My dad and Charly applied protection glyphs to the most exhausted soldiers and their horses. Dark bags under their eyes. No one had been able to sleep the night before. Being stared at by the thousands of silent faces in the mist put everyone on edge. The vines constantly tried to retake the ground we cut out as a camp site, and had to be cut back every couple hours. Worst of all, the protection glyphs the soldiers used only lasted a little over an hour before they had to be recast.
If the protection faded for even a minute, the soldiers would become infected by the mist. We could not afford a single one falling ill. Of the one hundred soldiers, five had some degree of minor injuries on the first day due to the vines. We were making better progress now, and fewer were getting caught off guard, but everyone was tired and on edge.
A few soldiers twitched every now and then, looking around with fearful eyes. One swore they heard something moving in the mist. When we sent soldiers out to check, they found nothing.
The caravan was moving slow enough through the bramble that I was able to hop off the wagon and walk alongside it. I had a basket in my left hand, and I kept my eyes peeled to the ground as I walked.
After nearly an hour of looking, I found a small withered blade of grass. Thin as a hair and shorter than my pinky, the blade was nearly impossible to see if you were not looking for it. I smiled as I picked the small blade of grass. Holding it up the brighter mist above, I could faintly make out a bit of green in the withered stalk.
I placed the small blade of grass in my basket and smiled at Charly and Donte nearby. “That makes four for me. you two better try harder, or you will never catch up.”
“You are only one ahead of me. Don’t get cocky,” Charly replied.
Donte grumbled unhappily as he swung his empty basket around. “How can you see something like that? All the plants look the same to me. Are you cheating?”
“What’s wrong city boy? Scared I might win?” I teased. Charly laughed and Donte grumbled under his breath while blushing.
“What are you three doing? Is this some sort of game?” Orias asked, slowing down his horse so that it would trot alongside us.
I held up one of the small blades of grass for Orias to see. “Emerald Blight. If someone gets infected by the mist, eating a few of this little grasses will help treat their symptoms. It is not a cure, but it is better than being unable to move after getting infected. We are competing to see who can pick the most before the end of the day. Winner gets to give one command to the losers.”
“Really?” Orias asked, examining the small blade of grass. “Emerald Blight… Did you learn that from the church records as well?”
“You don’t have to believe me if you do not want to,” I relied with a shrug.
Orias paused for a moment, before shouting, “Unit seven, down in front!”
Nine soldiers hopped off their horses. They marched up to Orias, all standing in a straight line, and saluted.
“Show them how to find it,” Orias said.
I nodded and held up the grass for each of the soldiers and explaining its use again. “This grass is rare, but it usually grows near the roots of the vines. Just be careful. There is another grass that looks just like it, but when you hold it up to the light, it will have a purple sheen. That grass is extremely poisonous. If you eat the wrong one you will absolutely die.”
“Alright men, you heard the kid. Spread out and find as much of the grass as you can.” Orias commanded. The nine soldiers saluted again before spreading and looking for the grass.
“You have got to be kidding me!” Donte complained, “How am I supposed to win now?”
I stuck my tongue out at him and grinned. Orias let out a bellowing laugh that echoed through the mist.
“Kid, you are just like your mother when she was younger. Tia and Renald were constantly competing against each other every day. Neither was ever willing to submit to the other.”
Stolen story; please report.
“You knew my parent for a long time, didn’t you?” I asked curiously.
“Since the day they first joined the Novus military,” Orias responded, pounding his fist on his chest proudly, “Back then, I was in charge of teaching all the new squires. Your mother barely knew how to hold a sword back then. I was the one who taught her how to fight.”
“What were they like back then?”
“Your mother was a little hellcat. She never backed down from a fight, and was never willing to be second best. She trained harder than anyone and got into scraps with everyone, even a few of the knights and commanders. Your father on the other hand was a natural prodigy. Even before he joined as a squire, he knew how to use glyphs better than most soldiers ever will. He was a stuck-up little brat with all the pride and arrogance you would expect from former Ciel royalty.”
I nearly stumbled as I looked up at Orias with wide eyes. “Royalty!”
“My dad was royalty?” Charly practically choked on his words.
“You did not know?” Orias paused for a moment. “Yeah, I should not have said that. It is not something he would want to talk about.”
“Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!” I said, practically bouncing in excitement.
“Alright, alright, calm down. Keep your voice down. If he hears me talking about this he might actually try and cut me down. I do not want to fight him to the death over an old story,” Orias said lowering his voice to a whisper, “Put simply, your great grandfather Aldrich created the Ciel Empire after the Undead Queen’s death and became its first king. By all reports he ruled well enough, and had more than a dozen children. When he died, Albaric, the oldest son inherited the throne. As his first act as emperor, he exiled all of his brothers and sisters so that none of them would be able to claim his throne. They were never allowed to step foot into the Ciel empire again. Less than a year later most of them were dead from ‘unfortunate accidents’. Your father’s family was one of those exiled, and less than a few months after their exile they were slain by barbarian raiders from the north. As far as I know he is the only survivor.”
“Dad never mention any of this before...” Charly said.
“Why would I?” Spoke a gruff voice behind us.
I saw Orias stiffen as he turned to look at my father. His face was dark as he glared at Orias. I could feel the killing intent radiating off of him.
“Dad, why did you never tell us you were Ciel Royalty?” I asked, bouncing to his side.
“What difference would it make. I can never return to the country, and I never want to. All telling you would accomplish is getting assassins sent after us by my uncle. He will never allow any threat to his throne. It is why he killed my parents and it is why I joined the Novus military in the first place. A foreign soldier who pledged his allegiance to another country will never be able to hold a claim to the throne. I even made sure that when I became a knight, my territory was on the opposite side of the Novis kingdom. All to avoid his ire and live a life I could call my own.”
“I am sorry dad. I didn’t know,” I replied, quickly hugging him.
“I know you did not, but he did,” My father said, fury rising in his voice as he looked at Orias, “You are never to approach my children again. You take even one step towards them without Tia or me around and I will cut you down without a second thought.”
“Sorry Renald,” Orias muttered softly, urging his stallion to the front of the soldiers.
My dad watched him go before turning to us. “You are never to tell anyone about what you learned here today, understood? If you start spreading this information around, my uncle will see it as you declaring your connection to the throne. I spent a lot of time making sure I was of no threat to him. Do not make it all go to waste.”
“Got it,” I replied. It did not really make much difference to me anyway. I had more claim to these lands than anyone, but I would not take the throne again even if it was handed to me. It was too much of a hassle.
“Should I start referring to you as princess?” Donte said with a grin.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” I replied putting my hands on my hips and puffing out my chest. “If anything, you should refer to me as empress, the great and mighty immortal. Ruler of the realm and mightiest of all."
“That’s never happening.” Charly replied hiding a smirk.
Donte laughed. “I think you need to grow a little first. Right now, you look like the puniest of all.”
“Say that again.” I growled at Donte with my best evil glare.
“I… Um… Please don’t make your dad beat me up again.”
“That is what I thought.” I said with a smirk.
My fun was interrupted when a soldier clearing vines shouted. He spotted the first village we had hoped to reach yesterday evening. Through the fog, the vague outlines of buildings could be seen.
With a renewed boost of energy, the soldiers all moved together to clear the vines and clear our path with one single push.
Cutting through the vines we were able to see more and more of the buildings ahead. Silent houses standing in the middle of a sea of vines. There were no lights in the windows. No smoke rose from any of the chimneys. No sounds of people.
We moved to the empty village square. There were fewer vines here and we could see more of the buildings.
Broken doors and busted walls, not a single building was fully intact. Even through the mist I could see the debris from one house that had collapsed entirely.
“Spread out and look for survivors!” Orias shouted.
The soldiers hopped down from their horses and moved with their units. Each unit cleared a path to a different building. Many of the soldiers were still hopeful and excited, but I knew better.
I had seen this type of damage too many times not to recognize it. A Demonkin had rampaged through this town.