"You know...that man is definitely not human. I mean, he can see through this hellish blizzard and he isn't even shivering!"
"That's too harsh of a comment, Lady Maria...it is probably because he is very used to the cold..."
"Kyrie, you don't get it. Not even full-blooded Russians can handle this level of cold!"
The Saint's Guard that accompanied Ashen whispered to each other apparently having forgotten that they were currently inside a small cave that was small enough even a whisper could easily echo all around them.
Hence, the person in question-Ashen, heard them though he paid them no heed. He was used to them talking trash about him.
"They really are rude towards you, Fa-I mean...Dad..."
"Leave them be. Just imagine them as walking-talking baggage and soon you'll get used to their yapping."
"Now that is just mean, Lord Ashen. They simply have a bit of a misunderstanding."
"I didn't ask for your opinion, Nitwit and don't address me with 'Lord'."
Ashen snapped at Rosseweisse who innocently rebuked him as she sat by the fire.
Not that he really cared. Afterall, he was annoyed more than enough already;
First, he couldn't just ditch Rosseweisse back in London where she would have been safer under the protection of Guinnevere - thereby, the entire nation of England; because if he did, Mother Nature would not be so happy and would probably have caused all sorts of chaos to mess with Ashen in his journey.
Second, he has yet to fully recover from the wounds he sustained from the siege and right now, his body is far from full strength. Even if he did recover, there's still his missing arm. He was not stupid nor delusional enough to assume he can take on any future adversary of theirs with just one arm to swing a sword. Granted, he did wield Excalibur back in his fight with that wyvern(read: Flying Lizard) and the battle-crazed Elder Dragon, but at both instances, he had the assistance of Oberon who is currently in recovery after the said battles. Well, the wyvern was too easy so he feels conflicted adding that one to his list of problems.
'Wielding Excalibur with one hand took a devastating toll on my arm. I should probably stick to using one-handed swords...but-'
He made a slight flex of his arm and felt a subtle but sharp sting, easily reminding him that the muscles in his arms are still in the process of recovering.
'I might just mistakenly swing this too hard and end up throwing it at my opponent...'
He looked at the one-handed sword in his hand and sighed at the realization that his arm was still in no condition to fight on the level that he wants to because he was far more used to using two-handed swords. He remembered that one instance before they left England where he accidentally threw a sword at one of the Knights in the barracks.
'I wonder if that dumbass is doing fine? I admit that that was my bad...'
He thought so in remorse.
He couldn't even consider using a firearm since it would be very hard for him to travel around with it. In the first place, with the return of magic; guns meant almost next to nothing in a fight. Not unless it was a very high-caliber firearm that had .75 caliber or higher bullets and could fire at a rate faster than the deployment of magic and they're very clunky and hard to store which adds more baggage that he would have to carry and more chances of standing out in a crowd.
And finally, he had to bring with him the two Saint's Guard members-Maria and Kyrie, with him which he considered to be more of a hindrance than help since he found out that the two young women weren't cut out for disguises or covert actions. He could not even count on them to keep themselves from standing out which suddenly reminded him of what had happened back in one of the towns they passed by and now regretted it. The memory just added more fuel to his smoldering annoyance.
'Why did I even agree on taking them? The airheaded nitwit was enough of a handicap as it is...'
He grumbled to himself as he fiddled with the sword in his hand.
The original plan was to take only Evaline who he deemed to be in much more danger should she remain away from him, and Rosseweisse - whom the 'damned' Mother Earth forcibly entrusted to him - in his trip to Russia to meet a certain someone.
That was his plan.
"Fa-I mean, Dad...why are we going to Russia? You never told me why.", Evaline asked with a fumble.
Ashen found that little fumble of his daughter very adorable but he'll keep that to himself lest she starts sulking again because he was making fun of her.
But since she asked, "Hmm? Ah...simple really", Ashen stopped fiddling with his sword, "I was gonna drag this nitwit-", he points a scornful finger at Rosseweisse, "-away from what your Mom and I predict to be a battlefield. Also, so I can see if the enemy would instead change their plans and follow us here instead of attacking England.", he explained so.
'If what that weird armored fucker from the battle had said, it seems they were only targeting the nitwit and the attempted assassination of the Royal Family was just the Knights attempting a coup or something and that I only got involved because I happened to be someone their dumb grunts happened to attack at random...'
Was what he had surmised after the siege of London was over. He could tell that the Knight-like person he met before his fight with the Elder Dragon was very strong.
'If the fight had continued, I would not have come out of that fight unscathed just like my fight with that battle-crazed dragon...'
Such was his recognition of the danger he had faced. But that begs the question,
"Why are the terrorists even targeting the Saints? It just doesn't make any sense Fa-I mean...dad."
Evaline's confusion was understandable. Not even Ashen knows and when he asked the head of the Saint's Guard from before, even he did not know which further pissed Ashen off.
'A little helpful clue would be nice you damned planet!'
He made an internal complaint.
"I do not know, Eva. As much as I want to have an info on our enemies right now, with the world still unable to fully recover from the last great war, I reckon just getting a little more info than just them 'targeting the Saints because of something' would be a like looking for a specific needle in a pile of almost identical needles.", he answered his daughter with a resigned sigh.
"Quite the strange comparison there you bloody lunatic.", Maria muttered from her spot by the bonfire. Her tone obviously betraying her displeasure towards Ashen.
"Lady Maria! It is not good for you to be so hostile towards His Majesty, the Knight King!", Kyrie on the other seemed rather concerned and quickly rebuked her companion. Obviously stressing that Maria was talking to Ashen who - unwillingly, was declared the royal consort of the current Queen of England.
"The bloody lunatic just told us not to treat him as the King right? Plus he's a total jackass as far as we're concerned! Surely you did not forget what he did to us way back during the siege?", Maria however brushed off the concern of her companion and continued referring to Ashen with insulting terms.
"To be fair, he did it for my sake, Lady Maria.", interjected Rosseweisse, "As he had explained to me earlier; we were surrounded by enemies at the time so he had thought you were also enemies."
'I do remember you being the very reason why we were surrounded.', Ashen wanted to offer a rebuttal but then a rather unfamiliar presence caught his attention.
"Dad?"
Ashen casually ignored Evaline. He slowly stood up - his sword now subtly at the ready as he felt the presence slowly approach the cave.
He glanced over at the seething Maria and the conflicted Kyrie and it seems they both haven't noticed. Something he wanted to call them out for but then if he did, the presence would know that he had noticed which is something he would like to avoid.
Evaline went silent and Ashen noticed the air around her changed into one of caution and vigilance. She also noticed the presence.
A quick glance to their other companions and as expected, the two who were supposed to be the first ones too notice still haven't noticed and are still in the middle of debating whether or not Ashen was a jackass or not.
Him being a jackass should be the least of their problems is it not? Ashen made a mental shrug and was quick to change focus towards the now nearby presence.
"Dad...", without even changing her position or her line of sight, Evaline called out to him. Her slightly trembling voice betraying her nervousness.
Noticing that, "Eva, as soon as I brandish my sword, you run to the nitwit and her friends and quickly use magic to break through the cave wall and run out the other side.", he whispered to Eva.
"What about you, Fa - I mean, Dad?"
"Don't worry, as soon as you get out of my sensory range, I'll start following after you.", before the anxiety of his daughter could rise any further, he quickly assured her that he would not be fighting whoever or whatever that presence is to the death.
Evaline breathe a subtle sigh of relief.
Ashen felt grateful that his daughter was the understanding sort. When he realized that Guinnevere had raised her in a way contrary to his expectations, he feared that she might have taken after Guinnevere's rather unreasonable personality and unhealthy penchant for getting into fights. It was a good thing that she had yet to display such tendencies.
The presence got even closer. This time, Ashen heard the muffled screech of metal sliding across metal. From that sound alone, he knew;
A sword had been drawn.
Ashen wasted no time and quickly brandished his sword and as instructed, Evaline quickly rushes towards Rosseweisse and drags her by the hand towards a part of the cave walls;
"Passage!", with a succinct command, Evaline's magic caused a part of the wall to warp and then crumble; revealing an exit that lead out the cave and onto the tundra.
Without hesitation nor care that the two Saint's Guard were shocked that Evaline had just grabbed the Saintess, she quickly dragged Rosseweisse out the cave and left Ashen in the cave.
"Hey! You bloody lunatic! Your daughter just kidnapped-!"
"Shut up and get going you useless idiot!", Ashen snapped back and quickly commanded Maria to follow after Evaline, "Shield brat! Snap out of it and go drag your ass out of here!", he also called out Kyrie.
"Eh? Ah - Lady Maria, let us go!", luckily she had immediately changed gears and was soon gone with Maria in tow. She probably realized what Ashen wanted her to do.
"Imbeciles...", finally left alone in the cave, Ashen breathe a sigh of relief since there were no longer any handicaps around him.
'Who or whatever presence is, I just know this is gonna be a pain in the ass...'
As he mused to himself, the presence got even closer to the point that Ashen can even hear the faint sounds of legs trudging through the thick snow. It wasn't long until he could finally see a silhouette appear through the white gloom of the blizzard.
Readying himself for a fight, he takes a stance and when the presence finally broke through the blizzard, all Ashen could mutter was-
"Oh hell no..."