Fallen Comrades

The party took shelter at the foot of the cliff one night. It poured heavily outside, and it drowned out any noise beyond the wall of falling rain. They couldn't see anything past it either.

Inside, the trio sat huddled over a dwindling fire. The crackling echoed against hard surfaces, and so did their voices as they talked over a small meal of bread.

"…and remember when I met Reas for the first time? I didn't think he was such a softie. How did he get accepted as a knight anyway?"

"I heard it was Reas who recommended Sir Sodifery to join the Palace Knights. I was there watching him fight seven men during the final exam." Yowan replied to Lopal. "Reas was one of the examiners who fought against him."

"Oh? Who won then?"

"I did." Reas interjected firmly. "…eventually."

Eyes were on Sodifery who was sipping water through his canister with raised eyebrows. He shrugged his shoulders.

"…and that was even before the Light Deity chose him."

"I really can't imagine anyone else being chosen as the Dragon Slayer, as terrible as that title may be, or anyone else who could care so less about his destiny." Lopal added glumly.

"I wouldn't be able to sleep knowing I would have to fight the dragon…" Reas shuddered at a distant memory, "but Sodi went back to sleep as soon as the anointing ceremony was over, and then saying to everyone, 'Don't wake me up unless it's important.'"

"Wow."

"Like I said."

Sodifery sighed and left to sleep in silence. Lopal repeated in a hushed tone, 'Like I said.'

"And you Lopal?" Yowan spurred the conversation going once more. Perhaps, they were on their last third of their journey that Sodifery didn't bother to disrupt them. "How did you and Sir Sodifery meet?"

"We worked in the same business, the mercenary business." Lopal smiled in nostalgia as she continued, "I joined when I was 12 but he joined much later as a teen. He is still the same, bored and aloof. He joined as a member only because he was bored."

"He's a noble, right?"

"Everyone thought he was an illegitimate heir and was thrown away by his family to die. But it turned out the baron, who was his uncle, was also a friend of the Guild Leader who welcomed him in. On top of that, Sodi sold off all his inherited real estates to his uncle and if not for the baron, wanted to end his noble lineage right there."

"He gave up the true slacker life?" Yowan gasped.

"He's rich, and although he is still a noble, he has no territory to his name. A commoner like me will never understand him."

"I'm not rich." A voice murmured behind them.

Reas was the first to broke into laughter. He opened his mouth to confess something, but one look behind them kept his mouth shut.

"Ahem."

The boisterous laughter that echoed in the cave, together with the loud hush of rain outside. Inside, Sodifery felt oddly comfortable more than he has ever been. He closed his eyes as the heavy weight of sleep takes over him. That night, he dreamed of four people walking away out of this forest with relieved smiles and tired bodies, not tired minds.

.

The following morning, Sodifery noted solemnly that the dream was more of a cruel omen when he discovered that Yowan was missing. They decided to search for him while one remained inside the cave in case Yowan returned. Sodifery stayed.

A few minutes later, Lopal arrived and shook her head. Though, after another five minutes, Reas returned with Yowan. As soon as a wave of relief swept by them, the look of dreadful horror and panic on Reas' face put it everything to a halt.

"H-he! Yowan!"

Reas tripped before he could say more, and the other two helped him up together with Yowan, whose lips were parted and eyes still open. He was passed from Reas' trembling arms to Sodifery's.

"Wait."

Lopal kneeled down to wipe up the black fringe away from the golden eyes and checked for his pulse at several places. Even as she pressed her ear against the boy's chest, eventually, she nudged the eyes to close.

"His body is really cold, Sodi…"

Sodifery breathed sharply through his nose, as he looked up at the sky. What was he supposed to make out of this situation? This is too sudden. It doesn't make sense. What happened after he fell asleep? Who was keeping watch? It was Yowan. Yowan was keeping watch. And there were marks around his neck as if he was choked. He could guess what happened but asking 'why' was impossible. Yowan is dead.

The nagging feeling to the back of his mind returned. Ever since he entered the Misty Woods… what was this feeling?

Lopal interrupted him by placing a squeeze on his shoulder. He finally lifted his gaze at Lopal and then the two of them looked towards Reas.

He walked away silently towards a tree and emptied all everything out of his system.

Lopal probably was thinking the same thing as Sodifery: There was another large implication regarding Yowan's death. One that they couldn't ignore.

Indeed, Yowan was the most powerful magical user Sodifery had ever met, but when he met him as a candidate by the King, Sodifery was stupefied.

How could the King send his 16-year-old son to battle in the name of glory? The sole crown prince had looked brighter than the Light Deity itself.

Did the King set him up as a fool? The life as a royal to one of battle and survival was too drastic, and unforgiving for the young Yowan. Sodifery for one, refused to babysit. Later he realised, Yowan was incredibly gifted that he didn't need to do so.

At the time, Sodifery had three guesses: The king sent his son as a ploy to garner favour for his crowning ceremony in the future, the king was ready to discard the prince if he was not useful, or the king used this opportunity to garner favour towards himself by providing aid through his son.

If the King he pledged loyalty to was more cunning than he thought, it would even be possible to say all three.

He pinched his furrowed brows, anger building up before loosening his tightly gripped fists. Who was he to be angry? There were signs; Yowan was too overly bright compared to those of similar age, the low view he had of himself, the sleepless nights…

Was he really pushed over the edge?

Sodifery emptied his mind, knowing that there wasn't much that could be down, and started digging.

---

"Be careful."

The man with a hood draped in a large cloak grabbed the forearm of another who momentarily lost his footing on the tight ledge. The stones which were as loose as coal, dropped down as easily as cake. The man gripped onto the wall of the cliff tightly, faint scars on his hands.

"Shoot, light rain." Above them, a woman with tanner skin and brown hair tied in a ponytail, swiftly made her way up the mountain. "Get over here gentlemen, there's space where we can take a break."

Three figures creeped up to the ledge with weary faces. The ground eventually was covered with darker spots, signifying that the rest of their climb was about to become much more hazardous.

Reas joined Sodifery who, sitting with the back of his head against the cliff, watched begrudgingly at the wall of mist rising like steam. Reas could understand what was going through his mind.

'You should rest, Sodi. You look tired.' he wanted to say. His friend, however, beat him to it.

"Sit down, Reas."

Reas sat down beside him.

"Since when."

"Since when what?"

"You're arm."

Reas held back the instinct to look at his arm. However, his flinching didn't go unnoticed.

Eventually he sighed, "I'm sorry, Sodi. I didn't mean to hide it."

"Are you hiding anything else from me?"

Lopal returned in an irritated fashion, "We should probably get going again… Did Reas do something wrong?"

Sodifery cut him off before Reas could say anything, "He's injured."

Another pair of angry eyes joined in.

"That's it. Reas, you need to take a break, let me check the wound." Lopal said, stomping right over.

"I'm fine, I can still go." Reas held his hand over Lopal's scarily firm grip.

'His breathing is still short.' Sodifery noted with disdain. How did he not notice this before? He might have worried about Yowan a bit too openly, to the point that Reas didn't want to add his injury to the list of things to worry about. Inwardly, Sodifery hated how dependent he was on his comrades.

"I can keep going." Reas repeated.

"You stay here." Sodifery said sternly, not giving Reas a choice. "I don't want to see anyone driving themselves over the edge again."

"Sodi…"

"Can't you see why I'm doing this?"

The two who had sensed something in his tone, one that didn't leave any space for negotiation. They didn't question him further and Lopal went ahead to replace Reas' sloppy work of bandages. Reas and Lopal were left alone as Sodifery went ahead to check the situation at the top.

Fortunately, their party leader calmed down and told them after a brief silence that he will at least clear the path. Lopal would be faster, but she specialised in defence, she was also second best in first aid.

.

A leather and steel boot kicked away a black snake slithering out from one of the crevices of the cliff. A strong wind blew again and pulled at Sodifery's hood. Even as he trekked up on his own, he needed to be more careful.

"Are you sure this is the way?"

The sword at his waist glowed faintly as the Light Deity appeared.

'If we still want to make it in 3 days then this is a shortcut.' The dove rounded the corner as if upset with him. When he caught up to the bird waiting, he asked,

"Do you know of this shortcut because of the previous 'Dragon Slayer'?"

'yes.' It pecked at its wings, 'Although they didn't take as long as you did.'

"What was the previous 'Dragon Slayer' like?"

'Just like you. But what does it matter?'

"Don't I have the right to know? I need all the information I need to fight Gyric."

'Well, as long as you get there before the Dragon awakens, then you won't need to fight.'

Sodifery sighed inwardly. Every time he tried to converse with the Light Deity, it has always been like this. Always ordering him around and not giving him the answers he needed. It made the Light Deity's first impression seem like an actor that was reading lines off a script.

Of course, he knows the Light Deity might be hiding something, but he pushed it aside since the priority hasn't changed: they still need to stop the Dragon from awakening.

Sodifery jumped over the ledge to reach a clearing. Was this the top?

Before he could take more steps, he noticed a large shadow beyond the mist.

'I've never seen a minion as large as that one.'

He was at the top of the cliff, and although it was coated in a cooling fog, that could not be the Dragon. He hasn't reached any sort of cavern yet.

It shifted slowly, huddled against a large rock formation. Probably asleep.

The good thing was that the ground was filled with moss and puddles. It meant that they were close to the coast, but it also meant that they could somehow get past without confronting it.

'This is as far as I should go.'

He cocked his head to the sound of waves nearby and climbed back down.