26.

It was near the summit of the mountain that Florian finally woke up. They had been hiking for a few days. No one seemed to be following them, Alaric permitted them to slow their pace a little. Throughout the few days, Florian had been getting progressively better. The bleeding had completely stopped and the hole in his torso closed up. It left a bad scar, however. Ashe stood hovering over Florian along with Alaric and Everard when his eyes began fluttering open. Savia had been further back checking their surroundings. Florian coughed roughly as he woke up. She carefully lifted his head and began pouring water into his mouth. They had acquired the water when they found the Gwyn River's source. With Florian's thirst quenched, he began to look at them.

"I…am…sorry…I…couldn't…beat…him." Florian's voice came just a little higher than a whisper. His voice had been hoarse.

"Shhhhh…don't speak." Ashe calmly caresses him on the head.

"And you are wrong, you beat Chapman. You did a wonderful job." Alaric smiled at him.

Florian's eyes widened at his remark.

Everard nodded. "You sliced him right in two."

Florian broke eye contact and looked downwards.

Alaric bent and ruffled Florian's curly hair. "It is okay, we are safe right now. You should just focus on healing."

Florian nodded.

Alaric and Everard walked away towards Savia. She stayed with Florian. She moved behind him and placed his head on her legs. She looked out at the now darkened landscape they found themselves in. Mountains blocked their vision on both sides, blocking them from seeing the horizon. Alaric had said Adhu Aqua would be on the other side of the mountain.

"I…shouldn't…have…been…able…to..hit…Chapman…from…that…distance." "How…am…I…not…dead."

"I wasn't there but I will try to explain." Ashe motioned for him to look at Everard.

"He was there when you fought Chapman, right?"

Florian nodded.

"He is also the one that kept you alive. He has some sort of healing capability. I think Alaric called it Desano."

"Why?"

Ashe shrugged. "We didn't ask." Ashe pointed at the crimson blade that had laid next to Florian. "That blade was the reason you beat Chapman. Apparently, that blade is part of Heinzidal's Arsenal."

Ashe could sense Florian's confusion.

"It is one of twenty legendary weapons that Heinzidal owned. Each requires a large amount of stria and stamina to even wield. Most of them are kept by the Zidal Empire but a few of them are still missing. This one included."

Florian had a confused look on his face. Ashe chuckled.

"At least that is what I was told."

Ashe filled Florian in on the happenings of the past few days. At some point, Florian fell asleep and she followed quickly after him.

The next morning the group began their trek once again. Alaric carried Flroian on his back. If he had been struggling he did not mention it. A few hours into their trek they reached the summit. The view from the summit had been breathtaking. All that effort climbing the mountain seemed to disappear when she laid her eyes on the stunning visual.

The Great City of Adhu Aqua could be seen from the summit. It defied any expectations Ashe had. Isern had been a speck of dust compared to Adhu Aqua. Ashe had always thought Isern had been large, especially compared to what she knew about in Diable Island and Nezzagwyn. Adhu Aqua was a real city about one hundred times larger than Isern. Even being this far from the city she could see that the entire city had been made of tall buildings with slanted roofs. It looked as if it would take an entire day and then some to cross the city by foot. The entire city had been inside a huge wall. She assumed they could only see beyond the wall because they had been on top of the mountain. Closer to them had been cultivated fields that looked like patterns that had been drawn onto the ground. Of all the buildings within the city walls, there had been one building that made the rest look like dwarves. It was the furthest north and looked like a castle from the fairy tales that Alaric read to her when they were younger. Behind the castle was the sole reason she had been speechless. At first glance, she assumed it was a void. It was a lake. The small movement made certain of that fact. It stretched further than she could see. There had been dark clouds covering the sky above Adhu Aqua and heavy rain poured down onto the city.

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"The Great City of Adhu Aqua. A beautiful sight." Everard said while standing next to her.

She instead turned to Alaric. "This is your home? Why would you ever want to leave?"

He did not respond, instead, he had a very sad expression. She looked towards Savia who noticed his expression as well.

Everard did not notice as he asked questions. "You are from Adhu Aqua!" He asked with wide eyes.

Alaric nodded.

"That means you are a nobleman like me. You did not seem to be a nobleman when we met."

Alaric glared at Everard. "You are correct, I am a nobleman. Something far nobler than you will ever be, boy."

Everard just scoffed. Ashe chuckled slightly. They had been hostile towards one another the entire journey to the summit.

Ashe tapped Alaric on the arm. He turned towards her.

"Why don't you tell us a little about Adhu Aqua while we make our way towards the city," Ashe asked.

Alaric sighed. It had clearly been a topic he wanted to avoid.

"Fine. Though I did not live there very long." Alaric said as he began their descent.

"Adhu Aqua, the great city or whatever they call it nowadays, had a much simpler name before. It was called The City of Still Waters. Not a good name hence the change to Adhu Aqua." Ashe listened closely to him as he spoke. She had never enjoyed his lectures before but this seemed to be a topic that she would like.

"Adhu Aqua is the name given to the large lake that is situated on the northern end of the city. The city is responsible for the food cultivation and production in the Zidal Empire therefore is not known as one of the strongest cities such as Arstutia or Impestra."

"All in all it is a pretty miserable city."

Ashe raised an eyebrow. Alaric turned to her.

"It never stops raining and the people all think they are smarter than the next."

Ashe's eyes widened at the former statement. "It never stops raining? Like the desolate lands?"

Alaric nodded. Everard spoke up after that. "Every Great City has a sort of…defect. A weird weather condition. It has been studied by many scholars but they all come to one conclusion. That the cause of these heavy weather abnormalities was due to a large concentration of stria being cramped in one place. Whether that is true or not remains to be seen."

"That is crazy. I want to visit other great cities," Ashe said.

Alaric had a small smirk on his face. "After we reach Meinspir, you can travel as much as you like."

Ashe knew that Alaric was trying to get her to be happy but she did not like the way he excluded himself from the prospect of travelling.

"Okay."

As nightfall approached and the group made camp, Alaric asked to speak to Florian and Ashe specifically. Savia and Everard understood and made themselves scarce.

Alaric sat next to Florian, who was lying on the ground, and opposite Ashe who was sitting crossed legs.

Florian had been quiet ever since he woke up. She caught him glancing a few times at the whip that Everard carried with him.

"Why'd you want to talk to us?" Florian's voice broke her out of her thoughts.

Alaric sighed. "I think it is pretty clear that Priest Able is a member of the scaev."

This was a topic Ashe did not want to think about. The man who raised them is some sort of madman who worships nixum.

She refused to believe it, she will not believe it.

"Then why'd the scaev within Isern help us?" Alaric spoke as if he could read her mind.

Ashe bit on her lip.

"What are you talking about?" Florian asked.

"That woman that you helped in Isern, she was a scaev. She helped us evacuate." Alaric explained.

"Woman…Jinny?"

Alaric nodded. "She seemed keen to help us as well."

"Wrong." Ashe's claim made Alaric shift in his seat.

"She was keen to help you and only you. She called you 'lord'. And she did not acknowledge me at all." Ashe explained further.

Florian turned his head to look at Alaric.

"You are right, this probably means they know about me." Alaric placed a hand on his chest before continuing. "Priest Able is keeping tabs on us by using his scaev connections. He wants to make certain we get to Meinspir at all costs."

"Should we still go?" Florian asked.

Alaric nodded. "Yes, but not for the reason he wants us to. He is probably scheming and that envelope he gave us is the key. And I assume it has nothing to do with breaking the oppression of the mysurs."

"Then why still go to Meinspir?" At this point, Florian and Alaric had been talking to each other. Her mind was still taken by the fact that their guardian had been a bad person.

"To kill King Godric," Alaric announced. Florian jerked up and Ashe sat with wide eyes.

"Wait a minute…you can't be serious…you have truly gone mad. There is no way to do such a thing." This was the most Florian spoke in days.

"Relax, I know. No matter how impossible it seems right now, it is something we have to do. I vowed to protect the people of Nezzagwyn and how things are now, the mysurs will never be free. There will always be another Chapman." Florian flinched at the mention of the name.

"That is why one of you two will need to take the throne and free the mysurs. This can only happen once the current King is dead. Once the King is dead, according to the law of the Zidal Empire, A King's Rite will have to take place. A vicious battle of the throne where the best casters fight until the last to remain standing becomes the king."

"The best…casters. We are not anywhere close to that." Florian whispered.

"I know, but you will leave them with no choice. Once you arrive at Meinspir you will know what to do."

Ashe snapped and began yelling. "Why are you excluding yourself? Why only us two? You are going to be there as well!"

Alaric moved quickly to her side and placed a hand on her shoulder. He spoke low and ominously.

"I am not going to make it past Adhu Aqua."