" Uhm, big and strong!" he replied after a few moments of silence.
Rom sighed " This is all you could muster!" he scoffed while looking ahead, wondering how the creatures looked.
Dak chuckled " Mhm!" he shrugged while taking a deep breath and closing his eyes.
" You know, this is the first time in a very long time that I could ride a horse without worrying about death!' Dak stated in a calm voice while letting out the breath that he was holding.
" Enjoy; it won't last for very long if we fall into the hands of the Apollyon knights!' Rom retorted while watching Dak from the corner of his eye, whose expression turned sour quickly at the mention of the knights.
" It's a strange name! Why are they called like that?" Dak curiously asked while looking at Rom, who frowned and took a deep breath.
" Their name is Vaikas Apollyn, and it means the Children of Destruction! The name was given to them by one of our king's hundreds of years ago! They were at war with one of the neighbouring kingdoms when it all began! The king that reigned then became desperate that the ranks of his army were thinning, and he was losing the war! So, he gathered all the children with no home and began to train them, their training was gruelling, and they were taught to have no mercy for anyone! The king is their family, and their loyalty to him is unbreakable! The king won the war thanks to them, passing on the same training regime from generation to generation! Now they are the most feared in the southern territories!" Rom explained in a reflective voice, thinking that if it hadn't been for his sister, he would've been one of them.
" Sounds like torture to me!" Dak retorted, finding a few similarities between him and the knights.
" They don't know any better! The children are plucked at a young age from the dirt; the royal family offers them food and a warm bed! It is a lot when you have nothing !" Rom retorted in a reflective voice thanking his lucky stars that he didn't have to go through all of that, thanks to the pity that the king took on his sister.
" I understand!" Dak absently uttered, looking down at the horse's neck.
Rom kept quiet, seeing that Dak was mulling over something and carried on looking ahead of him.
His thoughts drifted to the witch's offer, and he couldn't help but wonder why she was all of a sudden, so hell-bent on striking a bargain with him when she had the guardian eating from the palm of her hand.
" How did the witch get her claws on them?" Dak suddenly questioned, breaking the silence and Rom's train of thought.
Rom took a sharp breath in" The same way she got her claws on the rest of us! Blood magic and other tricks that the Guardian of the Hollow had granted her in exchange for a share of the power that the Mytrhrian Queen is wielding!" Rom intricately explained, making Dak glare at him since he didn't understand.
" Wait! Who is the Guardian of the Hollow?" Dak questioned, grimacing as if asking the question caused him great pain.
Rom chuckled" It's a long story!" he curtly replied while turning to look ahead.
" We got time!" Dak retorted while looking behind his shoulder to see if anyone I'd follow.
" No, we don't! We have wasted too much already with idle talk!' Rom huffed while nudging the horse to go faster, leaving Dak behind.
Dak stared at Rom's back, which quickly disappeared out of sight, galloping through the forest.
" Look at that!" he mumbled while spurring the horse to go faster.
It didn't take Dak long to catch up with Rom, who seemed to have slowed down and allowing him to catch up.
" So, what's with the sudden hurry?" Dak scoffed while approaching Rom from behind, who looked ahead, frowning.
" Something is happening!" Rom absently replied while looking ahead, the lines on his forehead deepened.
" What makes you say that?" Dak questioned curiously while keeping a keen eye on Rom's expressions.
" Vaikas, they are not coming after us! I'm not sure what it means, but my gut tells me they are going to the forest!" Rom replied in a serious tone that faded at the end of the sentence.
Dak raised his eyebrows in surprise " Oh! That can't be good!" he retorted, spurring his horse " We better hurry, then!" he shouted while galloping past Rom, holding Dahlia with one hand and the reigns with the other.
Rom chuckled and did the same as Dak, following closely behind, feeling the wind biting his cheeks as he galloped through the forest. Wondering what the witch was planning to do and will they make it out unscathed since she had complete control of the calvary, and he knew that defeating them would be almost impossible.
Galloping through the forests and the plains of the Hessian Kingdom, Rom and Dak finally halted on top of the hill that overlooked Beledren village, where Haren and Edýia were waiting for their return.
Dak's eyes widened when he caught a glimpse of the cavalry galloping towards the village from a different direction, proving Rom's assumption was accurate.
Tipping his chin, " Looks like you were right!" Dak commented while turning to look at Rom's sour expression.
" We need to get there before they do!" Rom stated in a serious tone while looking at the village at their feet.
" Hmm! Haren will keep Edýia safe! I don't think the witch knows about them, anyway!" Dak pointed out, taking a deep breath in and puffed his cheeks, looking a little worried despite his reassuring words.
" I'm not willing to take any risks!" Rom retorted, spurring his horse, clip-clopping down the hill steadily.
Dak sighed " I'm glad that Haren didn't kill you, too!" he mumbled, nudging the horse to move slowly down the hill.
***********
Hello lovely people!
This is the last chapter will have 1000 characters, the rest will be 3000 characters or over, since I'm trying to sort out the flow of the story!
Thank you for reading!