"Straighten your spine boy!"
Younger and more frail, Krieg took a slap on his back that almost made him stumble forward. Gray hair, the same color as his eyebrows. The crimson eyes contrasted greatly with his somewhat pale complexion as he winced from the sharp pain.
"How is this even supposed to help me to fight? New stance, so what?"
"Tsk, you stubborn brat."
His instructor sighed before standing in front of him. Tall, long dark brown hair, blue eyes and a really upset expression, those were the usual features that she wore during their daily training.
"Listen, do you think you can parry any angle with that flopsy stance? You need a strong straight back and your arms ready to spring out and hit your opponent in a split second."
She was wearing full plate armor, the gentle rays of the morning sun reflected on the polished silver of her chestplate.
As she unsheathed her two handed sword, the light seemed to follow her movements slightly.
"Eleonora, I'm almost sure I can parry anyone's attack with my usual stance."
"It's captain Eleonora for you."
She held the weapon with both hands before putting her right foot behind her, slightly bending her legs.
"Get ready Krieg."
She stepped in his range with her left foot while keeping her guard up, Krieg's first response was to swing his greatsword down with all his might.
Eleonora used the flat part of her blade to redirect his strike to the ground beside her and before he could pull the sword out of the soil, her blade was already close enough to Krieg's neck.
"Your raw strength is something out of this world. But strength alone doesn't ensure victory. Remember that Krieg."
The knight suddenly woke up to the sound of running water, his whole body screamed of pain, he stared a few seconds at his blurry hand opening and closing.
"Princess…"
He stood up and looked around, even with his disoriented vision he saw, lying a few meters ahead, someone unconscious on the pebbles near the riverbank. Stumbling while walking, he reached her and gently lifted her body.
Breathing.
He thought. At this point he was starting to regain his strength, blinking a few times, his no longer blurry vision scouted after possible ambush spots.
The crevice formed in the riverbank by the erosion of dirt created a natural cover from both prying eyes and the occasional chilly wind of dawn. While Krieg had lost his greatsword, it wasn't a major concern, his objective was to get to the nearby village before the sunrise.
"I'll definitely protect you Princess."
Trembling legs, rugged breathing and unbalanced steps were showing the result of falling meters into water. He sourly chuckled.
"I've had it worse."
"Try again Krieg, this time with less strength and more speed."
His memories of the grueling training with the captain knight served as fuel for his determination.
"Krieg, listen, when punching, speed is just as important as the power behind it. A punch hurts most when you get your enemy off-guard."
"Aye captain."
His rather lean arms locked in a stance ready to fight. The knight captain stood with her padded caestus gloves.
"Alright one two!"
His left foot stepped in and the punches came lightning fast as if he was shooting a gun.
"Uppercut!"
His right fist buried in the glove, Eleonora stepped backwards two times until she regained her footing.
"That's enough for today. You did great, Krieg."
"I thought a knight needed his sword rather than his fists."
She removed both caestus, the palm of her left hand had some bruises on the skin. Her right was slightly red from all the parrying.
"You are a great warrior but since you have enough strength to take down five fully armored knights with only your body, I'd figured it would be good for you to know some things about hand to hand combat."
"That doesn't really help me parry swords now does it?"
"When you serve under someone, you'll have to fight no matter what to keep them safe."
Now I understand what you meant, Eleonora.
Krieg held Leona tight. His body, while still in great pain, had an unwavering will to keep going, each footstep carried the weight of a whole lineage, he was determined to keep her safe.
"Hold!"
Krieg froze in place. Slowly looking over his shoulder, a few meters behind him was a cloaked figure wielding a longbow, from their features he could tell it was an elf, she was probably older than him but her height couldn't be used to confirm his theory since she was way shorter than him.
"Are you by chance, knight Krieg?"
He nodded once.
"I'm a friend, I'm here to help you."
"And who might you be?"
"My name is Phoebe, I was assigned to watch over you."
"By whom?"
"That would be queen Eleonora."
He became silent, Phoebe couldn't tell if he believed her or was just suspicious, but then he turned his head forward.
"Alright, let's move, I need to keep princess Leona safe."
"Yes sir."
Her footsteps were light as the wind, he almost couldn't hear her behind him.
"How is she? Queen Eleonora I mean."
Krieg's sudden question surprised the elf.
"Ah well… she was busy with the undercover expedition to the east country. But last time I saw her personally she was doing ok."
"Hm. That's good to hear."
Silence. Only the dry sound of metal clunking against each other and the noise coming from the river filled the air around them. Phoebe asked herself as to why the queen would assign her to a trivial mission such as this.
She observed the knight, his mannerisms, the observant yet wary quick glances he took while walking carefully through the uneven riverside pebbles.
"Y-"
"Phoebe, do you happen to know about healing magic?"
"Hm? Ah, I assume that she needs healing then."
"Yes."
He lowered her feet on the pebbles while maintaining her back straight. Phoebe kneeled near them. Looking closer, her gentle eyes were dark, her short black hair was messy, the clothing she wore was unusual for that part of the country, consisting of scaled wooden plates for the arms and shins making it too light for a frontline soldier. Underneath it, dark blue cloth made part of her clothing wrapped over her body, a dark blue leather quiver rested against her lower back, some of the fletched arrows protruded out of her slim figure.
She placed her right hand on Leonora's stomach and a faint green light surged between her fingers.
"She used too much magic."
Phoebe said whilst keeping the healing spell. She opened one of the pouches latched onto her belt and took a transparent vial out of it. The content was slightly blue, it seemed to sparkle in the darkness of the night.
"She'll recover shortly after drinking this."
The elf pulled the cork out of the bottle and gently poured its content into Leona's mouth.
"How long until she recovers?"
Krieg was obviously worried about her well-being.
"She only needs to rest. Thankfully she didn't go beyond her magical reserves otherwise she would be in a coma right now."
"…I see."
Silence didn't last much longer as the elf's curiosity grew from Krieg's lack of magic knowledge.
"Ser Krieg, are you not familiar with magic?"
"I was taught only a few healing spells."
"As expected from one of Eleonorian knights."
"Eleonorian knights?"
"Usually knights from the royal academy are taught many schools of magic, but all who fought under her cause weren't from any prestigious family nor have received any formal training. Though I must admit they were the most brave and strong knights the kingdom ever had."
"You speak as if you didn't fight alongside Eleonora."
"I didn't, however my mother was one of her trusted assassins. I, on the other hand, offer the service of a bodyguard to her empress."
"Just how used to fighting are you?"
"Enough to kill, my mother taught me much."
Krieg nodded to himself. The early morning sky was slowly giving its place to the sun's gentle embrace, birds chirping in the distance as another day rose anew.
"Alright. I don't know what Eleonora wants from me after all this time but I intend to see it through. We'll talk once I fetch a room in the village for Princess Leona."
"Can do."
They reached the nearest town without much trouble, the sun had already risen, bathing the land in its warmth. It was a small village, only a few residents were gathering outside, either walking to gather wood or food in the nearby forest. Though some of them couldn't help but to feel uneasy in the trio's presence.
"I believe we might be drawing too much attention."
Phoebe calmly commented as she felt the restless stares come from all directions. As if they were concerned with their arrival.
"This is fine, we only need some time to figure out what to do."
"Krieg…"
The princess' mumbles caught his attention.
"Everything will be alright, I'm here to protect you, Leona."
His arms tightened slightly around her.
Phoebe spotted a place where they could rest. Her left hand reached the belt as she opened the door to the inn. The place was simple, the wooden floor creaked under Krieg's weight while barely making any noise from Phoebe's steps, the poor light from the sun outside served in their favor to hide Leona's identity.
"I-"
As Krieg started to speak, Phoebe intervened.
"We'd like to rent a room until the afternoon."
The elf had taken the front desk while putting a small sack of coins in front of the innkeeper.
"I-I see but this is barely enough for one person, you want a room for three?"
"It's just for our comrade, she was struck by our mark while we were hunting, we'd like her to get proper rest before we head back to the city."
Without asking many questions the innkeeper took the coins and showed the way to their room.
"Thank you. We'll stay with her if you don't mind."
"Take your time, after all your comrade needs to rest."
Phoebe took the key and opened the door, the room was plain, as much as one would expect from a small village's inn, it was small, intended only for one person, the bed against the far wall of the room had a clean sheet, free of creases, on the nightstand by the left side of the bed was a candle on top of a ceramic plate, never used before since the wax was intact.
"Ser Krieg."
Phoebe turned around as she locked the door.
"Is it true that you were adopted by Eleonora herself?"
"Yeah."
He answered without taking his eyes off Leona's face as he sat on the ground with his back against the nightstand.
"She said I came from the east when I was a child. Not that I would remember it. Why the question?"
"No, there was this one rumor amongst the assassins that you would be her successor."
That remark made him flinch.
"The eastern child was raised and trained under the way of the Eleonorian knighthood. Possessing the strength of a hundred men, he shall bring the light in our hour of darkness… or so the rumor goes."
"Those are just baseless rumors."
He looked to the window, the sky was clear, and the bright sun was peeking just above the fluffy clouds.
"After all, if I was really this hero. I wouldn't be running away."
"There is courage in running away."
The elf added.
"After all she wouldn't be here if you stood your ground against them."
"Hmph."
He leaned his head against the nightstand, his helmet made a light noise as it hit against the wooden knob.
"Ser Krieg, another question if you allow me."
"Hm? Go on, you don't need my permission to talk."
"Why are you so sure that I work for queen Eleonora?"
"The way you addressed me was enough to give it away."
The elf pondered.
"Wait really?"
"Yes. That and most people wouldn't know my connection with Eleonora anyway."
As he finished his sentence he heard noises coming from the door. Heavy footsteps and in numbers.
"Phoebe."
She nodded whilst drawing a dagger from her cloak, ever so slightly, she gently unlocked the door, barely making any noise.
"Try to be as silent as possible, I'll jump in if it's necessary."
"Don't worry sire."
Their room was the second to last one in the hallway, before theirs, there were another two doors. Some insistent knocking could be heard coming from outside. Phoebe held a dagger on her left hand along with the bow, the string had an arrow ready to be drawn.
"They must be here in one of these rooms:"
A male voice came from outside. Apparently a leader of sorts.
"Leave no place unsearched."
Phoebe leaned against the slightly opened door with her back. She took a deep breath as she threw her body backwards and drew the bow to its maximum power.
"Captain we got enemi-"
The mercenary's throat was pierced through the bodkin arrow, not even chainmail could protect against such a powerful shot at close range.
"Wha-"
Three enemies remain. Phoebe dashed full speed towards them, leaving the bow behind and reciting an incantation whilst pulling another dagger from under her cloak.
"Winds of time, bestow peace for my enemies, silence!"
The mercenary who appeared to be their leader started to shout.
"What are you waiting for!? Kill her!"
The other two readied their weapons, the first had a battle axe, he tried to swing down towards her right shoulder but Phoebe nimbly dodged to her left, letting the axe splinter the wooden floor.
"The hell!?"
She slit his throat while still keeping full speed going towards the other two.
"You imbeciles!"
Yelling, the leader took his spear out, appearing to be ready to charge, meanwhile the other mercenary aimed his crossbow at her.
"I got you now!"
Phoebe suddenly lowered her body into a fast slide under his legs while cutting the nerves behind his knees.
"Ah no you won't!"
The spearman aimed to impale her stomach but the elf put her right foot under the shaft of the weapon and lifted upwards.
"What the hell!?"
She used the left foot to kick the beginning of the wooden shaft, sinking the weapon head into the ceiling.
Using the momentum of her enemy she sunk both daggers into his chest, blood spilled all over her hands. However, wasting no time, she rolled with her back on the floor and threw his lifeless body backwards against the crossbowman on the ground, who was in the process of getting another bolt ready.
"You little-!"
She got up and quickly stabbed the man's neck.
"Done and done."
After walking away from the carnage, she knocked on the door.
"Sire, I'm done."
Krieg opened the door with his left hand while hiding the other from view. He peeked outside, leaving the right hand off the wooden chair that he held. Surprised by the carnage outside of their room, Krieg looked back at Phoebe and said.
"Good job."
"Why thank you."
He motioned for her to wait outside. He gently lifted Leona up and stepped out of the room.
"We must move, I can't allow them to capture her."
"Understood. Let's go."
Phoebe grabbed her longbow and rushed downstairs, Krieg carefully avoided the pools of blood while glancing over the bodies of the deceased mercenaries.
"She sure is good at her job."
Down the entrance the place was trashed down by the unwanted guests, the elf assassin helped the inn owner to get up, he was roughened up, with a trickling of blood by the side of his mouth.
"Thank you lass."
"It's nothing."
"Are you three alright? They came barging in without a second thought."
"We're good."
Krieg interjected.
"Come on, let's move."
Phoebe left an extra five gold coins on the counter.
"Thank you for the hospitality, albeit only for a little while. You might want to hire some carriages to take out the bodies"
"E-excuse me!?"
She carefully peeked outside, glancing quickly over the outside of the inn. Empty, aside from a few horses, most likely from the now dead previous owners.
"Ser Krieg, by horse is better than on foot I suppose?
He carefully looked around before answering.
"Yes, prepare one for yourself, I'll take care of the princess."
"Are you sure you don't want help?"
Krieg took the reins of the nearest horse, a brown steed, at first it was wary of him but after a while it just brushed the knight's chest with its nose.
He sure knows how to deal with animals.
Phoebe thought as she went through the remaining horses to see which one was the most tame. With a few tries she managed to gain the trust of the smallest steed, a gray donkey.
Looking to the knight, he managed, with one hand, pulled himself and the princess up onto the horse's back while showing no signs of imbalance, as if he had done that same movement many times before.
"We're ready to move."
"Right, I'll lead the way."
They swiftly made their way out of the village, into the narrow forest trail. The sun was up in the sky, the chirp of birds and the constant sound of flowing water from a nearby river filled the air around them. But Krieg knew that this peace was anything but a fleeting moment; once word gets out of that village, trouble would surely come after them.
"Originally, lord Jean wanted me to take princess Leona to Windia, but from what you told me, queen Eleonora has a backup plan of sorts?"
"Not much was told to me, but I believe you'll be far safer there than any other place in this country."
"So, where exactly is she?"
"East, last time she gave me an order, it was to 'watch over you' and make sure you got there alive."
"East… you don't mean-"
"Yeah, the demon country."
He kept the reins tight on his left hand while embracing Leona's back with his right, while maintaining a good balance between them on the horse's back, but his discomfort seemed to unsettle his steed.
Why would she go back there of all places…
The knight seemed lost in thought. Phoebe glanced behind her to check on them as she felt a sharp chill go down her spine. For some reason looking at Krieg made her feel an ominous presence.
She shook her head and turned her attention towards the trail ahead of her.
What was that?
"Krieg…"
Leona gently muttered his name.
"Princess? Are you awake?"
Her aquamarine eyes were half open, the fatigue could be seen in her face as she tried to speak.
"I feel weak."
"I'm sorry I can't provide a better resting place."
"It's fine, where are we right now?"
She slowly glanced around while holding on his torso tighter.
"Near the Karna village."
Shaking the cold feeling off her back, Phoebe glanced back again.
"Ah I see you're awake princess Leona."
She greeted her warmly.
"My name is Phoebe, I'm here to help you and Ser Krieg out of this situation."
Surprised but not particularly startled, Leona looked towards the elf while smiling weakly.
"Thank you, any help is very welcomed, as you see only Krieg here is really capable of fighting I'm afraid."
"Fret not Princess, Ser Krieg and I will keep you out of harm's way."
Krieg turned his helmet towards Leona.
"Princess, Queen Eleonora is alive."
"She is!?"
The knight nodded.
"Phoebe here told me so, she's looking for me."
That statement sent chills down her spine. She knew that Krieg was previously one of the knights that followed Eleonora closely until the war ended, however, the queen's return meant his duty to serve was not yet over.
"I… see… what are you planning to do?"
"Head east, to the demon country. Eleonora awaits me there."
A small pause of silence as Leona swallowed dry. The chilly breeze fluttered her long tattered skirt from the side of the ride.
"Krieg, I know I'm in no position to ask you this but… before we go, can I ask you to look for my father? He- he's the only family I have left."
"I-"
Before Krieg could answer her question, Phoebe started to speak.
"Ser Krieg. I'm here strictly to aid you, so don't hesitate to put my skills to use should you need them."
"Yes thank you."
He turned to Leona again.
"My sincere apologies Princess, I didn't mean to make your worries any less than mine. I'll fulfill my duties as your knight and will make sure lord Jean is safe so you two can be reunited."
"No, don't apologize, I know you didn't mean anything by it. I just… with Adele and the mansion being attacked I just-"
Phoebe stopped her.
"Princess Leona. With all due respect, even if Ser Krieg and myself were to assault this group that harmed your state, I doubt both of us could accomplish anything significant."
She made a brief pause as she scanned around them.
"I was resting around these woods when I heard loud explosions from the capital. A group with that amount of firepower usually has a large backup just in case. Whoever your family messed with is bad news."
"But my father-!"
"Now. I'm not saying it's impossible but we are in dire need of extra hands. I know some people near the city of Windia."
Phoebe said while looking behind at them both.
"Once we're there we'll have an actual fighting chance. However, it's still at least two more weeks to travel there and back here."
"How many people can you enlist to help us?"
Krieg asked as if he was already planning a counter-attack.
"Four more. A talented spellcaster, an inconspicuous thief, a life saving priest and a brute of a barbarian. They are few, but they are extremely capable."
After a while of silence Leona glanced at Krieg, which made him turn his attention to her.
"I'm sorry, this never happened before and it never occurred to me that this could ever happen so I'm still a bit shaken."
"No one could ever blame you princess."
He tried to comfort her with the best choice of words he could find. He wasn't the type of person to reach out to support other people's feelings, but that was his liege and in some way, it was his responsibility to keep her both safe and sane.
"Life in the capital makes life look peaceful."
Phoebe stated without taking her eyes off the road.
"Too peaceful even-"
"Phoebe that's enough."
Krieg cut her off.
"Princess Leona may have only lived her life under the Crossford's household but that doesn't mean she's-"
"It's ok Krieg, what she said is not entirely wrong. I was naive to believe everything would return to normal when the war was finally over. Our family, liking it or not, has too much influence over the nobility, it's no wonder they would come after me."
He went silent. The previous meeting his lord had with him made clear that someone was after their family.
"Krieg, I need you to take my daughter to Windia, things with the families are most definitely not looking good."
"Sire, with all due respect, princess Leona…"
"She's young, she has all the time she needs in order to take the reins of this household. I trust her to keep my legacy alive, I just hope she will make better decisions than I did."
"...Very well. I'll make sure she'll get there safely."
"Thank you Krieg, you are one of the few people that I can entrust with this."
The knight swallowed dry. Tension was built up in his chest, a tight feeling of loss, a familiar sensation for those who went to war. Leona held on top of his left hand slightly.
"Krieg."
"Yes princess?"
"While we travel, can you give me at least some basic combat training?"
Combat. That word didn't suit her, he thought. Though, it wasn't all wrong to train for the worst. He held her hand firmly.
"We'll start as soon as we make camp."
Her face brightened a little.
"Thank you.
"Ser Krieg."
Phoebe stopped her steed.
"We might want to take another route."
"What's the matter?"
"A bear up ahead."
She pointed at the looming figure just beyond the tree line. In the middle of the trail, there was a sleeping brown bear, it's back arching softly from breathing while its head rested against the large clawed paw. Krieg slowly stopped his horse while keeping an eye out on the animal before him.
"Princess, stay on the horse. I'll deal with it shortly."
"Can't we just circle around it?"
She asked worriedly.
"I believe he has a plan, otherwise it would be suicidal to go against it."
Phoebe explained while also dismounting.
"I'll assist Ser Krieg."
She pulled her longbow strapped from on the shoulder and laid an arrow against the string. Krieg reached for his lower back, pulling a straight double edged dagger from a hidden sheath under his armor.
"Phoebe, aim for its eyes. I'll kill it when it's thrashing about."
"Yes sir."
"Be careful Krieg."
He nodded before heading off. She knew of his capabilities, but only against men, not a hulking animal twice his size, nevertheless she didn't stop him, but instead decided to watch carefully. Learning was second nature for her, but only through pen and parchment. Skills with blades weren't totally foreign to her but fighting was.
As Krieg prowled closer to the large bear, Phoebe left two extra arrows out of her quiver, one between her lips and the other along with the bow. Leona held her breath as her knight got closer and closer to his mark, dagger held reversely and close to his body.
He turned to Phoebe and counted down with his fingers, three, two, one. Phoebe released the bodkin arrow, hitting its right eye socket, at the same time Krieg leaped on the back of the bear and stabbed its neck. It instantly got up in a rage of pain, swinging the knight around with its massive body.
"Krieg!"
As Leona expressed her worries for him, the elf pulled the arrow she had between her lips onto the string and back.
"Ser Krieg, try to keep it steady!"
He had both legs wrapped around the bear's torso, it thrashed left and right trying to hit him with its paws.
"Quite hard to do that!"
He held the bear's head with his left arm by wrapping his forearm around the eyes height and pushed the dagger back and forth, ruthlessly cutting nerves and sinew as he violently turned his upper body left and right, as if trying to uncork its head.
Phoebe sunk an arrow near the upper chest of the beast and ran to the side of it, already drawing the other arrow. Krieg evaded a paw strike from the right but the left managed to scratch his armor, thankfully not doing much damage to it.
"It's time for you to die already!"
He yanked the dagger out and stabbed it again in a different angle, the angry roaring and thrashing about was causing rather unwanted commotion. Deciding to give up on skill and rely on brute strength, Krieg grabbed the head with both of his arms and arched backwards as if trying to pull out a cork out of a bottle.
To the side, the elf was pulling another arrow but the sight of the knight ripping the head out of its place, made her stop in her tracks.
"What in the world…"
He had felled the bear, however his lower armor as well as his arms were slick with blood. He pulled the dagger out of the body as Phoebe and Leona approached.
"Krieg are you alright?"
Leona's concern was justified, he took a few paw strikes directly.
"Yes, I'm fine."
He looked at the bear lying dead on the ground.
"Phoebe, keep an eye out for anything wandering close to us. I'll take some time to skin this bear."
She gave him a puzzled look.
"Skin it?"
"Yeah, we'll require food but a bear's skins is worth some coin too."
"Right, I'll keep an eye out then."
He then kneeled and proceeded to cut between fat and muscle. Leona approached him while holding both steeds from their reins.
"Krieg."
"Yes, Princess?"
He didn't take an eye off from the hunted animal in front of him.
"Is there anything I can help you with?"
Normally, he'd say to leave it to him. But he saw in her eyes, a look for purpose, of one that seeks to carve a path for their own, even if only a little.
"Very well, leave our rides with Phoebe. I'll instruct you how to skin and clean this game."
She nodded slightly then proceeded to kneel beside him while he gently put the bloody dagger on her right hand. The slick grip was sticky and very uncomfortable, but she managed to close her fingers as tightly as she could around the handle.
Krieg had turned the bear on its back with one good push then instructed Leona to get on top of the corpse. Seeing the animal so up close sent a chill down her spine as she was about to carve its skin.
"Gently start to cut from the neck towards the bottom, you want to feel the blade going only through the meat, not in."
"Right."
The strong odor of the wild game was off-putting for her, as she winced just by feeling a small waff that came in her direction as she kneeled down on the chest of the beast.
Soon, the blade found its way through the deeply cut neck down towards the belly of the animal. By following his instructions she was able to remove most of the pelt, the bare meat bear then was cut to carryable pieces by the knight's swift bladework, he then stuffed the meat inside a bag found attached to the horse's saddle.
"You can leave the rest to me now. We should be good with this pelt."
He rolled the thick brown fur that Leona had just skinned and tied up behind the saddle. She looked down towards herself, the once prestigious golden colored hair now soaked in blood, her tattered blue cloak tainted with red by the skinning process, it however didn't make her totally uncomfortable. It had purpose, she thought for herself.
"Are you ok princess?"
Phoebe approached with the two steeds in tow.
"Yes, thank you for asking Phoebe."
"We still have time if you wish to clean the blood off of you."
She nodded.
"I'll do that."
"Ser Krieg, I believe you'd also need some cleaning."
The elf stared at the previous dull silver plate, now smeared with red segments.
"I'll have it cleaned later."
He turned towards Leona.
"Let me escort you to the river."
"Thank you Krieg."
After they reached the passing river, Leona removed her blue cloak and started to rub it against itself while dipping it into the river.
"Princess, do you-"
"I'm ok Krieg. I can do this myself."
"Very well."
With each time she rubbed the cloak, more of the blood was washed away on the river, a string of red was left behind as she stood up.
"Krieg, turn around please."
He looked at her first, but after she motioned with her head he decided to fully turn around.
"Princess this is hardly necessary for me."
Leona held the wet cloak to clean his armor. However he didn't seem too fond of the idea of his liege exerting herself for something so trivial.
"With all due respect princess, this is not necessary."
She signed.
"Remember what I said back at the mansion just before we were attacked?"
"Yes but-"
Her grip tightened around the edges of the cloak as she pulled it apart, ripping a sizeable part of the blue cloth.
"Princess…"
"Just let me do this, you did so much for me already."
She wiped the majority of the blood off his armor and after cleaning the piece of cloak she handed it to him.
"Here, keep this for cleaning your weapons or armor."
"...Thank you Princess."
They returned to where Phoebe was with the horses.
"Yes. Yes I told you, we need some extra hands. I expect it to be as hard as the previous job."
She stopped for a few moments.
"I'll contact you later."
"Who were you talking to?"
Krieg inquired.
"With the people that will help us, I let them know in advance that we'll be needing their help."
"Right, how much can we trust them with this?"
"As much as you're trusting me on it. But seriously, they are good, reliable folk."
He looked at Leona before staring back at the elf.
"Alright, lead the way then."
"To Windia we go."
She hopped onto her steed and with a light motion of the reins, started to pick up pace through the forest trail. Leaving the village behind, they ventured forth towards the desert city of magic.