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There were a few snags and hiccups but Erin and her companions managed to complete their preparations right on schedule.

It was hours before dawn and the sun was barely out. Even the crofters had to rise for the day and still sound asleep in their beds. In one of the many neglected parts of the city, far out from where the city’s affairs and business congregated, a carriage could be seen strolling.

“Won’t we be spotted the moment we leave the shadows of these… decrepit structures?” Lyra asked as she slowly and skillfully guided the carriage through the rumpty and weed-grown streets.

“Olivia will be sending out some decoys, have you forgotten about that?” Erin answered as her gaze wandered intently.

“I have not. I’m just questioning this plan of ours.”

“We have gone over this ten times, Lyra. Are you still so uncertain?”

“Our paths are rarely without hurdles. I don’t doubt our plans would be any different.”

“As we have already discussed, don’t expect things to be perfect. We will need contingencies upon contingencies.”

“I don’t remember having discussed contingencies atop contingencies.”

“We didn’t. We just need to make it up as we go. We barely know anything about our enemies. They are Apostles and Acolytes, that’s all we know. We do not know what they’re capable of. What’s the use of planning things so meticulously when we have inadequate intelligence?”

“Alright alright, I get it. You can stop. Dear god, you sure sound like an old man sometimes.”

Erin tittered. “I believed I was an old man at one point but look at me now.”

“And I’m involved with such a person. Life can really be strange. If you were to tell me that this is my future, I would think you are utterly mad.”

“Life is certainly full of wonders.”

“Mistress, I smell blood,” Siv said, popping her head out from the passenger coach.

“The blood is old and stale. It smelled similar to this area. It’s just a pauper native to this part of the city.”

“Understood, mistress,” Siv nodded and withdrew into the coach where there was only Aera and some of their luggage.

There was no trick of the eyes involved. The carriage truly housed only Erin, Lyra, Siv, and Aera. The others were in another carriage, travelling out of the city using another path of egress. As making their way out of the valley in one group was too conspicuous, this was what they decided upon.

“Nervous?” Siv asked as she sat back down in her seat and noticed Aera quivering while keeping her hands clasped together.

Aera nodded.

“You need not be,” Siv said. “Mistress would not let anything happen to you.”

“That’s not where my concerns lay.”

“Then where do your concerns lie?”

“...I don’t wish to be a burden.”

“You won’t. If anything, you would be our trump card.”

“Only when I lose myself to my rage and I… I don’t like that. It’s crushing and desolate to have your body and mind being fuelled by rage and everything you do only inflames it.”

“As long as that rage is not directed at us, I say there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“You’re saying there’s nothing wrong with uninhibited violence as long as it’s inflicted on one’s enemies?

“That’s not my meaning, Miss Aera.”

“Then I do not understand…” Aera’s words trailed off near the end.

“Violence is never a good thing but it’s necessary. You’re not supposed to feel good about it. If you’re feeling terrible while hurting people, then it simply means that you are a good person at heart. Do you feel bad when you hurt people even if those people are your enemies?”

Aera nodded after a short moment of hesitation.

Siv smiled. “As long as you feel that way, it means that you are still a gentle soul deep down.”

Aera broke into a faint smile. “You really think so?”

Siv nodded.

Aera’s smile widened. “Thank you, Siv…”

“You’re welcome, Miss Aera.”

“Please, just call me Aera. We’re friends now, aren’t we?” There was a pause between her sentences. “We are friends, right?”

“Of course, Aera.”

Aera sighed inwardly in relief. Though she knew Siv would not deny that, she still couldn’t help but wonder what if Siv refuted it. She could only imagine how awkward it would be.

As the carriage gradually approached the decrepit borders east of the city, the winds began to rush and a flash of lightning streaked across the clouds.

“If that’s not an omen, I don’t know what is,” Lyra muttered, staring at the gathering clouds that were turning darker and darker as minutes passed.

Erin glanced into the distance, where a storm was brewing, inching its way closer to where they were. “Either our luck is cursed or there’s someone among the ranks of our enemies who could control the weather.”

“Control the weather? Isn’t that too preposterous of an ability for a mere mortal being like us to have?”

“I’m just stating a possibility. Even if they can indeed control the weather, I don’t believe it is without limitations or constraints.”

“Even if there are limitations, a simple rainfall is enough to make our plan go awry. How do you intend to cross the narrow paths in the rain?”

Erin gave Lyra a strange look.

“What?”

“Were you asleep during our last discussion before we departed?”

Lyra was about to retort but then she remembered how she fell into a daydream due to the words used by Olivia being far too fancy for her limited understanding. When she came back to her senses, the briefing was already nearly over.

“You were asleep…” Erin sighed.

“I wasn’t,” Lyra denied with a firm look but it crumbled in the next second as her gaze dropped. “But I wasn’t exactly paying attention… It’s not my fault. I barely understand half the words spoken by Olivia.”

Erin smiled wryly.

“So, what did Olivia say during the briefing? How will we make it through the pass if it rains?”

Erin’s smile widened into a grin. “It’s a surprise.”

Lyra snorted and crossed her arms in front of her plain bosom, turning her gaze away.

Erin giggled, seeing such a childish reaction from her dear lover.

****

“This is going to end so badly,” Nivia said as the carriage rolled closer to the edge of the city.

Unlike the path Erin took, the path Nivia was on was well-kept. No weeds could be seen growing on the roads. Occupied buildings stood proudly in parallel rows with a neatly paved street in between. There were even street lamps on the curb to give light when the sun was still hidden beyond the horizon.

Nivia and the rest were travelling through such a place on a carriage that was similar in shape and colour to the one Erin rode. The carriage made not a sound as it meandered across the area that was usually brimming with activity once dawn broke.

“This is truly inconspicuous. We will definitely not be spotted at all,” Nivia continued with her grumbling. “Just wait. One of these windows will have its curtain parted and guess what’s the first and most apparent thing that they will see?”

“They will see our carriage and they will think nothing of it. People come and go out of the city all the time, especially adventurers,” Aedan responded without sparing the Elf a glance. He kept his gaze at the front as he was the one with the reins and the horses were also his summoned Familiars.

“Adventurers don’t travel in carriages, especially a fancy one.”

“This carriage is only fancy if you know its fancy,” Aedan retorted. “In the eyes of the common folks, this carriage looked no different than the ones found in a common market.”

“It’s not the eyes of the common folks I’m worried about.”

“Unless one’s a smith or familiar with ironworks, they won’t notice the calibre of our otherwise common-looking carriage.”

“I won’t be too sure about that.”

Aedan sighed. “Just calm down, Nivia, will you? We’ll be fine.”

“I have enough of zealots in this city. I don’t wish to meet any more zealots.”

“You’ll have a better chance finding gold at a random riverbank than not meeting any more zealots.”

“You’re very calm and insouciant.”

“Is that so surprising?”

“If you were still as strong as before, then my answer would be no. But you’re not even half the powerhouse you were right now.”

“Being weak and inadequate is not something unfamiliar to me. I was a helpless mortal like most people before I was… the heir to the Divine Throne.”

“That’s not a reason to not worry about what we will be facing once we leave the boundaries of the city.”

“Do you think you will be overwhelmed by whatever’s waiting for us out there?”

Nivia stared at Aedan. “I just don’t get where your absolute confidence comes from. Do you not think that we will… lose if a fight happens to break out?”

“If you have been in enough wars and battles, you will know how futile it is to worry about a threat that you know you will definitely encounter. You are better off thinking about strategies and tactics than mulling over your uncertain defeat.”

“I-I know that…”

“We will be fine, Nivia. Just treat this like an escort quest where your employer is constantly being targeted by his enemies.”

“That doesn’t make it any better.”

Aedan shrugged. “Well, I tried.”

Nivia sighed exasperatedly at Aedan’s nonchalant reaction and turned her attention to the back of the carriage. She peeked into the cart and saw Lilian was fast asleep and so was Amyra. She then turned her attention back to the front.

“They’re sleeping so soundly,” Nivia said. “How can they be so at ease?”

“Those two have been through a lot. They know there’s no point in fretting over a future you cannot control. Instead of needless worrying, they are conserving their strength for the eventuality. You can sleep too if you wish.”

“No thanks,” Nivia replied gruffly.

“Is it just me or are you more distant from me than before?”

“It’s just you. We have never been close or distant.”

Aedan smiled wryly. “Did you hate it that much?”

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Nivia huffed. Red could be seen blooming on her cheeks.

“Or did you hate the fact that you enjoyed it so much?”

“I enjoyed nothing!” Nivia denied with her voice slightly raised. “Stop with the harassment, mister. Even if it’s from you, I will not tolerate it.”

“Mister? So I have become a stranger in your eyes… Is this all our time together amounted to?”

Nivia rolled her eyes. “Stop being so dramatic. You’re such a pain in my neck.”

“And a pain somewhere else too. A certain place below the navel in the nether regions, I believe.”

Nivia glared. Though her gaze was wrought with fury, the deepening blush on her face was undeniable.

“Yet, despite the pain, I remember you crying and begging for more.”

“Stop talking!” Nivia yelped as she lurched forward and covered Aedan’s mouth with her hands. “You accursed lizard… Are you trying to reveal it to the entire street?”

Aedan only snickered in response.

“You…! Do you find it enjoyable to make fun of my plight?”

“Plight? What plight? Was the experience so terrible that you considered it a plight?”

“I am unwed and I have already lost my virtue. I’m an Elf. What will my people think of me?”

“If they think less of you just because of this, then you might as well not care about what they think of you at all.”

“You don’t understand, Aedan. I am not a free spirit like you or Erin. I have responsibilities and duties as the daughter of the queen, one of which is to leave behind a legacy. What am I going to—”

“Hold on,” Aedan stopped Nivia with a hand raised. “Did you just say you’re the daughter of the queen?”

Nivia stared blankly at Aedan for a while before coming to her senses. “Ah… I-I’m not supposed to tell anyone that…”

“Oh…” Aedan muttered. “Now this has become difficult… Great…”