The forgotten land

They all boarded the carriage.

The kid was getting brighter as the carriage was going forward. He seemed happy to be able to return home.

As they were heading toward deserted area, Evandar and Emmett became more vigilant. Amell's usual cheerful expression was also turning more and more serious. Caius was also feeling uneasy.

The carriage also stopped running smoothly. There was hardly a decent road anymore.

Carriage was also shaking. They were really uncomfortable inside the carriage. It might have been better to walk instead of taking carriage.

Soon that dreadful path ended. There was no trace of human as far as their eyes could see.

Evandar and Emmett went down the carriage first to make sure that nothing was amiss. Except them, all stayed in the carriage for awhile.

The road was blocked with bushes. There was no way one could go from that way. That area was too deserted to look for any human trace. It indeed gave the feeling of long forgotten land.

They informed Caius about the situation. Three of them got off the carriage.

Amell looked at the child. Amell asked gently, "Did you come this way? "

The boy nodded his head.

"But this path is blocked. How did you come through this bush? Did you get hurt anywhere?"Amell asked very cautiously. He didn't want the child to misunderstand anything.

"That....there is a hole over there. That hole is big. And I could easily come through it." The boy was describing the size of the hole with his whole body. His little hands were describing his big adventure.

"Really!! Then can you show it to us?"

The boy didn't answer. He seemed a little worried. "Is something wrong?"

"No... I wasn't supposed to use that hole. But I did. I will get punished if I return through that hole. "

"So you don't want to go to your parents?" Emmette came over. His voice was rather loud.

The boy started to cry. Amell sighed. ' He can only bring trouble to us. This knight hah...."

Caius stroked the child's head. "If you don't return, your papa and mama will be very sad. They must be waiting for you. They won't scold you when they see you. They will be very happy to see you."

"Really...But I broke the rule...." The boy was whimpering.

"Really.. They will be happy to see you." Amell wiped his tears.

"That hole is over there.."

The boy led the path. Rest of them followed him very closely.

He led them to a huge pile of rocks. Those rocks seemed to be blocking entrance of cave. Since there had been almost no human in past decades, the cave looked like a part of the bushes and trees.

Evandar and Emmett checked the surrounding.

"Young Master, seems like this rocks were intentionally kept here to block the cave."

"Is there any way in? If we move this rocks now, we might alert the patrolling knights." Caius didn't want to cause any unnecessary riot.

"Then it will take a little time to explore the surrounding. Emmett will stay with you. I will go and search for any entrance." Evandar was ready to go.

Caius also thought it was the best they could go. Now that they knew someone was living in a land were there were supposed to be beasts, they couldn't just let the child go there alone.

After Evandar left, they decided to wait there.

All of them were tired after their ride in the carriage. They felt like they have finished running for an hour.

"How did Evandar know about that place? Although I used to visit the Southern region, I never knew about this place." Caius couldn't figure out how he didn' t know about that place after reading history, geography and living in that very city for so many years.

"Young master. Our father told us about this place. According to him, the late empress suddenly banned entry to this place after beasts started to disturb the travellers using this path." Emmett was also couldn't clearly tell about that place.

"Didn't Evandar say that soldiers could enter? Were they exterminating beasts? And what kind of beasts were they? Then was there any witness? Why wasn't there any record in history?" Caius was really curious about that forgotten place.

Emmett was bombarded with questions. Still he tried to reply slowly.

"Young Master, I really don't know clearly. Those soldiers who were allowed were few. I don't know their name. And I am sure that there was no attempt to exterminate any beast. And for what kind of beast.. I am not really sure. About witness and why there was no record I really don't know."

He looked a little embarrassed. "Actually young master, I thought that was just a tale our father made up."

Caius looked at Emmett in surprise. 'How could you accuse our Prime Minister of making a tale against the Late Empress?'

Amell was also surprised at his words.

The boy looked a little afraid. Amell asked him, "Are you afraid that your parents will scold you?"

The boy nodded.

"But if you make a mistake, isn't it necessary to get scolded." Emmett said in a cold tone.

The boy was on verge of crying. He looked at Caius and Amell with his big teary eyes. "But didn't you say that they won't scold me?"

" No, they never said that. They only said that they would be happy. I am sure that they will scold you." Emmett was having fun teasing him.

Amell didn't want the child to cry again. Coaxing a child is indeed very hard.

He glared at Emmett. Emmett felt cold running down his spine. 'What a killing intent!!'

Emmett hurriedly opened his mouth. "However, getting scolded will make you more mature. How do you think I became such a strong knight? Every child grows up getting beaten and scolded. My father used to punish me all the time. It's normal."

'No child is punished all the time. What were you like a child?' Amell had many questions. But he kept them to himself.

The boy wasn't really happy hearing him. But he trapped his tears in his eyes without letting them flow down his cheeks.

They waited a long time there in that forgotten land.