The journey begins (2)

Song recommendation for this chapter: https://open.spotify.com/track/6YC4qkhiryxKiuObpoBSW9?si=3df2e43a16ec47f5

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She already passed through Helveda twice a year ago. Once when her parents brought her to Lavia, and the second time to return to Rodea for her parents' funeral, both times she had been peaceful and without any problems or attacks.

Besides the scary creatures, some land pirates would bother and rob nobles passing through here, but usually, with 20 guards following her, that shouldn't be an issue. However, Aurora was concerned about the trauma of her parents losing their lives in this area, and they still didn't know what or who had killed her parents.

The anxiety she could feel from the guards also didn't help. The guards were holding their weapons with one hand while leading their horses with the other, constantly checking their surroundings for danger. Even the horses felt uneasy as they would act out from time to time.

Aurora knew her guards were highly trained and skilled knights, and if they were worried, it meant there was something to worry about. The princess prepared herself mentally for an attack from someone or something. Subconsciously she knew something terrible was about to happen because she felt different from her last two journeys.

As if having foreseen the situation, one of the knights screamed, "We are under attack. Knights assemble and protect the carriage at all costs!" Aurora and her lady-in-waiting, sitting across from her in the carriage, froze.

They both were scared, but the princess forced herself to move and opened the benches to pull out some hidden weapons and gave one to the girl. "I hope you won't need it, but just as a precaution, always keep this crossbow with you. Do you know how to use it?"

"I do, my lady."

They heard a deafening and high-pitched scream above them as they settled back on the benches. The ladies could listen to the knights' screaming orders at each other and that they were attacking whatever was flying above them. Aurora opened the curtains to witness the scene but regretted it immediately.

She could see some lifeless bodies on the floor and the thing which was causing them so much trouble. It was an enormous eagle, more prominent than a horse, with only black feathers and red eyes. As it was pecking at the knights, they were fighting it with their spears and crossbows. Although the guards fought fiercely and had good weapons, the eagle was quick and much stronger than the humans.

Aurora wanted to close the curtains again when the carriage started to shake once more but much more vigorously, and the carriage fell over to its side, and Aurora hit her head so hard that she fell unconscious.

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Song recommendation for the next part: https://open.spotify.com/track/748kgCBjhP38e0XAU1cbk4?si=f05edbee06e1485d

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Amelia was on her horse, thinking through her decision. Last night she had the same nightmare as the night before the princess had left. She could not take it anymore and had gotten up, packed her things, taken her horse, and was now on her way to the princess.

Alone by a horse, she would move faster and should reach Aurora by the end of the day. It was clear to Amelia that this was treason and that she was going against the king, but she felt that her best friend needed her.

She could make it work if she didn't return to Rodea. She didn't leave much behind, and her most treasured belongings were only a few little things and her horse with her. Since she was not highranked enough, she never could make real friends among the nobles, and they were always quite wary of her, and at some point, she stopped trying.

When it came to her fellow knights, they constantly bullied her and left her out. The fact that she was living in the palace with the royal family taking care of her made everyone jealous. Also, they thought that she made it to knighthood only because of her background and not due to her skills.

Although she grew up with both the current king and the princess, she was always much closer to Aurora, probably due to their age, which was the same. The one person she cared most about in the world had left, so there was no motivation for her to stay in Rodea.

The last time Aurora had left for Lavia, Amelia didn't go with her either. The late king and queen wanted Amelia to finish training to become a knight of the first order before she went to Lavia. Unfortunately, with their death, everything changed, and Aurora returned to Rodea instead of Amelia going to Lavia.

Amelia had first been part of the group investigating the case until the new king decided otherwise. She didn't know why she had to suddenly take on different tasks because she wanted to solve the murder of her adoptive parents.

It was very bizarre that whatever attacked them could overrun all the guards. Rodea had the best knights in all the five kingdoms except Lavia, so the guards who protected the king and queen shouldn't have been overpowered so easily.

Her horse's whimpering brought Amelia back to her surroundings. Something was wrong. The sun was about to set, and she had long entered Helveda. She could feel pain, but she wasn't sure where the pain was coming from until she saw a prominent figure lying on the floor beside a dead tree. It looked like a giant bird.

Amelia dismounted her horse and pulled her sword. She slowly approached the figure with light steps to not make a sound. As she came closer, the bird looked like an eagle, and it seemed as if it was wounded.

The creature noticed her and, with its red eyes, looked right into Amelia's eyes. Amelia got into her fighting position out of reflex, holding her sword in front of her. The bird kept looking at her. A minute passed, and Amelia comprehended that the bird would not fight her.

Suddenly it dawned on Amelia that the pain she felt was the pain the animal was feeling. She always had this weird connection to other living things and could take on their energy.

She kneeled, putting away her sword, and observed the wound. It was customary to take a first aid kid on a journey like this, as did Amelia. Of course, her things with her were not enough to help the bird recover completely, but she would at least try to relieve some of its pain. It took Amelia some time to take care of the wound, and the sun had already set, giving room for the moon to come out and shine over the land.

The darkness was calming. Once satisfied with her work, she looked at the bird one last time and saw gratitude in its eyes. She packed her things, mounted the horse, and continued her journey.

Amelia started to get tired, but she pushed herself to find Aurora first before she rested. It didn't take long before she heard faint screams and saw a fire lighting up the sky from afar. Amelia kicked her horse to gallop toward the noise and the fire. What she saw when she arrived had her utterly shaken.

The carriage, which seemed to be Aurora's wagon, had fallen sideways and burned. There were bodies scattered everywhere, and it looked like a battlefield. The faint screams she had heard came from two soldiers lying close to the carriage.

Amelia immediately got off her horse and felt sick as she inspected the carriage. She couldn't see if there were bodies inside without getting burned herself. 'No, she wouldn't die like this.' Amelia ran around checking all the bodies but could not find the princess.