Kenrich, Violet, and Atlas had been galloping for an hour in silence before Kenrich posed a timely question.
“So, how long until we’re there do you think?”
“Couldn’t say. I’m not too familiar with this part of the country,” Violet mumbled with a mouthful of stale bread. “The more important thing is to keep moving no matter what. We’re just gonna get to Fril, use that descriptor stone, and then leave with our new leverage.”
“There’s definitely no way we can get an audience with Queen Puri without it. I still don’t know how we’re gonna get them to let us use it.”
“We’ll worry about that when we get there.”
They galloped for ten more minutes before they saw a lone horse heading towards them at a slow trot. This was not an unusual sight as most of these dirt roads from city to city are followed both ways. Lampeer wasn’t a huge city by any means, but it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility for someone to make their way there from Fril. If only it were that simple though. The horse was only around thirty feet away when a huge cloud of mist had started spewing out of the ditches on each side of the road. The mist took away the little visibility that was still available to Kenrich and Violet. It quickly went from traveling by dim moonlight to swimming through a damp shadow.
“It’s an ambush!” Violet yelled.
Atlas was heavily startled by the loss of his vision and jumped backwards, standing on his hind legs and neighing as if there were flames in front of him. This caused Kenrich, who was just as frightened to loosen his grip on Violet and fall backwards onto the dirt path. The pain shot up his back into his neck and the wind was knocked out of him which made it impossible to get back up before he was surrounded by four masked men wielding rapiers. They each only had one hand on their rapiers with their other hands gripping something tightly. Almost certainly some magic-infused gemstones. Kenrich could only see the back of the horse so he had no idea what Violet was doing and could only guess her actions using sound.
Clang! Clink! Swoosh! Thud!
These sounds only made Kenrich more anxious. He was not sure what he could do but he knew that the masked men surrounding him would not let him anyway. He could only sit and wait. Violet had jumped off the horse shortly after Kenrich was thrown off and immediately started sparring with two masked men who were trying to subdue her. She had no time to pick through the few magic gemstones she had to try and gain any advantage and instead just started elegantly swinging her sword at the men who defended her blows easily. One man tried to get behind her and disarm her but her reflexes were too sharp and she pushed him to the ground. Finally, the scuffle stopped with the appearance of snide and proud sounding voice.
“Oh, why must we fight?” the man said. “We only wish to ask you a question or two!”
Kenrich finally had enough breath in his lungs to sit up straight and was strangely put to ease by this voice. The thought of their ambushers not trying to kill them gave him a bit of slim hope. Or a bit of Stockholm Syndrome perhaps. Things were silent for a moment. Violet kept her eyes on her two targets as well as the man she pushed to the ground but she had stopped her assault. The voice came through the fog again.
“I’m glad you have both seen reason! We do not wish to hurt you so please just cooperate. Here, as a token of goodwill, the fog is no more!”
With a thrust of his hands, the masked man with the proud voice seemed to push all the fog away into the forest. Kenrich and Violet finally got a good look at the situation they were in. There were eight total masked men with masks that look like black hoods that covered their whole face with a white curl that protruded on the front of it. It looked reminiscent of a crescent moon. The rest of their outfits were the same shade of pitch black. The only person who deviated from this trend was the man with his arms fixed into a dramatic pose that he had kept since dispelling the fog. The white protrusion on his mask was much more full than that of the other attackers. It covered almost the entirety of the black hood over his face leaving only a small sliver of black on the edge. It looks as though he had put his mask on slightly crooked in the morning and could fix it with a minor adjustment, but it was without a doubt intentional.
“See? Isn’t that better?”
“What do you want?!” Violet yelled.
“Just some information, I promise! We don’t just go out and kill strangers. We’re not evil!”
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
“I’ll ask again…What. Do. You. Want?” Violet said once again, this time in a deadly serious voice that even frightened Kenrich.
“Stop with the murderous gaze! You’re too scary, miss! Too scary! Fine. Let’s get straight to the point. You came from Lampeer, correct?”
“That’s none of your concern,” Violet answered.
“I’ll take that as a probably. Now, did you see any suspicious people while you were there? I imagine in a town that small, it would be pretty easy to spot people who don’t…fit in, right?” Violet and Kenrich were silent. “We’re looking for a suspicious individual who might have access to something reminiscent of a fairy tale. So, if you saw anyone in Lampeer that looked especially nervous, or was trying very hard to keep a low profile, we’d love to know!”
“What was the point of ambushing us then! Why not just ask us!” Kenrich said, his voice still slightly shaken.
“If we didn’t, you might not’ve stopped! We always make sure to take every precaution to accomplish our missions after all. Also, a flex of our power is a wonderful interrogation tool.” The man said the last part in a voice almost as frightening as Violet’s. “So, you haven’t seen anything at all, hm?”
“Nothing. Now let us pass,” Violet said.
“Well…I guess if you haven’t seen anything. Such a shame.” There was a long pause that lasted for several seconds. No one moved. It would’ve been awkward except for the single fact that the man with a proud voice would not let it be. “It really is strange though. You both are traveling so late at night. A normal person might have spared some gez to spend the night in an inn. Traveling at night can be quite dangerous after all.”
“We ran out of money,” Kenrich said. “We’re making our way to Fril in order to take some adventuring work. There has never been much of that to offer in Lampeer.”
“I guess you are right about that,” the man said. “I’m not trying to impress that I think you two are suspicious! That would be mighty rude of me! Especially since we are looking for only one poor fellow. I find it unlikely that he would be able to quickly find a companion to travel with, especially one so adept with the sword. Not impossible though…” Uncomfortable silence filled the air once again. “Well, safe travels! Oh, and sorry about the scare. It’s just how we do things.”
After that last sentence, the man hopped onto the horse and the rest of the attackers each split up and took refuge in the ditches once again. The man began his slow trot and after a few minutes, he was far enough away that Kenrich felt confident enough to break the silence.
“What the hell was that about?!”
“I don’t know,” Violet answered. “All I can say for sure is that they aren’t military and they are definitely looking for you. I don’t understand how they got the information so quickly. There must be a mole in the military with access to a communication stone.”
“Should we keep going towards Fril? That’s the direction they came from, so there might be more of them. They’ll probably receive fresher information, including my description, within the next couple days.”
“We’ll have to take the gamble. You already told them that we‘re going there, so, if we break course, we’ll basically be telling them that you’re the guy they’re looking for. We just need to get that descriptor stone and get to Aquarium as fast as we can. We’ve no other move than that.”
“Still doesn’t seem like a very good move, but I know you’re right.”
“I am right. Just stay close to me when we get there and keep your face hidden. If you do that, we might just make it.”
They got back on Atlas and decided to keep heading towards Fril. The journey was almost over even if they did not know it yet. Kenrich wrestled with whether or not to ask a question that had been on his mind since the attack and, after a bit, finally worked up the courage.
“If we run into them again…do you think you could beat them?”
Violet was silent for a moment.
“Honestly, I was fighting to kill back there and I didn’t land a single clean hit with my blade. The worst part is that they weren’t even fighting back! They were just defending and waiting for a chance to disarm me! They were exceptionally skilled. That’s why it’s important that you keep a low profile from now on.”
“I understand. I just wish I could help more. I didn’t do anything but fall on my ass back there.”
“You’re just a village boy. Leave the fighting to me for now. I’m sure you’ll get stronger as we go. Maybe we’ll even have some time down the line for me to train you.”
“You’d train me?”
“If you want. This mission might take years at the pace we’re going at now, so having you not be a liability on the battlefield would lighten the load a bit.”
“I would like that. Also…I never really got a chance to say it, so, thank you.”
“What for?”
“You could have easily left me behind by now and taken the ring, but you didn’t. I know that this mission is important to you and I’m just a liability dragging you down, so thank you for putting up with me so far. I promise that once you start training me, I’ll take it more seriously than you could even imagine.”
“There was no chance that I’d leave you alone to die. Like you said, they know your face and even if you didn’t have the ring, they’d kill you. You’re more valuable than you give yourself credit for, so stop moaning about being useless. You’re here to help me talk my way out of my problems, and I’m here to help you fight your way through yours. Once I get you trained, I’ll be the weakest link.”
It was very rare to see Violet be so humble and admit she herself had faults, so Kenrich greatly appreciated it. He was starting to grow quite fond of Violet, who was also happy that he was here as well. This fondness quickly turned to a massive amount of inspiration to become as useful as he possibly could. With how patient and kind Violet had been, he knew he had to return the favor somehow. Little did he know, Fril was going to present the perfect opportunity to do so.