Chapter 21: Reunion and Battle*

Chapter 21:

Reunion and Battle

The journey had been peaceful for the last few days, but Silas could not hide the undercurrent of anxiety he was feeling. Maybe it was because they were quickly approaching the border between the Faelfier kingdom and the Yursear kingdom. The only comfort he felt in the passing days was knowing that Meredith would be traveling with him for most of the journey through the Yursear Kingdom.

Silas never forgot the day he was supposed to murder the young prince, but he was usually able to bury it enough that he did not think about it. Now that he was almost back in the Yursear kingdom; however, he found it impossible to hide those sleeping thoughts. At times, he wondered if he were able to kill the young child then and there, would the Yursear kingdom have collapsed and the eleven genocide would never have occurred? Or would there be a large-scale, horrific war, such as the one that had been suggested by both the Bethell and Yursear Kingdom? Silas was not sure if he could support such a war. All he wanted was to live safely and for fellow elves to no longer live in fear, like they had been for so many years.

The elves had been living on the continent for hundreds of years, but it was not until the newest ruler of the Yursear Kingdom had blamed the elves for the kingdom's misfortunes that the elves were hunted. The neighboring eastern kingdom, the Bethell Kingdom, had allied with the Yursear Kingdom recently in order to regain the power they had lost in their recent civil war. Using the elves was a perfect scapegoat to avoid all of the tyranny and classism running rampant in the kingdom. If the kingdoms had their way, there would be no chance of a rebellion, only war and tyranny.

Thinking of their journey, Silas thought Eva was insane, sending two elves into the elven- hating kingdom, but he found there was some logic to her plan. Eva and Meredith had been working together to produce more of the magic transformation gems, similar to the ones that the elves had used for decades. These new gems could be used for almost a full day, and there was a lowered risk for mana exhaustion. It was the perfect item for infiltrating the kingdom. And no one knew the woodlands in the Yursear kingdom better than Yursinean elves. To be able to disguise themselves as humans and quickly move through the expansive woodlands would make their journey a quick one, one much faster than any human could travel.

The horse hooves clattered heavily against the stone path as Silas and Meredith rode forward, hoping to reach the Yursear kingdom by sunset. It had been two days since they had been traveling, and they had finally reached the Yursear border. Not long, they would be entering the enemy country, the place where they could be killed solely based on their race. Solely for being an elf. That thought pierced their minds as they rode forward in silence, keeping their thoughts to themselves.

"Why don't we take a break here, Silas?" Meredith suggested, pointing to a large tree just off the path. The autumn sun was high in the air, and the usually chilly air had warmed another degree, causing both Meredith and Silas to sweat as they loosened their collars.

Silas looked over at the empty area just off of the main path and nodded, feeling tired from the continuous travels. Though the horses were provided by Eva, Silas could not say that the saddles were comfortable to ride on. If anything, his back was sore from sitting up straight for so long. He could heal his sore muscles with his mana at least.

Stopping under the shade of the tree, Silas moved his left foot out of the stirrup and swung his leg around, jumping down from the side of the tall horse. Meredith quickly followed and moved to tie his horse onto a shorter branch of the large tree, leaving enough room for the horse to take a drink from the small stream next to them.

"How are you feeling?" Meredith asked Silas as he sat down in the shade, pulling out a small kettle from his travel bag.

Silas smiled, "Sore, but I'm feeling alright."

Meredith retrieved two clay cups from his bag and placed them on the ground, just in front of them. Then, he used a small amount of his mana to pull fresh water from the stream into the kettle in his hands, guiding it skillfully with his fingers. Using the mana, Meredith produced a small flame in his palm and began to heat the kettle, preparing warm water for some herbal tea.

Meredith loved tea, and he had packed a large variety of herbs. He asked Silas to take out the tea tin from his bag as he warmed the kettle, looking at the metal pot as the steam began to rise out of the spout. Seeing him heating the water, Silas pulled Meredith's bag closer to him and pulled out a large, aluminum tin from the bag. The tin itself was decorated simply, but just opening the tin's lid even a little, the aroma of herbs filled the air around the pair.

"What herb do you want?" Having been raised in the forest, Silas was very familiar with the variety of herbs individually stored inside.

"Pass me the ginger, please." Meredith asked, waving his palm to stop the flame. The spout had already filled with steam, and the water in the teapot was bubbling audibly. Carefully, Silas passed Meredith the ginger powder and watched as he dropped it into the bubbling water, where it started to dye the tea a deep yellow color. Silas's eyes watched as the powder danced around the bubbling water with a lazy gaze as Meredith pulled the clay mugs close, to pour the tea.

After the tea had been stirred and poured, Silas grabbed his warm mug of tea and sipped on it with a dim look, as if he were lost in thought. His expression was not lost on Meredith, and it made the man ask him, "Are you thinking of home?"

Silas nodded with a weak smile. Moireach had become his new home. It was painful to refer to the forest in the Yursear Kingdom as home anymore. The people they had met and bonded with, the homes they had built, the battles they had fought. Silas could not forget them.

"So, how did the goodbyes go?"

Silas took a small sip of his hot tea and watched the steam dance up from the rim of the mug. He sighed before he responded, "Not great. Adora was pretty mad when I told her I was leaving. I feel bad for doing it, since she's been by my side through a lot of horrible things, but I had to leave."

"She sounds like an important friend to you." Meredith smiled, his lips hiding under his mug.

Silas chuckled, "Yeah, Adora's a lot stronger than me, so I know she'll be okay."

Meredith fell quiet as Silas sunk back into silence. Meredith held his mug in his hands and then looked up at Silas with a somber gaze, "Silas," He started, his gaze softening as he cleared his throat, attempting to approach the topic, "I heard about Emmeline. I'm so sorry."

"Thank you." Silas stated, feeling awkward as silence fell between them again. "She missed you." As Silas's words fell, Meredith fell silent again, feeling the weight of guilt press down on him as he thought about losing Emmeline and Silas for those ten long years. He liked to think things would have been different if he were able to find them earlier and reunite before Emmeline's passing.

As Silas and Meredith had packed away their freshly-washed cups and prepared to mount their horses again, ready to continue their journey to the Yursear border, the sound of horse hooves rug out in the air followed by the yelling of men. They spat out curses and vulgar slurs, causing Silas and Meredith to stop in their tracks, preparing to fight as the men quickly approached them. The humans' horses suddenly stopped on the path just before Meredith and Silas.

"Look what we found! A pair of filthy elves!" Eight human men approached in heavy silver armor, staring down at the elves like predators having found their next meal. Their gazes were heavy with blood and violence, with not an ounce of trepidation at the thought of killing another living being.

What are Yursinean mercenaries doing in the Faelfier Kingdom? Silas was alarmed, quickly retrieving his sword from his waist with a heavy expression.

"Silas, are you ready?" Meredith asked, collecting balls of mana in his palms, ready to cast the strong magic as soon as the group of men moved forward to attack them.

The eight men retrieved their weapons, the largest man stepped forward, his head covered by his large metal helmet as he smiled vindictively at the pair of elves, raising his two-handed sword with little difficulty. Two smaller soldiers stood at his side with one-handed swords in their hands, each holding the sword calmly as they looked forward, ready to attack at any moment.

There would be no easy escape for Meredith and Silas.

"What are Yursinean mercenaries doing in the Faelfier Kingdom?" Silas called out, lifting his sword as the mercenaries slowly started their approach. "Bored of the boorish Yursinean women? Or did they decide to kick out the scummiest from their ranks? Either way, you're not welcome here."

"Silence, you elven scum!"

The human in the front lifted his broadsword and began to attack, running forward towards Silas and swung down his sword towards Silas's head. Silas jumped back and parried the sword with his own, his sword trembling under the weight of the man's blade. Silas attacked back, swinging the man's sword back before he swung his sword back towards the man before he could recover, slicing deeply across his armor.

"Ahh!" The man cried out as he put a hand to his armor.

"Rafael!" The two soldiers on the man's side stepped forward, ready to attack Silas all at once before Meredith quickly cast two fire spells he had been preparing. Using the buildup of mana, he was able to make the magic more explosive than before, effectively throwing the two men back with the flames. Their bodies flew through the air before they hit into the other men behind them with a violent force, taking down three more men in one sweep.

"Meredith-?" Silas had never seen such powerful magic. Though he knew Meredith had the most elven blood of anyone in the village, he had never seen him cast more than normal spells. This was the first time he had used such complex spells in front of him.

Meredith smiled back at Silas as he shot two more powerful balls of fire magic towards the other standing men. Silas dodged another strike from the large man, the mercenary's face burning red with anger. Many of the elves they had hunted and killed before had put up a fight, but they were never this difficult to kill. He could not believe he was losing to such a creature. He swung his sword again with an angry cry, but in his anger, he became sloppy with his strikes, which Silas could see. Silas kept dodging the large man, and when the opportunity opened, he stabbed the man through the chest. The man let out a pained gasp as he dropped his sword.

Without a moment of hesitation, Silas lifted his sword and sliced down on the man's neck, quickly killing the human before he could stand to defend himself.

"Are you okay, Meredith?" Silas shook the loose blood drops off of his sword and turned towards Meredith, who had already killed the group of men using his explosive fire magic. The smell of burnt flesh and blood lingered in the air, causing Silas's nose to wrinkle in discomfort.

Meredith retracted his magic and sighed, responding, "We should leave quickly. People will be attracted to the noise and come here. We don't know if they had another group with them or not." Waving a breeze of wind, Meredith extinguished the embers on the men's burnt flesh and hair. Even if they had wanted to loot the bodies, their armor was burned beyond repair, and the damaged skin on their faces bubbled in blisters. The men obviously did not have anything of any value.

Silas whistled for his horse, as did Meredith, attracting the two tall horses from the nearby woods, where they had been hiding from the enemy. Silas's horse, nicknamed Peanut by the stable hand, rubbed his head gently against Silas's cheek, welcoming him back. Silas patted his brown mane before lifting himself onto the saddle, grabbing the reins in his hands with a tight grip.

As Meredith mounted his horse, he reached into his satchel on his waist and took out a small potion bottle, about the size of a human thumb. The light blue liquid sloshed around in the glass bottle as he lifted off the cork and raised the bottle to his lips, drinking the magical liquid in one large sip. He sighed with a "ah" after downing the contents as he licked the remaining potion off of his lips.

"Do you need a potion, Silas? We'll be using our magic gems soon."

Having not used his mana yet, Silas felt fine. "No need. Thanks, Meredith."

After putting the bottle back in his satchel, Meredith tapped the sides of his horse and lifted his reins, steering his horse to move forward. Silas quickly followed suit, leading his horse forward behind Meredith's as the two left the scene, urging their horses quickly ahead before they were seen by anyone else in the woods.

Just as Silas and Meredith were out of hearing distance of the human corpses, a tall man rode to the site of the battle and looked down at the dead bodies on his horse, his broad shoulders lifted as the man chuckled to himself, looking at the fallen mercenaries with a hint of a smile. The mischievous grin on his lips dripped with apathy, and his dark eyes were placid, void of any thoughts a normal human being would have having found such mutilated corpses.

"Looks like my work has been finished for me." The tall man smiled wider, exposing his straight white teeth as he spoke to himself. "I wonder who I need to thank for doing my job for me?" The man was amused.

Through the woods, the man quickly spotted Silas's back from a large distance, almost too far for a normal human to see with their eyesight. The man's amber eyes sparkled with an intense light as his short brown hair was blown out of his eyes by the passing breeze. His eyes carefully moved over the elf's body, starting at the crown of his head, where his white blonde hair hung down by his ears, and then down to the young elf's shoulders with a stare that continued to move down to the elf's back, where his eyes lingered for a moment longer.

The man's eyes traveled to Meredith, his eyes taking in the elf's appearance with the same level of care, as if he were saving the images of the two in order not to forget them. He blinked his eyes once before the backs of the two disappeared into the shadows of the forest with the sound of silence eating away at the man's ears.

Before he pursued the men, the human man stepped down his horse and walked up to the dead bodies, finding all of their citizen tokens hidden on their bodies, some slightly burned and ashy from the heat of the flames. The tokens were placed in his back satchel and closed tightly, sealing his reward. It was then that he put his foot in the stirrup and swung his long legs around the horse, his armor clattering as he sat back down on the armored leather saddle.

The reward money from the bounty was surprisingly high for catching rogue soldiers, but Captain Beau Laurent could not complain, the Yursear Kingdom was not usually generous in serving bounties, even to their own soldiers.

"I should thank him for his help, shouldn't I?" Beau Laurent traced over the bounty in his satchel as he looked over the dead bodies once again with an apathetic gaze. He then gazed out to the forest, where he had last seen the elves flee. He cracked the leather reins on his horse and followed the path he saw the elves flee towards.