Perciveus was now laying next to the group exhausted from using all his energy during the last fight. The group was still passed out but none of the stranded beasts had attacked them because of the enormous amounts of energy coming from the warzone.
He had decided to head back to the castle as soon as the others would wakeup.
…..
Veronica and her two familiars Pup and Puff were sailing through the seas to an unknown direction. They had a small ship that contained enough rations for them to last for atleast six months. They were on the sea for the last ten days and Veronica never being on the sea before was getting sick.
They had decided to stay wherever they would see land though unfortunately for the last five days they hadn't seen a single mass of land. Not even a single island of sort was there and by now they had lost their directions, therefore sailing endlessly in hope to find a place they could call home.
For the next seven days they were still on the ship when Puff spotted an odd shore in the distance. A few miles away Puff saw a land but an odd one, as its shore unlike others had black sand but nothing else could be seen because of the distance.
Slowly advancing through the distance they started to notice that not only the soil but whole land mass that was visible was black and even the tree barks that stood there on the shore were black.
But due to how sick veronica was they decided to dock the ship and stay at the newfound land till she was good to go again on the sea.
Pup had been spending most of the time sleeping and waking up once in a while to fill his stomach only to go back to sleep but as he saw the black land he was jolted from his drowsy self and jumped out of the ship and out on the shore.
Seeing black barks or red leaves was nothing that could stand out to the two brothers as they gad seen plenty before in their kingdom but the color of the whole land being black had alarmed them a little. Pup on the other hand was sniffing as if he could smell something and he started to follow the strange smell. Following the smell they reached a place where they saw a river flowing in full force and merging with the sea. The river itself was so might that if by the land one could easily depict it as a sea but the current being so wild had given away to the sea creatures that this was a river though an odd one.
"This is no simple river, its blood". Pup said out loud.
"This can't be. Its said that this river died centuries ago and many in this day believe that this is a myth."Puff had an idea of what this river was.
"That means we are on the lands of Nevara. Its the land of the King Bladen". Pup called out in excitement.
"Ohh And you think he would come to welcome us. Don't you remember what Father told us, he is long gone and there is no way he could be here".
"I feel that something big is about to happen and I want to be a part of it. Don't be a bummer bro lets go and see the place even if he is not here". Pup was all in to have this adventure but Puff on the other hand wanted to be safe.
He knew that for Pup the lines were, 'better sorry that safe'.
Pup and Puff now having found where they were headed back to the ship to inform Veronica of this land and help her out of that ship.
After a good few minutes of walking they reached the docked ship but to there surprise pale looking Veronica was out on the shore and was laying on the sand.
"How you feeling now?", Pup asked.
"Yeah better but I just don't know, this place, it feels familiar in someway. And what is this place?". Veronica was clueless and desperately needed answers.
"Well well, this is the Lands of Nevara, the greatest empire to ever have existed and for centuries no one knew if existed till date."
"Nevara….. how can you be so sure, none of us had ever seen or heard about it. Its somewhat of a myth".
"I know right. But you see, me and Puff did a bit exploring and my cute little nose sniffed something and guess what a great explorer like me would have found?" Pup was on the moon with his so-called discovery.
"Oh common will tell her already", Puff nudged him.
"Its the magical Blood River. Its said that no one knows of where this river emerges from and the river is of blood as its clear by its name. But the most amazing thing is, the blood that flows changes its taste for its drinker by their wish. That means if you want to drink water it will change to water, also to wine, juice and of course blood". Pup was proud to share his knowledge.
"Then what about the people here?" Veronica questioned.
"So after King Bladen went missing something happened that no one knows of but the whole Bladen empire had been obliterated by unknown means. No one had ever set a foot on this land after that and rumours started to circulate that the land is cursed and forbidden."
"Then I think we should explore this land and find the mystery behind these rumours."
Pup was happier than ever to see that Veronica had agreed to go on and find the missing pieces. And hence they started to move gradually by the river to see where it would lead them.
...
Drupal after reaching the Castle had decided to cook a meal for the masters in the castle and also a potion to reenergize them from the exhaustion that they had suffered in the hunt.
When he entered the Kitchen he saw there was nothing to cook. So only thing left for him to do was to go out and find some fishes and fruits to cook the meal and herbs for the potion.
He was carrying a basket almost as big as himself and a fishing rod and was humming on his way to the river.