Not wanting to waste time, the king urged us to set off almost immediately, the prodigies and I only having time to change into adventuring gear and say brief goodbyes once the ceremony ended. Lin was a mess as she saw me go, with even father crying his eyes out. Tears were not lost on me either, but I had already accepted that I could be betrayed and die on the passage. It was unlikely though and I was surprised that the possibility had even crossed my mind in the first place, finding myself more and more aware of how different my mindset was currently to how it was merely weeks prior.

Sebas took the lead initially, as we marched on out of town, away from the crowd, and followed the trail to the capital, with him being the only one not crying and, therefore, not distracted. We said nothing to each other for quite a while, even after the sobbing and sniffling stopped. It simply wasn't the time for conversation. It was the time for resolve.

Even if a portion of the royal guard had gone ahead the day before to clear the way of any major dangers, the passage was not without trouble. It was around dusk when Bren, who had taken the lead over Sebas a few hours before, smelled something on the air. A metallic smell that I didn't quite recognise, but turned the prodigies' faces sour.

"Blood."

A single word from Aquila was all it took to break my resolve and make me want to run back home. To abandon the prodigies and seek help. I tried to disguise my fears, but Sebas caught on quick. He gave me an apprehensive smile, and rustled my curly, brown hair, much to my embarrassment. At least he kept me distracted. While Sebas stayed here with me, the other two prodigies went ahead to investigate, and came back with disturbed expressions. They excluded me from their conversation, and I pretended that I couldn't hear a word of what they were saying, even if they were only several metres away. Whatever they had seen, when they described it to Sebas, his always stoic or cheerful smile was crushed into a grim look of despair. Only then did I start to properly eavesdrop.

"-off trail? What are you thinking?!" Sebas grimaced, no amount of composure left in him.

"The bodies, Sebas, the bodies! There weren't just civilians, there were guards too! And not of the regular kind." Aquila admonished.

"Then we should wait here! Camp for the rest of the night and inform the guard behind us of what we found! They'll understand."

"And prove what? That we're cowards? Sebas, you heard the king. We're 'Saviours' now, and if the first thing we do with our new titles is flee, then what kind of saviours are we?" Bren pleaded, staring directly at the ground.

"Smart saviours, not stupid ones."

"Are you really calling me stupid Sebas? At a time like this?!" Bren shouted, a sneer painted across his face. "This is why we should've chosen a proper chaperone, not a child! What were you even thinking when you-"

"Shut up, Brenden. Don't do this when Ren is right. Bloody. There!" Aquila interrupted, getting close to Bren's face as she enunciated every word with increasing volume. As if realising that I was there for the first time, Bren's shaky stare wandered over to me, before giving Sebas a shameful look.

"I'm sorry, Sebas. I just-"

"I know. This wasn't supposed to happen. I'm beginning to think that your idea wasn't too bad either. Whatever did those things to the bodies up ahead is probably still going to be around. And waiting here like sitting ducks will make us easy prey. Sorry..." Sebas trailed off, looking to the side as he held one arm with the other.

"Now that you boys are done throwing a tantrum, I think its time to explain to Ren what's happening before he gets too afraid. Look at him for gods' sake." Aquila sighed, gesturing vaguely over to where I stood. Me? Scared? Yes... I suppose that is the kind of expression I have right now. Visibly ashamed, Bren walked over to me and crouched down to look at me directly in the eyes. I couldn't help but avoid his gaze.

"Ren, I'm guessing you heard all of that, right?" Bren asked, his tone strangely neutral.

"...yes."

"You're not in trouble for that Ren. I'm going to explain what we're going to do now, and as our chaperone, I think it would be nice to hear your view on things." Bren said, now... apologetic? Was that the word? I nodded carefully, trying not to show my trembling but my legs betrayed me in that aspect. Bodies. On the trail. Bodies belonging to the royal guard. The royal guard. And they were dead. As dead as granny.

"We're going to go off trail to try and navigate past what's up ahead. It's dangerous, but not as dangerous as what probably caused what's up ahead. Sebas was against it, but... he's agreed for now. Aquila and me also think its the best course of action, even if it is bad, but what about you? What do you think about this?"

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

What do I think? I think I should've never accepted Sebas' offer, that's what! I should've backed out while I still had the time. I could've dealt with the disappointment of being a coward from the town if it meant I lived. Except... no, that's not what I would've done. I would've made that decision to follow ever single gods-damned time.

"...I'll follow." I meekly eked out, trying to not show my reservations in my voice.

"Alright." Bren got back up and turned to the other prodigies, taking the lead once more. "We'll leave a small trail, something to indicate to the following band where we veered off the path. They'll then be able to track us with some divination chants and the like with the evidence. Sound good?"

The rest of us nodded, with Aquila marking the ground with some sort of magical trace and Sebas carving out a section of the forest bush next to the trail to mark where we'll go next. Shortly after, our passage continued, this time with no roads, only hard, uncomfortable ground. The day marched on, the sun dipping below the horizon, and the moon peeking above the other side to say hello, when we decided to make camp. Bren did most of the work, setting up bedrolls and scouring the surrounding area while the other two prodigies prepared a fire and meal. In the end, they decided to just use the emergency rations, not wanting to risk wasting water or looking for edible vegetation for a soup. Dinner was awfully silent, none of us saying anything but the bare minimum as we ate. Sebas ended up taking the first night shift after we finished clearing up the food pot they used to heat the dry, cold rations and adding more kindling to the fire. The other two prodigies seemingly went to sleep fine, Aquila's snoring keeping me awake. No matter how hard I tried, the noise would be too loud. Half tempted to just smother her, I got up and said a few words to Sebas before going over to her bed roll, planning to put something over her head, to at least block some of the snoring.

"Ren..." Sebas sighed, shaking his head at the sight in front of him.

"I just can't sleep like this." I whispered, giving up on my attempt and shuffling over to where Sebas sat on a fallen log by the campsite. "And... we're getting closer to that range, aren't we?"

"Ren... it'll be fine, demons haven't been sighted for centuries. And even if they were, it would be weak ones who were pushed out of the demonic mountain range with nowhere to go." Sebas assured, ruffling my hair. "Is that what you've been worrying about? That a demon had caused what happened on the trail?"

It had been on my mind; just a background though, a minute possibility that it wasn't just a regular monster attack that caused the royal guards' deaths. But to have it told to me directly, in its bluntest form, I only now realised that the possibility was incredibly frightening. The demons were supposed to be locked up, banished to the other side of the Crylian Mountains, or simply the demonic mountains as told to young children in stories. Barred by the gods themselves, there was no way they could have escaped. Right? But... why were a new set of Saviours named? It had been hundreds of years since the last Saviours. The king said it was for peace. Peace, in an already peaceful time. I wasn't ignorant to the politics of the world. If I was supposed to follow the Saviours, I needed to be useful to them. I studied in the library for weeks on the happenings of other countries and kingdoms, even before I knew I was to be their chaperone. The only war that was likely to have broken out was between minor countries, scuffles over small pieces of land in the west. Not enough to warrant new Saviours.

[]

Unless, something more terrible was about to happen. And the Saviours are their chance at preventing it. Something terrible, like the demons-

"Don't worry about it Ren. I know that look on your face, you're overthinking it all." Sebas interrupted, stopping his ruffling and putting only a hand on my shoulder. "Don't let whatever bad thoughts you're having control you. You're better than that. You're our chaperone, right?"

Looking up at his genuine smile, I felt oddly guilty. Wasn't I doubting him only weeks before this? Questioning and critiquing his every word and move? Searching every iota of his body language and speech patterns for something hostile? Making it out to myself that he was out to get me? And here he is, comforting and consoling me. It couldn't be an act. It was too... real. All the times I insulted him in my mind, all the time I was cautious around him, all those times... I had never thought to look at it from a different perspective. A perspective where he wasn't...

"There there..." Sebas hugged me close, letting me cry into his chest. When had I started crying? "It's going to be alright. It's going to be fine."

[]

He was a friend. He wasn't my enemy. He was Priest Sebas Aldfield, blessed by one of the most gracious gods in existence. But more importantly, he was simply Sebas. A dear, close friend.

[]

"...I want to go home..." I somehow managed to sob out, trying my best to keep quiet. "I want my sister... I want my mother... I want my father... I want my family..."

"And you'll get them. You just have to survive a day or two more out here. From the way we travelled through the forest and the trail we left, a simple directional divination chant will be able to find our direction, and, relying on the charting skills of the royal guard, they'll be able to find out that we're heading back towards the passage."

"We are?" I asked, raising my head from his chest to look up at him. Sebas nodded slightly when he met my gaze.

"And that's the bare minimum. Anything more than that minimum and they'll know where we are exactly, and will be able to meet us when we get back out onto the passage. It's all going to go well."

I nodded, trying to keep the tears from flowing again, but ultimately failing. Sebas held me there for quite some time, well over how long he was supposed to have had that shift, and I fell asleep in his arms. On the edge of unconsciousness, I felt him carry me to my bedroll and tuck me in silently, wishing me a good night before waking up Bren for his shift. With a smile on my face, the comforting embrace of sleep took me away, away from the thoughts about demons, away from the unseen clutches of the Monarchy System, and into nothingness.

[]