The Ride For South: Day One

The day was as bright and hot as it could get. 

Since their early morning start, they have maintained a steady pace without any stops. The nature of the horses was beginning to grow on them like budding flowers.

"I'm starting to like him." Neil blurted as he gently stroked the almost-blond crest of its horse. 

"Named it yet?" Asked Yin with an excited tone. 

"Well, I thought of calling her Beautyback." Neil answered as his eyes undisturbingly gazed at Tara Elykis. 

"Oo! Tara, make sure to keep yourself safe. Those eyes look like they're gonna eat you." Yin laughed out loud, pointing at Neil. 

"I think I might kill you one day." Tara casually informed Neil, looking at him with eyes that did not look like they were lying.

"I think I won't mind." Neil reacted without even a hint of fear.

"Yin! Did you think of a name for yours?" Lars slid in and killed their useless conversation.

"I'm stuck between Mini-Kang and Neigh-Chang." Yin said it seriously. 

"What the heck! Why Mini-Kang?!" Lars broke out.

"I'm really fast. Back on Earth, I was the fastest fencer I've ever seen." Yin said it with a wide smile that stank of pride.

"Neigh-Chang is also a poor choice, but it's better than that." Neil added.

"Neigh-Chang it is, then! Hear that, Neigh-Chang? You have a new name!" Yin hunched forward near his ear and shouted.

"I bet if Mei ever came to know about that, she would be deeply upset." Said Vegas with a soft tone. 

"Eh, she won't. I know her!" 

The nice quality of the saddles gifted them a great deal of comfort, and even the horses were all impressively trained to carry a hefty amount of weight on their backs, and that too for so long without rest. The nine of them were at ease, feeling as though they could even sleep through nights and they would still be on the move, but it was not even close to being night. 

"What if that guy is finished with the raid and has left for somewhere else?" Lars lit a question.

"Not possible. Raids usually last for weeks; they will loot the entire town, kill peasants, have their go at the girls they wish for, and enslave a few hundred." Brody informed everyone.

"And even if they decide to leave, they have to take the rider's route on horseback, and when they travel, they travel in packs, which will be easy to spot. So we don't have a problem either way." Mathen added on top of Brody.

"Great! We don't have an issue then." Yin approved.

"Erik, how is this Arega like? You were the closest person to Jaquer, so you must know something about his personal knight." Lars curiously questioned him.

"Oh god, he is one behemoth of a man. I wished to gouge my eyes out every time I laid my eyes on him. He haunts me in my nightmares still to this day…" Erik spoke with trembling fear.

"Goodness, he sounds like a monster." Neil reacted.

"He is. He made me forget how peaceful sleep felt like…"

"What're you saying?" Vegas asked, confused.

"Uh…He… He has physically abused and tortured me many times, and Jaquer never did anything about it, even though he knew."

"Hey Yin, are you sure that you want this guy to be a part of our team? I would rather pick that Molten Giant accompanying us than this guy." Said Lars.

Yin answered with silence for a solid minute, and only then did he speak.

"My friends! Don't get me wrong! Haha! I love you all, and I need you all! But I chose everyone based on their power and not their personality, haha!" 

"Makes sense, I guess?" Everyone was baffled.

East was invisible now, and as they phased past the morning, battling the heat, which was their only war, the thirst and hunger perched out of their bodies, creating audible noises in their bellies. Their lips had dried, and their bodies perspired. Thankfully, the horses didn't add to the baggage. They were sweethearts.

They unpacked their bags and stuffed themselves with bread and berry wine that they had taken from the castle. It tasted thick and rich, and it settled on their tastebuds like glue.

While everyone tried to kill their hunger, Lars requested something else. 

"Colt, could you give me one of the Memory Flowers?" Lars desperately requested.

Quickly, Colt reached down to his bag that was hanging from the saddle hook, unzipped it, grabbed a flower, and handed it to Lars. The polychromes, or the Memory Flower was one of the only flowers in the Realm that never went bad, even if it was plucked. As long as a memory lives, the flower lives.

Lars immediately put it near his nose and took a whiff.

A memory of Bucky flashed in front of him—his smile, his eyes. 

"What the heck is that?" 

Tara had never seen a flower as such, and she gave a similar reaction to it, just like Yin did when he first saw it for himself.

"It's called a Memory Flower. When you sniff it, it will take you back to your sweetest memory." It was Lars who explained this time, not the Northerners. 

"Gimme that." Tara held out her hand.

Lars gracefully placed it on her pale hand as they diverted their horses close to each other. 

Tara took it and sniffed.

She was dragged in somewhere. It was an empty void, and she stood in the middle of nowhere. There was no sweet memory in front of her. "Is this the Astral Realm?" She wondered, but it was not. 

Then slowly, the void in front of her started cracking, and she heard a familiar voice from inside it.

"Shut up, Neil!" It had two voices combined.

The void was completely shattered, and she saw the face of Colt, going back to the day when they both shared a brief moment of eye contact.

"Ahh!" Tara snapped back out of reality and threw away the flower.

"What!? What is your sweetest memory? What did you see?" Lars asked her excitedly.

"Was it me, my dear Tara?" Neil tried his best to look appealing. 

"This thing is not real!" She raged, refusing to accept what she had seen.

"Tara, memories don't lie." Said Lars.

"Um… I…Um… I saw…my…fa…sister…" She trembled and lied.

Tara slightly turned her head to the right to catch a sight of Colt, and he was looking forward into the vast distance and the setting of the sun. Before he could catch her looking at him, she redirected her head.

The sky was now painted pink and red; an absolute breathtaker was what they had in front of them. It reminded Yin of her, her face, and her eyes. The day's morning and afternoon were done. 

"Awh, Mei, you would love this view." He exhaled.

"We've been riding since morning. We should call it a day. There's some woods area we must pass to get to South; we can camp in there." Mathen suggested.

"I agree; I've been yawning since the last hour." Neilus threw in another reason. 

"Let's do that then!" Yin approved.

As they expected, they passed sand and mud and soon trampled on broken twigs and spiky grass, which was the signal that they had entered the woods. 'Ayndale Woods, the locals called it. It had weird trees with greying leaves, and it smelled of overburnt meat. 

The nine of them indulged in finding big and thick sticks to start the campfire, and after half an hour, they all sat in a circle, roasted the bread they had, and drank berry wine. 

"Do you guys know why the Molten Giant came outta nowhere to attack you all?" Tara asked.

They shook their heads, for they had no answer.

"The ring. Once a new user is chosen, random beings from different Realms come to kill them. I had to kill mine too. Mine looked like a little fairy with green wings."

"But why?" Lars asked.

"I have no clue."