Kenrich returned the broadsword and gemstones to Violet, put out the dim fire that was burning and slowly and quietly uncovered the top of the cave. Kenrich climbed out easily but had to help the injured Violet by pulling her up. The two looked around through the darkness and did not spot any soldiers.

“Okay, let’s get a move on,” Violet said. “Where to?”

“This way,” Kenrich said.

Violet followed Kenrich as they snuck through the middle of the forest as quickly and quietly as they could. They saw that the sun was starting to come up and hastened their movement.

“Where are we going?” Violet asked.

“Towards Fril,” Kenrich said.

“I guess it would be easier to blend in within a city of that size,” Violet said. “That’s still quite the journey by foot though.”

“We’ll have to stop in Lampeer on the way,” Kenrich said. “We should be able to get your wounds treated and hopefully gather some supplies.”

“You know I’m not taking you with me, right?” Violet said. “You’re just a commoner. You’d drag me down.”

“I’m not giving you a choice in the matter,” Kenrich said. “I’m going to see this through. It’s not like I have anywhere to go back to anyway…”

“It’s not going to be a safe journey,” Violet said. “We’ll be the most wanted people in all of Admia if you stick around.”

“They already said that I’m being charged with going against the emperor’s orders if I’m found, so even without the ring, I’m a dead man.”

“Wow. They went that far, huh?” Violet said. “Tinsen is such a jackass. Okay, you can come. But you better pull your weight. I won’t hesitate to leave you behind.”

“I’ll do my best,” Kenrich said.

Being betrayed by the people he and his father had spent their whole lives fighting for was a knife to the heart for Kenrich. He did feel responsible for the two weeks of hell they all had to go through though, which made him less mad at them and more at himself. He was constantly convincing himself it was for the best to keep the ring out of the military’s hand, but that does not lessen the hardship they all had to endure. In this way, Violet and Kenrich were opposites. Kenrich was betrayed by his people, while Violet betrayed hers. They both share the same goal though which will drive their journey to keep the Ring of Life out of the hands of the Admian military.

After hours of walking, the sun was now out. Kenrich and Violet were very far away from Millin at this point though, so they were letting their guards down a bit.

“Not having a horse is starting to piss me off,” Violet said. “I really hope we can get one once we’re in Lampeer.”

“Do you have the money for a horse? I don’t have any money on me at all,” Kenrich said.

“Of course,” she said. “Being an Admian soldier does have its benefits after a-”

Violet cut her sentence short as she started patting down all of her pockets in a frantic manner.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me. I must’ve dropped my wallet somewhere…” she said, dejectedly.

“We’ll have to get a horse somehow,” Kenrich said. “We won’t last a week on foot once they put a bounty on my head.”

“We’ll have to gain money somehow while we’re there,” Violet asked. “Hopefully they have a guild hall, I can knock out some missions and we’ll have some horses before the day is over.”

“You sound confident.”

“I’m quite good in battle,” Violet said, proudly.

“Combat missions are usually the ones that pay the best I’ve heard, but we need to get you treated before you do any fighting, so we should do an easy request first,” Kenrich said.

“You’re starting to sound like my father.”

“Well, he was probably right, just like I am now. Fathers usually are.”

“I don’t need you to worry about me. I’ve been through much worse,” Violet said. “I heard that your father was the one who gave you the task of protecting your village, well, my parents gave me a task too, and guarding this ring is part of it. We can’t waste any time.”

“What’s so special about this ring anyway? I’ve never even heard of the Ring of Life,” Kenrich said.

“I’m not sure myself, but what I do know is that it’s one of the oldest magic stones in history, and the few who have heard of it, don’t even believe that it ever truly existed. It’s a prehistoric fairy tale. Not many passed the legend along. My father told me just how obsessed the previous emperor was with finding it, and how the current emperor carries on that wish in secret and searches for it endlessly. I also heard that they found intel that the ring was hidden deep underground in a region within what is now Millin. It’s hard to say if anyone lived there back then though. This is all ancient history at this point.”

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“You weren’t able to learn anything while in the military?”

“Everything about the ring was on a ‘need to know’ basis, so I didn’t even know they were close to finding it until they were dispatching a unit. Once I found that out, I had to call in a lot of favors in order to get a spot amongst the soldiers sent.”

“We’re really a part of something massive, aren’t we?”

“Massive and dangerous. There is zero chance they will ever give up on finding it.”

“Then what are we supposed to do? We’ll be hunted until we’re able to either destroy the ring or hide it somewhere out of their grasp.”

“Supposedly, there’s no known way to destroy ancient gemstones, but I’ve given it some thought, and I think we should take it to Aquarium.”

“Aquarium? Why there?”

“Queen Puri is very outspoken against the Admian government, so if anyone is going to know a way to keep powerful gems out of Admian hands, it's her.”

“How the hell are we going to get an audience with a queen? Also, Aquarium is on the other side of the continent!” Kenrich said.

“I’m sure if we find out the ability of the ring before we get there, we can prove to them just how powerful it is. That should give us an audience. Fril has a description stone, so we just need to convince them to let us use it.”

“So, to recap, we get horses in Lampeer, gain access to the description stone in Fril, then go to Aquarium to find out what to do with the ring?”

“I’m glad you were paying attention. We shouldn’t spend too long in any one place though. After a bit, they will definitely issue wanted posters of you, and I’m sure the villagers of Millin would be happy to make sure the description is accurate.”

Just then, Violet and Kenrich both saw the outline of a settlement. It was Lampeer. Lampeer dwarfed Millin in its size but was still much smaller than the average town. With a population of two thousand, it just meets the threshold for having a guild hall. Guild halls are essential to the economy of every nation within Nedluca and are places where anyone can post requests to be fulfilled as long as they pay for the posting and offer a reward. After about twenty more minutes of walking, Violet and Kenrich approached the town gate, which was defended by two, disproportionate spear-wielding guards wrapped in leather armor.

“State your business,” said the tall, skinny guard on the left.

“Just travelers,” Violet answered.

“How long will you be staying?” said the short, burly guard on the right.

“Just for a night,” Violet answered again.

“Do you let your girlfriend do all the talking for you?” said the guard on the left. The other snickered.

“She’s not my girlfriend, and why does that matter?”

“A man should take care of the physically impaired, buddy,” said the short guard. “You’ll make the rest of us look bad.”

“‘Physically impaired’?” Violet said, annoyed.

“Nothing against you, ma’am,” said the short guard. “It’s just biology. Women are weak so we men must protect them and take charge.”

“Oh, is that right?” Violet said. “I guarantee that I could take you both on at once.”

“There’s no need, girl,” the tall guard said. “We’d feel bad bullying a poor lass.”

“How about we make a wager then?” Kenrich said. He turned and gave a mischievous look at Violet.

“A wager?” asked the short guard.

“Yes! How about we bet some money on whether or not she could beat you both in a friendly duel?” Kenrich said.

“Now things are getting interesting,” said the tall guard.

“How much are we betting?” asked the short guard.

“How about 100 gez?” Violet said.

“Haha! Real money! I like that!” laughed the short guard. “We’ll take you on. This’ll be the easiest money we’ve ever made!”

“Great! First to get knocked out or give up loses. Please don’t go easy on me. I need to get out some aggression,” Violet said.

“Now that gez’s on the line, there’s no way we’ll go easy! Sorry for what’s about to happen, lass,” said the tall guard with a big grin plastered on his face.

Kenrich stood next to the gate and watched the guards go further out with Violet following them. The guards took their places on one side of the open green field, and Violet stood on the other side about fifteen feet away. She pretended to yawn which angered both of the guards, who lunged at Violet before they even agreed on when they would start. It didn’t matter much though as Violet immediately dodged both of their spears before unsheathing her broadsword, and cutting the tips off of them both. The guards looked at their now glorified sticks, tossed them away, and came at her with daggers unsheathed from their belts. Violet put her broadsword away, took a fighting stance, and easily unarmed both guards using only her feet. She kicked both daggers out of their hands before giving the short guard a swift punch to the center of his nose which brought him down just as swiftly. With the short guard grasping his now broken nose, the tall guard understood that they were outmatched and conceded the match. They then reluctantly paid Violet the money promised in the wager. Now, with a big smile plastered on her face, Violet skipped her way back to Kenrich with a wad of gez in her grasp. They then entered the village gates while the tall guard tried to mend his spear, and the short one his nose.

“That wager was a brilliant idea,” Violet said. “You might make yourself useful yet.”

“You flatter me,” Kenrich said. “You still moved around too much though. How’s your wound?”

“I told you to stop worrying. Now, why did you think that I could beat them? You’ve never seen me fight before.”

“You said that you were good in battle, so I decided to trust you. I guess you weren’t lying.”

“You haven’t seen anything yet. Once I’m back to full strength, not even an army of ogres could stand in my way.”

“Sure, sure. Let’s find a clinic. We can get you patched up before we check out the guild.”

“We won’t have the money for it,” Violet said. “Becoming a certified adventurer costs 100 gez. That’s why I made the wager that high.”

“You should have made it higher then! I didn’t know you had to pay to become an adventure…”

“Shows what they teach you in the boonies. And if I made it higher, they might not’ve taken the bet! I was playing it conservatively.”

“You’re playing it conservatively with your health…”

“Shush. If you’re going to whine this much, then if we have some extra gez after taking on a few requests, we can both get our yearly checkups.”

“If you get an infection, don’t come crying to me.”

“Uh huh, sure. Let’s go check out the guild.”