The Heroes were traveling through the forest, along with Kalika on Ragnar's back. They seemed to be making good progress. They were not all as fast as Bjorn, but she could say for certain that any normal human wouldn't be able to reach their level of speed either.
Jarred suddenly stopped. He looked through the tree to see the time of day. It was still late into the night.
"Alright, I think we should be far enough. Here, let me check something." Jarred started to climb the tree. After a few moments, he jumped down. "There's a side of a cliff that way. Let's camp there."
Jarred led the way this time simply hiking. Sylph finally set her hood down, revealing her short brown hair and hazel eyes. She started to gather little branches and sticks with some expertly controlled magic. It was mystifying watching Sylph use her magical abilities. It almost made Kalika envious.
"Do you need me to bring down a whisp tree too?" Ragnar asked Jarred. "Yeah, once we've reached the spot, I'll help you too.
After some time, they all finally made it to the area in question. They were starting to build a layout for a camp at the edge of a cavern entrance. Ragnar set Kalika down by a nearby wall, wasting no time entering back into the forest. Jarred followed suit with an ax in hand.
"Sylph. Me and Ragnar will get that whisp wood. You can handle the rest, right?"
"Yup. I have it all under control." Sylph's eyes glowed purple. She stuck her hands into the air for it to be swallowed by nothing.
Kalika was shocked to see this. "W-what the-!"
"Relax. This is normal. As the Heroes of Prophecy, God bestowed us a series of powers. They say Heroes are supposed to have four, but there's only three we each know of …" Sylph pulled out a large bag stuffed with items.
"One of them, for me, is the storing of things we could use. Unfortunately, it doesn't work for food. But it's still useful."
Kalika simply watched in amazement as Sylph continued to pull stuff out of nothing. She was even able to pull out a table! "We all have our own set of skills, each with their own little uses."
Sylph waved her fingers at the items she pulled out, and as if ordered, they all unpacked themselves, creating a cozy campsite in mere minutes.
"This is amazing! I never knew that magic could be used like this!" Kalika started to get up to look around. She wobbled a little but had a good grasp on her balance again.
"Like it? It's a combination of earth with some wind magic. It's hard to tell since the rocks are smaller than the size of a grain. I can teach you if you'd like."
Kalika immediately became quiet after hearing Sylph's suggestion. "N-no thanks I'm fine." Kalika started to become a little more reserved, which left Sylph a little puzzled.
"Alright we're back!" Jarred said aloud.
Both Jarred and Ragnar were carrying a huge tree log. It looked very much impossible for two men to carry alone. It was like this group of Heroes were not short of surprises.
Ragnar settled the log down close to their campsite. "Alright I'll cut these up in the morning, and then we'll have some ingredients for more of those Vitality potions tomorrow."
"Vitality potions?" Kalika wondered.
Kalika couldn't understand the use of a big tree, so despite her curiosity, she chose not to ask about it.
Soon, everyone started to settle down around the campfire that Sylph had put together. Sylph then went on to produce three different Barriers that encompassed the entire campsite.
"Alright. Now, we should be safe for the night." Sylph announced.
Jarred let out a big sigh of relief. However, he looked very disappointed as he started to talk. "And here I thought we'd be fighting the Demon King tonight. Still, at least we were able to save you." Jarred glanced at Kalika, who was sitting close to him.
Kalika blushed, a little embarrassed. She glanced at Jarred then looked away just as quickly.
"Yup! And another day of living is another day to fight!" Ragnar seems to be very happy. "Hey, Jarred, mind passing some of that jerky?"
"Sure thing, Rag."
Jarred looked into his bag grabbing some jerky. He passed it along to everyone. "Do you want some too, Kalika?" he asked Kalika.
She'd never actually eaten anything like it. To her, it looked like dried skin from one of those red demons. It looked a little disgusting, but she opted to try it anyway. To her surprise, she liked it a little more than expected. A little salty, but better than what she'd been given in the past.
There was a silence as everyone simply ate.
Suddenly Kalika broke the Silence. "By the way… How do you know who I am?"
Jarred was nonchalant as he pointed to Ragnar. "The big guy there used to live in this country, too. Until he moved up north." Jarred took a last bite from his Jerky. "Who knew about the country before the invasion."
Jarred then whispered loudly, covering his mouth so only Kalika knew what he said. "He can get pretty sentimental at times."
"I heard that!" Ragnar interjected.
Both Sylph's and Jarred's Chuckle felt like it was an inside joke. Seeing this, Kalika couldn't help but smile at this event.
"Oh yeah!" Jarred realized that they had forgotten something. "Sorry, we still haven't introduced ourselves yet, have we? I'm Jarred."
"Sylph." she smiled.
"And I'm Ragnar" he brought up his shield, with pride, setting it back down.
They went one by one, introducing themselves, sharing a little of each of their lived experiences as the Heroes of Prophecy. they joked, they quarreled and they shared even more stories.
Kalika cracked a rare smile hearing these stories. all of the stories and tales being told sounded so hopeful, compared to the life she's lived. "So, these are the Heroes of Prophecy…"
Kalika's mood became somber and silent as she thought about the horrible things Lillian did and the things she's done herself. They lived in a completely different world from her. a world she could never hope to reach.
"It's… nice to meet you all…" Kalika said.
She quickly went back into silence, unsure what else to say.
"Umm... By the way… uh… Kalika… out of curiosity... What happened eighteen years ago?" Jarred asked.
Kalika was confused for a moment.
"Y-you know, when the Demon invasion… first started."
Kalika was surprised by his straightforwardness. "Oh…. That. I…"
She brought her head down, guilt building up within. "It's complicated…"
"Well, what about your family? You had a dad and sister right."
"My… My father's dead."
"And your sister?" Jarred pressed.
Kalika cringed a little, narrowing her eyes. "It's Complicated…"
Sylph immediately scolded Jarred seeing Kalika's distress. "Jeez Jarred. Can't you tell she doesn't want to talk about it!"
"O-oh. I'm sorry." Jarred rubbed the back of his neck, awkwardly.
Kalika smiled bitterly before responding once more. "It's fine…"
"No, it's not. and I'm sure you've been through a lot." Sylph was obviously trying to comfort Kalika, but it didn't do much to improve Kalika's mood. Kalika simply remained silent.
Ragnar started to join in with his own questions. "By the way. How did you hold up being imprisoned all these years?"
"Ragnar!" Sylph scolded.
"Hey, I'm just a little curious myself." Ragnar raised his hands in defense. "Most people in her situation would've broken down and fallen into despair, especially if they were being tortured for so long. If she was of course."
"That's not the point! you two keep-"
"My hatred," Kalika Suddenly said.
Everyone paused for a moment.
"My hatred for those demons. It's the only thing that I know that's keeping me going…" Kalika started clutching her hands as she refused to lift her head.
"If there's one thing I want to do, it's to kill as many of them as possible. Even so… Right now, I wouldn't be able to do it…"
"Why is that?" Sylph asked.
"I've been contracted a blood blad- Erm… a demon blade." Everyone was surprised to hear this.
"I heard that once it's been contracted, you won't be able to attack anyone else unless you use that contracted blade... I've heard all about it, but I don't think I've seen someone trying to attack without one yet." Jarred was baffled yet curious.
"Yes, I heard that some men were forced to be discharged dishonorably from the army if they ever took up one of those blades, forged by demon blood. It's truly a shame."
Jarred suddenly approached Kalika, crouched in front of her, to her surprise. "Hey," Jarred spoke dreamily in Kalika's Eyes. Jarred was so close to her that it was making her heartbeat faster.
Kalika's full attention was now on him. "Can you try punching me?"
"W-w-what??" Kalika was instantly brought out of her stupor.
Ragnar laughed heartily as Sylph could only facepalm out of frustration from her companion's forwardness.
"What? I'm curious." he defended
"Haven't you heard that curiosity killed the cat!?" Sylph retorted.
Kalika was confused at where the charming guy had gone. He felt more like a kid than a man.
"Sorry about him. He's a bit of a weapon nut. He likes to study the swords and their effect since he comes from a line of blacksmiths."
"R-really…" Kalika was surprised to hear this since he looked like someone you'd find in a noble household.
"He also comes from Gallock, one of the wealthiest countries from the Tyres continent.
Apparently even the poor have houses to sleep under," Sylph finished.
Kalika couldn't help but feel that what she said was an indirect blow to her country's pride. She then realized that she was not familiar with the country they were talking about at all.
"Wait… Gallock. I never heard of that country before."
Ragnar threw a scroll from a backpack beside him. "Ow!" It hit the back of Jarred's head, who immediately recognized it.
Ragnar started to explain the Kalika. "Gallock is a country far west of our continent. In fact, there's only one small bit of land that can be used to travel through to get to this continent. Otherwise, it'd be a damn long trip on the sea."
Jarred pointed to the part of the maps that Rangar was referring to.
"I had no idea this world was so big…" Kalika was surprised as she looked at the map. "Yeah. It took us a while to come together, not to mention travel here too." Jarred started to put
the map away.
Jarred then angled his face. "C'mon. C'mon." Jarred was pushing Kalika to attack him to show if the curse of the blood blade was true.
"Really Jarred." Sylph sighed. "You might as well do it, Kalika.
As weird as it was, Kalika listened and tried punching Jarred in the face. Her fist stood still at the pose, ready to strike, and she couldn't move. Kalika tried to move her arm to make a punching motion, but it wouldn't budge an inch.
"Are you gonna do it or what?" Jarred asked.
He glanced to see that she was struggling. It looked as though she was constipated. Kalika then tried punching the air with the same exact results, to her shock.
"I guess you really can't attack." A glint then came to Jarred's eyes. "Hmmm… I wonder what properties of demon blood make you unable to attack. Maybe it's an indirect curse. No. Maybe it's making the weapon sentient itself. No. no that's too weird." Jarred's rambling continued on.
Kalika could only look at her hands in frustration. "I'm just useless."
"Don't say that! Even if you can't fight back, news of your survival will burn the fires of war back into your fellow man!" Ragnar was giving a wide grin.
"Yeah. That's what matters." Sylph added.
Jarred approached Kalika again, this time putting his hands on her shoulder. "Look, just because you're not able to help fight back because of a curse doesn't make you useless. What matters is that you're safe now. Besides, we'll be there to protect you together!"
Jarred looked very optimistic. Kalika, but this only reminded her of her deceit.
"I should tell them. I'm not the Saintess… That's the only reason he's saying this..."
"H-hey. I have something important to tell you guys…" Kalika looked back up to find them all looking at her with such caring gazes. They were waiting intently to hear what she had to say.
She froze, unsure how to tell them.
"I… I can't tell them now. What if…"
Kalika looked back down shyly. "Never mind… I think I'll retire for the night…"
"I'm not like them. And, I'm not like her..."
"O-oh. Okay," Jarred said. The others were a little disappointed.
"Here. You can sleep in my tent tonight." Sylph offered, leading the way.
"Thank you." Kalika followed Sylph into the roomy tent.
Jarred sighed, watching them enter into the tent. "Do you think she'll be alright?" Jarred asked Ragnar.
"Only time will tell. After all, being a prisoner of war isn't always the most luxurious experience.
So, I pray that God will help her through this troubling time…"
"Right…" Jarred said unsure. He then gave another sigh before him, and Ragnar smothered the campfire and entered their own tents for the night.
"Night."
"Yup."
Sylph and Kalika laid in their own individual sleeping bags. Trying to sleep now.
Kalika turned to her side, looking away from Sylph. She stayed silent but then got an inquiry from Sylph.
"Hey. Kalika?"
"Yeah?"
"Have you ever talked with God?"
"Why do you want to know?" Kalika asked.
"From some people, I heard that only the Saintess could hear the voice of God. At the same time, others say that all the Heroes of Prophecy need to be together to hear his voice. I guess I just want to discern the truth…"
"If it makes you feel better. No. I haven't talked to him. But if I could… I'd have a lot of questions."
Sylph chuckled a little. "So, I'm not the only one… Maybe tomorrow we'll finally be able to talk to him."
"I don't know. Anything could happen."
"That's true." Sylph sounded a little happy, to Kalika's surprise. This left her very unsure as she looked on in the dark tent.
"Thank you, Kalika."
"Thank you? For what?" Kalika was now getting a little confused.
"It gives me hope that I can actually talk to God and finally get answers that I need to know.
S-sorry I'm rambling a little. Let's talk more in the morning. Good night, Kalika.
Kalika didn't respond. She went on to ponder. She just couldn't help but get a tense feeling like a knot in her stomach.
After a while, she finally was able to slip back into slumber.
********
Unknown to Kalika There's a meeting in the throne room of the very Demon castle she was taken from. Lucius, Lillian, Rakon, Bjorn, Azar, and Jala are among the demons attending.
The three generals bowed before their rulers. With her blackened eyes, Lillian clearly looked still quite angry as she stood before them..
"How is it that these intruders invaded this castle!?" Lillian demanded.
There was silence inside the entire room. Nobody answered. Although the generals' faces showed no fear, the guards behind trembled in fear.
"Answer me!!"
Lillian was reaching her peak until Lucius finally spoke up himself.
"Lillian let it go. I understand your anger, but if this keeps up, you'll end up killing more of our valued generals like last time."
Lillian listened, backing away and returning to her own throne. "What actions have been taken thus far?" she then asked.
Jala stood, keeping himself bowed to her.
"We already have men scouting forest to the south and checkpoints and lookouts. If there's anywhere they'll go, it's likely to be the territory being defended by the Confederation of Dahlia."
"How annoying," Lucius winced.
"Of course, I plan on scouting myself, being second best to Ek. Give me a day. Then I'll send you a signal that only I can send. Then we will punish these thieves who dare steal your beloved toy." Jala's face was that of someone who would die for a cause.
Lillian, despite her still serious demeanor, was satisfied with this answer. "Alright. So be it. Go now and find her. But when you find these people, I want to personally kill them myself!!" Lillian's eyes glowed an even brighter red beneath her black and rageful eyes.
Jala bowed once more, taking his leave. Rakon looked satisfied with the results of the meeting.
They all watched as Jala left the throne room.
"Now then. Let's talk about improvements to our castle's security." Rakon smiled.