CHAPTER 16

"LORD Hakken, this path is crawling with bandits," Grath warned Hakken as their wagon entered the forest that separated the town of Belrac and Castetava. After traveling on a grassy plain for two days, they finally arrived at the border of the two towns. "When traveling before, we demi-humans always avoid this place."

"Don't worry about it, Grath." Hakken discarded Grath's warning while sharpening his war blades. "I will kill whoever dares to block out path."

Grath nodded, and he felt reassured. He saw how Lord Hakken fought the Duves family's soldiers. He was spectacular with his war blades. Lord Hakken was the warrior Grath aspired to be so he could be of use to her highness.

Inside the wagon, Cira was peeking in the front before she moved to sit beside Sollel and whispered, "Your Highness, didn't you make Hakken's weapon into flaming war blades when we were fighting the Duves family? Why is it still intact?"

Sollel smiled at Cira's scrutinizing tone. "I used my normal flame to bless his war blades. If it was my blood flame, he would've melted together with his blades."

"Oh." Cira's question was finally answered. "By the way, Your Highness, about the moonrite stone," Cira whispered so only they could hear. "I'm still analyzing it, and it is a very slow process since I can't do it while we're traveling or it'll affect you."

"It's okay," Sollel said, even though it would be a great help if Cira did find a stone that could negate the moonrite's effect on her. "Take your time."

Cira nodded and smiled. "That's why I decided to stay in a different inn when we reach the town of Castetava. I have to focus all my essence in analyzing the stone, and I can only do that if you're far away, Your Highness. After what we did to the Duves family, the empire and the kingdom will surely send someone to subjugate you. We have to be ready in case they used a moonrite stone on you."

Sollel smiled at Cira, overflowing with gratitude. Without her, Sollel seriously thought she would certainly have a hard time. She took back her words before—Cira was dependable in more ways than one.

"Thank you, Cira."

Cira beamed in happiness. "My pleasure, Your Highness. By the way"—Cira's expression became serious—"about your flame essence, I think sucking your own flame essence from the flame sorcerers could help you recover in a way, but I think you have to be closer to the flame sorcerer to take back your essence. But this is not certain, and I have to conduct more studies. Meaning, I can only give you a definite answer after we catch another flame sorcerer and experiment on them since I didn't see what exactly happened with that flame sorcerer from the Duves family. I have to see for myself since it was my elven eyes that are doing the work."

Sollel nodded. She was determined to get her essence back from the flame sorcerers. It was mine to begin with, she told herself. Then a thought flashed in Sollel's mind. "Hey, Cira?"

"Yes, Your Highness?"

"I know it's a rare item, but do you think we can get our hands on an essence vessel?" It was basically a hallowed container made of rare stones. Only a few dwarf artisans could make it, but it was seldom made because of its rare materials.

Cira's shoulder fell, and she pouted. "It'll be an impossible task, but I'll try looking. By the way, Your Highness, why do you need an essence vessel? I'm sure you can immediately take back your essence from those good-for-nothing flame sorcerers."

"It's not for me," Sollel shook her head as she answered. "It's for the others," Sollel explained. "I'm sure that along the way, we will find and fight different kinds of sorcerers. I don't know if I could be able to contain other sorcerers' essence that was not flame in an essence vessel, but I'm still willing to try. For Gatria, Aenwyn, and Astrid."

Cira blew a loud breath. "So you need three of them?"

Sollel nodded. "Yes."

Cira heaved a deep sigh; she felt hopeless because she knew how rare it was. "I'll try to look for it, but it'll be like looking for a needle in haystack."

"Thank you, Cira."

Cira smiled at Sollel. "Always my pleasure, Your Highness! You're my favorite queen after all."

Sollel chuckled at that as she leaned on the wagon's side wall. "Back in the day, compared to the other queens, I'm the least favorite of our people and other races because of my destructive flame. They're all afraid of me—with good reasons."

Cira's lips parted. This was the first time Queen Sollel shared her past with her. Cira was grateful and emotional that she was close to crying. She was just controlling her emotions because Queen Sollel might stop sharing her past with her if she cried.

"The second least favorite was Astrid." Sollel smiled at the memory. To others, they were queens of Yther, but to them, they were like sisters—they treated one another like one. "Astrid was fierce. She roamed and reigned the sky with her wings. She was brilliant in hand-to-hand combat. She took down a lot of strong men."

Cira's eyes were twinkling while listening to Queen Sollel's story. Queen Astrid really has wings! The story is real!

"And then, Gatria—she was hailed by our people as the sword goddess." Sollel remembered the time when Gatria was working hard to teach her how to wield a sword. "She was magnificent with swords, and she takes pride in it, well, until someone defeated her for the first time. She was livid. She couldn't accept her defeat and went to challenge the warrior again, but alas, she couldn't find him."

Cira's lips were now o-shaped. Hearing the story straight from the lips of one of Yther's queens, Cira felt like she was the luckiest elf ever!

"And of course, Aenwyn." Sollel shook her head with a smile, remembering her memories with Aenwyn. "Our powers cancel each other out, but we were very close. Aenwyn was everyone's favorite. She was the most beautiful of all. She covers half of her face to hide her beauty and to hide from men who wouldn't stop courting her and offering her their kingdoms. She looks so serene most of the time, but her temper was second to mine. If I could raze hell and burn everyone when mad, Aenwyn could devour and sink any land. So Gatria and Astrid tend to go soft on us, afraid that we might snap and destroy Azitera.

Slowly, Sollel's happy smile turned bitter. "And then that hateful night happened. I lost everything and everyone I cared about. And now, here I am, guilty at the thought that I will break my promise to Gatria and Astrid. I will raze hell, and I will cover the whole Azitera with my flames. I will have my vengeance, and my flames will burn and devour the soul of my betrayers."

Cira shuddered at Queen Sollel's last words. Her hatred for humans really had no bounds.

Sensing Sollel's anger, Cira tried to change the topic. "When we arrive at the capital of Treterra, what are we going to do next? I only know that Queen Gatria is in Treterra because of the story, but I'm not sure where she is exactly."

"Not a problem," Sollel assured Cira. "I can feel her presence. Once we arrive in the city of Ager, I will know where she is."

Cira clasped her hands in joy. "That's one less problem to worry about."

Sollel nodded. "Yes, so you should rest and stop worrying about it. It'll be fine."

Cira nodded and immediately lay on the wagon to rest. She needed her strength to analyze the moonrite stone once they arrive at Castetava.

Sollel just continued leaning on the wagon's side wall, listening to the sounds around them and glancing at Hakken's back from time to time.

♕♕♕

"COME AGAIN?" Xeke asked Commander Gabin like he couldn't believe what he just heard. His friend, the warlord, left his castle? "You're not pulling my leg, are you, Gabin? He left his castle for real? Like...really leave, as in, out for weeks and not just visiting the empire's capital?"

Commander Gabin nodded at the warlord's friend, Xeke, who couldn't seem to believe Gabin's answer to his question about the whereabouts of the warlord. "He left some time ago, Lord Xeke."

Xeke was still in awe after a while. Who wouldn't be if they knew the warlord? His friend didn't like leaving his castle except when he's subjugating bandits and going to war against the rebels. His friend hated the outside world, that's why he tended to stay home in his castle. "Tell me, Gabin, the warlord didn't leave for fun, right?"

Gabin nodded, and Xeke smiled in relief. I was right after all.

"Where is he off to?"

"He's hunting someone. The empire asked him to."

Xeke clicked his tongue when he heard the empire's connection in all of this. "Who is he hunting?"

Gabin shook his head. "He didn't tell me."

"Where is he now?"

"Last time I heard from him, he said he's already in the Kingdom of Treterra."

Xeke sighed and got up from his seat. "If he contacted you again, tell him I'm meeting him in the Moonhammer in Ager."

Gabin nodded and bowed his head, and when Gabin looked up, Xeke was no longer in front of him. That didn't surprise Gabin; he was used to it already. Xeke was also a descendant of Sappher, and his ashrune dagger—an arcane weapon that only he could wield—gave him the ability to move his body from one place to another. Gabin was not really certain how Lord Xeke moved around using his dagger, but he was a very slippery fellow. Defeating him in battle was an impossible fate to most people.

Except for the warlord, of course.

♕♕♕

ON THEIR WAY to Castetava, Sollel's group only stopped twice for two reasons: to let the horse rest and to find water and take a bath. Sollel and Cira were very concerned with their cleanliness that they had to stop from time to time to clean up. And that day, Grath finally found a stream where the ladies could wash and freshen up.

Pulling up the wagon, Grath positioned it in a way that it would serve as a cover for Her Highness and Lady Cira while bathing in the stream, while he and Lord Hakken were on the other side, making a small campfire to warm everyone at night.

Hakken couldn't help his smile when El emerged from the other side of the wagon, wearing her old cloak. "That cloak suits you better."

Sollel just smiled but didn't say anything. She just sat on one of the old logs around and closed her eyes to focus on feeling her flame. But how could she when she felt Hakken sitting on the log beside her?

Sollel opened her eyes. "There's a lot of old logs, Hakken."

"I like this one better."

Sollel just sighed. She was used to Hakken's flirtations that she just let him be. "Are we going to stay here for the night?"

Hakken looked at Grath, who was manning the campfire. "Grath said he didn't smell any humans in the air."

Sollel's eyebrow raised. "He could do that?"

"Apparently, yes. And the horse needs to rest, so we will resume our travel tomorrow." Hakken glanced at Sollel. "Are you excited to reach Castetava?"

"Not really," Sollel answered honestly. "I just want to eat something savory."

Hakken became silent for a while before he said, "My lady shouldn't hope too much. Castetava is a very destitute town."

Sollel frowned. The Kingdom of Treterra has Gatria in their prison. Why would a town under them be unprosperous?

Cira, who just came back from bathing, chimed in as she sat on the log near the campfire. "The Kingdom of Treterra is known for their abundant agriculture, while the Infernal Empire is known for their weapons and forging. And just like the empire, Treterra prioritizes the nobles before the commoners, so the poor becomes poorer and the rich becomes richer. It's not only obvious in the empire because most of the towns and cities under them has their own livelihood, but here in Treterra, the gap is clear."

"I don't understand." Sollel was confused. "The commoners, don't they have lands to farm?"

Grath answered, "As we go on, Her Highness will see why it's hard to farm in Treterra even though they are known for their agriculture."

"After passing this forest, you will see the real Kingdom of Treterra," said Hakken.

What everyone said kept Sollel awake. She couldn't sleep in the wagon, so she stepped out to breathe some fresh air.

Sollel was planning to sit on the log again, to clear her mind, but the campfire from earlier had already been extinguished. What's left was Grath sleeping on the ground and Hakken sleeping on the other side of the campfire, on the ground, with his arm as his pillow and his cloak as his cover.

Unlike Grath who had thick fur, Hakken only had a cloak for cover, and it was obvious that he was cold.

Sitting on the log near Hakken, Sollel spread her essence and wrapped it around Hakken to warm and protect his body from the cold night. She continued protecting Hakken from cold until dawn broke.

When everyone woke up, Sollel had already boiled some water using her flame, and they were all ready to leave.

Mounting the wagon, the four left and went back to the path toward Castetava. Their travel was smooth, no bandits or beasts along the way. But just when everyone thought that it'd be a smooth travel from here on out, they stumbled upon two individuals fighting in the middle of the path.

One was a female flame sorcerer and the other one was a man with a dagger. 

CECELIB | C.C.