Chapter 5
The three went south into the woods, silently replaying the goblin genocide they had seen in their heads. Although the path was rough for the most part, neither of the three had trouble traversing the terrain. The eyes of elves and beastkin had darkvision, so Tyson and Julia easily leaped over thick clumps of moss and roots with the soft moonlight. Kyro had spent years wandering the woods at night, so although he couldn't see well, he knew how the terrain formed and what to be prepared for. They stopped when they were sure smoke from any fire wouldn't be seen and scanned the area. Every direction now looked the same: tall deciduous trees and earthly ground bathed in soft moonlight. Crickets chirped and the air had chilled to neither being hot nor cold.
In the midst of catching his breath with his hand on his knees, Tyson asked, "Should we be on the lookout for monsters here?"
"We always should while camping," Julia reasoned, "but the hag did say that horde was the last of the goblins. Unless there's another kind of monster to be aware of around here, we shouldn't need to be on high alert."
"There isn't," Kyro assured. "There were only goblins, admittedly in numbers that weren't a threat. If they've been completely exterminated, we're safe here." He dropped his backpack onto the ground. "I'll do dinner."
Julia removed her helmet, her sweaty skin glistening in the moonlight. "I'll get some branches for a fire, then."
"Oh, allow me." Tyson knelt town and tapped a section of grass with the tip of his wand. Then he murmured the spell, "Plant Growth."
The ground excreted dead wood and leaves into a pile like…well, how humans excreted waste. Julia nodded in pleasant surprise, observing the grey and black flammable material. "Well, that makes this easy." Dropping her shield and sword onto the ground, she removed her gauntlets before pointing the palm of her hand at the pile. She uttered the spell, "Firebolt."
A bolt of fire formed in front of her palm before launching itself at the pile. The wood and leaves ignited, creating a dancing fire cackling before them.
Kyro whistled. "You're a pyromancer, too?"
"No, I just know that spell," Julia said as she sat before the fire. "My mana pool is terribly small, so basic spells like that are all that I can manage. Here, toss me your bedroll."
A mana pool is the capacity of mana a spellcaster could hold within themselves.
Tyson unstrapped his wooden shield from his back and sat down, unafraid to get his white robes dirty. His gaze lingered up at the night sky while Julia rolled out the bedrolls. The silver light of the stars twinkled vividly, as if trying to shine like the sun. Camping out wasn't how he planned to end the night, but he made silent prayer of thanks to the gods for still being alive. Besides, thanks to his elven heritage, he felt right at home in the woods. Although the nature of the elven forests were worlds beyond this place, it wasn't ugly by any means.
Tyson let out a relaxing sigh. He was about to figure out how to contribute to making camp until he saw Kyro tap his ring. A white portal the size of a dinner plate opened inches above where he tapped the ring. Tyson lifted an eyebrow as Kyro stuck his hand in and withdrew cooking utensils like a cutting board and knives. A pocket-dimensional ring? Tyson's impression of Kyro was that of a novice adventurer who lived in his village. But a magical item such as his was rare, usually held by the elites of the rich or high-ranked member of a powerful faction.
The move had also caught Julia's eye. She paused in the middle of rolling out Kyro's bedroll. "A pocket-dimensional ring?" she asked. "How'd you get one?"
Kyro winced as the memory of when he received it came to him. "It was a gift from my mother."
Tyson connected the dots between why he looked familiar without ever meeting him, being a shadowmancer, and the gift from his mother. He asked without thinking, "Duana, the Dark Witch?"
After a pause, Kyro slowly nodded.
The sounds of the forest night grew louder in the passing silence. Tyson had had an encounter with the renowned adventurer dozens of years ago in Onyxilva, the homeland of the elves, when she looked about Kyro's age. The non-friendly woman misinterpreted a compliment to her beauty as a form of harassment and casted as spell on him that scared him so bad, he wet himself in public. Even to this day, he hadn't forgotten the humiliation. He knew she and her son were two different people, but he couldn't help but furrow his brows at him.
Julia had a different line of thought. Her eyes went wide as her ears shot up, her tail vigorously swaying. "Do you know where she is?" she blurted out. "The Queen declared her as 'missing in action,' but rumors are that she's…that's she's…"
Dead. Julia couldn't bring herself to say that out loud. Her tail's swaying slowed down and her ears lowered as Kyro wistfully shook his head. "I wish I did, but your guess is as good as mine. Haven't seen or heard from her even before she went missing. We weren't…close."
Julia wasn't sure what to say. What he said suggested he didn't have strong feelings about it, but the sorrow in his expression said otherwise. Finally, she asked, "Are you alright?"
Kyro didn't expect that. His heart warmed a bit as he gave Julia a reassuring smile. "Yeah. Thank you for asking."
Julia nodded. "I'll always listen if you need to talk." Although Julia being an orphan who never knew her parents was different, she could somewhat sympathize.
Before the silence carried on any longer, Julia finished rolling out Kyro's bedroll and glanced at Tyson. "Know how to play 'Whitejack?��� I have a deck of cards."
Taking his thoughts off Kyro, he smiled mischievously. "Do I? I was unbeatable back home in Onyxilva."
Julia returned the smile as drew her deck of cards from her open backpack. "Well, challenge accepted. Shuffle while I get out of my armor."
The scene became one of peace, even though they had witnessed something unsettling not too long ago. Kyro had set up a cooking pot over the fire and was churning beef stew with a wooden ladle while Tyson and Julia sat facing each other on the bedrolls, facing off in an intense game called Whitejack. The fire illuminated the woods around them, and the moonlight prevented the setting from being scarily dark. Julia's armor sat in a clump next to her bedroll, leaving her in a white shirt and turquoise leggings. The aroma of the food overpowered the earthly smells of the forest as Kyro eventually poured the finished stew into three wooden bowls, placed a spoon in each of them, and came around to sit with the two. Soon, they took their first bites together.
Tyson and Julia's eyes lit up as they tasted the seasonings and juicy flavor of the beef.
"This is delicious!" Julia cried. She didn't even try to steady her fluffy tail, shooting high into the sky. Whenever she had to camp with other Silver Knights, she was given ready-to-eat meals that were filling, but incredibly bland. It wouldn't have been an exaggeration to say it was slop. She heard it was common for other adventurers and travelers to eat that way in minute-made campsites, so her expectations had been low. So to be tasting the texture of the warm beef against her tongue was an unexpected but welcomed surprise.
Tyson had similar thoughts to Julia. "This is phenomenal. You wouldn't happen to be a gourmet chef by any chance?"
Kyro lightheartedly laughed as he poured water from his waterskin into tiny cups. "Well, I know a thing or two at Carlok's request. Ah, he's the Reeve of Meadow Village and basically my adopted father. If given the ingredients, I can make Lobster de I'fiero and Cream Soup."
Tyson nodded in approval. "My husband would love this."
As soon as Tyson let that statement slip, he cursed himself. It was thanks to a similar comment that his family no longer welcomed him home. The elves were a sharing race that were happy to give anyone what they needed. It was also common for non-elven parents to leave their babies at the edge of the elven forest if they couldn't raise their children themselves for whatever reason. The elves always provided hospitality.
For everything that was "natural."
If a being—be it a person, animal, or plant—strayed from how they were "created" to be, they were despised. To the elven society, it was natural for males to be romantically attracted to females and vice versa since procreation was only possible between the two genders. Tyson, however, wasn't born that way; he was romantically attracted to males. He hid it for as long as he could until he fell in love with his husband, Heric.
Tyson warily eyed the two, certain they'd at least react somewhat negatively. However, both Kyro and Julia didn't even flinch. Instead, Julia casually asked in-between a bite, "You're married?"
"Uh, yes," Tyson flustered. "It hasn't been for long, though."
"Then congratulations on your recent marriage!" Julia raised her cup of water. "Cheers!"
"Cheers." Kyro raised his glass, shortly followed by Tyson, and they clanked their cups before drinking their water.
Tyson felt stupid as he drank. Thanks to how the kingdom of Totacity came to be founded, it was known as 'the Land of Indiscrimination.' It was the whole reason why he and Heric decided to elope together to Totacity. From what Tyson heard about the kingdom, the general mindset of Totacity natives was that as long as what made you different didn't hurt anyone, be different. The natives welcomed diversity amongst their population, and Kyro and Julia seemed no different.
Still, he had to ask as they finished drinking. "You two aren't bothered by me being attracted to males?"
"Oh, no." Kyro took a bite of his stew. "A couple in the village are two males, and they're the nicest people you'll ever meet."
"Same." Julia sighed from the food's pleasure. "One of the best Silver Knights I know likes other females. Still respected like a goddess."
However, Julia still couldn't help but be somewhat down. Damnit!, she thought as she drank. He's not available! I should've assumed that, but damnit!
With a relaxed smile, Tyson continued eating with the others. When he finished first, he stood up and stretched. "It's getting late. I'll do the watch for us."
Kyro frowned. "You sure you won't be too tired? I have no problem taking a watch."
Tyson chuckled. "Are you aware of how us elves 'sleep?'"
Kyro shook his head, and Tyson explained. "We enter unique reveries. We're in a resting state, but still conscious of what goes on around us. Three hours of a reverie is similar or nine hours of sleep."
Kyro's eyes widened. "That's seriously cool."
"Indeed," Tyson agreed. He couldn't help but smile at Kyro's honest expression of amazement. "So rest well. I imagine we'll need it tomorrow."
Kyro and Julia thanked Tyson before the elf found a tree, sat against it, and crossed his legs into a meditating position with his hands in his lap. After the two cleaned up camp so they could grab their belongings and weapons in a moment's notice, they put out the campfire and crawled into their sleeping bags. Kyro watched as Julia looped her tail through her legs and cradled it in her arms like a body pillow.
It wasn't easy for Kyro to fall asleep with his mind dribbling through thoughts of his mother and the goblin genocide. He squeezed his ring like he always did when laying in bed. But after a while, he fell asleep.
And he had a dream like no other.