Horses were heard from a distance, and I thought it couldn't have passed one hour already. I have been moving for around ten minutes in the same direction as the road...I believe, and I feel tired without any sleep, with the fog getting thicker and thicker around me. I should try to lean towards a tree and sit down and rest for a couple of minutes or maybe an hour.

A loud noise of someone screaming woke me up; there were burning torches from a distance. Did they know where I was? I quickly rose from the ground and needed to move forward, but the fog was thick. The torches were closing in, and I had no choice but to move forward into the mist and disappear. I looked back and couldn't see the torches anymore; my vision was completely blocked. It felt like I had been sucked into some smoke of some kind. I tried to move forward quickly, but I fell into some water and got up, moving forward as soon as I could. Did I end up in one more freaking swamp? I put my hand in the water and saw it was completely black. I heard some voices behind me and tried to move quickly forward until a loud splash was heard in the water a couple of meters in front of me.

"You have to be fudging kidding with me. Oh, yes! Taz, I want you to go on a mission in Valiant; it will be impossible! See it from the positive side; you can find leads there on the murder of your family...oh wait! I forgot to mention that you will get killed. Why Victoria...why?" I whispered to myself, feeling like the Grim Reaper awaited me behind all the fog.

I moved more slowly now because of the splash sound a moment ago. Suddenly, an enormous splash sound was heard behind me, and I turned around quickly but couldn't see anything.

"HELP!" Someone was screaming behind me.

Was it a soldier? Maybe it was a soldier. I turned back and started to move quickly away from the scream, trying to run in the water, but it was at a speed like a turtle walking. One more splash sound was heard from my right while I tried to find land, and suddenly, I fell over on something that felt like grass. I was on land and could take a little break before moving on. I tried to feel around in the fog, and I think it was a small tree in front of me; I grabbed it and got myself up until I felt in my hand that maybe it was someone's leg. I tried to feel further up and noticed it was someone hanging on the tree.

"Who is there?" I asked.

"Buh!" A voice uttered.

I backed off a bit, and the voice continued talking to me.

"I am a soldier of the Valiant kingdom, and I demand that you release me immediately." The female told me.

Yeah...I don't think so, lady! What if I tried tricking her and telling her I am an ordinary person who travels through who needs to return to Valiant after a visit to Rattin Town but got lost on the way? Will she believe me?

I loosened my tie, put it in my pants, and opened my shirt. Hence, I looked more blended in the environment. Still, my sneakers and pants weren't directly for this environment, and maybe my clothes would give me away who I was. I have nothing to lose; I must escape this big swamp.

"Excuse me! I am just a humble merchant passing through. When I heard an alarm go off, I got scared and ended up in the woods. Please don't hurt me!" I told her, trying to sound as innocent as I could.

"It is okay; you are safe now. I was going through the woods with a couple of soldiers, but we got attacked by cave creatures, and they kidnapped a couple of them to breed. I tried helping but got pushed by one of my sisters right into the swamp to swim away. When I came to land, a thief was hanging up on this tree. When I freed him to help me get my sisters back, he tricked me and bound me to the tree, but I am glad he couldn't steal my weapon; only the blood wielder of the sword can wield it."

I hope she isn't like the women dating in the Binder app that keeps monologing on dates. It does sound like a problem to release her, but damn Victoria, who raised me properly.

"Fine, I will release you, but can you get us out of here? I asked.

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She laughed in a cringy and evil way, sounding like I was joking with her.

"Of course I can! The monster in the swamp is afraid of the sword. It keeps its distance."

If that is true, I have a safe exit out from the freaking swamp. I will put all my hope on her not noticing who I am.

"Okay! I will untie the rope on your legs and move upwards now," I told her.

"Yes, do it," she replied calmly.

I closed in on her and felt the tree again untied her legs and moved up with my hand, and I quickly tried to pass her chest area. I can say that it was like skiing; my hands went up to heaven and down again. She must have quite a big rack. I untied her hand, and I felt her falling to the ground, and she grabbed my pants.

"Sword!" She uttered.

I crawled around until I got a small cut on something buried in the ground. I followed it up and could feel the sword's handle, so I got up and tried to pull it out from the ground, but it didn't budge. I bent in different positions, trying to get the sword up from the ground, but the sword refused to budge from the ground.

"Eh...soldier lady! The sword won't budge from the ground."

She heard my voice, followed me, and reached out to me with her hand. I grabbed it and put her hand on the handle of the sword. She got up and quickly pulled the sword out of the ground.

"Back up! She told me.

I quickly moved to the side to keep my distance from the sword, but at the same time, I tried not to fall into the swamp.

I noticed the sword start shining red, and after a couple of moves from the woman, the fog disappeared around us. I could see now, and we were far from the land.

I saw the soldier now; she was beautiful, even looking around my age. Her eyes were some combo between grey and white. Wait a minute...is she blind? She aimed the sword to the left side of me and said:

"My name is Herran from Valiant. One of the generals of Celia Van Kraten's army and a soldier of Sheipad Kingdom. Who should I thank for saving my life?" She said, still pointing the sword in the other direction, thinking I was standing two meters to the left.

Okay, let's be smart about this. We can't be as stupid as the main characters in fantasy stories; we must be smart about this.

"Ahm...My name is Frash Fundinkel, and I am a travel merchant between Sheipad Kingdom and Rattin Town." I answered her question.

"Thank you for saving me, Trash Funfickle!" She responded.

Great, I should have picked a better name than that. The sword still glowed in red, making me curious because she quickly made the fog disappear.

"Eh...So...The sword?" I asked.

She was still looking to the left of me, making me wonder why she didn't follow my voice.

"The swamp monster fears the red-glowing sword and will keep its distance. So we can safely pass to the other side." She answered.

"Eh...you know I am here where my voice comes from. You are pointing and looking right into the air." I commented, and she quickly followed the voice and pointed the sword at me.

Well, she is fast, though, and seems to be alert.

A sound came from the woods, and a big red bird flew and sat on the other side of the land, looking at us. The eyes on the bird started to glow blue lightning, and suddenly, a big screen appeared. It was some guy with a beard and scars on his face, and it was like some camera. He tried to fix it, but it was shaking, and I tried to get a clear picture of what was shown. Ultimately, he managed to stop the shaking and got a woman with orange hair into the picture's frame, grabbing her by the hair. She looked distressed and scared; the man's monster arms were covered in red. I guess he was laughing at the camera, or maybe another bird was filming him and streaming it.

"Hello Sheipad Kingdom! It is Zandagon from the Red Dragon Clan. From this moment, we are taking over the kingdom, and all generals under Celia Van Kraten are to report to the palace immediately for new orders. Fail to return to the palace, and your beloved princess will meet her end. I have also placed troops on the border between the Blue Dragon Clan and the Grey Dragon Clan; even a hint of trying to contact them will lead to the princess's death. All generals who get this message return immediately and await orders to hunt Taz Van Polan, the disgusting creature. If you meet this creature, kill it immediately. The kingdom now belongs to the Red Dragon Clan, and we will decide the future of the Sheipad Kingdom from now on."

The girl was screaming in the background and struggling to escape the dragon guy while he was laughing at the bird...I think!

"Well, that was interesting...or not!" I commented, but I had a poker face, knowing that some red dragon guy wanted to get me killed immediately.

If I don't have much luck here, I wonder if Berk is even more unlucky. I mean, that guy killed the king of all the kingdoms; he must be in a horrible situation.

"We must hurry and save my soldiers in the caves and return immediately to the kingdom. Then, prepare to hunt down Taz Van Polan and kill the creature. Will you help me on this journey, Trash Funfickle!" She said while I looked at her with wide-open eyes.

Great, she keeps calling me trash, and I need to find a plan to escape from her while we try to save her friends, soldiers, or whatever. It is not a good idea to hang around people that want to kill you.

"Eh...Sure! I answered, turning away from her, and gasped "FML" for myself without making a sound.

The odds of getting killed on this assignment are 99 per cent. Thank you, sister Victoria, for this great and loving assignment.