a surname in her life after escaping slavery, or.... No, whichever it was, it was currently impossible to see if she was crying under the heavy rain that had already drenched her cheeks, but Gherd decided to silently sit aside as the young girl bent down and covered her face with her small hands.

He really wanted to make life better for this one, after all... To not end up with the same fate as him...

"I- I'm sorry, I..."

Reflexively rubbing her eyes -which didn't change much- Eriss continued to stutter out apologetic words, which to Gherd, was something uncomfortable that he didn't want to hear, not because of the words per say, but because of how the girl behaved when trying to utter them. With a loud sigh, Gherd simply shook his head with his eyes closed -causing Eriss to stop- and then reopen them to look at the feeble girl next to him.

"I know you may not always want to be with the rest of us... But I have decided that I want to give you the chance to be able to survive once you are alone again, and will for that reason alone, ask you this:" The old magician took a deep breath before asking his question. "Do you... Wish to learn magic from me?"

"...Please."

A faint smile creeped up on her face as she asked for permission. This was a side Gherd could not say no to, however devastating the aftermath might become. He simply nodded in silence at her words.

Nothing else was said during the remainder of the two hours ride. But with how the rain was getting louder as the town appeared in the foggy horizon, it would've been hard to hear anything anyway. As they were minutes away from the town caught inside the storm, Gherd thought back at what he had asked of the other three. He felt bad, but he didn't regret his decision, and it seemed they did not regret it, either, as silent as they were during the jorney.

He just hoped it would turn out for the best.

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Ps. I am planning to keep the story flowing through each perspective from where the "first" one ended, as in this chapter.

So any feedback regarding this is welcome! (As well as any other!)