"Elric!" Gwyneth screamed as Notus pulled her back. away from the newly formed cliff. She fought against him until she noticed Aston dive off seemingly headfirst. Using the wind, he was able to quickly catch up to Elric, grabbing his hand and teleporting them to the ground shortly before reaching impact.

"Thank you." Elric breathed, his chest heaving as he lay against the warm rocky surface.

"Better you than the rest of us." Aston exhaled from his sitting position, raising his head to gaze up at where they had fallen from. Several dozen meters above, he assumed.

"Can you teleport us back up?" Elric asked, pushing himself off the ground.

"Don't know."

Aston closed his eyes, focusing on the cliff he had jumped from. Opening his eyes, he was disappointed to find that he was still at the bottom of the canyon.

"I'll take that as a no." Elric frowned. "There's a path over there; it should lead us back up," he paused. "Are you able to fly?"

Aston thought for a moment. He remembered trying to fly once in his village before he was taken to the castle. For whatever reason, his magic was far stronger shortly after he got it. Since then, he had tried to once or twice, though never really had a need to considering he was trapped inside the castle. "I don't think so."

"Thought they would have taught you as much, considering they, you know, fly."

And Aston thought they would teach him more beyond elemental magic. Guess that made two of them.

The trek up the cliff was slow, and it hadn't helped that the closer they made it to Cathrul, the hotter it got. Eventually, Aston got to the point where he forewent his shirt entirely, causing Elric to stare. Not in the "you're actually kind of hot" way, but more of a "what do you think you're doing?" look.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Plenty of rodents and wild animals lurk around these areas. I would keep the extra padding," Elric suggested.

"Padding my ass. It's hot out here." Aston sighed.

"Don't blame me if you get hurt. Or a sunburn." The knight tsked.

Elric was right, there were several large rodents, far bigger than the ones in Aeceria. Beyond that were anteaters and bats.

"Aren't these things supposed to be nocturnal?" Aston torched one of the flying creatures.

"The ones we have, yes. These are Cathruli Chiroptera. They're quite active during the day and have an incredible tolerance to heat."

"Not high enough." Aston smirked as the bat burned to a crisp. "Why do you know so much about Cathrul anyway?"

"Mostly from Gwyneth." A faint smile appeared on Elric's face as he recalled how giddy the princess became any time she read about the other kingdoms. "She'd often read to me as kids. Still does." He shook his head, the smile fully present. "I suppose some of it stuck with me. Partially thanks to our princess' obsession with bats. For her birthday my father gave her an encyclopedia on bats."

Aston shuddered. He was suddenly glad he never paid any attention to her books.

Walking a bit further, their path came to a dead end. The right was a wall, left was the bottom of the canyon, and in front was a cliff far too high to scale. If only there was a way that they could somehow reach it...

Oh, wait.

"Now this, I can do." Aston smirked, preparing a wind spell. A few seconds later, Elric and Aston were launched into the air before landing on the edge of the cliff. They didn't have time to relax as a giant armadillo came charging at them. It towered over them, at least twice the size of Elric. Its speed was impressive for a creature of its size. Elric blocked its claw with his sword, wincing from the weight.

"Why is it so big?!" Aston gawked.

"Why don't you ask the Cathruli?!" Elric gritted his teeth, trying to push back the creature.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Good idea!"

"A little help here?"

Aston nodded, preparing a fire spell and casting it near the armadillo's other claw.

"Careful with that!" Elric shouted, narrowly dodging the flame.

Unfortunately, the spell didn't do much with the creature's tough exterior. Aston tried an earth spell, tying the armadillo's back legs with vines. Unfortunately, it broke through with its sheer strength.

"Nothing is working!" Aston shouted.

"Then go on ahead! I'll hold it off."

Aston took a deep breath before launching himself into the air with a gust of wind. Unfortunately, the armadillo did not like this and quickly swiped at him, knocking him to the ground. Elric quickly around the creature's body, jumping over its tail that swiped at him in the process before blocking another strike before it could hit Aston.

"Are you okay?" Elric asked.

"No! Of course not!" Aston glared down at his bare chest. Blood streaked down from his collarbone to his stomach. The wound thankfully wasn't deep, but it still hurt like no afterlife.

"Listen," Elric paused to deflect another strike. "Its underbelly is unprotected. That means one of us needs to preoccupy it while the other slides under. Why don't you bind it or otherwise distract it?"

"Do you not see that I'm bleeding?"

"Do you not see that we will otherwise die if we don't stop it?" Elric motioned with his sword at the creature.

Aston rolled his eyes and sighed. Casting a spell while a sharp pain flowed throughout his torso wasn't easy. And of course, his prey was quick to free itself from its viney binds. Time for plan B.

Aston teleported himself short distances across the relatively narrow path. Each successful teleportation resulted in increasing pain from his wound. Eventually, he had enough. He slowly backed away as the creature neared him. Before it could strike. Elric had slid underneath, slashing at its underside several times before dealing the fatal blow.

"First aid." Elric approached the boy, his hand extending out to him. A wooden box appeared in his outstretched hand — the first aid kit Aston had touched before their journey. Taking out a roll of bandages and dressing, he began cleaning the wound. A yelp followed by a gust of wind knocking him backwards nearly had him at his wit's end. "Unless you want to die, I suggest you hold still and let me treat that."

"It hurts."

"Because it's an open wound!" Elric shouted. "If you let me do my job it will hurt less."

Aston huffed, allowing the knight to continue. Amazingly, Elric only had a couple of scratches compared to the giant deep one on Aston's collarbone. "What made you want to be a knight?" He found himself asking.

Elric glanced up for a moment, noticing Aston seemed bored more than anything. He quickly refocused his attention on the task at hand. "An old promise I made Gwyneth." Everything always came back to Gwyneth, didn't it? "Neither you nor she could ever leave the castle, right? She had attempted to escape many times, always getting caught in the process. So, I made her a promise. Once I became a knight, I would escort her across Halycone, wherever her heart desired. Of course, it doesn't actually work like that. Oddly enough, this quest has seemed to fulfill that promise. Somewhat."

Aston would never admit it, but he envied the knight. To have someone one cared about so much that they would devote their life to seeing their wish fulfilled... It made Aston feel lonely. But why should he care? He was so much more efficient on his own, not having to wait around for others or Almighty forbid consider their feelings.

"Elric! Aston!" The princess' voice could be heard. The two glanced over to see the princess ungracefully slide down a rocky slope, Isla and Notus following behind her. Catching her breath, she spoke again. "There's a path not too far from here that should lead to the other side of the canyon."

"Great. Let's get going." Aston pushed himself up, Elric having completed his work. His chest had been cleared of the blood, and the bandage wrapped around his collarbone revealed the wound to be far smaller than he originally made it out to be.

"Yes." Gwyneth turned to their savior. "And put a shirt on!"

Gwyneth and Isla recounted their less-than-eventful trip down the canyon. A few bats and rodents were "battled" along the way, mostly dying in one hit, or were otherwise chased off. There were a few times when the path just ended, the only way down a fatal leap. During those times Notus would (begrudgingly) carry the two down one at a time. Aston and Elric recounted their tale.

"A Cathruli Dasypodidae." Notus seemed lost in thought. "Burning it would in theory be the most effective method."

"Tried. Its shell is too tough," Aston explained.

"Its underbelly," Notus snapped.

"I imagine aiming is a little difficult, especially while bleeding," Elric defended.

"Bleeding?! Who was bleeding?!" Isla began to panic.

"Aston, apparently." Gwyneth shrugged.

"Have you not tried enchanting their weapons with an element?" Notus turned to Aston.

"I... can do that?" He raised an eyebrow.

Notus sighed before turning to Isla. "Your bow?"

She quickly retrieved it, handing it to the Fae.

He closed his eyes, and within seconds, her bow glowed a faint green. "Your bow is now enchanted with the element of wind," he explained. "Your arrows should fly farther and faster. You'll find it far more forgiving when it comes to aiming."

"Whoa! That's awesome!" Isla beamed at her "upgraded" weapon.

"Okay, okay. I want to try!" Aston summoned Elric's sword from his side causing Elric to do a double take. "How does it work?"

"Focus on calling upon the elements," Notus explained. "It should naturally enchant with the element its wielder is most connected to."

Call upon the elements? Whatever that means.

Elric's sword glowed with a faint blue hue.

"Water..." Elric mumbled.

"Interesting." The Fae crossed his arms, the slightest hint of amusement in his otherwise melancholic voice present.

Gwyneth held back a huff. If only she had a weapon.