The next day, Jesika waited outside the castle doors for Darryn to pick her up and give her a ride on his amarok, Rocky. Soon he arrived, the horse-sized black and white wolf stopping gracefully in front of the castle. Darryn looked at her, reaching out his hand to help her up. She glanced down at Chilly next to her.
“I didn’t feel right just leaving her. It alright if she rides with us?” Jesika said.
Darryn smiled, tilting his head. “Would you look at that? The ice queen has a heart.” She glared daggers at him, making him chuckle uncomfortably. “Sorry, sorry. Just teasing. But Chilly will be much safer here, Jes. I’m sure the staff will take good care of her.”
Jesika sighed, nodding. She turned and opened the castle doors, scooping up the cat. She stepped inside the castle and looked around, knowing already she would get homesick for this place. She cuddled the cat to her face for a moment, letting herself enjoy the sound of the cat’s comforting purr. She gingerly set the cat down, then looked up at the nearest maid.
“Take care of her, please. And make sure you tell the rest of the staff to do the same. She’s to be treated like a princess. Understood?”
The maid smiled, nodding. Jesika turned, leaving the castle and closing the door behind her. Darryn was grinning wryly at her, and she shook her head, rolling her eyes.
“Shut up,” she said, taking his hand and mounting the wolf.
Once she was securely mounted, she wrapped her arms around Darryn’s waist as they took off from the castle.
They rode through the kingdom until they reached the very edge where the gate bordered the forest. They stopped at the sight of Aquila and Rowan waiting with their own beasts, Frankie and Kronos.
“We ready, gang?” Jesika asked from behind Darryn.
Rowan and Aquila nodded in agreement. Without any further word, they began their trek through the dense forest, the Aethelinda Mountain Range glooming down ominously beyond the tallest forest trees. As they headed into the forest, they could hear the roar of Aethelinda where she laid in her throne room.
***
They rode until the sun began to lower behind the trees, the sky taking on brilliant oranges and yellows, contrasting fantastically with the blankness of the white covering the ground and trees. They slowed to a stop, dismounting their beasts to discuss with one another on where to camp for the night.
Jesika was the first to speak, suggesting a clearing in the middle of some trees. Rowan then suggested instead a little cave with some water falling into it. Jesika glared at him as if it was wrong for him to even try and come up with an alternative.
“It’s going to be freezing cold in that cave,” she argued.
Rowan grinned. “We brought blankets for a reason. And we have a flipping phoenix for heavensake. Besides, I don’t know about Darryn’s amarok, but my griffin needs some water. And that’s a perfectly good, free water source.”
“In a musty cave like that, not only would we be uncomfortable, but one of us could get sick. What then? You want us to try and travel with a sick member? Not to mention the possibility of poisonous gasses in that pond you were talking about.”
Rowan crossed his arms, a scowl slowly replacing his grin. “Yes, but in the forest, we’re wide open for attacks from all types of wild beasts. Not to mention, whatever elements of the weather may happen during the night.”
“Who’s to say there wouldn’t be any wild beasts inhabiting your stupid cave?!”
Aquila and Darryn remained silent, watching the two bicker between themselves, slowly turning to throwing insults instead of actually presenting arguments. Darryn finally piped in when he saw that things were getting out of hand.
“Guys! Could we please stop fighting!? It’s already nightfall and all you’ve two done is bicker like petty children!”
Jesika and Rowan stopped, turning to him, their eyes wide, their faces red, their anger now finding a new target. Jesika glared at him, crossing her arms over her chest. A grin that lacked warmth slid onto her face.
“Oh yeah? Got any suggestions, Sir Darryn?” She said, saying his title with a tone of mockery.
Darryn cleared his throat to get past the intimidating stance she was presenting him, straightening. “Yes, actually. A vote, perhaps?”
She arched one brow. “We have an even number of people. What if there’s a tie?” she asked.
“Then we settle on where’s closest. Which would be the clearing.”
Jesika was silent a moment, but soon shrugged. “Alright, fine. Vote. All for forest clearing, raise your hands.” Aquila and Jesika rose their hands. She grinned when she realized where this was going. “Cave?” Darryn and Rowan rose their hands. Her grin grew as she turned her head to give Rowan a smug look. “Well, would you look at that? It’s a tie. Guess you know what that means.”
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He rolled his eyes. “Wonderful. Can’t wait to randomly be attacked in the middle of the night by an ogre.”
Jesika ignored his comment, grabbing his collar and pulling him close, her smile gone. She lowered her voice, saying with a tone of warning:
“This will teach you not to pick a fight with a queen.”
Rowan grinned, staring straight back at her. “Duly noted, Your Majesty.”
They headed towards the small clearing and settled down. Aquila’s phoenix, Frankie, laid down in the center of the group and nestled into the cool ground, allowing his flames to light up, warming the group. Aquila smiled and scooted a little closer to Frankie where she sat next to Rowan. She glanced at him to see he was staring at Jesika as she was reaching into her bag of food, sitting on the other side of Frankie.
“Why are you staring at Jes?”
“Just curious,” Rowan replied, turning to look at Aquila.
“As to what?”
“How you manage to put up with a person like her as a best friend.”
Aquila frowned. “That’s rather bold to say in reference to the queen,” she reminded him.
Rowan shrugged. “I respect her position. But she’s still a human. And I’m allowed to have my opinion on her.”
Aquila’s frown deepened as she crossed her arms over her chest. “An opinion that’s been made far too quickly, I might add.”
Rowan shook his head. “It doesn’t take me long to make accurate judgements on a person’s character.”
Aquila rolled her eyes, averting her gaze, deciding instead to focus her attention on a stick near her foot. “Jesika can seem really... difficult when you first meet her. In reality, she just has a lot of layers to her. Once you get to know her, though that can be hard, you learn she’s really a very sensitive, caring person.”
Rowan grunted. “That doesn’t mean she should have such a haughty, superior attitude to her. She acted like it was a sin for me to have an opinion.”
Aquila smiled slightly. “She likes to feel like she’s in control. It stems from losing her parents,” Aquila paused, looking up at him for a moment, narrowing her eyes, “how would you feel if you lost your parents in a fire? Do you really have the nerve to believe you’d be holding up any better than her?”
Rowan frowned at her for a moment, looking like he was trying to come up with an argument. When he couldn’t seem to find one, he huffed, standing to his feet. “I’m taking Kronos to get some water.”
“Alone?” she asked, concerned.
He chuckled, as he bent down to grab his saber.
“With this sword and a griffin, I think I’ll be just fine. But thanks for the concern,” he said confidently, before leaving, whistling for his griffin to follow.
***
Rowan couldn’t close his eyes. Every time he did, he swore he heard the sound of hungry beasts approaching, ready to devour him whole. He tossed and turned, groaning, the cold only adding to his sleeplessness. I’m not cut out for this stuff, he thought, I’m a scholar, not a freaking adventurer.
He sighed, deciding to make the most out of his sleeplessness by rolling onto his back and looking up at the stars. The gorgeous, mysterious, large expense calmed him. The calm didn’t last long though, when a deep growl sounded nearby. Far too nearby. The sound was so close, so deep, that it rumbled the ground below Rowan.
Rowan sat up quickly, darting his eyes around. Darryn was supposed to be watching out for them, but Rowan’s stomach sank at the sight of him, and everyone else, asleep. Not even the beasts had awoken from their slumber.
Rowan swore, jumping to his feet and grabbing his sword. He looked around again as, yet another growl sounded behind him. He turned to the sound, looking in the darkness for the creature behind the noise.
That’s the sound of a flipping ogre. Your Majesty, if we live through this, you’re never hearing the end of it from me, he thought, still frantically scanning the darkness. Another growl sounded, but this time from the opposite direction.
Rowan jumped, turning. His heart started racing at the sight of a seven-foot ogre coming towards him, his biceps larger than Rowan’s, Aquila’s, and Jesika’s combined. He gulped, raising his sword as the ogre slowly approached. The ogre grinned threateningly, blood dripping from its mouth.
Guys, time to wake up!
Another growl sounded behind him, and Rowan didn’t dare looking to see what it was. He didn’t need to. He knew there were two approaching from both sides. He quickly, desperately, ran to Darryn, kicking his sleeping form as hard as he could. Darryn groaned in response, clutching the spot he kicked. Rowan kicked again, kicking frantically until Darryn finally opened his eyes, grabbing Rowan’s foot and yanking him to the ground.
“What do you want?!” he yelled at Rowan.
Suddenly a shriek sounded through the forest. Rowan and Darryn looked up from where they laid on the ground to where one of the ogres held Jesika tightly in its grasp. Aquila shot up from her slumber, woken by the sound, and grabbing her sword. Darryn grabbed his battle axe and ran towards the ogre holding onto Jesika. Aquila ran at the other ogre, engaging in battle with it.
Rowan sat, paralyzed in fear and shock on the ground, watching the three of them. He grinned to himself suddenly as a thought came to mind.This should teach her not to mess with the forest, he thought. But before Darryn ever reached Jesika and the ogre holding her, she threw her body back, knocking his head powerfully with hers. That should not have worked due to the ogre’s superior strength, but the force of her whole body going back, staggered the ogre enough for her to break from his grasp. She grabbed her sword laying nearby, and in a swift move, she turned to the ogre, stabbing it straight through its heart. She grinned at the sight of blood coming from the ogre’s mouth, sign of the damage she had inflicted inside him.
Rowan’s mouth gaped open, his eyes widening. A shiver went down his spine as he watched her not hesitate to stab the ogre yet again, twisting the sword, before yanking it out and kicking its now lifeless form to the ground.
He let out a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding, shifting his gaze to see that while he had been staring at Jesika, Aquila and Darryn had taken care of the other ogre. He glanced back to Jesika to see her huffing, slinging her hair over her shoulder and returning to her spot to lay down.
“Everyone alright?” she asked as she got comfortable, acting as if she had just gotten up for a bathroom break. Aquila and Darryn nodded, returning to their own spots. Rowan shook his head in disbelief and stood, returning to his spot.
“Rowan.” Jesika’s voice said.
Rowan turned over to look where she laid a few feet away. She was glaring at him. “I know what you’re thinking. I don’t want to hear it. Understood?”
Rowan couldn’t help the grin slipping onto his face at her reference to the ogres he had predicted. He turned over once again, so his back was to her. “Wouldn’t dare, Your Majesty,” he said earnestly, his mind replaying her chilling grin while killing the ogre.
He closed his eyes and ignored Jesika in the background, ordering Darryn to help her move the dead ogres so they wouldn’t stink up the area during the night. Yet, he still found it hard to fall asleep. As his mind replayed Jesika fighting, he knew though it wasn’t the forest that was keeping him awake anymore.