Dawn- An age of Darkness

We continued onwards through the forest, starting in the early morning. It smelled like hell and there were undead everywhere. It was in the middle of the day but the undead were still running around, playing hide and seek in the shadows. 

But when they came close to us, they were blown to pieces by Lianne. It was day and they were still coming for us, so I guess there weren't any angels in this forest. 

Dick never really showcased any of his skills. Come to think of it, I never even saw him with anything more than a shield to begin with. He'd irritate me, so I didn't bother to ask. I'd figured he would fight with something eventually. But the time never really came. The big guy however swung a large broadsword when needed. At least he was reliable.

I was getting impatient. "How long will it take for us to reach the border?" I was the slowest in the group because of my injuries, so I wanted this to be over as quickly as possible.

"I think about twelve days if we went through the capital," Lianne said.

"What about if we didn't go through the capital?"

"About the same time…" She didn't even bat an eye at me.

And here I was, huffing like a patient with asthma.

If it took the same time then maybe it would have been nice to visit the capital. The armor I had, had way too many holes and cracks. Plus it didn't even fit in my current body. And I most certainly couldn't fight in these clothes. Though the clothes themselves were still pretty tidy despite the gruesome surroundings. Maybe these have some sort of protective layer? "I need to buy some armor too. Maybe it'd be better to travel to the capital… But are you sure I can't take off this thing yet?" I was beginning to doubt her intentions. No matter when I said, I wanted to take the bangle off, the answer was always no.

"You really want to get executed that badly?"

"Never mind." I was still out of my breath. So walking took a lot of effort.

The way Lianne and Dick giggled at each other made me doubt them even more though.

"So how long would the capital take then?" I changed the subject to get the idea of me dying out of exhaustion out of my head.

"Five days?" Lianne herself wasn't so sure.

"Was that an answer or a question?" Was she deliberately trying to confuse me? If so, it was definitely working.

Five more friggin days!?

"I actually don't know. You see, the town moves around a bit. So it might take five or even seven days depending on the time of year." Lianne stopped and thought for a second.

"Moves around? As in a city moves around?" At this point, nothing really surprised me that much. 

I stopped too. I really needed a bit of air.

"You'll see when we get there."

***

Walking through forests or fields of grass wasn't easy. My body was mostly healed. All my wounds had closed up. But the fatigue and weakness remained. Walking around all day was cumbersome in its own right. And when everyone in the group was clearly a lot faster than me, just keeping up with them, demanded a lot more than I could offer.

  "What the hell is wrong with this world?" I huffed and puffed in front of the fire. The day had eventually come to an end. 

We were out of the forest by the afternoon and made significant progress.

Insects chirped in the background. The stars poked from the heavens. There wasn't a forest nearby so I didn't really feel all that on edge. But the cold was too cold. 

"I wonder that sometimes too," Dick said. He munched onto his skewered meat and ate a bite. "But it's not that bad. I mean there are no pollution, no civil unrest, no terrorism and stuff like that."

"You haven't seen anything yet…" I mumbled. My voice shook as I shivered with the cold. Even under a blanket, things weren't looking too hot for me. "But at least our world doesn't have goblins."

On the other hand, Servesta was shirtless. The guy didn't even flinch in this epic cold. According to him, this didn't even get close to the place he was from. If this wasn't cold enough for him and he had to stay shirtless, I wondered what kind of life the guy actually had. Actually, cross that, I did not dare wonder.

Lianne wasn't as bold but she was now enjoying the evening breeze atop a tree.

Seriously, what the heck is wrong with the world?

"But I have to say, I do miss the games and the shows." Dick sighed. "And maybe a little bit of my family."

I actually hadn't expected him to say that kind of stuff. I never took him as a family guy anyway. 

"What was that!" It was as if I saw something in the distant grass. But as I looked carefully, I saw nothing, not even the grass moved. 

"Nothing." Lianne looked around but according to her, there wasn't any danger nearby.

Biteria poked out and sat on my shoulders. Lately, she never made much fuss. And whenever I thought that she proved me wrong. The moment I tried to pat her, she jumped off and leaped onto Dick. 

This won't end well….

Dick screamed as Biteria devoured his food right in front of him. "No! NO! NO! My meat!" He whined like a little kid. I chuckled and he glared. "What the hell is wrong with this thing? Can't we just roast this thing and eat it?" He held Biteria in his hand and glared at me. 

Bad idea.

"I don't think you want to do that." I pointed at Biteria.

A second later Dick screamed again. This time out of pain. Half of Dick's hand was now inside Biteria. And now that Biteria had grown teeth, I couldn't even begin to wonder, what kind of trauma the guy was going through.

Suddenly a demonic sound echoed throughout the empty fields. Lianne jumped from above the tree and looked around, with her bow drawn. I placed a hand on my knife as well. The sound was close and it really surprised me. When I actually saw the origin, I was more than just thunderstruck. It came from Servesta. The guy was actually laughing. Seeing us like that, he stopped though. I wanted to apologize but Dick's dancing made me laugh instead. Even Lianne laughed. Seeing so Servesta laughed again.

***

The next morning we packed things up and were back on the road. "Do we really have to walk like this for four more days?"

"Actually, we would have bought horses if something like that didn't happen yesterday," Lianne said, giving me a cold glare.

It's not like it's my fault!

Okay, maybe it was partially my fault. But I sure wasn't going to apologize for it. "I suppose that does make sense. Is there any villages nearby?"

"There are some but reaching them would…" She thought something for a moment. "I think it would be best to travel by foot. We have to cross one more forest on the way. And it's very large."

"More forests, yay!" My voice didn't show enthusiasm. I hated forests and rightfully so. 

I sighed and looked at the sky with tearful eyes. Why was my fate so full of forests? That was the one question I really wanted to ask someone but it was so stupid that I never asked.

"Rumor has it that this forest has a millennia-old undead in it." Lianne glanced back. She seemed almost like a normal girl. A very frightening normal girl.

I gulped. "And there's no way around it?"

"It'll take two extra weeks to go around it."

"I think It'd be better to take the detour rather than going in that forest." Not going near forests was my top priority. 

"Are you sure? Cause then we'd be in the snowy mountains, walking through the snow. And since it's almost winter, you know what that means right? White everywhere. Your feet will drown. Your bones will shiver and you won't be able to feel your feet. Maybe you'll even lose your remaining limbs." Lianne giggled. Never knew someone could be so frightening. "Besides, no one has actually seen the undead." She was talking almost as though she wanted to see that undead. 

"Snow! Did someone say snow! I wanna go!" Dick yelled in the background but we ignored him, as always.

"You mean no one lived to tell the tale."

Lianne giggled. "I knew you'd understand."

I knew how things like this went. I had no intention of taking any part in it. "Why do I get the feeling that you're enjoying this?"

She grinned and walked straight. "Besides, I need to know if it's true." She said it to herself but I heard it. Maybe she intended for me to hear it. I didn't press her. I knew she wouldn't tell me anyway.

But one thing was for certain, she was doing this for some other reason. I just couldn't pinpoint yet.

"Alright lovebirds: you two done?" Dick was annoyed. Maybe all the ignoring finally made him snap.

I gave him a satisfied glare and we were on our way. 

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