On The Road

Chapter 3: On The Road

The trip to the town was largely uneventful. Senna deemed it too much to cut the man loose else he might take revenge on her poor guards. They were trained by the Barony, sure, but they were just commoners given some knowledge for a couple of months. They wouldn't be able to stop a Knight even if he was unarmed. So, Enir stayed tied.

That wouldn't stop Senna from curiously looking over the man though. He looked to be of common birth by how his body was toned. It was much easier to see when her guards stripped him to get rid of the brigandine. Knights didn't necessarily have to be nobles to be Knights. If they possessed the magical aptitude, they could join a Magic Academy and learn to be a Knight.

Senna knew the Humans tended to use Knights more than Magi. While Magi memorized complex spells and incantations, Knights simply learned how to convert mana into what was called Stances by a few of her friends at the Academy. Instead of draining mana, it instead drained stamina. Many mislabeled Knights' "Stances" as "Spells." There was little to no difference, they were so similar that one could be mistaken for the other by someone not looking. Much like cabbage and lettuce.

Senna shook her head, rubbing her temple a little and giggling to herself causing a glance from the Human. She didn't realize how hungry she was until making the food analogy. Leaving the man behind in the cart, she hopped out the back, careful not to get in the way of the cart behind theirs'.

"My lady! You should just rest in the cart, when we found you, you were barely standing!"

Senna huffed a little. Always her fathers' precious puppy dogs, the guards were. She was hurt, yes, but when they found her she had the situation under control. Probably.

"So what, Varis? I'm not barely standing anymore, besides, I'm hungry and nobody's given me anything! So I suppose I'll have to find it myself." At that jab towards him, the one driving her personal cart known as Varis frowned a little and sighed, shaking his head.

"Very well then, my lady. Please be careful, the wagon train cannot stop right now to pick you up if you fall down again."

At that, Senna jogged forward, taking frequent peeks inside the contents of the carts to see if anything caught her eye. She hardly knew what many of the traders were bringing with them to her home city. They were only a few kilometers from it and it would only take another hour to two hours to get there. But, she really wasn't looking for food for herself. When they picked up the Human Knight, he looked to be slowly going into malnourishment. He could've been in the forest for weeks for all she knew and she would've believed it.

After weaving around a handful of carts, Senna had found the one she had been looking for. The ration cart for her guards. It wasn't difficult to know it was the ration cart either considering that the man steering the horses was wearing the coat of arms of her family boldly on his chest and back. After pilfering a couple of apples, she lightly jogged back to the wagon carrying the Human Knight.

***

Enir had been in a state of half-sleep from boredom ever since the little Elf lady had left the cart. He couldn't catch what was said outside since he didn't speak Elvish, but it sounded like she was being yelled at with how aggressive the voice sounded. Sometimes you don't need to understand the words to understand the emotions behind them.

It wasn't until much later that she returned, this time with a bundle of apples in her arm, grinning widely, her eyes flicking over Enir's form. She held an apple out to him with a warm smile.

"The guards said you looked hungry. I don't know how long you were out there, but since you're my guest, I'll feed you!"

Enir nodded sagely, an expression of understanding on his face. It seemed that the young girl still didn't understand the situation he was in. See, for a human to be able to by himself eat, he would usually require his arms to grab the food and bring it to his mouth. Considering that both were bound behind his body in tight rope. That was a very difficult thing to do, and Enir didn't hesitate to express that opinion.

"W-Well then just bite it when I hold it up!" The young miss was clearly flustered with his thinly-veiled sarcasm, shoving the apple into his face.

Being he had no other choice than be fed like a horse, Enir leaned forward and took a decent size chunk of the apple, chewing carefully and swallowing before speaking to her.

"You know, young miss, I never caught your name. I'd at least like to know someone else's name than my own."

She grinned and folded her arms over her chest, puffing it out a little in pride and arrogance, much to Enir's annoyance. "I am Senna Materis, daughter of Baron Uriel Materis. Proud student of Eras-Tori-"

"Alright, alright, I only wanted your name. Forgive me for asking." Enir let out a heavy sigh, shaking his head and closing his eyes, leaning against the side of the wagon, sleep threatening to overtake him once more.

"And what's yours?"

"Hm?"

"What's your name, Human? Surely you have some name, right? What is it?"

Enir thought for a second about giving her a fake name, but it probably wouldn't matter either way.

"Enir. That's my name, short and sweet." The jab didn't go unnoticed as Senna flinched at the verbal attack, frowning.

"You know, we could have left you there in the forest, Sir Enir. Or worse, they could have killed you while unconscious and we would have never had this conversation. You could at least be a little bit grateful towards me. I even brought you an apple."

"Oh! An apple! Primordials be praised, this benevolent goddess you have brought to me fed me!" Enir's sarcasm didn't go unnoticed as Senna gave him a slight kick out of frustration. It didn't hurt, but he had clearly gotten under her skin. "Alright, alright. Thank you for picking me up. But my gratitude doesn't go too far considering I'm still bound here missing my weapon and armor."

Senna went into deep thought about that before twirling her finger at him. "Turn around then. You're hardly a danger, just an ass."

Enir was only marginally surprised. He doubted he'd be bound up forever, but being freed this soon showed some unwarranted trust on the Baron's daughter before him. Enir chalked it up to her just simply being naive and not understanding how dangerous strangers can be.

***

After turning away from her, the man was finally cut free, left to rub his wrists and readjust to a more comfortable position in the wagon. Senna had shown him so much hospitality and yet he still acted the way he did!

Gods, this is why she hated Humans. They were always so inelegant, abrasive, and just mean. Even an Orc could show more restraint than a Human, at least that's what her professors said. She had handed over the rest of the apple which the man was devouring at a surprising speed. It seemed the guards' earlier assessment about his malnourishment was true.

"Sir Enir. Now that you've rested up and eaten, can you please tell me what you were doing in the Morinth Forest?"

The man was quiet for a time before slowly speaking and holding his head as if in sudden pain. The same thing had happened back in the clearing so Senna had expected something, her hand quickly glowing with a soft white light as she brushed the side of the man's head. It was a simple healing spell, mostly meant for pain relief, she could only hope it helped him a little.

He looked shocked to be touched so suddenly, much to Senna's own amusement. She was getting tired of being teased by this Knight and it felt good to return the favor. After relieving his pain, Enir seemed to be more willing to talk.

"I...Don't know, really. I was part of some battle, when I woke up I was in severe pain. It took me some time to find food and a river, so I started to follow it. When I woke up, I heard what I think was you screaming and rushed to the sound."

It was surprising to hear him recount more of the story in detail. Apparently, Enir had lost his memories of before the battle. If that was true, she had an idea of what could have happened.

In the world, everyone worshipped their own gods and goddesses. But everyone knows the true masters of the workings of the world were the Primordials. Orcs called them the First Gods, Elves, the Ancestors. Whatever they were called, they were a small pantheon of Five who manipulated the world to their muses.

There were plenty of fairy tales her father told her when she was much younger dealing with the Primordials selecting mortals to toy with, whether it be giving them a sort of Champion status or simply tossing them into a new experience just to watch. She had a feeling it was the latter of the two. Something deep inside wanted to believe him.

First, a Human Knight this far from his homeland was unheard of. Not only that, after removing his brigandine, she had a chance to get a better look at the coat of arms, the Flaming Crown. The Bacchus Empire was long gone, its ruins faded into obscurity and now here was someone who not only spoke a strange unheard-of language, but also wore the Empire's armor. Senna kept those thoughts to herself, but Sir Enir would most likely connect the dots himself.

She had no idea how to help him. The Primordials may have done something or he was simply just some madman that wandered the world pretending to be some long-last Knight. Based on her interactions with him, he was hardly mad, just confused. It was a feeling that Senna could understand.

Suddenly, the carriage stopped. They were supposed to be nearing Eras-Aeril so Senna moved towards the front of the wagon to talk to the jockey that was driving them.

"Sir Vanis, is everything alright? Why has the wagon train stopped?"

"My...My lady, I think it is best if you saw for yourself."

Senna, even more confused now, climbed off of the wagon and started to jog towards the front of the wagon train, trying to understand what her loyal guard had told her. It was only until she saw the smoke in the sky did her stomach drop. Senna prayed to all the Five Ancestors that she was just assuming the worst, but as she neared the front, her worst thoughts were confirmed.

Before them, Eras-Aeril laid burning. Her tall crystalline walls were caved in and the river Dair flowed red. The sight made her stunned, standing with mouth agape next to the front-most wagon. At the sight, the small guard battalion for the wagon train had assembled near the front as well. Around 50 leather-armored guards were talking to the commander of the group nearby, clearly within earshot of Senna.

"Send scouts to the outskirts of Eras-Aeril. I'll be taking the wagon train into the forest to hide. Whatever razed the city is still probably nearby, even worse if it's a monster army of some kind."

Her heart dropped at the mention of an army. A lot of things went through the young Elf's head. She hoped her parents were alright. Would the enemy find them? Would she be hurt again? Does this relate to that Human found earlier? She was scared. A familiar feeling she was getting over the past couple of days. This time, Senna almost didn't notice the fear.

***

The Elf had returned a little while later with a pale face. Enir hadn't moved from his spot in the wagon. After massaging his wrists, he was perfectly comfortable, but the Elf's expression certainly made his danger senses go off.

"What's the matter? See some dead animal on your way back and your noble self couldn't handle it?" He grinned, getting a sense of enjoyment at poking fun at the Elf for what it was worth.

"The city's gone…" Was her only response. That one response made Enir feel like the biggest douche in all the coveted lands of Arthies.

"A...Ah. I see. Then...What now?" Enir looked around the wagon for anything he could use as a weapon just in case. It didn't take a genius to know that city's just don't "become gone" as the Elf had so eloquently put it.

"The guard commander is going to take us into the forest to hide while they figure out what to do now. We don't have enough supplies to go all the way back to Eras-Toriel…" Senna's eyes were starting to tear up, making Enir feel even worse for his earlier mistake. Seeing nothing else he could do, he looked around for some type of cloth for her to no avail.

After that, the wagon train moved into a deep part of the forest and circled around itself to provide a sort of wall. The non-combatants stayed inside of the ring while guards and scouts would patrol outside for any signs of the enemy. With the formation set up, night time started to slowly encroach upon the travelers.

For Enir, he stayed close to Senna. It was the only person he knew and not only that, being around a noble's daughter granted him at least immunity from being harassed by the other Elven commoners giving him glares. She looked dejected ever since delivering the news that Eras-Aeril was gone. The Knight could hardly do anything for her, he could barely remember his own name, let alone console someone who looked to have her world torn asunder.

After night time had come down upon them, Enir was wide awake while everyone else had fallen asleep, even the Elf he had saved. Then and only then did he hear whispers outside the barricade that was their wagons. It seemed the guards were talking low and the footsteps he heard all around were leaving the wagon fort.

The feeling in his gut warned him before several fire arrows rained into the middle of the wagon fort, killing several non-combatants and setting a couple of the wagons on fire. They had largely missed Enir and Senna, but that hadn't stopped the earlier from quickly shaking awake the latter.

Senna was slowly waking up so Enir drew his skinning knife from his boot, holding it in a combat ready position as several more arrows were raining on the wagon fort again. There clearing was slowly filled with screams and roar of fire as wagons and flammables started to catch light. Soon, the whole fort had become a deathtrap for any unlucky enough to be caught in its ring of fire.

He didn't understand why but he quickly pulled the Elf close to him after she woke up. His body was moving in an automated state as it had always done in times of danger. Enir's eyes flicked around the surroundings as he scanned the area for any danger coming.

Several new screams from behind him warned him that something had happened. Looking over his shoulder, he saw there was an opening breach in the wagon formation and the guards of the wagon train poured in with their spears, running down all of the civilians inside. They didn't take long to get to Enir and Senna, both of which were standing only a meter away from their former wagon, now an inferno threatening to swallow them if they got too close.

The guards were armed lightly. They only had short spears and daggers on their belts. Not only that, they were largely unarmored except for a light leather gambeson protecting their vitals. Enir's little knife could have no hope in piercing their armor, even if it was something cheaper like that.

One that bore a silver cord around his neck stepped forward, speaking in Common to Enir.

"Ah, the Human. I forgot about you. We'll make this simple for you. Hand over the young lady and we'll make your death quick and painless. Deal?"

Enir frowned and held Senna closer, who he could hear whispering something and moving her hands behind his back. She may be scared, but at least she was doing something. Thus, he only needed one answer.

"Well, looks like you'll have to take her from me then."