"So what now?"

I could have asked this question to either of us, all I saw were puzzled faces. Cath looked more concerned about me than the situation itself, while Aoi simply fell on her knees in front of the collapsed cliff face, looking pale and apathetic now that our only escape disappeared.

And Geddu was eerie silent in my head. I no longer had to focus all my energy on resisting her attempts to take over my body, so this new and heavy situation made my life much easier. Not to mention that all our dangerous and hostile guards were gone. All but the blue-robed princess who didn't seem like a real obstacle anymore.

"How do you feel, Elizabeth?" The paladin asked, genuine curiosity twinkling in her eyes, and I answered with my warmest smile. A few months ago I would have raised my nose and yelled at her for asking something trivial like this, but we both came a long way since.

"I'm fine, Gadurien seems scared of that dragon, and no longer tries to take over me," I told her, looking around the alien landscape. The change was noticeable since that monster appeared, there were long, burned-out patches in the jungle, the mountain we camped on was in ruins, and all the curious noises the critters in the area made before disappeared.

Only the sky was the same purple, clouds lazily swimming across it in this permanent, fake sunset as if nothing had happened. Dungeons were crazy. Tiny creatures tried to take over our minds, flying demi-humans captured our soldiers, and then this dragon. How did the Imperial Companies clear these places so easily?

I was only a child when I saw them descend the last dungeon that opened in Nordhaben, reemerging victoriously three days later, with no casualties, and multiple carts worth of legendary loot in tow. I wondered where those soldiers were now, and if they disappeared with the old capital, having a few questions I could ask them.

At this point, I would have asked the goddess inside my head too, but I didn't mind the silence. It felt good to be in control of my thoughts, without anyone interfering all the time.

Smoke rose in the distance, unlike what remained after the dragon's attack, which incinerated everything instantly, leaving nothing but ashes behind. This looked like a sign of a campfire or smoke that escaped a chimney, maybe a proper beacon, giving us a direction to explore.

"We should check that out." I pointed at it, and Aoi slowly raised her head. I imagined that's how I must have looked, sick, tired, and exhausted after fighting Geddu for a long time, although I don't think I ever gave up on my life. But I felt pity for her even if she treated us poorly. "There must be some kind of civilization down there if they light fires, and they might know about an exit too."

"Or murder us on sight," Cath noted, but I shrugged it off.

"We have the proud princess of the Sea People, a strong paladin, and even if Gadurien finally quieted down, I should be able to access her miracles." I tried to cheer them up, taking a confident step. "She pulled back when she saw the dragon but didn’t disappear."

"I can't blame her." The paladin giggled nervously, but a quick shiver ran across Aoi's exhausted body. "Well, we won't leave the dungeon through here anyway, so we might as well explore that smokestack."

She turned her back on the Saipole princess and set out for the big unknown. She followed us like a sleepwalker and hopefully didn’t plan to stab us in the back.

As our group shrunk, we traveled much faster even with the apathetic princess in tow. I can't say our expedition was cheerful, we barely exchanged a few whispers with Cath along the way, but I got used to this the previous month and felt better than ever in the last weeks.

We weren't in a jail cell, a crazy goddess didn't try to take over my body, nor did an arrogant princess drive us to our deaths, but we had an arguably amazing and vast landscape to explore, and enough food in a Bag of Holding, with no way for the Elder to find us. Life was good.

I had more time to examine the rich vegetation around me, and after walking for an hour, the chirping and yelling of the strange critters returned too. Without a sun, or anything to cast shadows, it was hard to tell how long we marched, and generally gauge the passage of time.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

We just went as long as our legs could carry us, and as it turned out, all that traveling and running with the paladin paid out. The Saipole princess could barely keep up and no longer had the strength to show that apathetic face. She remained quiet but followed us everywhere, and I simply hijacked her punitive expedition.

"We are getting close," Cath whispered, pointing nearly vertically up at the smoke stack ahead. I don't know how long we trekked in the dense jungle, we found a trail at least that allowed us to travel without cutting our way through it, but now the smoke seemed much thicker and imposing than I first expected. If it was a campfire, it must have been enough for an entire army, or maybe it was a pyre, a charcoal burner.

The source was on top of a round hill in the middle of a clearing, but it was easy to sneak up to its edges. The critters avoided this place, but the trail was unguarded, and we soon spotted the large fireplace.

It wasn't even that big compared to the large creatures that threw wet branches on it without a break, but it did seem like a beacon for people to orient themselves, rather than an actual campfire to cook on. And the beasts in question were indeed enormous. They had muscular humanoid bodies, their size similar to ogres, but their skin was beige, covered in short fur. They had the head of a bull with imposing horns and barely wore any clothes. They made up for it in arms, carrying huge double axes.

"Those must be minotaurs." The paladin claimed the obvious, dropping on all fours and whispering at the edge of the clearing. "I wonder what they are up to? We should walk around to see if they have other types of monsters with them and ambush them."

Cath was in combat and planning mode right off the bat, but my ears caught familiar words in their grumbling voices, and almost as if I was still possessed, my body straightened up and walked towards their smoking fire on its own. It felt strangely natural to do so, yet I couldn't understand why I was doing it. It wasn't Geddu either, she was still completely silent, but it was too late now, one of them spotted me and raised his enormous weapon.

"Hello there!" I greeted them with a yell and saw a few butterfly-like creatures fly across the smoke. The strange force propelling me forward disappeared, and I realized how the fairies played their tricks on me. The minotaurs looked just as surprised as I was at least, and didn't attack me immediately.

"You speak the God's Language?" The one who first spotted me asked. His voice was deep and raspy what I'd expect from a monster his size, but he spoke clearly, lowering his axe. The others curiously looked at me and the paladin who had since appeared with her falchion unsheathed.

"God's Language? This is just plain old Crantan." I answered, then remembered to bow my head. "I'm Elizabeth, we all speak this language in the place I've come from, but I'm surprised to hear it in this world."

"That place you're from?" The bull-headed creature raised an eyebrow. His comrades seemed puzzled by this situation, and the pixies flew over us to take a better look. "So you have come from the Lands of the Dragon?"

"Lands of... Um, we saw a dragon on our way here, but they aren't abundant in our world." I felt a bit stupid, but as the Last Princess of Cranta, I had some basic understanding of diplomacy, and how to converse with creatures of a foreign culture, bow my head often, and appear as non-threatening as possible.

"So you have met the Holy Dragon, and came from the same world, but you don't know him?" The minotaur asked curiously. "Yet you speak his secret language, only the most faithful and loyal servants could learn from him. Well, nothing can survive the wrath of the Dragon, so if you met him and are still alive, I'm sure he wanted it to happen."

While I struggled to understand what he talked about, the monster concluded that we were friends, and all of them lowered their weapons, so I considered it a win. I nodded towards Cath, urging her to put away her sword, and the fairies circled us, throwing flower petals into the air. I couldn't help but glance back at the blue-robed princess, who disappeared. I couldn't blame her, and at least she didn’t ruin my diplomatic success out of the blue.

"I welcome you, Elizabeth from the Lands of the Dragon, my name is Manase, loyal follower of Addas." It was the minotaur's turn to bow now, and I happily copied the gesture, hoping this meant we were safe. Cath suddenly rattled her sword, and the voice returned inside my head too. Gadurien didn't try to take over me this time, but her thoughts were loud and surprised, causing a sharp headache.

"Did he say Addas? Was that green dragon him?" She asked, but I didn't understand what was this about. I bet the paladin did, but she was back to normal the next moment and bowed her head too.

I learned my lesson and didn't ask who Addas was. I knew that just by thinking about the name, the goddess would hear my question, and sure enough, the explanation arrived as we slowly climbed the hill.

"Addas is a god from the continent. The only one apart from the Goddess, that never joined the Cranta Pantheon, nor was he banished." Her thoughts echoed in my mind, but she was mocking rather than educating me. "He is the guardian deity of the Appenon nomads, and was still active around the Collapse, how did you never hear of him?"

"Your Church education is lacking when it comes to foreign gods, you know," I answered with a sharp tongue, then suddenly realized I talked, not just thought about it. The minotaurs sent strange glances towards me, so I turned to Cath to save the situation. "But I'm glad the people of this world also worship Addas like we do, right, paladin?"

"Uh, sure, Your... Elizabeth." She looked confused only for a moment, and it was almost enough for her to mess it up, but she was quick on the uptake. "Praised be Addas, I'm glad we encountered his servants here."