We finally stopped for the night.

We marched for five days, and I wasn’t tired because of the distance we covered but the exact opposite. Were it not for the Princess, we’d have reached our destination already, though maybe better that we didn't.

It was hard to imagine, how drained the paladin felt, not that she showed signs of it while she set out to gather firewood and organize a campfire. The Princess was adamant, that we bring a tent for her, but quietly snored on a log already. If she woke up like that, I'd have to listen to her complaints all day so I set up our camp.

"It is eerie how we haven't met other humans all week," Cath noted once the fire burned. "This route was so busy just years ago, I rode along it as a squire..."

"Oh, I'm glad we had not run into monsters though," I said, surprised that she felt like chatting. I wondered what she was like as a squire, but knew better than to ask about it.

"We must halt this onslaught, or humankind disappears from the continent." She mumbled, staring into the distance. As strange as it sounds, she looked most beautiful when sad.

"Onslaught?" I asked puzzled, but she couldn't bother with an answer. I rarely saw this expression on her face as she was always energetic and optimistic. Naive even. But walking for days on the empty road turned her blue like her short bob cut. "I doubt the monsters planned to attack."

Again, no answer, but it wasn’t safe to stare at her so I finished the tent before the sun fell. Soon our only light source was the fire and I hoped it would keep the animals away. The paladin breathed slowly as if sleeping already but her eyes remained open.

I took inventory of our food.

"What would you like to eat?" I asked Cath quietly, but she started snoring. Maybe she was sleeping after all, with both eyes open. I found it funny but a little creepy too and wondered how often she slept on guard duty like that.

The Princess turned in her sleep too and I considered picking her up to move her into the tent. She would have accused me of all kinds of things if I woke her in the process though. I decided to let them rest and prepared a meal worthy of royalties.

They were still out when I finished eating, but it was getting cold. The paladin slept closer to the fire and was probably used to the outdoors, but the Princess could get sick. I grabbed her meal and walked to her, hoping the smell of food would wake her up, but it didn't work.

"Your Highness will catch the cold like that," I spoke quietly to no effect. "Please wake up and have dinner. Your tent is ready too."

Her eyes popped open right before I tried to shake her, and she looked distressed.

"She's here! She's here!" The Princess yelled, and I couldn't calm her down, worried that she would wake the paladin.

"I brought food for Your Majesty, nobody else is here." I tried to reason with her, but she had none of it.

"No, she's here, I felt it. She's here." She said on her toes now, desperately looking around. "I'm serious, she’s close."

"It's all right, Princess, you are awake now." I tried again, but she paced around nervously.

"No, you idiot, she's right here!" She yelled, grabbing my shoulders.

"W-who is?" I asked, giving in.

"The Goddess! Alexandra! A mile to the south, no, south-east..." She almost screamed, waking the paladin who jumped up, unsheathing her falchion. "She's... Gone. I don't understand, she was right here…"

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"Your Highness, it was just a dream." I tried to soothe her. "We had a long journey..."

"Fool, you don't understand." She released me, still upset but closer to her usual self. "I'm not talking about nightmares. I felt the Goddess appear almost at arms reach."

"Which way Your Majesty?" Cath asked looking around, but I saw no movements, and all I heard was the wind and the campfire's crackling. She turned back to the Princess too but got yelled at before she opened her mouth.

"Don't you dare to ask, if I'm sure. I am damn sure." Elizabeth claimed.

"I believe you." The paladin nodded, keeping her blade up. "Do you still feel it?"

"No, she disappeared after a minute. I felt her aura without concentrating, and the mana still resonates." She explained, rubbing her arms. She had goosebumps.

I couldn’t understand how her ability worked. Did she feel the Goddess in her sleep? She didn't cast a spell, probably couldn’t anyway, but after this commotion, I was tempted to believe that something happened.

Cath quietly mumbled, and I tried to read a few words from her lips, one of which was Remmol. My heart skipped a beat when I realized she was praying. Nothing moved or made a sound, but my breathing became shallow, and I noticed the same with the Princess.

"All right. Maybe she knows, we are coming." The paladin lowered her sword once she finished her prayer. I couldn't guess which one though, and what for. "Maybe she tried to scout us and decided to retreat. In any case, she's gone, so it's all right. There is no danger anymore."

The moment she said that a gray-haired beastman jumped into arm’s reach of the paladin. I shouted, but he traveled faster than my voice. The enemy knew exactly who to attack, and where their blind spots were, striking when she lowered her sword.

And yet, Cath spun around to raise her heavy falchion.

Everything happened so fast, that my eyes could not keep up. She pushed the enemy and swung the sword, but it missed the mark. The attacker was just as quick as her. I didn't have time to get scared, the second monster leaped towards the Princess. They arrived from the paladin's blind spot again.

Somehow Cath noticed it and spun around once more.

It was a huge ogre, almost ten feet tall, and brandished an enormous club. The falchion clashed with it, chipping away a big chunk that nearly hit the Princess, then the beastman struck again, and our guard barely blocked.

I had to move. We had a Princess to protect, but they fought between her and me. I was too scared that either of them could easily hit me, even by accident. Unlike Cath, I could not hope to defend myself, so I froze in place and hesitated, observing the battlefield.

The beastman didn't have weapons.

He attacked with his sharp nails and fist, jumping away when the falchion aimed for him, and the ogre's club seemed improvised too. The Princess was stunned, helplessly watching what happened around her, and as the sword and the club clashed time and time again, mere inches away from her face, she did the most Princessy thing and screamed.

It was high-pitched, loud, and so strong, my ears rang. Her long scream startled the monsters, and the paladin managed to land a blow on the ogre.

It was a shallow cut, but he cried out in pain.

The beastman yelled something and his body glowed, making him even faster. He launched his fists, and while Cath blocked most punches, he got in just enough to knock the paladin out of the way by the time the Princess ran out of steam. She wasn't looking at the beastman or the ogre, but right at me.

No. Behind me.

I wasn’t as fast as the paladin but turned around in time to soak up a punch with my face. My enemy wasn't as big or strong as the other two, but it nearly broke my nose. I lost my balance and fell, from a goblin’s punch, little over half my size. It was painful and embarrassing, and now I was right below the other combatants.

The ogre's massive feet barely missed, but the paladin's heel dug into my side. She kept her balance, but I was in her way. The goblin no longer bothered with me but grabbed the Princess and dragged her away.

He couldn’t get far which I found somewhat comical, but given that I was on the ground while allies and enemies fought over me, I couldn't laugh.

I needed to protect her, or at least get out of the way.

My brain screamed retreat, so I rolled to my other side to escape on all fours but got kicked and pushed from all angles. A loud clang signaled how the paladin hit the goblin, still not slowing down, but the little bastard had a bucker and parried.

He still flew away but wouldn’t let go of the Princess. She lost her balance too, just before the ogre snatched her by the waist and ran with a trail of blood behind him.

The paladin rushed after them, leaving me alone with the beastman.

I had a short staring contest as I got on my feet, my entire body shaking in fear, and once he launched an obvious feint, I simply turned and ran.

I didn't dare to look back and wanted to get as far as possible.

Even though I knew they had no reason to follow me, I could not stop. I should have been protecting the last Princess of Cranta, I was ashamed and cried yet couldn't help but flee.

There was nobody behind me, the sounds of fighting came from further and further away.

I stumbled around in the darkness, hitting one tree after the other, but I remained on my feet and just ran.

I lost my breath, but the adrenalin still pushed me forward.

There was no stopping until I passed out...