Adam stared at the shining object in horror.
Something like that could never mean good things, especially when the capital's residents pack away in a hurry under its light.
The young mage looked down, at the crowded streets. It felt like the roles of night and day switched, the day before, he barely saw any pedestrians, but tonight, the streets were full.
Someone knocked on the door, while Adam was still staring outside the window, he was immersed and didn't notice when the person banging the door entered without approval.
"Adam, pack away. We are leaving the capital in an hour. Be with your uncle before the tower in time, or we are leaving you behind." Stated Max, who entered the room, only to disappear right after.
Adam looked behind but didn't manage to see anything more than a door closing itself.
He heard his friend though, so he took a backpack from the corner and put there his necessities. His spare Robe, some underwear, a knife and his book from the office next door.
He wore his armour, at which he put the robe and left the room with all the baggage. He didn't exactly have many things under his name, but everything was valuable to him.
After quickly descending the staircases, dodging all the people around and walking out of the tower, Adam headed towards the tavern his uncle stayed in.
It was relatively near, so the journey took him only a few minutes, even when he had to dance between the passersby, who had their own things to attend to.
he entered his uncle's room in a hurry and immediately proceeded to wake him up.
"Wake up! Pack your things and Suzie, I will take care of the kittens. We must leave the capital in under an hour, it's an order from Max, so we are not going to question it." He told his uncle.
The man in question didn't ask any questions, he put on some clothes, took his things, money and a few spare clothes. Then he reached out for Suzie and placed her in a big pocket in his jacket.
Adam also didn't ask any questions after being ordered by Max to prepare, his mind couldn't comprehend the situation as some joke or something else, which was not an emergency.
And everyone knew, that in an emergency the best thing you could do was to listen to your superiors.
Just like his uncle, Adam also pocketed the cats, he thou, had two of them inside his robe.
Miraculously, the animals didn't protest, which was odd but appreciated. They thought Suzie would try to escape the embrace of the jacket, but apparently, the animal felt the seriousness lingering in the air and acted accordingly.
Two of them, a young mage and his uncle, ruched through the halls of the tavern and then through the mains square. Only stopping after arriving at the tower.
There, Few carriages waited, between them stood Max, wearing his robe and equipment, and carrying a bag in his arms.
"Come here!" He shouted at his second in command. "Get in, we are leaving in a few minutes." He told them while getting into a carriage.
Adam went inside, but there was no place for Derek in the carriage Max went in.
"Go to the next one, if they ask you who you are, Tell them you are Uncle of Adam Axigna, the mage and Max Steelarm told you to board that carriage." Ordered Max.
Derek went to what he was asked for, and in a few moments, he shouted from the carriage next to Adam's.
"I got in! Don't worry about me"
Only now did Adam relax, at least somewhat. And looked around in the carriage.
Inside, There were four people, six if you counted the cats in Adam's robe.
All four humans inside were mages, or at least Adam thought so.
Obviously, two of the four were Adam and Max. They sat opposite each other, next to the door. Adam sat in the forward direction relative to the carriage, Max opposite.
Next to Adam sat a young woman, he identified her as Sylvia, the fire mage he met at the party. It somehow happened that they never met after the night at the castle, their schedules were just too different.
Sylvia had long Brown hair and green eyes, not as green as Adam's, his were a lot more vivid. She wasn't the tallest person but had a considerable height nenetheles, thou it wasn't seen as she was sitting down in the carriage and her figure was very beautiful, but it was also hindered by sitting down and the robe she wore. She had a red mage's robe on herself, it was loose, enough so that her fabulous figure remained just in Adam's memory. She wore a more fitted dress at the party.
The last person was Cynthia, the plant magician, who somehow wasn't from the Harop family. Because of her element, her robe had a multitude of green patterns on a brown background.
She had blond hair and blue eyes and was the oldest in the carriage.
The oldest doesn't mean the bravest though, she shaked like a leaf while looking out of the window.
In comparison, Max, Adam and Sylvia were relatively calm, they also had erratic breathing and looked worriedly out of their windows, but their fear didn't show on their faces.
"What is happening?" Adam composed himself and asked no one in particular.
"I don't really know, The royal castle ordered evacuation to the south while I was returning from my family's mansion, only after a while, did I notice your absence and go to wake you up." Explaine Max.
"What about Monica, Watt and others? They were in the army camp, did the order reach there?" Asked Adam in worry.
"There were guards walking from door to door ordering an evacuation, so I expect that the army will follow after us. As a rear guard probably." Said Max.
"Are there even so many carts in the capital?" Wondered Adam.
"If there isn't, some people will have to walk." Answered Sylvia.
"Where are we even going?" Asked Adam. He was confused, and that state of mind was the one he hated the most. Not understanding the situation he was in was infuriating, it made him restlessly voice every question that came to his mind.
"Please, shut up. Let's just wait and see what happens, I can't take your constant blabbering." Explained Cynthia, the quivering mess she was, found enough strength in herself to shout at her travel companions.
Adam forced himself to remain silent, but it didn't stop the wave of questions from forming in his mind. He could wait a while, but not forever.
The four of the mages, inside the carriage remained silent, as the vehicle started to move. Shouts of guards and soldiers who stood on both sides of the road and ordered the people around filled their minds.
The carriage, just like the few which stood next to before the tower, blended seamlessly into the constant stream of vehicles, moving southward, towards the main gate, and then into the forest.
The carriage was filled with warm, red light, coming from the object travelling the sky. When the evacuation began, it just barely appeared on the horizon, travelling from south to north, it was incredibly far, and yet it lighted up the whole city.
Now, it neared a bit, only slightly, despite the hours that passed.
No one fell asleep that night, not another time.
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In the morning, the caravan was still en route, not having taken a break for even a moment after leaving the capital.
They didn't move as fast as one could imagine, horses were scarce, and no one wanted to overwork them to death. Soon, they would have to set camp, to let the animals rest.
Adam looked out of the window while playing with a bit of mana in his hands. He was nervous and curious, the fact that he slept the whole day before also didn't help him get a quick shut-eye.
His companions thou managed.
Max and Cynthia slept on the bench opposite of him, their feet resting on his own and their heads hanging as they sat.
Monica also slept, but she found herself in a more comfortable position.
After confirming that Adam had no possibility of sleeping, and asking for his permission, she sat with her legs on Adam's knees. She rested her back against the wall of the carriage, and let her head fall to the side, on the back wall.
The kittens slept soundly in Adam's pockets, they were accustomed to sleeping the whole day, so changing Derek's apartment's floor to a cozy pocked didn't mean much to them.
Apart from the cats, the travellers didn't sleep well, it was quite impossible. Not only were they worried beforehand, but the constant shaking of the carriage also didn't help. They woke up from time to time, before falling asleep again.
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The gigantic convoy stopped by midday.
Adam stared in amazement at the huge, artificial plain, that was seen from his window.
The plain was clearly a lush forest before, but under the light of two suns, it transformed.
The clearing was surrounded by a palisade, above which tree crowns were seen.
When Adam's carriage entered the clearing, the palisade was already completed, and the remaining wood was used to build a huge, low roof. under which many fireplaces were lit, to heat up the travellers.
The floor was what interested Adam the most, though.
The ground around the road was incredibly flat, with only a few mounds made from scattered dirt. Apart from the earth, the pavement consisted of cleanly cut stumps, left by the trees.
'What happened with them? There are no cutting marks, the trees were cut just the by erath, which is impossible...' Wondered Adam.
"That's the work of my uncle, the king. Or other Master mage, I'm not sure." Said Max, After seeing the puzzlement in Adam's eyes.
The young metal mage woke up some time ago and joined Adam in observing the world through the window.
"How?" Adam wanted his friend to elaborate.
"How I am supposed to know? He is the master mage, not me," he answered.
"How about the second sun?" Asked Adam again.
"Don't know either," Max said.
Adam looked out of the window, at the two suns and immediately regretted it. His eyes hurt from looking directly at them, mostly at the first, original one.
"How is it, that there is a gigantic, flaming object in the sky, at which we can't look directly, and no one questions that? I'm talking about the original one, of course." Wondered Adam aloud.
"No, that's normal. It just was there all our lives, so everyone is familiar with it. What I wonder about more, is why people believe in gods when such a thing is presented to them every day. Like, has someone seen a god? I don't think so.
Has someone witnessed a sign of his or her power? Also probably no.
What about the sun? Everyone has seen it, and everyone witnessed its power. It brings the day, lights up the world and fights back the cold!" Ranted Max. Adam didn't know about the quarrel his friend had with his mother the day before, but he heard a few of his extremist anti-gods opinions. After all, he had been on his team for more than a month already.
Fortunately, Max didn't start religious arguments with every stranger he met, or any stranger for that. He voiced his opinions as a response, most of the time.
Now, while Adam didn't support his friend's beliefs entirely, some things in his speech irked him quite a bit. He didn't feel like the time was right to quarrel about gods and stuff.
It was time to work, or rather find out if there was work to do.
"Let's go find someone in command. I can't just sit here while my help may be needed." Adam stated.
"Oh, yeah." Max came to his senses. "Do we wake up the girls?"
"Yes, let's notify them about the break. They might want to stretch a bit, after being cramped here for hours." Adam said. He also wanted to ask them if they wanted to go with them and help. They were mages after all, and magic is useful in nearly every situation.
Adam took Sylvia's legs from above his knees and put them on the floor of the carriage.
The girl woke up a bit and looked at Adam questioningly. In response, he nodded his head in the direction of the window, from which various tents surrounded by a palisade were seen.
"Miss Cynthia," Adam called out to the plant mage who slept next to Max.
Nothing happened, The girl didn't even move.
Max saw that, so he nudged her in the arm.
"~what??~" She asked weakly.
"We have arrived in a camp. You can go out and stretch or something" Said Max.
The girl raised herself and looked out of the window. She looked worried at the start, but the sight of many tents, and people walking around with food or wood made her calm down a bit.
"Me and Max are going to find someone in charge and ask if they need any help from us. Do you want to join us?" Adam addressed both of the girls.
"Yeah, I will come," Sylvia answered immediately.
"I may join you later, I have to warm up. This carriage is too cold for me." Said Cynthia.
As they said, they have done. Adam, Max and Sylvia went out in the direction of where most soldiers were, just after their carriage parked between other vehicles.
While walking, Adam saw his uncle, who walked towards one of the fireplaces under a roof, with a cat in his arms. He waved at him and walked up to him for a second.
After leaving the kittens with their mother, Adam returned to his companions and headed together towards the working soldiers to ask them for directions towards their superiors.
While the trio was eager to help, they also wanted a job according to their status.
It would be plain stupid if an Ice mage was making food, or digging trenches.
However, Adam doubted the second thing would be needed. In his opinion, the camp would last only until the rear guard reached here and took orders from the commander, namely, the king.
Then, the convoy would start to move again, in order when they arrived, just as the horses gained back some strength.