It was late evening when they reached the border with the desert. They had followed the river northwest all day and had finally reached the shores. To Cale's surprise, they had had no major difficulties, occasionally running into some creatures, but compared to the first night, it had been uncomfortably quiet since then. He was therefore on constant alert, but the expected attack never occurred.
"It's nice to finally see something other than death and destruction."
William stood in front of them and stretched his body against the wind. It was night and from their current position they could see everything. To the south, the border to the creature plains, which literally stood out from the surroundings because of the dark ground. In the distance the mountains, they really were almost tiny compared to when they were on the hillside. To the west, the ocean stretches out below them, which was mostly calm in the cold season. The moon reflected on the surface of the water, making the huge expanses a white shade. Far in the distance, barely discernible in the darkness, was Holy Island. More precisely, the official name of the island in the centre of the ocean was 'the Holy Cities of Velence' and it was the home of dragons. For humans, this place was taboo, especially as it was quite difficult to reach due to the otherwise stormy seas. For the dragons, on the other hand, the wind was the perfect habitat and at the same time a natural shelter, which is why it was very rare for people to even see dragons. It is all the more surprising that the dragons began to distance themselves from their homeland and that their presence on the continents destroyed the balance between the humans and the creatures. The creatures followed the dragons like insects follow the light and they followed the orders of the clearly superior power. At least that was the rumour. Cale could never confirm this behaviour, but he still saw a connection between the dragons and the creatures.
The desert stretched out in front of the group, dry as dust due to the past summer months, but it too was disguising itself. With each passing year it seemed to shrink more and more, the people suggesting that it was a consequential reaction to the weakening winds from the west. The otherwise dry wind, which every year stirred up the dusty soil, lost to the strong rain front from the north, where the coldest region was located: Frignez. Aletta's homeland.
The result, therefore, was that it did not snow in Altona. Cale thought at least that he had seen snow once in his life in Exarion, but whether it was really snow or ash after all, he could not say in retrospect.
"Are we safe here?"
Philippa, like the others, stood in the desert with a nervous look, contemplating the Holy Island. She knew the view, but from the other side. Winstest, the land she came from, was a single, secluded continent southwest of Holy Island. There was not one large city in her country, but many small towns scattered along the river and mountains. One of the larger cities, which many saw as the capital, was located on the slope of the mountains and partially dug into the summit. Since the city was in proximity to the larger river, people used boats to get to the large city. It belonged to the tribe of the gods - Layons. It could be seen as the center of the country, although many of the forest people would refuse to agree. But in the past, it was the Layon tribe that had contact with the other side. That much, at least, Cale had overheard, even though he had never really cared for Winstest. They had met the same fate then, only the creatures came to them via the neighboring continent of Tsuke and killed pretty much everything that lived. Something similar had happened in Sylve. Only the islands seemed to have been largely spared.
"We're not really safe anywhere. But the creatures will avoid entering the desert at all costs."
Cale answered her question truthfully while helping Ben set up a small camp for the night. They would spend a maximum of three days in the desert before reaching grassland and would most likely encounter humans again. Usually it was Anuxer that they encountered in these areas, but they tended to stay in the east, where the creatures clustered. The people who were traveling used the sea route at this time of year, as it was faster and less dangerous, but much more expensive. To get from the capital in Sylve to the Mage City in Altona, it took a little less than two weeks by ship, and about six weeks on foot, depending on the group. At the time, Cale hadn't understood why the four of them were forging ahead on foot, but by now he knew. It was Aletta's identity, as well as the fact that William was the third prince of Sylve. Aletta had left for Winstest a good year ago without permission, and her family was still looking for her. A few times she had contacted them briefly, but only by letter, to avoid her being found. When she was on her way from Winstest to the 21 islands of the Sylve, she had learned then that they were looking for her. Arriving in the port city, she had run into William, Ben, who was looking for work. Philippa had met them earlier on the road, although Cale wasn't sure exactly where that had been. With a large advance, Aletta won her as an escort all the way home, she didn't want to cut her trip short, but at the same time couldn't attract attention. Therefore, she decided not to take the ferries and walk the rest of the way.
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Until today, Philippa, Ben and William did not know that the daughter had fled because of her engagement, in order to be able to enjoy her freedom one last time shortly before her wedding. But equally, Aletta and Philippa did not know that William was of royal blood. It was a motley crew, considering Philippa's background as well. Her homeland cultivated the Seven-Gods-Faith and she had been raised with that belief. But all her life she knew that this was not the place where she belonged. She had turned away from the faith community and had been traveling between Winstest and Sylve as an Anuxer for several years. If they even began to know what Cale had experienced, she would follow the Faith. That was pretty much certain.
"Do you want to do some more training?"
William's eager question left Cale grinning. He straightened up, glanced at the half-finished camp, and nodded to the swordsman. As the three of them walked a bit at a distance, Cale's eyes were fixed for a moment on Philippa. The young woman was currently tying her hair into a tight ponytail before tugging individual strands into place and nodding inconspicuously at Cale.
Cale pulled his hood over his head and he mentally prepared himself for the new lesson as he followed the others a short distance toward the cliffs. When he stopped, the other two took a few more steps until they had built up enough distance and drew their swords. Cale did likewise and positioned himself in his usual form.
"The usual rules. You may attack me with anything you have. No false timidity. Keep an eye on your surroundings and keep an eye on each other. And concentrate."
Cale rotated his sword 90 degrees on its own axis so that the thin side could be seen from either direction before clasping his hand behind his back again. Philippa was several dozen feet behind him, but she could clearly see his pale hand against the dark background. She had to be patient until the right moment came.
William sprinted toward the mage first. He held his sword with both hands at waist level, while his gaze fixed on Cale's hand and sword. The young man lunged to strike, first from the right side, then from the left. He then repeated the same, but increased his speed. Serenely, Cale parried his attacks while trying not to move unnecessarily. When William caught up to his strike again, to Cale's surprise, the man, who was a good two meters tall, swung his sword at him. With full force, his sword crashed into Cale's, who had to use much more strength to withstand Ben's attack. But they did not give him time. William struck again, but this time he aimed at Cale's legs, so he pushed Ben away from him and jumped into the air at the last moment to avoid the attack. Surprised, William looked into the golden eyes of Cale, who instantly turned his attention away from him and, just as his feet touched the ground, leaned back sharply to avoid Ben's attack. The mage could feel the blade pierce the air above his face as he had to put one leg back to keep from losing his balance. He had to smile as William dashed at him again and raised his sword.
With smooth movements, Cale dodged their attack, sometimes just barely, sometimes less so. Again and again the clashing metal of two swords clashing could be heard, while the movement of the three became faster and faster. Cale, however, was extremely careful today not to move too far while lulling the two into a false sense of security.
The spectacle continued for several minutes as the wind gnawed at them and the sound of the sea could be heard in the background. They had developed their own form of fun, dueling Cale every night, unaware of how seriously Cale was really taking it. With each successive blow, Cale realized that their strength was waning, while he himself was not relenting. He felt Philippa rise up behind him and knew, instantly, that this was how it was going to continue.
William again shot at the mage with all his might and set to striking from the air. He had talked to Ben about it a few times over the last few days and one thing was clear to both of them: Cale couldn't block two attacks at once. He could tell she his friend sprinted to his right side and spoke into the air. Furthermore, he crashed to the ground with a powerful punch, expecting Cale to block it. But Cale's eyes sparkled and in the next second the mage disappeared under his feet.
Surprised, William fell to the ground and instantly straightened the mage, who was standing about two meters from his original position. And at the same moment, William felt an arrow from their back coming towards him.