The Silphen king, Arkin, could not stand calm. He was wandering the corridors of the castle aimlessly. He was nervous, waiting for news of Raidha's whereabouts. He spent some days like that, but no news about his daughter had appeared at the moment.
"Your majesty, we finally determined the place where the portal through which the princess disappeared was opened!"
But finally one of his servants came running with good news for him.
"Then let's not waste time. Tell me quickly where my daughter is."
"Yes! I will order the soldiers to prepare to leave immediately. In less than ten minutes will be ready."
"Do not! I'm going alone."
Arkin shook his head, speaking in a tone that made it clear that he would accept nothing else.
"But your majesty…."
"I said I'll go alone! My daughter is my responsibility. I'll take care of everything in person."
If he wanted to get his daughter back, the best option was going by himself. He could not let his people be endangered once more because of him. Also, the problem with Raidha was a bit special, and even he didn't know if he could deal properly with it.
'I'm sorry Dalia, I won't be able to keep the promise I made to you. Your daughter resembles you more than I expected. In fact, she is just like you in almost everything. Also in her unconsciousness and kindness… I am afraid of what could happen to her if I leave her without supervision, and even more now that she has Vurtalis with her. At least I have to be grateful that she is using that sword, otherwise, even Heinar himself would have had a hard time finding his whereabouts.'
He did not want to waste a second, so immediately after hearing the destination departed...
***
I drove for hours, avoiding roads or any trace of civilization I could find until I reached the side of a river. Raidha and I were exhausted and somewhat injured, so once I made sure no one was following us, I hid the car as best I could between some trees.
"You know, when I first met you, I thought you were useless and stupid, now at least I'm starting to believe that your just stupid," Raidha said out of nowhere.
"It is a great honor to hear that from you, princess…"
"Jokes aside, I never thought you could fight like that."
"That… well, I didn't think so either… I just realized that I couldn't just stand there doing nothing."
It wasn't a lie, but the reality was rather that I wouldn't have been allowed to stay aside even if I wanted to. I was forced to fight, but not only that, I fought with those guys without feeling anything special. I attacked them without hesitation, feeling nothing at all after hurting them. Only once I had gotten into the car did I begin to feel guilty.
And not only that, I felt stronger, more agile, and much faster than my usual self. Even my head felt clear than usual, allowing me to make decisions in less time and react easily. What's more, at the moment they shot me, I felt that everything around me really slowed down. I even had the certainty that I could have avoided the bullet if I wanted to.
"You, whatever you are, did you do something to me?" I murmured in a low voice.
I waited a moment for an answer, but that damn voice didn't want to answer me.
"Damn it… I know you can hear me, answer me!"
"Eh? Did you say something?" Raidha asked me, confused.
"Nothing, don't worry."
"Speaking alone again?" You are very weird."
"Look who's talking."
Raidha jumped out of the car and began to stretch. I also got out and went to a clear place. I was still worried about being chased, so I couldn't help checking over and over again around us. I didn't think they were going to leave us alone easily, but after making sure no one else than us was there, I finally relaxed after hours of stress.
I sat by the river before pulling out the pistol and the belt with the clips. I hadn't checked it since now, so I was curious. The design was similar to the pistols I knew, but with a more rectangular shape. It wasn't painted, so it showed the bright grayish color of the metal it was made of.
"How does this work?"
I didn't have much knowledge about firearms, but at least I knew the basics. Still, no matter how hard I tried, I was not able to see anywhere the hole through which the shells were ejected or any trace of a chamber. Nor did I find any way to disassemble it. The only separate piece from the main body was the magazine.
I gave up on the pistol and went to check the ammo. I had nine magazines, counting the one for the pistol itself, which was empty, they made ten. I took out one of the twelve bullets in a magazine and checked it carefully. It was a compact piece of metal. It had no shell or anything to indicate its propulsion system.
"Perhaps…"
I picked up a stone about the size of a bullet and put it in the empty magazine. After putting the magazine in place, I pulled the trigger, aiming at the ground. A nice hole appeared in front of me, right where I had pointed. There was no doubt, the stone had been fired as if it were a normal bullet.
"I can't believe it… this thing can shoot anything…"
I decided to treasure that gun. Being able to shoot anything was a real gift in our situation. Anyway, it was clear to me that shooting a stone was not the same as shooting real bullets.
"Drayd, do you think this can be eaten?"
Raidha approached me with some yellow fruits, similar to berries, in her hands.
"I don't know…"
The truth was that we were starting to get hungry, and we had nothing to eat. When I asked her where she got them from, she showed me a few nearby trees that were covered with them.
"... but we have nothing better to eat…"
I took one of those fruits and put it in my mouth. A tangy taste similar to that of a lemon, along with a slight sweetness, assaulted my taste buds. It wasn't great, but at least it wasn't completely impossible to eat.
"How it is?" Raidha asked me after seeing me swallowing it.
"For now let's eat them… In a couple of hours we will find out if it was a good idea or not… Do we have toilet paper?"
"Of course not!"
By the time we were done satiating our appetite, it was almost dark. Despite that, I could see perfectly, as if the sun was still shining high in the sky. No, you could even say that I could see better, as there were no rays of light that could blind me. I did not yet get used to this contradictory feeling.
With a full belly, added to the fatigue, sleepness began to fill me. I flopped back onto the grass. The peaceful vision of the calm night always managed to relax me. Little by little, my eyes began to close as the black completely replaced the red in the sky. I had almost fallen asleep on the ground, but suddenly, three rays of light crossed the newly darkened sky.
"What was that? Shooting stars?"
Raidha turned to look in the same direction as me, but there was no longer a trace of those celestial bodies. Well, it was another world, it would have its own phenomena. My mind awakened again, and I realized that it would not be a very good idea to sleep there in the open, especially with people looking for us.
"Better find someplace to take refuge. If we stay here we will be eaten by mosquitoes… and who knows what kind of mosquitoes are around here…"
We finally decided to spend the night in the car, hidden in the undergrowth. It wouldn't be the most comfortable place in the world, but at least it would be more comfortable and warmer than outside.
We both settled in and prepared for sleep, although this time I couldn't fall asleep as easily. Looking to my right I saw that Raidha wasn't sleeping either. The princess was silently gazing through the window, a window that clearly reflected her melancholy expression.
'I'll never understand what's going on in this girl's head…'
So far, I had seen her go from super smiling to becoming a demon in a second, but in any case, she always seemed to be full of energy. This was the first time I had seen her putting such a downcast expression.
'Maybe I should say something trying to cheer her up a bit… No, better not… Good night.'
However, perhaps because she realized that I was watching her, it was she who decided to break the silence.
"Drayd, I can't understand you at all… And that bothers me quite a bit."
"What the…"