“My dad said they have two big hearts. Each one was huge, three times the size of an adult's fist!” The little boy seemed full of passion at the way he told the story with so much enthusiasm. "We only have one heart but we can already live such extraordinary lives! Then what about them? Can you imagine how strong and fast they are?"

Meyara might have just turned thirteen, but she had read so many books to the point that she felt a little bored listening to the stories she had been reading for a long time. However, she was afraid that Adriel would talk about something more boring if he found out about it, so she decided to go with the flow for a while.

"You know that sounds ridiculous," she argued. “If it's true that they are still human with all that extra hearts, then what about their bodies? It’s impossible for an ordinary human body to carry more than one heart. I can't imagine how their blood flows."

"Oh, let me tell you this. You have to start thinking outside the box, Meyara. Or you’ll be stuck forever in outdated notions of human thought," the younger bragged. "Their hearts are working just fine. It's a shame no one has ever done research on the bodies of the Oxcross villagers, but we can draw our answer just by looking at how they live."

"And how do they live?"

"They are strong, extremely strong!" At this point, the younger one started screaming with joy. "And they believe in their own strength so they don't use magic every day like we do. They use their own hands to carve wood, their feet to level the ground, and their heads to destroy the enemy!"

"Okay, you went too far. I'm sure they also use some tools to work." Meyara chuckled, the corners of her lips moving up her cheeks. If only she didn't care so much about her image, she might have pinched Adriel’s cheeks. Her only student really looked like a toddler at moments like this.

"Yeah, I know. But that doesn't reduce their coolness, you know. Only one thing can."

"One thing?"

Adriel nodded his head and muttered something Meyara couldn't catch.

"Don't talk with your chin pressed to your neck!" Meyara scolded him. The girl frowned at the boy's change in mood.

A groan escaped from Adriel's mouth so suddenly. He pouted as he spoke. “No one really dares to visit Oxcross because the villagers are known as barbarians. They often get involved in things that lead to death, are very fond of destructive actions, and chaos. Maybe that's why you'll only see men there. The women and children live in another, safer place. The location is known only to the Oxcross men themselves.”

Meyara took a deep breath after recalling her memory. She finally fully understood why Adriel was hesitating. The young man had been afraid of Oxcross long before they started their journey. How could Meyara forget their conversation that happened four years ago? Her brain should be better than this.

When Adriel gave a dramatic cry for help in one of the Oxcross men's arms, Meyara calmly lowered her head in greeting. "I’m sorry we came without giving any notice. But this is very important and we can't delay it any longer."

One man whom the other men called Chieftain raised his hand. Automatically, his followers stopped in their respective position. "So you're here on business?"

"I guess you could say that."

"What do you need?"

“Got you,” Meyara thought. She did her best to hold back the grin that almost formed on her lips. She couldn't help feeling proud of herself for being able to provoke the scary man in front of her into engaging in further conversation.

"Long story. I don't feel like telling it in front of a massive gate that feels as though it will crush me to death at any moment. And the glares of your men don't help either. Don't you know how to treat a woman?"

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

The Chieftain scoffed before laughing. His hoarse voice echoed, and spread to other men. Meyara watched with sympathy as Adriel tried to laugh as well to cover up his fear.

"I'm not in your game, little girl. If you don't want to politely answer my questions like everyone else, then leave! I don't need you here." The man smirked in a very annoying manner. "But maybe you should leave your boyfriend here, as we always welcome an extra hand. Oh, we're also really excited about how we're going to use this boy's head."

Meyara would be lying if she said she wasn't afraid in the slightest. In fact, she could already feel how drops of sweat started to run down the back of her thin shirt. In her mind, she kept cursing the fate of her journey which encountered quite a lot of difficulties when she had just started. She scolded herself internally for thinking of begging the Chieftain to let Adriel go, just because without that young man's magic, Meyara probably wouldn't be able to set foot in the capital city, let alone meeting at the royal family.

Even so, Meyara had been a girl who always kept her head held high. So she did what she did best.

"Go ahead. You can do anything to him, he's not my boyfriend or anything. He just follows me like a dunderhead so I don't really care."

“Meyara!” The young man in question whined miserably, but was immediately silenced by the man's large hand holding him.

The Chieftain frowned at the interaction, and Meyara could see through him that he was starting to find this situation amusing. The man grinned darkly. "I can see that you are full of self-confidence. So much, I can almost see it flowing out of your body. It makes me wonder what mission pushed you here?"

“Nothing out of the ordinary,” the girl replied nonchalantly while checking her nails. Frowning as she realized she needed to take a shower as soon as possible. “My Chief just sent me here when he heard what I was planning. Do you perhaps know him personally? Warren, Chief of Deterville."

For a moment, the man's eyes blazed with rage, Meyara almost considered retreating. But then the Chieftain lowered his voice to whisper to his men who immediately dispersed. The man who had been carrying Adriel had let go of the poor young man, though with a disappointed sigh.

However, not a single person had gone very far. They still lingered, making sure they could still hear the conversation.

The Chief escorted Meyara and Adriel—who kept hiding behind the girl—until they reached a hut whose walls were decorated with many pointed iron objects. The edges of those things glisten, Meyara was almost hypnotized and directed her finger to touch the sharp tip, but Adriel's hand that touched her upper arm hesitantly brought her mind back to focus.

The three of them sat in a circle on a dark brown rug that had very soft fur. This time Meyara didn't hold back from scrubbing the carpet surface. In an instant she felt at ease, she wondered if the things that Oxcross’ men possessed had a special charm that made her fall for it.

“You were lucky to be able to tell me that Warren sent you here. Otherwise my people would have been having fun with you two by now." The Chieftain didn't mince words at all though the way he spoke now was less sinister. "So ... I guess you know what we do for life?"

“You kill for fun—“

"Yes. You all are good at making any item stronger and more useful," Meyara interrupted Adriel's words. Preventing the young man from ruining the situation that she had painstakingly created. "The Royal Family is one of your many customers."

The Chieftain cleared his throat, his fist placed in front of his mouth to hide his too-wide smile. "But that's not enough proof that Warren actually sent you here."

“Oh. Then maybe this one will convince you.”

Meyara turned and stretched out both hands towards Adriel who then gasped in surprise. The young man scowled as he hugged his own body to protect himself, making Meyara roll her eyes at his antics and forced the young man to hand over his bag.

A neatly sealed letter with the official Deterville stamp was handed over to the Chieftain by Meyara. Oxcross writing clearly printed on the front.

The Oxcross leader's hand opened the letter quickly, a little too hard that he almost tore it. He read the contents of the letter that no one had ever known while nodding his head.

"What do you want? It's not really written here."

"It's simple. I just want to meet Queen Hera, so I need your things to get me there."

Several gasps were soon heard. Simultaneously, Meyara and Adriel looked around, they locked eyes with several men who started to stand guard in their respective places.

When Meyara turned back to face the Chief, the man was already at his feet, crumpling the letter in anger. Meyara swore she could actually see hot steam coming from the man's big nose.

"Don't you dare destroy the balance of our world!"

***