We travel for six days on the trek to Kromagia and no sign of a cultist anywhere. I’m quite happy to see the accuracy of Haleema’s map. So far, it’s smooth riding. Ulrika and I have conserved most of the provision I got because the surrounding kingdoms on the path to Kromagia brought us, food merchants. Tonight on this warm, dry evening, we’re eating slices of lambs.

“How’s the meat looking?” Ulrika says, laying down her blanket next to mine. I rotate the meat using my tether magic to suspend it over the campfire.

“They’re done,” I answer, levitating a piece over to her. She blasts it with precision air for five seconds, snatches it, then holds it in her mouth while taking her pants off. A nice breeze comes in from my left, swinging my hair into my cheek.

“Awe, that feels good,” she says in a muffled voice. “This damn heat is agonizing.”

“Conjure a cycling wind barrage to keep you cool.”

“I will after I’m done eating. I’ll make it rain if I have to just bring in some cold air.” I laugh at how annoyed she is. We’re in the hottest part of the Yohanan desert. Even though I’m suffering from the heat, I’m more tolerant of it than her.

“Do whatever you need to do. My cube will shield us from rain and the loud thunder.”

“Hmm, sleeping together outdoors in the rain? Sounds kinda romantic. Yeah, I’m gonna do it.” After eating our lamb dinner, she conjures up a storm in such a manner, that it kinda looks like she’s dancing in a seemingly exotic form. Her motions are slow and fluid. Not a single stagger or hiccups in the way she moves.

“Why are you moving like that to cast a storm?”

“It’s called the Bellas Loratoris Cry. It’s a dance that summons peaceful showers and cool breezes.” The wind begins to pick up a bit, dropping the warm temperatures. “Bellas, the creator, made it after her loved one passed away.” Clouds form above us at a rapid speed, engulfing the moon’s shine. It gets dark, then lightens as it sprinkles rain. “It’s mainly used for irrigation against drought, but in my case, I’m using it to cool down.” She stops dancing, then raises her arms with her palms out. “Better.”

“So, why that type of dance.”

“It was her lover’s favorite. I’m sure you understand why.”

“I do.”

“Some elves would use it as a fertility dance before they have sex.” She lays on her left side using her elbow to prop herself up. “They say it makes a man’s seed more abundant and make them more lustful.”

“Really?”

“Do you feel like fucking me?”

“Uh...wha...umm...?” I can’t find a way to answer without studdering, so I shake my head saying, no. But I also shrug my shoulders. She hums with a tight smile.

“Are you’re balls swelling up?”

“I don’t think so.” She hums with a tight smile.

“I guess it’s an elf thing. Well, I’m going to sleep. This storm will last for several hours. Goodnight, Kaio.”

“Goodnight.” She lays on her back with her hands interlocked by her fingers on her stomach. My heart pounds against my chest in reaction to how wonderfully blunt she is. I remain sitting up since I’m not tired just yet. The moon trying to shine through the dark clouds looks wonderful in the desert. It’s like the sky is a giant living painting canvas, and Ulrika is the painter.

“Are you coming to bed?” She asks, with one eye open.

“Eventually. I’m not super tired at the moment.”

“I’ll sing you a nice song that’ll put you to sleep.” When I take my eyes off the moon to look down at the dunes, I spot several orange lights emerging from them. I count seven lights coming our way.

“Ulrika, get up. Someone is coming.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know. Get your sword and remain quiet.”

“Remain quiet? Why?”

“They can’t see us when we’re within my boundary. I modified it so there won’t be a repeat of the forest in Thaa Alora.” As the lights come closer, its radiate glow reveals the chainmail armored calvary of Nite cultists. They stop at the trail yards from us.

“Fucking great. What are they doing here?” Ulrika whispers. A cultist leans down to view something on the ground. “Crap. Is he looking at our footprints?” I scoot forward to the end of my blanket to see how visible our prints are. The rain hasn’t masked them in the sand.

“Ulrika, you need to create a distraction before they track us.”

“Alright.” She puts her hands to the sky, then slowly brings her fingers into a fist. The clouds become darker, and the rain comes pouring down. It smothers out their torches, putting them into darkness. Our campfire shows the sand around us fill with small puddles before streaming down the hill. She makes the cultist flee right, down the opposite way we came in on.

“Nice job,” I say. I stand up to watch them ride off. “You can head back to sleep. I’ll stay up for a bit just in case they come back this way.”

“Why? Your barrier can protect us.”

“Just to be safe.” I send my sword to hide in the branches above us. “We’re a few hours from Kromagia. I don’t want any mishap to occur to us.”

“Okay then. But don’t stay up for very long.”

“I’ll watch for an hour, then come to bed. Goodnight.

“Night.”

----------------------------------------

It’s early in the morning. The sun is barely over the horizon ahead of me. I’m standing on the mound the cultist came through. There is nothing out there as far as I can view. Just sand, scarce trees, and small dead bushes litter the whole landscape.

I return to the camp to wake Ulrika. She awakes before I can say a word or reach the boundary.

“Morning,” I say.

“Hey,” she yawns. “When did you wake up?”

“A few hours ago. I didn’t sleep well.”

“Are you okay?” She brings me beyond the boundary by holding my waist.

“I’m fine. The thought of the cultist coming back bugged me all night, so I maybe had a few hours of good sleep.”

“Damn,” she whispers, gently hugging me with her face pressing my neck. “Why the hell were they doing out here? This was supposed to be a safe zone.”

“Maybe they were fleeing from something. I don’t know.” I let go to roll up my blanket. “Get dressed. We are almost to the kingdom.” While Ulrika puts her boots and pants on, I fasten our blankets to our horses, then bring hers to her.

“Alright, let’s go!” She shouts in laughter, taking off.

Ha! Someone’s excited.

----------------------------------------

Our horses cruise at their maximum stride going across the barren wilderness. Ulrika tries to get competitive on who will lead the trek, but I tell her not to push her horse. I’m on high alert for anything. We are so close, maybe a few minutes away from the peak that overlooks the southern wall. My excitement rises when I start noticing familiar oval rock formations appear on our flanks.

“Kaio! The tree!” Ulrika says, pointing at it.

“Yup! I see it! Slow before approaching the cliff!”

“I know!” I slow down before she does. She makes it to the cliff first while I lag far behind. To my right is a lonely tree surrounded by a thick bush. I remember the first time we came here, she took a piss in there. A weird memory like that will always live on in my mind. It’s hard to forget any moment she makes when I’m around.

“Kaioson!” She says. My attention is immediately drawn to her. I can tell something isn’t right when my full name is yelled at. I race up to her to see what’s going on.

“Yes?”

“What is that?” Off in the distance, there’s an explosion of sand. Rising out of it, a black figure emerges.

“Shit! The southern gate is being attacked, and the guardian is attacking someone.”

“That six hundred-foot black stone statue?!”

“We need to see what’s going on.”

I ride down the trail that leads us to the flat ground that brings us all the way to Kromagia. The guardian slams her staff down at whoever is in a cloud of sand. Beneath me, the ground quakes from each strike. I pull the reins back on my horse when the guardian steps out of the cloud. A volley of fireballs targets its face. Some miss while others hit their mark. It staggers backward while smothering the attacks with some force field emitting from the left hand.

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“Ulrika, I need you to blow away all that smoke so I can see what’s in there!” I say, wielding my sword.

“Got it,” Ulrika says, aiming two of her fingers at it. She flicks her fingers to point them to the left. The cloud of smoke and sand spirals into a miniature sand tornado then dissipates as it moves left. What remains shocks me with anger. “Oh, gods. Not here too.” Six cultists are bombarding the guardian.

“There’s only a few of them. Let’s help out.”

We jump off our horses and rush the cultist from behind. They don’t hear us coming from the explosive eruption of the fireballs. I thrust my sword in the farthest left one, then sever the arm of the next person. She lets out a wailing shriek, so I silence it with a decapitation. The third notice my actions and tries to hit me with a fire attack. I absorb it before it can leave their hand. Ulrika blows through a parry guard by slicing into their shoulder, down past the stomach of the cultist.

Jeez, that’s one sharp sword.

While looking at Ulrika, the cultist in front of me goes for a swing. I tether his driving arm to lock his position at a half stroke. His sword misses my face from a mile. One thrust to the neck takes him out. Ulrika blinds the last cultist by raising sand from the ground and covering it on them like a blanket. She swings her sword to the right, creating a momentary line gap in the sand, then strides over to me with a cheeky smile. The sand falls down in synchronization with the body.

“Well done,” I say.

“Thanks,” she says, gazing straight up. “That thing still scares me.” I look up to see what the guardian is doing. It’s staring down at us with its intimidating blank face. “So creepy.”

“You’ll get used to it the more you see them.” I pull my shoulder cape to display my Kromagian insignia, then salute it as if it is my fellow sister. It puts its right forearm over the chest with the fist clenched over the heart.

“Whoa, what does it that mean?”

“I’m greeting it. You do it too.” Ulrika salutes. It gives us a head nod, then walks towards the kingdom. I turn my attention to the cultist bodies. I’m curious why they would be in the close presence of the holy country. Knowing their sinister motives, this is suicidal.

“This doesn’t make any sense,” I say.

“What doesn’t?”

“Why are they here? This is no man’s land for these fanatics. And, why are there only six of them?”

“You’re questions are concerning. I do not like this. Let’s get out of here before something happens.”

“Agreed.” We ride behind the guardian. All around us, the ground is littered with craters and dismembered bodies of other cultists. There have to be hundreds of dead bodies scattered in different directions.

“Gods, Kaio. Did they actually try to invade Kromagia?” Broken trebuchet and siege towers confirm her question.

“We must’ve seen remnants of a fighting force days ago.”

“You’re probably right. Lucky bastards.”

The guardian teleports ahead, back into its defense position in front of the entry gate. It kicks up sand in our faces, but Ulrika clears everything up. In front of it, I can see a line of people sparkling yellow in the sun. One person in the middle floats into the air. Their spear emits whiteish red lighting.

“Halt!” The woman says. She’s clothed in full-plated armor. Her waist is shaped like an hourglass, and her coily hair floods down out of the helmet. Around the neck is a long black cape that stops right behind the bend of the knees. There’s an orange sash with a Kromagia southern tribe insignia encompassing the waistline.

“Are you allied with those devils?” She asks, floating to my right near Ulrika.

“No. I’ve come to see my mother,” I say.

The knight points at me with their spear and says, “You’re one of us. But,” she pauses to point at Ulrika. “Who are you? I see no colors or flags of allegiance.”

“This is my wife.”

“Wife?” She drops lower to close examine Ulrika. Her spear is diagonal across her chest in a semi-defense hold. “You look manly.”

“I get that a lot,” Ulrika discloses.

“Forgive me of my ignorance, ma’am. Your appearance isn’t common here.”

“I know. I’ve been here before. The woman here is so beautiful.” The knight takes drops to the ground, plants her staff in the sand, and removes her helmet. “My point exactly.” The knight’s appearance is stunning. Her face looks smooth without any natural markings. She’s wearing some makeup around her eyes, lips, and cheeks to make her radiance pop more. Her skin is mildly brown like mine.

“My name is Bearbolt. I’m one of the champions for our southern tribes.”

“I’ve heard of you. It’s an honor to meet you,” I say.

“The honor is mine. What are your names?”

“Ulrika and Kaioson,” Ulrika says. Bearbolt stares at me a moment longer than she does with Ulrika.

“Extraordinary names. Ulrika, where are you from?”

“I hail from Shemore, but I am descended from a Kromagian father.” Bearbolt stands between our horses with her hands out to us.

“Welcome home, brother and sister. The world seems to be on fire lately.”

“Oh, we know. We’ve been fighting them for weeks,” I say.

“Hmm, let’s speak in private once we’re beyond the walls.” Bearbolt takes us into our glories kingdom, but we’re redirected into a building behind the walls. “I’ll be right back. I need to get someone.” I take a seat on a bench with my sword between my legs. Kromagia’s controlled environment temperatures are refreshing on my sweaty body.

“We made it, my love,” Ulrika says, snuggling on my left side. I hug her in celebration, as well as to release some stress. Right when I move away from her, the door opens. Bearbolt enters, followed by someone unexpecting.

“Kaioson, look who’s here,” Bearbolt reveals.

“Mother?!” Thyrna lays down her helmet and polished bow mixed with golden ornaments next to the wall by the door. She fixes her messy light red hair.

“My boy, why wait over a year to come see your mother? I’m disappointed in you, Kai,” Thyrna says with a big smile. I’m so surprised she’s here that I don’t know how to answer the question. “Come here, son.” I hop off the bench and leap into her. She embraces me with a tight, warm hug. “It’s been so long since I heard you call me mother. I missed you, Kai.”

“Me too, mom.” My eyes water up, but I don’t cry.

“How you’ve been, and how’s bounty hunting?”

“It was going well until a cult called Nite made life miserable. It somewhat put a halt to regular hunting. Now I have a blacklist of targets for the Paladins.”

“Are you two in their organization?” Bearbolt asks.

“No. We only hunt their targets and get paid for it,” Ulrika answers. I show Thyrna the paper I have for Wigmund, the Archer.

“You passed him up,” Thyrna says.

“I know, but my primary goal was to see you. We plan on searching for him after we leave.” Thyrna awes me. I blush and laugh at what she’s doing. She glances at Ulrika then looks at me, nodding her head at Ulrika.

“Oh! Mother, this is my wife, Ulrika.”

“Your wife!?” Ulrika waves at her by flapping her fingers up and down. “I send you off into the world to hunt criminals, and you find a wife in the process?” I’m hesitant to say yes because she’s snarling. “Ulrika, come here, so I may hug my daughter-in-law!” I step back to let her hug Ulrika. “You too, my boy. This is a group thing.” They pull me into the huddle and clutch me tight. “Congratulations, you guys! I wish I was there for the wedding.”

“We considered, but the issue with Nite was rising, so we married as soon as possible.”

“Our prophets foretold Nite’s ascendance. I’m still shocked those idiots tried their hardest to invade from all sides,” Bearbolt chimes in.

“Were all of our Guardians active?”

“Yes, and they protected us. None made it through them, but we did assemble our army just in case. As you can see.” A man enters the room screaming at Thyrna and Bearbolt that there is an impending threat with the chains of demonic power. Two seconds after saying that, I feel the sinister energy like it’s standing next to me. Bearbolt storms out of the room, following the man.

“Ugh! What now?” Thyrna says in a growl. She shoves her helmet back on her head, summons her bow into her hand, then looks at Ulrika and me. “Follow me.”

“Where are we going?” I ask, running in a spiral of steps.

“Top of the walls where my archers are.” The ground shakes in two-second intervals. Once we reach the top, it turns out to be the guardian walking towards something floating high in the sky. Whatever it is, it appears to have a humanoid structure. Their clothing shines white and flaps softly in the wind.

“Stop!” The person hovering yells with a loud voice. It’s a man. Even though he’s far away, he sounds like he’s close. The guardian pauses but readies its javelin to throw it. “I’m amazed that Xanlos’s special kingdom has destroyed hordes of my soldiers.”

“Who the fuck is that?” Ulrika says.

“Give me that,” Thyrna says. An archer hands her a device that looks like the eye tube magnifier that I used to spy on Tawaragata. She holds it up to her eye instead of spiking it into whatever the base will be. “Who the hell is this?”

“What do you see?” I ask.

“Mature looking man in a red and white outfit. His hood is up. Clean-shaven with ashen hair. Familiar to you guys?” Ulrika and I tell her we don’t recognize any person like that.

“I thought at least the bredren could take out one of the Guardians,” the man says, laughing between his words. “Maybe a Paragon or a legion of champions could do the trick.” I look at Ulrika at nearly the same time she looks at me.

“Leave our premise or die,” Bearbolt says. She sounds just like she’s next to me, but I don’t know where she is.

“Is that how you treat your own kind?”

“What are you talking about? Our people don’t threaten the destruction of our protectors. You’re an enemy of our world.” He chuckles maniacally in a slow, raspy voice.

“I’m bigger than an enemy. I am the embodiment of an adversary to this shitty world. I will be the one who’ll install a single kingdom that’ll be under the name of the betrayed one! We will rule the realm with a rod of iron.”

“What is that crazy idiot talking about?” Thyrna questions.

“Kaio, I’m getting a bad feeling this might be the guy who’s been elusive to us,” Ulrika says. My heart rate spikes and my stomach turns.

“Who do you think this might be, Ulrika?”

“Ivaran. The man that these cultists worship is like he’s their saint. All you need to know is he’s a major threat.” Thyrna moves her eye out of the device to look at the line of archers to her right. She bends down her index finger and waves her hand to the open field. Every single archer pulls back on their bow with it aiming at their target.

“Bearbolt, can you hear me? I have my son and his wife connected.” Thyrna’s mouth doesn’t move.

“I can hear you. What’s going on?” Bearbolt says.

“Threat level black. My archers are standing by. My son’s wife believes this man is the most dangerous of the cultist. I strongly recommend no quarter.”

“Threat acknowledged. Engage your volley.” With a quick hand flick by Thyrna, her archers fire their arrows. They move at such a speed it almost seems like they warp. It hits Ivaran in a series of explosions. When the smoke clears, he’s still in the air, but the guardian throws the javelin at him. It sends him flying far into the open desert. Once it hits the ground, it explodes in a flash of lightning. The shockwave comes back with sand hitting my face.

“Whoa. Amazing,” I say.

“Holy cow,” Ulrika says. Thyrna hums like she’s not satisfied or amazed with what she saw. She puts her eye back up to the device, then scrunches her face, making a deep frown.

“You got to be kidding me!” Thyrna shouts through her teeth. “He’s still alive!” Purple lightning strikes the ground out from thin air.

“Oh crap. Not again,” I say.

“What is it, Kai?”

“Another fight.” The lightning continues striking, bringing in more undoubtedly champions. “There’s probably Orcs warping in.”

“Gods, you’re right. And big guys armored from head to toe.”

“Does he plan on taking Kromagia?” Ulrika asks, standing closer to me.

“Hey, you!” Thyrna points at the closest archer. “Blow the war trumpet!” The archer sprints off along the wall, passing behind the line of archers.

“What’s the war trumpet?”

“Listen.” Maybe ten seconds later or more, a low growl wailing buzz erupts through the city. It lasts ten seconds before going again. The vibrations of the sound raddle my eardrums and give me an unpleasant shiver in my arms. “The Kingdom and its tribes are now at war. I pray your god will give his the victory, Kaioson.”

“He won’t give up his land to these devils,” I say.

“Nite will not take another home from me,” Ulrika says in a soft voice.

“You have nothing to fear,” I reply in the same tone. Bearbolt flies up over the wall to be with us.

“So it begins,” Bearbolt says, adjusting parts of her hair that’s coming out of her helmet. In a series of flashing white lights, Kromaia’s army deploys in formations in front of the wall.

“Storm the city! Ravage his precious kingdom,” Ivaran screams.

“Not today! Charge!” Every soldier charges after the cultist, screaming their warcry. All of the archers shoot volleys of arrows in the sky to make them rain down on the enemy. The guardian spawns in another javelin but stands near the wall.

The fight for liberty has officially begun.