A Long Trip [ Part 1 ]

"Okay! Is everyone ready?" Killan called out to the group.

All six of them were standing off to the side in the plaza. They were all wearing their armors and had large packs of supplies upon their backs.

It had only taken three days for reinforcements to arrive. They had come from another village nearby that had been showing little to no signs of dark creatures. During these three days of waiting, the party had focused on training over anything else.

Emre had learned the Swordplay skill. It seemed that the skill was for swordsmanship as a whole so he would not get separate skills as time went on. He would only level up that one as he got better.

Due to having upgraded his stats, he was able to trade blows with Ragan now. His intelligence allowed him to comprehend what Ragan was teaching easier, and his strength and dexterity helped him with actually executing the moves.

Compared to his dragon form, however, his strength was quite debuffed. Ragan was still able to overpower him so he started to resort to redirecting rather than straight-up blocking.

On the second day, Nalia stepped up to teach him some of her techniques since, like her, his dexterity was higher than his strength. She taught him about quick footwork and how to move more fluidly. She also started making him stretch as much as possible before training. As nervous and shy as she was, she was not a horrible teacher when she put her mind to it.

There had also been no activity from the dark creatures. Emre had no visions or heard Tirian's voice at all during this time. It was like the calm before the storm. He was hoping things would remain peaceful in the village after they left.

The reinforcements were 300 strong, making the force just above 400 now. Emre highly doubted that the dark creatures would have as easy of a time as last time. Plus Emre had seen the mana pool of the new leader that had arrived with the reinforcements. He was even stronger than Carlowe was.

Emre wasn't as concerned anymore. As such, the day after the reinforcements arrived the party had gotten ready to leave. They needed to leave for the capital as soon as possible. Emre had questions to ask Tirian and they needed to talk to the Commander about how severe the situation actually was.

Ragan had talked to the lieutenant leading the reinforcements about the strength of the large corruption and also mentioned the 'unknown' two dragons that had appeared in the middle of the battle. While serious before, the lieutenant took it even more seriously once the dragons were mentioned and had left to speak with Carlowe.

"I think we're all ready." Ragan answered as everyone checked their belongings.

They spent most of the day yesterday getting ready for travel. Apparently, it would take about eleven days on horseback to get to Iraoa, the capital of the Gaia Kingdom. As such, they had gathered together enough supplies for the whole trip. Food, water, herbs, tents, bedding, the whole 9-yards.

The group would head to the stables first to buy some horses. They had all gotten here on foot, but Ragan apparently had enough money for most of the supplies as well as horses. Put simply, Ragan happened to be rich.

They saved a bit of money and only bought five horses. Killan and Nalia shared a horse, while Gerrar and Conin shared one other. Ragan, Idris, and Emre each got their own horses. While getting a cart would have been nice as well, not getting one would keep their pace quick.

They set off quickly, riding along the dirt road. The road went along the mountain Emre was aiming for when he first left the Black Swamp. He felt awkward on horseback, having not ridden before. It wasn't terrible, but he knew that he'd be holding the party back a bit while he got used to the feeling and controlling the horse.

"Don't fall off!" Ragan laughed.

"Flying is much more convenient." Emre sighed.

Now that he thought about it… Couldn't he just… Turn into a horse? As amusing as the thought was, Ragan had already spent money on it and Emre wasn't entirely keen on actually being a horse. He would rather turn into a cat or something and rest on someone's shoulders.

Well… hiding some of his abilities could come in handy later just in case. He wasn't sure when or why he would use it, but might as well keep it quiet for now.

"You guys came on this road on the way down, right?" Ragan asked.

"Yep! It's a relatively safe road with only occasional mishaps." Killan answered.

"Well, I don't think we really have to worry about our safety." Ragan laughed, looking toward Emre and Idris in the back.

"Good point!"

'Do they mean us?' Idris asked Emre mentally.

'Definitely.' Emre responded.

After traveling for a few hours, the road came to a split. One path continued forward and the other went right. They continued on the forward path, still heading toward the mountain.

The travel was relatively boring as they continued on. Forest surrounded them on all sides but it wasn't too dense. They even caught sight of some wildlife darting away once they noticed the traveling party. It was a nice view, but boring.

It was like sitting in the passenger side of a car, only it was slower and there was no music. Not to mention his aching backside. If his butt wasn't bruised by the time they stopped for the night, he would be genuinely surprised.

They took a short break for the horses and to eat lunch, but it was just a bit of their rations. Nothing as good as Ragan's meals or the food at the tavern. It was quite bland and Emre couldn't help but find himself actually missing the juiciness of fresh prey.

The thought that he actually missed raw meat made him shutter, but he figured it was just part of being a dragon now. They could probably hunt once they stopped for the night. A fresh meal was always good and they would be able to save rations that way. Emre could probably get enough for him to have a raw meal and another meal for the humans to cook.

'Hey, Idris?' Emre spoke up, feeling terribly bored.

'Hm?'

'Do you know how many dragons there are?'

'I know about some from what my mother has told me, but there are probably more. I think there are about six others that I know of.'

'Six? That's more than expected.'

'Well, there have been territorial conflicts in the past and news travels.'

'How many live in Gaia?'

'Two. One being my mother.'

'And the other?'

'Mm…' Idris paused for a moment.

Emre looked toward him, noticing the furrow of his brows. 'Idris?'

'My brother.' He finally answered.

'Brother?' Emre's eyebrows raised. 'I thought dragons having children, in general, was rare?'

'It is rare. My mother just happened to have two.'

'I see.'

Judging by his drop in mood, Emre could tell that he wasn't exactly fond of his brother.

'What about the others?' He changed the subject back.

'Ah, the four others are different Kingdoms. One is believed to be in Amar, but that is only based on the rumors relating to the King. One is in the deep mountains of Soralai. Another is in the Alama Kingdom, although I'm not sure where. And one I don't know much about or what Kingdom they are in.'

'And dragons don't work together at all?'

'Well, mated pairs will, but otherwise, no.'

'Hmm… that seems pretty lonely.'

'Sometimes dragons will live and interact with humans, but it's not common and is considered strange by the other dragons.'

'Hm, not the first time I've been called strange.'

'I'm not surprised.'

'Hey!'

"What's that sound?" Killan spoke up.

Emre pulled his attention away from Idris and honed in on his hearing. It was faint but he could hear the sound of yelling? Was a fight going on? It happened to be up the road ahead of them, just around the corner.

"Let's pick up the pace." Ragan said as he urged his horse forward.

They broke into a canter as they quickly went to see what was going on. As they got closer, it was definitely the sound of conflict. He could hear sword clashing against sword and yelling. Quickening the pace, they rounded the corner.

"It's the carriage that left before us!" Killan exclaimed.

Before them was a large carriage. Surrounding it was a bunch of ragged-looking people with chipped swords and worn bows. They were fighting against what seemed to be mercenaries guarding the carriage. Bandits?

Emre didn't remember what was in the carriage but it was a large one with a canopy that was usually used for hauling a lot of cargo or people. They had left before them that morning with these same mercenaries in tow. There were only about five mercenaries and were being highly outnumbered by about ten bandits.

"We should help them." Killan stated as he hurried forward.

The rest of the party followed suit. The pounding of hooves caught the attention of the other groups as they barged in. Once they unsheathed their swords, the bandits quickly reacted to the sudden reinforcements and began to retreat after a few shouts from their probable leader.

It only took a few seconds for the rag-tag group to disappear into the forest around them. Emre could probably take chase easily but the look Ragan gave him made him think otherwise. Ragan was already fed up from his rushing forward during the battle with the corruptions.

"Thank the Gods!" One of the mercenaries shouted out with a wheeze.

The guards began to catch their breaths, and Emre couldn't help but note their wounds. The urge to hop down and heal them with his was strong, but he knew he couldn't do so.

Suddenly from the back of the carriage, a head popped out. It was a young lady with light blonde hair tied up into a bun and bright green eyes. Her face was undoubtedly beautiful and she looked like a stark contrast compared to her dull clothes and the ragged canopy she was sticking her head through.

"M-my Lady! I mean… Miss! Please go back inside just in case the bandits return!" One of the mercenaries shouted out.

Wow.

That was quite the obvious and noticeable blunder. Was she of noble blood, perhaps? What was she doing here, if that was the case? Emre's brow raised as a smile graced her features and she casually ignored the man.

"Thank you so much!" She said cheerfully.

"No problem." Ragan responded with a smile in kind.

Emre quickly scanned each of the mercenaries' mana pools as they wrapped up their wounds. They were all just above average. None of them caught his attention. The carriage driver, however, whose aura was basic farmer level… His mana pool was very large. It just exceeded Ragan's mana pool and just about matched Carlowe's. There was also another strong person in the carriage that he couldn't see. They were about the same strength.

He could only assume right now that the carriage driver was her own personal guard and was keeping low for now. The same was for him, Ragan, and Idris. The one with the largest aura in their group right now was Killan. Emre's right now was about the same as the mercenary's auras, Ragan's and Idris's were just above.

The man seemed to be also scanning over them but Emre looked away just in time for them to not make eye contact. Looking back to the noble lady, he wondered just what exactly she was doing here.

"You kind people seem strong! Perhaps you could travel alongside us?" The lady wondered.

"We're in a bit of a hurry." Killan told her with an apologetic smile.

"I promise the pay would be good! We can pick up the pace for you!"

Of course, the word 'pay' caught everyone's attention. Money was a very important thing. If this noble lady was proposing pay, the situation may be a bit different. They would need money for supplies and probably for improving their armor and weapons in the future.

Most everyone in the party looked at Emre and Idris with expectant eyes. He could tell that they wanted to do it. Traveling a bit slower would also be better for the horses.

'It couldn't hurt.' Idris mentioned in his mind.

With a small sigh, he nodded. The lady seemed to notice and clapped her hands together with a grin.

"Fantastic! My name is Elayna Regala! Would 10 gold pieces each, suffice?"

Everyone just about choked on their own saliva at the amount. 10 gold each would literally keep them going for a while. Rich! They hit the jackpot! Sure, Ragan had enough money, but this lady was paying quite generously. Perhaps it was just reassurance?

"Regala? As in Count Regala?" Ragan's brows lifted.

Emre noted the carriage driver twitch, his hand lowering toward his hip. The mercenaries also seemed on guard now.

Ragan quickly put his hands up with an awkward laugh. "Sorry, I didn't mean anything by it. I just knew Count Regala when I was a Lieutenant. I was just surprised to hear his surname all the way out here."

"You know my father?" Elayna asked with sparkling eyes.

"I do." Ragan nodded.

"What's your name?"

"My name is Ragan Denbow."

"Ah." The carriage driver let out a small sound.

Ragan didn't turn to him though. Only Idris and Emre knew the carriage driver's probable identity among their group. Ragan was more interested in talking with the noble lady than paying attention to someone with such a small aura.

"What are you doing out here? Why were you in the village?" He asked.

"Mm…" She considered her words before blurting out. "I stowed away!"

Gek. Emre almost choked on his own spit again. What a careless girl! She offered pay to a bunch of strangers, gave away her noble name, and also revealed that she wasn't even meant to be here.

"My father was being annoying when I came with him to see my fiancé off so I decided to hop into the supplies when no one was looking." She said with a small laugh. "I'm quite stealthy when I want to be."

"I see…" Ragan seemed taken aback.

"Yes! And so once we got to the village my fiancé decided to send me back." She let out a small sigh and shrugged.

Emre glanced up toward the sky, noting the position of the sun before looking at the two chatting away.

'We should get moving.' Emre told Ragan mentally.

At his words, the older man looked up for a moment as well before clearing his throat.

"We can continue chatting as we move, yes?" He asked.

"Oh, yes! Let's keep going!" She called out to the carriage driver.

The man let out a small mutter before starting the horses forward. The mercenaries also sighed as they took up their positions around the carriage. Emre's group began to travel behind the carriage with Ragan heading so he could continue talking with the noble who was sticking out the back.

The travel would be a bit slower now, but they were getting quite a ton of money for it. There were more pressing matters to deal with… Emre almost felt bad for agreeing.

'It'll be fine, Emre. If something bad is about to happen, Tirian or Animor will let us know.' Idris said Telepathically.

'Yeah… I guess.'

Tirian had been warning him beforehand with voices and visions. He was sure that that wouldn't change. That still didn't stop him from sighing out loud.

He sighed a lot nowadays.