Travel and Trouble

Back in the town of Cloran, Elyenora sat at the inn room's desk and contemplated on her findings. The note had left her rather shocked, so she spent over an hour thinking things over.

'How long has this note been down there... How many children have already been taken away?' Elyenora thought, unnerved by the situation. 'I'll have to ask around tomorrow, maybe I'm simply overthinking things and they couldn't start their job yet.'

That night was not a good rest for the young princess, for most of it she simply looked up at the ceiling with a hand over her forehead.

It was a sleepless night.

…

In the morning on the other hand, Mon'Ter woke up and got out of the bed, seeming to have been refreshed.

"Ely... These 'bed' thingies... Good..." Mon'Ter commented, having slept for the first time on a surface as comfortable for laying down on as a bed's.

"Yeah, they're nice." Elyenora spoke, getting up as well with a hint of eyebags forming under her eyes. "Come on Mon'Ter, the inn has a paid for meal in the morning, it's time for breakfast."

She put on her dark cloak to cover her frame and helped Mon'Ter put on his own.

"Food...! Let's go... Me wants to try more human food!" Mon'Ter excitedly spoke in whispers, opening the door first and walking out with Elyenora lagging slightly behind him.

They walked downstairs into the main lobby of the inn, where to the side was a decently large room meant for dining.

Mon'Ter and Elyenora both sat down and waited for their breakfast to be served. The one, which the staff had mentioned, came along with the payment for the night.

Soon, a short old lady came and offered them two plates with scrambled eggs placed over bread along with some meat strips. It was a decent sandwich.

"Here you go, kiddos. Enjoy your breakfast now." The old lady said, smiling at the duo.

"Thank you, kind miss. We'll be sure to eat our full." Elyenora replied kindly with a soft smile, looking towards her from under her cloak.

"Yes, yes. Eat up, dear." The old lady said once more, before turning to leave.

The two enjoyed a quick breakfast, with Mon'Ter commenting. "These... Good too... Me didn't know... Egg could be made like... This."

"There's a lot of ways to make different types of food Mon'Ter, I'm sure you'll find that out along the way." Elyenora smiled as she finished her meal. "Let's get going then, I have something I'd like to look into." She said while standing up.

"Look into...? What... is it...?" Mon'Ter asked, devouring the last piece of his sandwich before standing up as well.

"There might have been more to that group of men we fought yesterday than we originally thought," Elyenora replied, walking towards the exit of the Inn with Mon'Ter in tow. "I simply wish to ask a few people from around town some questions."

"Mmm... Okay." Mon'Ter nodded and the two went outside on the streets of Cloran once more.

It was still early in the morning, so not as many people were walking across the streets as during the day. However, there were still many that moved around and went to set up their shops for the busy day ahead.

Elyenora walked up to a bearded man with a well sized belly. He was pulling a small cart with two wheels that were filled with a bunch of different goods, such as vegetables and fruit. He also had some old farming equipment.

"Excuse me sir, could you by chance spare a moment of your time?" Elyenora asked politely.

"Huh? What is it girlie?" He asked, a bit annoyed since it was still morning and he had only recently awoken.

"Have you heard of any kidnappings happening in recent times? Children going missing from the streets or the like?" She asked again, bringing up her question.

"Children kidnappings?" The man inquired, "I do believe I heard of such rumors coming from the slums downtown. You'd have to go ask around there." He replied and began pulling his cart again, going towards his usual spot where he set up his shop.

The man then said, "I wouldn't bother if I were you though."

"Thank you, mister. I wish you good fortune in your trades for the day." Elyenora waved with a smile.

"Yeah whatever..." The man murmured and went on his way.

"Haaaa..." Elyenora sighed as she looked at his receding figure, "If rumors are going around about it then it must have happened..."

"Kidnapping...?" Mon'Ter inquired, curious as to what was happening.

"Seems like some young children have been taken from their homes, let's go to the slums for now and see what else we can find." Elyenora replied and dashed towards where the slums should be located according to her knowledge.

Mon'Ter followed after her, along the way they asked people for both directions and if they knew more about the rumors.

In the end, once they arrived at the slums and spoke to a few pairs of parents and single mothers. They found out that these parents' children had been gone for quite a while, some having been kidnapped mere days ago while others had vanished for weeks now.

It was unnerving, since no one could know what was happening to these kids.

"Mon'Ter, I'm sorry but would you mind it if we took a detour?" Elyenora asked, turning to her companion.

"No... Me follows... Wherever you go... Ely..." Mon'Ter replied in whispers, stating it as a matter of fact.

"Right, thank you." She spoke in a serious tone, "We were supposed to go to the city of Lirn next on our way to Weylorn, however we'll go to a city called Breles first." Elyenora explained.

"Breles...?" Mon'Ter asked.

"Yes, it's a city a bit to the south of here, Lirn is to the north eas-" Elyenora cut herself off, stopping in her tracks as the duo walked and face palmed, "Damn it I forgot you don't know these!" She bellowed, the sleepless night and overthinking having clouded her mind to the point she forgot about Mon'Ter's limited knowledge of things.

"Sorry..." Mon'Ter spoke up, feeling as if he had disappointed Elyenora in some way.

"No, no, don't apologize Mon'Ter. I'm sorry, it's my fault there." Elyenora apologized, "I'll explain some stuff to you that people do and have made for conveniences on our way to Breles, you'll need the knowledge at some point after all."

"Okay then..." Mon'Ter nodded once more, "How do we... Get to... Breles?" He asked.

"Well, normally I'd have us walk everywhere, but due to our recently expanded funds..." Elyenora glanced at the bag filled with her items and coins at her waist, "We should be able to hire a carriage."

With that idea in mind, Elyenora and Mon'Ter left the slums and went to the other side of town where the stables were located, it wasn't too hard to find with some help from the locals.

Numerous horses and carriages could be found at the location, both young and old steeds as well as different styles of carriages. Some were simple and plain while others were decorated rather well.

There were also ones that were filled with goods, their owners standing nearby and probably planning to set up shop somewhere in town or resupply someone else for their business.

Elyenora looked over the carriages and walked up to a spot filled with more plainer looking ones, they were mostly empty and seemed to be meant for transporting travelers.

She asked around and was told which carriage would be making the trip to Breles soon, walking up to it, she spoke up to the man near it.

"Good day sir, do you happen to be going towards Breles?" She solemnly asked the man standing next to a plain wooden carriage. It was a few meters in length and had some benches on the inside where you could sit, no roof and could fit up to eight people.

The man himself was slim with a lightly trimmed beard, wearing some standard cloth clothing with leather boots and a straw hat.

"Why yes if you're willing to pay a modest fee of two silver and fifty coppers per person, then I am!" The man grinned while giving a thumbs up.

"Great! Could we go immediately?" Elyenora asked, cupping her hands with a smile.

"Sure thing, I have a few other customers waiting together with the other carriage I own and this one, my wife is the one driving the other. Just give me a moment, need to go tell my rascal guards to pack up." The man said, turning his head to the side. "I got three guards for protection from any bandits or the wild, they're quite capable so don't worry about the safety of the trip."

"They sound dependable then." Elyenora smiled, while Mon'Ter simply looked at the ones that would supposedly guard them.

He looked towards a group of three, where an older man was talking to a rather young-looking lad who couldn't have been older than eighteen and a girl of the same age.

"Hey, Russel! Aunis! Shana! Come over, we got enough patrons for business hours to start!" The carriage owner yelled.

"Coming!" The girl named Shana replied, raising her voice so the carriage owner would hear.

She had blond hair and azure blue eyes, was rather tall with a height of 5'9'' and wore a hood which hid a pair of long ears, typical of an elf's.

Her equipment included some standard light leather armor, a short sword and a crossbow with a quiver of arrows

"A'right, let's get this trip started then." The boy named Aunis said and walked towards the carriages with his hands behind his neck, seemingly relaxed.

He wasn't as tall as the girl, only reaching 5'8'' feet in height, however he seemed to have a rather fit build. He was clad in chainmail armor and had a pair of one-handed two sided axes at his waist.

The older man named Russel didn't say anything and simply walked, he was taller than both aforementioned guards, reaching 6'1'' in height, with a long gray beard as well as long gray hair that were all tied in braids. He held a steel halberd in one hand and had a steel helmet tucked under the other. Russel wore a set of shiny steel plate armor that seemed to be of good craftsmanship.

Not long after that, the carriage owner rounded up all the horses and had two carriages with four people in each to transport.

The three guards would each ride their own horse while staying to the side of the carriages.

Mon'Ter and Elyenora were with the owner himself, who stood at the front of the carriage and would point his horses towards the right direction. While in the back were the aforementioned duo and two other patrons.

A man and a woman, a married couple that was apparently visiting some relatives of theirs sat at the front with the owner, while Elyenora and Mon'Ter were in the far back.

In the second carriage were two adult men, an adult woman and a young boy who were led by the owner's wife in the front seat guiding the horses.

With everyone having seated in their place, the two carriages soon started to get a move on towards the city of Breles.

'Jalid Talherd's city, we'd definitely be in enemy territory there.' Elyenora thought to herself, 'However I can't simply leave Jalid by himself to do whatever he pleases.'

With that thought, she and Mon'Ter slowly made their way out of Cloran and went to the roads.

...

The trip would take about six hours to complete, so Elyenora decided to use the time and try to teach Mon'Ter about the cardinal directions which he surprisingly understood rather quickly.

"Oh... So, the sun... Rises from the east... And sets in the west." Mon'Ter came to the understanding.

"Yes, that is correct Mon'Ter. Good job!" Elyenora clapped her hands, "How about we try learning some basic letters then? Reading and writing is quite helpful you know?" She smiled and took out the note she had taken from the bandits.

She had no paper nor ink and quill to write, hence her only option to teach him would be to point towards a letter and explain the sound it represented.

The first hour of travel was spent with Elyenora quietly trying to teach Mon'Ter, who absorbed the information like a sponge.

Before long he was even able to read the note!

"Kuccle, I have sent you this note to require your services again." Mon'Ter read in whispers, with Elyenora beaming a smile to the side at his quick learning capacity, he then continued. "You see, I am currently in need-" However, at that point Elyenora had to grab his mouth with her hands to stop him from blurting out the horrific contents of what she was using to teach him.

"Wait, wait, wait!" She spoke with her hands at Mon'Ter's mouth, whispering afterwards. "Great job Mon'Ter...! But don't read out loud any further please, okay...?" She said and let him free once more.

"... Okay...?" He replied in confusion, unsure of what was wrong.

The couple on the other end of the carriage looked to them, curious as to what had happened. "Something wrong?" The woman asked.

"No, no. Everything is fine, no need to worry." Elyenora waved her hand lightly to excuse herself.

The couple then returned to talking to one another, simply enjoying each other's company.

Elyenora then sighed, "To think you can learn to read so quickly, your learning capacity for this is rather shocking, it's incredible!" she whispered.

"Mm... You explain... Good... Easy to... Understand..." Mon'Ter replied, looking over the note again, "Me understands now... You want to... Stop this man...?" He asked.

"Mm." Elyenora nodded, "I'm unsure of his goals, but the actions that lead to them shouldn't be ignored." she said in reply.

"What are you two up to?" Shana, the female guard rode up to the back of the first carriage, speaking to Elyenora and Mon'Ter.

"Oh, just teaching my friend here how to read, how is the road looking?" Elyenora replied with a question of her own.

"It's quite good actually. I've made this trip quite a few times and today's weather is simply perfect!" Shana smiled as she spoke.

"Oh, so you're thinking there won't be an incident?" Elyenora asked.

"Yup! Even if there is, you can count on us to keep everyone safe, be it beasts or bandits there ain't no one I can't shoot with this here crossbow of mine!" The girl named Shana bragged.

"Sounds reassuring then!" Elyenora gave her own smile as the two giggled.

The hours passed by and Mon'Ter now pretty much knew how to read perfectly, as for writing he'd have to try his hand at it when they had the proper items for it.

...

About three and a half hours after they left Cloran, the carriages both came to a sudden halt.

"Oh, come on… What is that..." Aunis spoke up in shock.

In front of them were easily three dozen monstrous creatures. All of them were of a different species of beast that had been grouped together with the same look in their eyes.

A dozen of them were dire wolves as big as bulls, five were bears with sharp needle-like red fur, six creatures with the appearance of a deer but with antlers made of sharp steel on top of their heads and claws instead of hooves. The rest were gigantic spiders with the height of one meter and length of two.

Leading them was a single four-meter tall Troll with a giant club made of stone in its hands.

The creatures' eyes all had a green hue that glowed softly, giving them a rather intimidating atmosphere that surrounded them.

"For the love of goddess Elene... What the bloody hell is that." Said one of the passengers from the back carriage as he spoke with a frightened expression on his face, "I've never seen a group like this in my entire life! They should be killing each other, not being buddies!"

"Guards! Where are our guards! Go and deal with those monsters!" Ordered another woman passenger beside him.

"Hell no, ma'am! We don't want to die here!" Denied the young Aunis who was near the passengers.

"We pay you, b*stards!" one of the two men on the second carriage cursed.

"Heh! This reminds me! I haven't been to any of my favorite brothels in awhile. Let's get out of here, Aunis! Shana!" Replied the oldest guard named Russel while he prepared his horse to turn towards the opposite direction.

"Yes! Let's get the hell out of here!" Aunis shouted and turned as well, while the wave of monsters slowly walked towards the people with calm steps.

"You can't just leave!" The passengers shouted, "What about us?!"

"They're right! Aunis, Russel! We're supposed to protect them not run at the first sight of danger!" Persuaded Shana, the female guard while she looked at them with begging eyes.

"Oh, shut it!" replied Aunis while sneering at her words, "I have my whole life ahead of me still! I ain't dying here against that damn Monster horde!" He yelled and galloped away with his horse.

"B-But…" Shana spoke up, only to be cut off.

"Get back here you pieces of crap! I've paid you for this job!" The carriage owner bellowed with fury in his voice.

"Sorry boss, we're out. I can fight rare class monsters just fine but that Troll is a peak Champion class!" Russel shrugged and made a rush with Aunis. "I'll pay you back when we meet in hell!" He shouted with a wink as his horse galloped.

The monster horde got nearer and nearer, as the people's fear rose higher and higher.

The only one left to protect them was a fragile looking girl with a simple crossbow.

"N-no…" muttered the passengers as they lost hope.

"Sh*t.. If I knew I'd die here, I should have kissed that tavern girl before I went…" lamented one of the passengers in the back carriage with a depressed tone in his voice, "I don't want to die while I'm still a virgin!"

"I-I'll..." Shana trembled, nocking an arrow on her crossbow. "Do something..."

As everyone was panicking as to what to do, Mon'Ter gazed past the slowly nearing monster horde and into the forest's trees and bushes.

There, Mon'Ter saw a man with emerald green eyes that glowed brightly while he stared at the horde of creatures, his eyes were in a sense the same as the beasts themselves.

The white in this man's emerald eyes had been dyed a crimson red as if seeped in blood, he smiled sinisterly as Mon'Ter saw his lips move.

"It's time to start your little experiment, Father..."