Warning of War

Aaron began walking forward, saying nothing else on the matter. He needed Monument to guide the way, but he needed to ask Monument without saying his name. Aaron wanted to see how long he'd be able to lead Alec on about seeing a guardian. It would be interesting to see the look on his face if he learned about the unnamed traveller being Monument.

"Hey, what's your name?" Alec asked Monument, absolutely destroying any plans of continuing on the lie. Monument appeared to be slightly worried about what to say, as he didn't have any aliases to go by other than Monument. Monument cleared his throat before thinking of an answer.

"Ahem...my real name doesn't matter. Just call me by my nickname. Monument. A reference to one of the guardians, given to me due to my vast strength." Monument responded, making it up as he went. He had to see if it'd work. If it did, hallelujah. If not, he'd need to find another way around it.

"Oh? Well, if that's your preferred nickname, I'll call you by that then, Monument!" Alec responded, seemingly oblivious to how nervous Monument was acting. He really must not have been the best with noticing emotions.

"Well then, Monument, would you mind guiding us to the Lesser Earth Guardian? We should get started on our journey!" Aaron asked Monument, drawing the attention of Alec, who was confused on why Aaron needed directions. "Why do you need him to tell us where we're going? Everyone knows where the guardians live!" Alec pointed out like it was an obvious fact. It probably was, but Aaron only arrived today, so you need to cut him some slack.

"Well, I must be the only person to not know the places where they reside, Alec. I'm not the smartest when it comes to landmasses and their inhabitants," Aaron responded. "Like, not even I know everything. There are some things I know and some things I don't. It's just human nature to be unaware of some things."

Alec seemed somewhat shook at his response. He genuinely didn't expect an answer. He was expecting a response like "I just don't know" or "I'm not bothered to learn about the place". It was nice to know that he was given an answer. Aaron and Monument began walking continued, leaving Alec behind. When they saw him just standing there, Aaron yelled out to him.

"Alec! Are you coming along, or are we leaving you here?" Aaron yelled out, being sarcastic about the part of leaving Alec there. Alec snapped out of whatever was going on his head and ran forward, ensuring that he wouldn't be left behind. Aaron laughed, watching Alec run towards him. Aaron continued walking in the opposite direction, making it so that Alec had to run further to catch up with him. It was funny just watching Alec run. Imagine a fusion of a boy and a girl's running animation, and that's what Alec looked like while running. Aaron just found it hilarious.

In Spert, all hell was breaking loose. The town was in chaos. They knew the second news about Monument going missing hit the other kingdoms, an all-out war was going to start, and they were going to be at a disadvantage. The king was trying to coordinate trials for guards, but with everyone panicking, that included the castle guards. They were trying to figure out how to organise themselves, but nobody was perfect. They were just as afraid of the news as the average person, as, in their years alive, a war hadn't occurred with them involved. The last war was one-hundred and fifty years ago, but since then, the other countries have gone to war once every twenty-five years. They were the most peaceful country, but they still had their own fair share of wars. All of them were instigated by other nations, however.

The king wasn't able to get the attention of any of his guards. He wasn't able to grab the attention of anyone. Fear is something not many people can overcome with ease, so he was the only calm one. That was because he was the one to deliver the news and had to prepare himself.

"Calm down!" The king yelled at the top of his lungs, finally grabbing the attention of most of the guards. He had to stop himself from yelling at people anymore, as his throat wasn't the best. "Listen. I know what I said is something you should all be afraid of, but we need to prepare. If we don't, you all know what's going to happen. We're going to be slaughtered like pigs. All of us know how vicious the other countries get while in war. You've seen them at each other's necks on the battlefield, almost like they're trying to see who can produce more firepower. It's almost like a game to them. To see who is the strongest, and after all these years, nobody has won. The second they hear, they're going to be at each other's necks again, but this time it's so that they'd be able to get to us. After all, we own the largest country, and we have the smallest population. Every other country needs our land so that they can prosper and train more soldiers." The king explained.

"If we don't prepare as fast as we can and don't put up a defence, they're going to tear through us. Do you want to be the ones responsible for the death of your families?" The king exclaimed, forgetting about his throat for a minute. After he said that, he began coughing like mad, stumbling slightly. "No!" The guards yelled with conviction. They would let down their country, their king, if they didn't protect their home!

"Then go out, my soldiers! Gather as many possible soldiers as you can, and bring them to the barracks! We need every person we can! If women wish to join, they can join! We need all the bodies we can!" The king commanded, sitting back on his throne while holding his throat.

A man rode a horse into the distance with only one thought on his mind.

'Flameroyle shall be the first to know and the sole victor of this war!'

Oh yeah, he also thought:

'I wonder if I'll be promoted to general for this.'