One month later,Southwest border of cúlhan:
The south west of the cúlhan empire is one of the most dangerous places in cúlhan as it is both near the northern part of the void continent, every 3 moons the climatic conditions would change from bone chilling cold to scorching temperatures. Thus the animal life has also mutated in these parts and are befitted the name of beasts; these areas are used to test the strength among nobles. The area also known as chinvat bridge
At the doors of chinvant bridge:
" I am a visitor from the royal palace you might've received a message regarding my arrival"
The voice of a woman shouting at the soldiers demanding for her entry, the soldiers were on guard as they didn't know the identity of this individual; but as she presented the Royal token of the emperor the suspicion was cleared among the soilders
" you may enter ma'am but please state your name first"
As the soldier asked for her name..
" you'd be killed if someone knew that you've uttered my name with that filthy mouth of yours"
She just walked away down the street bearing no mind to others, suddenly an eagle clawed on to her, took the royal token and flew with it as if it was guiding the woman to a place. As she was venturing in the bird was no longer visible.
" boo!! How have you been your royal princess "
"Lindel ! What are you doing here ? Shouldn't you be at the maze, and your disrespectful attitude; how about I feed you to the beasts that would be fitting end for you"
" oh my, such generosity but I'm not worthy of it "
" hmph, why am I here? "
" please follow me we have other guest "
" how are you still alive with that tongue of yours no wonder you're at maze, you filthy snake"
As the princess followed lindel they were past the borderlands of chinvant and were already in the wilderness. A building with nest like appearance was in front of them with many beasts surrounding it, the princess freaked out as she saw those animals and held tight to lindel
" are you trying to kill me now? What are we doing here and where are we"
Lindel with a smile filled with content as he saw the sight of princess full of fear led her inside the nest
" please my Lady head inside"
"You're not coming?"
"I'm merely but a guard, I have no right to be inside there"
After a minute of walk inside the dark building there was a light at the end of the tunnel she was walking through but as she was walking towards it she got even more uncomfortable
"Father?! What are you doing here; what's with your outfit? Are you an errand boy now and who's that old man having…. Delicacies?"
The man who was having his meal answered the question instead of Draca as he remained silent
" calm down you idiot can't you see I'm having a meal here, I savor silence when I'm eating"
"What?! How dare you speak like that to the princess of cúlhan in front of the king, father let's cut him down and feast him to the beasts"
Draca remained silent instead handed her a small bag
" my beloved daughter.. There is a loaf of bread, a machina,dagger, a smoke scroll and a bottle of water in it"
Perplexed by the words of her father she couldn't process what was going on in front of her
"Survive!.. Till sunrise"
" what is happening and who are you to order"
" my daughter trietha please do it"
" trietha huh?... Well as Draca said, if you're cornered with beasts and unable to survive till sunrise tear the scroll and kill yourself, it's just a little test to see how good you are with actions compared to your loud mouth "
" kill myself? Father, what is happening "
As tears slowly started to flow without her realizing Draca dé cúlhan explained it to her
" it's a test to see your conviction since you're going to the summit in a few months.. Did you bring what I've asked you of"
" yea this Gaia shit or whatever I did bring it… and you old man what makes you think I'll take this 'test' of yours"
Slowly blood started to come out of her nose
" you followed an eagle right? It's claws were coated with ether poison, you can sit here and die or come back tomorrow morning for the antidote "
" I'm sorry my child but I can't help you in this situation "
Eyes full of loath she left silently giving the Gaia's ash to her father
" the least that'll happen is she'll die don't worry"
" Leo.. You're a detestable human being"
" I'd like to have chocolate for dessert"
And so a day had passed.
10:00AM:
Limping towards the nest trietha slowly, she fell in front of lindel who was guarding the front door. After half an hour
" morning my dear daughter how have you been"
Her first sight was Draca sitting leisurely and the man who gave her the test still eating in front of her. Seeing that man all she could feel was anger
" congrats kid, you failed"
" you!! You gave me a broken dagger, spoilt bread and barely any water."
" hey I gave you machina which was in perfect condition "
" that bloody dagger broke the moment I stabbed a beast and you expect me to survive?!"
" I told you to survive not to hunt your misunderstanding isn't my fault "
" dear trietha we know that you have acceptable battle power but where you lack is in your instinct "
This test continued for 5 more days as the princess trietha experienced hell, she who never knew pain now had to survive while being poisoned but by this point she was used to it and so on the sixth morning
" you look more frail than me, here's your antidote "
She maintained silence as she took the antidote and just glared at the man
" who are you?"
" I'm just a nomad you don't need to pay much attention to me, here's the question.. Would you kill your father if he's the only one with water"
"Yes"
" you pass, as a reward now you're immune to 6 different poisons.. So you can rest assure normal poisons won't kill you"
" and what makes you think you'll see tomorrow "
" good luck with that, now princess since the 2 of you are in disguise and you're not needed here, it's time for you to leave.. I'll meet you after 2 moons"
"And why is that? You can't even touch me at the royal palace"
" my daughter, you'll be going to the Bermuda lands on the new moon day after 1 month with him"
" you want your daughter to be dead for real draca?"
" dad?!! What have I done why do I need to go to the land of witches? "
" the Gaia's ash you've brought is a forge material and those on Bermuda are the only one's capable of utilizing it"
" we don't know anything about those people what if they just kill me right away"
" that's where I come into play"
" I'll give you the details after we go back to the capital"
with confusion she just left without saying a word as how vexed she was.. What she didn't realize was there was much more happening while she was trying to survive in the wild
" draca… prepare a boat made out of kraken wood at the Hél bay"
To be continued