Chapter VI: The Journey To The Dwarven Empire...

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Donovan allowed a sigh to escape his lips as he disembarked from the carriage with Lady Nyx right behind him.

They had been traveling for a couple of days now and weren't that far from the mountains where the dwarves dwell, but because they have been riding from early in the morning; it was decided that they would stop and rest for the remainder of the day.

It was unfortunate, just like how it was unfortunate that he couldn't ride on the back of a warg like the Dark Knights, but at the end of the day, it is Lady Nyx's call. He may be in charge of her security detail, but that didn't mean he gets to decide when they go, and when they stop.

As Lady Nyx's assistants disembarked from their carriage and began to set up camp with the help of the Dark Knights, Lady Nyx spoke aloud. "Such a beautiful place to set up camp, don't you agree, Lord Fane?"

"I guess." Came his response in a tone that lacked interest, which had made her pout a little.

Throughout their journey, Lady Nyx has come to know that Donovan is just a quiet person. She had assumed that he didn't talk much because he wasn't comfortable around people he wasn't that familiar with, but after spending hours in the carriage with him, she found this not to be the case.

"Can you at least have some amazement in your voice when you talk, Lord Fane?" Lady Nyx requested with a sigh. She was okay with him being silent, for she believed it suited his position rather well, but the dullness in his voice was killing her.

"Excuse me?" He questioned, traces of confusion in his voice.

"I said- ah, nevermind." She said before walking away and towards one of the other carriages.

Frowning slightly, Donovan thought about following her and asking her to repeat what she had said, but was prevented from doing this, when one of the Dark Knights approached him.

"Lord Fane, may I have a moment of your time?" He inquired in a polite tone.

"Of course, what is it, Sir Azath?" Donovan declared with a nod of his head. He had still not gotten used to being in charge of others, so he has been getting assistance from the pureblood before him.

"I have heard tales that a dragon lives nearby, and was wondering if we should go subjugate it?" Sir Azath stated in a serious tone that had a tiny bit of questioning in it.

Azath was the son of Lord Ugdrath Andras, who was the current Marquis of House Andras, and was rumored to be the most cunning of Dark Knights. He was supposedly a master duelist, and was always three steps ahead of his opponents.

"Uh, no. I don't think we need to do such a thing." Donovan answered after a couple seconds of contemplation. While the idea of fighting a dragon was interesting, Donovan remembered that this wasn't a game and that dragons were pretty big. Unlike wyverns, which had only two legs, dragons had four, and were almost two times larger than the average wyvern.

They could easily swallow someone whole, and it was because of this alongside the ability to breathe fire that Donovan didn't want to do it. Sure he may be a lot stronger than the normal human, but he wouldn't be going up against any humans, he would be fighting a dragon, which was a legendary creature that was known for its power.

"U-Understood." Sir Azath said in response, a little taken back by Lord Fane's refusal. It had been quite some time since he had been out of the castle, and had expected that his new commander would want to do something like this, but he had thought wrong. "Anyways, I have already assigned who will be our sentries for the knight, so you need not to worry about that, my Lord."

"Have you?" Donovan questioned, who got a confirmation nod in return. "I see, thank you."

"Think nothing of it, my Lord." Sir Azath stated with satisfaction in his voice. "I am at your command and will do everything I can to make your job easier."

"And I appreciate that." Donovan affirmed as his lips curved a bit upwards. He was glad that the Dark Knights at his command weren't being a pain in the butt, and was also glad that they were willing to help him out with stuff like this, for a small part of him had feared that they were going to be a rather prideful group and would literally go out of their ways to make his job not easy.

With nothing else to say to his superior, Sir Azath bowed while saying, "Lord Fane." before walking away to go speak with a couple of the Dark Knights who weren't doing anything at the moment.

After he walked away, Donovan released a sigh and grumbled to himself while turning back around to look at Lady Nyx. "I can't believe he wants to hunt a dragon, he mus-"

His muttering came to a complete stop upon seeing that both Lady Nyx and the attendant she was approaching were no longer by the carriage. He didn't see them inside of it either, so he began to look around, but was unable to spot the two of them.

With him being unable to spot them, Donovan walked over to where he had last seen them, and had his eyes averted downwards towards the ground. Upon reaching their last position, he spotted their footprint and began to follow the tracks, which had led away from the camp.

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He followed the trail for quite some time, and as he did so, he listened to nature. It was relaxing, but eventually, the trail came to a stop, and he arrived at what he believed to be a natural hot spring. He wasn't sure if it was a hot spring, for he had never been to one before, but there was steam coming from the water, so he assumed it to be one.

Looking around, Donovan noticed a set of clothing on a rock, and it wasn't long after that when he heard someone call out to him.

"Lord Fane~." The person said in a sultry like singing voice, which had made him look back at the hot spring and see Lady Nyx's head sticking out of the water.

"Lady Nyx," He greeted as he prepared himself to look away the moment she emerged from the water. He had seen naked girls before, but those situations were different, and unlike this one, he wanted to see them naked. "where's your attendant?"

"She's gone back to the camp." Lady Nyx answered as she slowly moved closer to his position, a small smile that was deemed to be mischevious written on her face.

"I see." He said in response with a small frown. He didn't see the woman at all on the way back, but he guessed that they went different paths or something along those lines. "Well then, please let others know where you're going, okay? Also, have one of the Dark Knights escort you as well, they're here to be your security after all."

"You do know that I'm incredibly powerful, right?" Lady Nyx asked as her face became crestfallen. "And that I can easily kill whatever tries attacking me if I wanted to."

"Yes, but it makes my job easier knowing that there is someone there with you." Donovan answered in a slightly tired tone. He didn't doubt that she was powerful, but he didn't want to hear from the people under his command that Lady Nyx had suddenly disappeared and a whole commotion happen because no one knows where she is. He just didn't need that stuff.

"Aww, are you worried about me?" She questioned in a teasing tone as her mischievous grin reappeared on her face.

Not even bothering to answer her question, Donovan looked away and muttered in a low tone that was loud enough to reach her ears. "Just hurry up with your bathing, please and thank you."

At this, Lady Nyx laughed before submerging into the water.

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Shannon had an exhausted expression written on her face as she and the other girls of the Hero Party returned to the room they would be staying in during their time in the Dwarven Empire.

It had been quite some time since the Black Knight appeared, and her nightmares about him had yet to go away. This had troubled her greatly, and what made the dreams worse is when she would try to figure out why he is doing this. He would barely talk, and when he did, he would say that because he wants to before cutting her down.

She wasn't the only one who was having dreams about him. Both Noelle and Gabrielle also had nightmares about the Black Knight including Angel, but their nightmares about him eventually went away.

She was surprised that Angel was able to get over his fear for the Black Knight so quickly, for she remembered how he would avoid the subject in general after waking up, but then one day he suddenly claimed that he would get back at the Black Knight and make him pay. As for both Noelle and Gabrielle, they took a little longer, but eventually, they had stopped dreaming about what had happened and declared that next time they would get him.

"So, was anyone else surprised by what the Dwarven Emperor looked like?" Gabrielle questioned in an attempt to start a conversation. She had waist length crimson red hair, and light blue eyes, and like the others, wore something that was little of modesty.

Her attire consists of a white breastplate with gold and pale blue accents and matching, fingerless gauntlets, boots, hip guards, and wing-shaped hair clips. She wore a black leotard underneath her breastplate, black thigh-high stockings, and a pale blue cloth wrapped underneath her hip guards, all of which are clad with pink lacing along with her hair clips.

"Fuck yeah I was!" Marianna exclaimed as she jumped on her bed, which was big enough for two large males to sleep on. "I was expecting some short, fat, and ugly guy. Not some guy who had muscles upon fricking muscles and was like six feet tall."

They had been in the Dwarven Empire for nearly a week now, and had finally met the Emperor, but to all of their surprise the dwarf leader was a tall, burly man that made Jacob look like a twig, and Angel like a child.

"I just can't help but wonder what his daughter looks like..." Noelle said aloud in a slightly awed voice.

They had come across many female dwarfs during their time here, and while there were some pretty/gorgeous ones, there were also a lot of not so pretty ones. It had amazed them and made some of the girls wonder if the dwarf males had an ugly fetish, for there seemed to be a lot more not so good looking girls than pretty ones.

Just thinking of the Dwarven Emperor's daughter made some of them shutter. They didn't know why, but all they could think of was a female version of the Emperor.

"I mean, we should technically be able to see her since none of us are men, right?" Xenovia questioned with traces of uncertainty in her voice. One of the dwarf law is that if a man sees an unmarried woman face, who is not of the same blood, must take them as their bride. If the man refuses to do so or the head of the household deems the man unworthy, then they perish or be banished to the surface, but the latter depends on their status, so that the woman can remain veiled and undefiled.

This law made no sense in any of their minds, but then again, there were a lot of things in this world that made no sense to them. Another thing the girls of the Hero Party found to be strange is how dwarves label themselves as the Children of the Stone. They refer to the Stone as both genders, but they do not worship it as if it were a God. The Stone is believed to be a living and a shifting entity with a will that surrounds and guides the dwarves.

Dwarves apparently experience a unique and all-encompassing relationship to their progenitor, the Stone. They are born of it, they serve it in their deeds, and they feel its impact upon their lives in many ways.

"Yeah, but we can't see her unless she asks for us." Marianna pointed out as she sat up and began to take off her shoes.

"I know, but it's rare that we haven't met her yet." Xenovia said in response. "Usually, the child of the ruler would want to speak with us or at the very least Angel, but that hasn't happened at all."

"Well, it's not like it matters." Shannon said as she sat down on her bed. "We're here to convince Emperor Havel to help us fight the Demon King and her forces, not his daughter."

"We know that, but still, it's strange that we haven't met her or her siblings." Noelle declared.

Not seeing the need to say anything else on the matter, Shannon closed her eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep while her friends continued to talk to one another about their situation and dwarven culture. As she did this, she thought about her parents and how they were doing back on Earth.