(Hey everyone! I wanted to ask everyone to be patient with any grammar issues and spelling mistakes made during this chapter. Wrote this one in a bit of a rush but I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do creating this new and exciting world! Thank you all for your support and let's continue on this great adventure! -SheepCorgi)
"Mom? Dad? Where are you? I'm scared! Mommy? Daddy!"
Dimmetri Ioena awoke with a sudden jolt and with a tight, uncomfortable knot in his stomach. His heart was racing and he struggled for a moment to catch his breath. He hadn't recognized where he was for a moment but slowly his memories of the day prior began flooding into his head. He began to remember the long, uncomfortable trek across the large field that at times felt like it was never going to end. They'd happened across a few walls or hedgerows that they thought would mark the edge of the farm, only to find another field beyond it that they'd have to walk through as well. It'd taken them the better part of the day and late into the evening before they'd finally were able to escape the endless nightmare. The sun had been beating on them most of the day making travel extremely uncomfortable and hot. Luckily enough however, the two riders they'd met upon coming to this strange place had led them into a decent sized town where the group decided to spend the night at a local tavern inn. To the group's surprise, wherever they were they thankfully used a similar economic system as back home and they were able to pay with the rooms at the inn with their own coin. Though Wehlington had offered to pay for the rooms as well as a few rounds of drinks, the group instead went directly to bed that night after a long day of travel.
Dimmetri rubbed one of his eyes as he took a look around the room. He had passed out almost the moment his head had hit the pillows the night before and hadn't taken much time to look around. The room was comparably small in size compared to that of the rooms he had seen at his parents inn. Though it was fairly clean enough and the bed was surprisingly comfy as well. Besides the bed there was a single wooden dresser in the room with three doors along two of the walls. One was the door lead out of the room of course and Dimmetri vaguely remembered the other door closest to that was a simple closet they may have stored their things in the night before. The third door he was sure was a wash room his wife had used before joining him in the bed the night prior.
Just then Dimmetri felt the bone chilling touch of his wife's freezing fingertips on his cheek causing him to jump a bit as a chill ran up and down his spine. Dimmetri must have had at least the wits enough to take off his mask last night before he had passed out as he turned and saw Iris looking up at him, her head still down on the pillows. She was smiling mischievously up at him as if she knew exactly what she had just done to him and stuck her tongue partly out of her lips in a mocking manner. It wasn't exactly cold in their room, in fact from what Dimmetri could feel beforehand was that it was rather comfortably warm. However none of that mattered to his wife who always seemed to have freezing cold hands and feet that she loved to put all over him. He had grown slightly used to it over the years, but he hadn't been expecting it this time and she had managed to catch him while he was distracted.
Dimmetri looked back down at her through squinted eyes as she looked back at him with the same devilish grin. In the moment he felt his heart flutter slightly and the tight pain he had felt in his stomach quickly washed away and was replaced with a slight feeling of nervous butterflies. The two had been married for some time now and had been best friends prior for a long time. Still though to the day, Dimmetri would still catch that almost intoxicating love bug when he looked at her. Granted, it had taken both of them a long time to realize the love they both had for the other. Though apparently it had been painfully obvious to most everyone else around them beforehand. Iris was the pure picture of perfection in his eyes, able to keep up and even dish back his crazy antics all the while taking the extreme love and care of her family's needs. She was the perfect partner and a perfect mother. Dimmetri really couldn't count his blessings high enough that, in the end, they had eventually ended up together. Even now, despite the heavy emotions both of them felt while looking for their daughter, she always seemed to brighten up his world.
"What are you thinking about Mr. Ioena?" she asked in a soft voice as she tapped her cold finger tip against his nose.
Dimmetri wiggled his nose and shook his head as he slumped back down into the bed beside her. Iris took the open opportunity to make her move and to get closer to him as she rested her arms and head over his chest as Dimmetri instinctively put his arm around her lower back. She had apparently more cognitive brain function then he had the night before as she laid on top of him with not a single piece of clothing on. He could see her bare shoulders escape from under the blankets as she looked up at him and he just couldn't help himself as he pulled her in close and gently kissed her soft yet full lips.
"You" was all Dimmetri could reply with after reluctantly breaking away from the kiss.
"Do tell me more" Iris chuckled in a sweet, almost seductive manner as she shifted under the covers a bit more and attempted to lay on top of him before she realized that he was still in his armor "Strangely enough, this brings back some pleasant memories"
Dimmetri laughed with her and shook his head as he began to remember the time she had been speaking of. It was a rather pleasant memory of just the two of them, for what seemed like ages ago in a time before they were even married.
"Yeah me too, though this bed seems marginally more comfortable than that cave floor." Dimmetri replied.
"Leagues better, though I already miss our bed." Iris said as she trailed off a bit.
Dimmetri could tell she was worried, they had no real idea of where they were and the two riders who called themselves Lancers seemed to be keeping them in the dark in quite a few things. He wasn't a fan of that but he figured if everyone just played along for a bit longer then there was a chance they could get their daughter back sooner and leave this place far behind them. Dimmetri considered himself fairly good at finding more portals and felt that when the time came, he could probably find another one back home. Though he had to admit some things confused him greatly about where they were. The Lancers had acted like they'd never heard of the North plane before or any other planes of Tytaura for that matter of fact. Dimmetri wondered what was going on here and for a brief moment even wondered if the realm protectors known as the Proctors were aware of such a place.
"Soon enough babe. We will find Violet and soon we'll be able to sleep in our own beds" Dimmetri said as he gently kissed her forehead.
"I hope so," Iris replied as she gently hugged him.
After another half hour or so of just lying in bed and enjoying each other's company, Dimmetri and Iris got up and got dressed before making their way down stairs to the tavern part of the inn they had stayed the night in. Dimmetri saw Ezra sitting at the far end of the bar sipping on a steaming hot drink while looking over some papers in his hand. The two made their way over beside him and sat down.
"Whatcha got there?" Iris asked him.
"Hm? Oh good morning. I managed to get a few postings off the nearby job board. I have a theory but, keep in mind it's not one hundred percent certain yet. However, I feel as though given some of the recent events here in this plane as well as judging by these papers, I have a strong feeling, we may have discovered another plane completely independent from that of Tytaura or even the Oasis." Ezra stated.
There was stunned silence for a moment, neither quite really able to wrap their minds around what Ezra had just theorized to them. The two had always fantasized about doing such a thing in their younger years but they thought it was nothing more than a dream.
"W-Wait, what?" Iris finally asked, breaking the silence.
"I don't fully understand it quite myself but, based on what we've learned in the past about portals, the one that we jumped through in our haste was one that could teleport us anywhere at any given time and place. It is possible we jumped through to a world undiscovered by even the Proctors or Council even. Honestly there's so many possibilities out there, the options are almost endless. We know so little about the random portals that, i'm even surprised we all ended up in the same plane to be honest-"
Ezra caught himself before he said anything more but the damage was already done. Dimmetri could see Iris's thoughts written all over her face as she turned pale and her eyes began to gloss over some. Ezra must have seen it too as he immediately began to rectify what he had done.
"Though I do believe when I say all, I truly do mean all of us including Violet. Judging by those riders reaction to our explanation and the fact of which they seemed to have some prior knowledge of at least you two, gives me some hope that our young Violet is here on this plane"
Iris nodded a bit after a moment, sniffling slightly as she whipped her tears from her eyes. When she finally spoke up her words were choppy and choked up a bit.
"R-Right, she has to be here"
"Right," Dimmetri said, taking her hand in his as he reached over "Don't you worry baby. We will find her and bring her home."
Iris nodded as she took his hands in hers and squeezed them back tightly. Even in his armor, Dimmetri could feel her grasp as she desperately hung onto him. He felt terrible for her. Iris was one of the strongest people he knew in terms of mental fortitude but he knew the past day or so had been extremely taxing on her, and it was beginning to show. He squeezed her hand back and looked into her eyes through his helmet when he heard two familiar voices coming down the stairs behind them.
"I swear if they don't have any coffee here, I'm going to strangle someone" came Raz's voice as she came down to the bottom of the stairs.
"Ugh I know! I slept like shit on that bed! I need the nectar of the gods" said Destin as he trailed behind her.
Dimmetri saw Iris smile slightly as she heard their banter as the two approached. This caused him to smile as well as he looked down at her hand in his and the hot cup of brown liquid in front of Ezra.
"They got coffee it looks like, or something close at least?" Dimmetri asked as his gaze shifted up to Ezra's in question.
"Thank the gods it is. A bit on the strong side but coffee nonetheless" Ezra sighed as he grabbed the cup and sat back in his chair as Dimmetri let go of his wife's hand in front of him.
"Oh thank the gods indeed, Oh bartender! Can we get a pot or whatever you have of coffee as well as some cups over here? Yes the whole thing" Destin called as he grabbed the metal pot from the bartender's hand and began filling several cups up with the brown liquid.
"Just some boiling water for me please" Iris added as she collected herself and sat straight in her chair.
Iris used the hot water along with some leaves she had in one of her pouches and made herself some tea while the others sucked down the hot coffee, cup after cup. Dimmetri was still wearing his mask and had put a long, hollow cylinder device into the cup before placing the other end into a small hole in the mask. There was a small sucking sound as the liquid rose up the tube and disappeared into Dimmetri's mask.
"I must say, I've never seen anyone drink the morning brew in such a way before" came Wehlington's voice as he appeared in the doorway from outside and made his way over towards the group.
Merrygold was behind him and Dimmetri could see now with their helmet finally off the gentle facial features and long silk brown hair of a woman that had been hidden the day before. She seemed to be in her younger years, around her early to mid twenties even though she had bags under her eyes. Dimmetri didn't know where the two of them had gone last night but it was clear Merrygold either hadn't slept well or if at all as she yawned and made a beeline for her own cup of coffee.
"And you'll probably never see anything like it again besides him" Raz said with her cup still pressed up against her face as she drank.
"Hmmm curious indeed. Tell me, why do you wear such a contraption?" Wehlington asked as he sat down at a nearby seat at a table.
Dimmetri hadn't felt like they'd gotten quite buddy buddy enough for him to begin spilling the details of himself, but he allowed at least a little insight that might at least calm their curiosity for a time.
"It helps me to breathe cleaner air as well as allows me to even breathe" Dimmetri replied.
He didn't offer the whole truth but he technically wasn't lying either. Dimmetri saw Wehlington trying to weigh the words in his mind until he gave a simple shrug. Whether he couldn't figure it out or didn't care, it seemed to be enough for the man for the time being.
"So how much longer until we reach… Krafmont?" Iris asked after taking a sip of her tea.
"We should reach Krafmont by mid-day hopefully. We managed to get a carriage for the rest of the trip. Hopefully then it'll be easy travel." Wehlington replied as he stroked his mustache.
"And what exactly are we going to find there?" Dimmetri asked as he shifted in his seat a bit towards him "You've told us nothing except for some vague glints of hope. Why should we continue to follow you to your capital if we have no idea why we are even really going there?"
"Well," Wehlington said clearing his throat "That's a fair enough response I presume so rest be assured, I have a very strong inclination that I know someone by the description in which you gave for your little girl. It's a possibility it might be in fact her though I am not certain"
"And who is this person?" Ezra asked, clearly annoyed with the apparent vagueness.
"Well, I um-" Wehlington stuttered before Merrygold replied for him.
"Look, you're just gonna have to find out for yourself because although the description you gave us does match some of this person's qualities, there are some differences as well. But you lot are somewhat, persons of interest and we must bring you before the crown."
"Before the crown of your queen?" Ezra asked as he adjusted his glasses on his face.
"Well, yes her majesty and her soon to be wife in the royal court" Wehlington answered.
"Look man, we aren't here to get into any sort of politics," Raz chimed in.
"I'm afraid that might be somewhat unavoidable. But please, trust you me when I say that you are under the protection of the Lancer cavalry, and even if we are unable to assist in finding your daughter, we will not allow any harm to you unless you wish harm upon her royal grace." Wehlington said as he pounded his chest.
There were glances around the room at one another. Dimmetri looked at everyone until he met Ezra's eyes. Ezra stared back at him for a moment and gave a gentle, almost unnoticeable nod.
"Fine. We will continue to go with you to your capital with you." Dimmetri felt himself repeating himself.
"Good, then whenever you are all rady, like I said, we have a carriage waiting for you" Wehlington said with a short nod.
What Dimmetri saw when he first laid eyes upon the carriage the Riders had brought them was not at all what he had expected. The carriage was a rather large, ornate, two horse drawn carriage adorned with reds, black, and purple with an almost goddish amount of gold trim. It looked to belong to a very wealthy noble or even royalty itself as it had a large, gold painted crest over the door that no one in the group recognized. Wehlington sat up in the driver seat with the horse's reins in his hands as Merrygold held open the door of the carriage as everyone filled inside. The interior was just as lavish as the outside of the carriage with soft, velvet seats and plenty of seating for everyone and then some. Dimmetri sat across from the door in which they had entered and watched as everyone found their seat before the still rather tired looking merrygold climbed her way inside the carriage and sat down.
"All good in here!" she called up to Wehlington before the cart began to lurch forward and move onward down the road.
Everyone was looking out the windows at the scenery as they passed by large fields of what looked like marshlands or bogs with farmers tending to them. Dimmetri noticed that those that spotted the lavish carriage immediately shot up to attention and began giving smiling waves in their direction until they passed.
"What's the deal with this carriage? It seems a little too nice to come from this agricultural area" Dimmetri asked Merrygold, who had previously slumped into her seat and seemed to begrudgingly open her eyes back up before responding.
"Well actually, a lot of the farmers in this area are pretty well off. Some even have carriages bigger than this one. Though most of those are used to move around their large families or move their workers around to different fields." she explained.
"So the people who own these fields have separate carriages for their workers too?" Dimmetri asked, trying to clear up some confusion he had.
"Not usually," Merrygold said, shaking her head. "Though the farmers are well off like I said, large carriages big enough to move their families can cost quite a bit. Plus most of their families work on the field anyways so when ever the carriages aren't being used for banquets and get togethers, most families lend them out to their field hands to get around for the day"
Dimmetri thought that might sound a little too good to be true and had his doubts but decided at least for the time to keep his thoughts on the matter to himself. Back home, they had the luxury of portals, airships, and the few steam powered locomotives that were beginning to appear across the North. Dimmetri had never seen the strange Terran machines that apparently moved on their own on the Tytauran main plane, but had heard of their wonders in speed, agility, and power. He even heard they had flying machines much different from that of his beloved airship as well. Dimmetri hoped that whenever they were finally able to go back home, that he'd be able to hopefully one day see the strange machines for himself.
"Pardon me ms. Merrygold. First of all, do you prefer to be called by your first or last name? I believe it was Alexa, no?" Ezra asked as he took out a small leather bound notebook from his inner coat pocket with a quill.
"Uh, Lancer Merrygold is fine for now" she replied with a small smile.
"Hmmm, you've referred to yourselves as Lancers before. Please forgive my ignorance but what exactly is a Lancer in your terms?" Ezra asked.
"Hm? Oh well, I guess you don't have Queen Guards where you're from. To be a Lancer in her highness's royal guard is one of the highest titles any member could hope to achieve. As Lancers we are the first in line to protect her grace and all of her subjects." Merrygold replied with a slight sense of proudness in her voice.
"Merrygold, is our most recent member of the Queens Guard to join the Lancers. This is technically her first mission." Wehlington said through a small sliding window in the front of the carriage.
Merrygold seemed physically hurt by the statement and clutched onto her breast plate before turning and throwing wild jabs through the window slit.
"Hey! They didn't need to know that you big ofe!" she exclaimed as Wehlington only laughed with each blow to his back.
"You said Lancers are the top of the Queen's Guard? So there are different ranks" Ezra speculated aloud.
"There are four ranks in the Queen's Guard and technically the Lancers are the second highest but only under that of the Commander herself. Though Lancers are allowed in direct contact with her grace as needed, the Commander has access to her presence 24/7 as well as commanding the Queen's Guard and the Queen's standing military." Whelington explained.
"She seems like a busy woman," Raz said cutting in.
"Perhaps too much it may seem at times," Wehlington admitted a bit under his breath before he continued "However, under the Lancers there are two more ranks that make up the majority ranks of the Lancers themselves. Both are of equal rank more or less but there are the Strikers who usually form the bulk of the guards' ranged capabilities, and then the Ruffhides who are mostly armored foot soldiers and siege breakers."
"Hmmm interesting, does seem to sound a bit like the Proctors in a way" Destin said as he stroked his mustache laxidazily.
"Not quite. Our Proctors are more divided into an actual rank system compared to that of the Queen's Guard. Though their function does seem similar in the fact that they seem more like a policing force" Ezra said speculatively.
"Proctors? I've never heard of them" Merrygold said, cocking her head to the side slightly with her eyes filled with bewilderment.
"Like I said, they are more like our home policing force but they have no real political influence however. They are more focused on the protection of the people as well as the Oasis. Or, a very sacred place in the eyes of some." Ezra explained.
"It's like a big pond with portals all around it," Raz further explained.
"Portals huh? Hmmm" Merrygold seemed to get lost in thought for a moment before shaking whatever thought she had in her head "It sounds truly interesting though"
"So anything we should know about this capital before we get there? Any rules we need to follow or social norms and such?" Dimmetri asked after a moment of silence in the carriage.
"Nothing outside the standard laws of the kingdom. No stealing, no murdering, the basic 'don't be an asshole' rules and such. Social norms are a bit of a touchy subject at times but I believe the Commander herself can perhaps better fill you in on such things." Merrygold explained.
"The Commander?" Dimmetri asked.
"Oh yeah, heh oops. Well I guess the cats out of the bag but, the Commander herself has requested your immediate presence. This is even her own carriage she sent out to retrieve you all" Merrygold explained reluctantly as she let out the small bit of information they had been trying to keep confidential.
A slight sense of unease arose amongst the party in the carriage. It must have been tangible from even outside as Wehlington cleared his throat before speaking up.
"Worry not, she is also the one we are going to see who might know something about your daughter. The fact that she requested to see you a lot might be a good sign that she might be able to help" he said, trying to be reassuring.
Dimmetri wasn't sure if that was true, but he knew they didn't really have a choice in the matter anymore as the carriage bumped along down the cobblestone road. If this commander truly was their only lead to finding Violet then they had to go see her despite any trouble or turmoil they might get themselves into. Dimmetri just hoped that they could soon find their daughter, and find a way back home.