"Oh?"
'Just on the cheek?'
With a surprised breath, Cole thought as he was finally freed from Selene's hold.
"Oh my~ You thought I was going for the lips?"
"Eh? Nuh uh."
Quietly, Cole shook his head right and left at her words, trying to fight the burning sensation that was beginning to spread throughout his face.
It was then that a quiet presence throughout the party finally talked, her expression unchanging and still.
"Miss Selene, can you please stop teasing the newbie?"
"Oh?"
Selene gasped softly in surprise, bringing a hand to cover her slightly opened lips.
Lyra and her monotone voice continued as she walked back towards the carriage she was riding in before.
"We either need to set camp or continue our journey, there's no time to waste."
"Sigh, quite the cold one, aren't you?"
Said Selene with a slight shake of her head, and in reply, Lyra simply ignored her as she set foot inside the carriage.
"It's surprising she talked in your defense, Cole."
Next to me, Aeliana said that as she returned from our own carriage, a set of ropes twirled loosely around her hand.
"You're gonna tie the guys up?"
Thorne with his slightly bulked body asked as he scanned the fallen targets.
He crouched and watched out for the details of the wounds.
'This kid… He has quite some experience.'
That's what Thorne thought after regarding the controlled wounds that Cole had caused upon their enemies. Although he was right that Cole had experience, the target of that experience couldn't be more wrong, after all, Cole didn't gain experience fighting humans, but rather hunting to bring home food.
"Anyways, I don't think it's necessary to set camp outside tonight and should just continue our journey. We are estimated to reach in the morning after all."
Aeliana spat out her thoughts as she made sure the grip of the ropes around the bandits' wrists was tight, tugging at each two times minimum.
"I think the opposite."
Brander disagreed and Thorne spoke quickly after, not letting him continue.
"Me too. Since we were ordered urgently and directly to make our way there, we should at least be well-rested before reaching Lumira."
Brander's and Throne's thoughts aligned with Cole's, and somehow, he ended up being compelled to also add to the reason.
"I think so too. Logically speaking, something good isn't awaiting us there. Though you said it's a nice place to visit and buy goods from, surely, something must've happened."
"Hmmm?"
Tilting her head to the right and left over and over again, Aeliana kept humming over what she should do, after all, there were both the pros and the cons.
The pros include that they'd be well rested and ready to battle with full focus if they set camp out throughout the night instead of traveling and throwing proper sleep away.
The cons include that if the place is currently being run over by monsters, people could be dying this very instant and many more would die until their delayed arrival, which there's no point in their journeying there if everyone's dead.
"That's what I think. So, everyone, what do you think now, should we rest or get going?"
Aeliana clapped her hands at the conclusion of her thought-displaying session and asked for her party members's thoughts.
Bringing a hand to his mouth, Cole considered and reconsidered his own opinion compared to Aeliana's, in the end, he decided that he should go with Aeliana's choice.
"Sigh, yeah, we should get going."
Cole said, thinking at the back of his mind how he'd be able to get short winks of sleep even inside the carriage, sitting and listening to the cracking and rattling of the wooden wheels against dust and stone paths.
"Brander, Thorne, what do you two think?"
"Yeah, let's not any second.
"It was decided since the very beginning, tch."
Brander clicked his tongue as he said, realizing that Aeliana purposefully asked for their thoughts and instead beat them with her own logical reasoning to get a sense short sense of gratification.
The decision was made to press forward through the night, and the party divided into their respective carriages, preparing for the remaining journey to Lumira.
Aeliana, Brander, and Cole boarded one carriage, leaving Brander in charge of the reins, while Selene, Lyra, Lilya, and Thorne took the other, with Thorne handling the driving duties.
Cra-cra-crack.
The wooden wheels creaked as the carriages set into motion, traversing the darkened landscape.
The moon hung high in the inky sky, casting silhouettes of trees that lined the winding path. The air carried a chill that nipped at the edges of the drivers' clothing.
As they ventured further into the night, the scenery underwent a subtle transformation throughout the hours.
The darkened woods gave way to a more open landscape, hinting at the proximity of their destination.
Lumira, the town of Luminescent Flora, was renowned for its mystical plants that emitted an ethereal glow. The closer they drew, the more evident this luminescence became, casting a gentle radiance upon the surroundings.
Inside the carriage, Cole found himself drifting in and out of sleep.
The rhythmic sounds of the wooden wheels against the path and the gentle sway of the carriage lulled him into a restless slumber.
'How many times did I wake up and sleep already…?'
Cole thought, annoyed at the uncomfortable ride but thankful that he had at least space to rest in properly.
Albeit, during one of these brief reprieves, a vision flashed before his eyes.
***
A prison cell.
Chains dangled from the walls all around, the atmosphere heavy with gloom.
***
"Hah?"
It vanished as quickly as it appeared, leaving Cole disoriented as he opened his eyes.
With a start, Cole awoke to find Aeliana slumbering across him.
He rubbed his eyes, trying to shake off the remnants of the haunting vision.
'What was that…?'
Not paying much mind to it and simply regarding it as a short dream, Cole comforted himself on the seats again.
The second time he drifted into sleep, the prison cell reappeared, but this time, it was different.
***
Broken chains littered the floor, and the walls were shattered. Rubble cracking was heard falling to the ground from the cracks of the already shattered room.
The outside world beyond the cell portrayed a dark, gloomy, and foreboding weather.
And then, once the perspective began to shift–
***
"Cole?"
"Gasp!?"
Cole breathed sharply, snapping back to reality, his heart racing from the vivid dreams.
Aeliana peered at him with concern, "Are you alright? You seemed disturbed."
Shaking off the remnants of the dreams, Cole managed a reassuring smile.
"Just a nightmare, I guess. Sigh… We're nearing Lumira, right?"
He asked, using his fingertips to wipe the small beads of sweat that had formed on his forehead. A sense of tiredness gripped him from the inside.
Aeliana nodded, "Yes, we should be arriving soon. That's why I decided to wake you up."
"I see, thank you."
As he looked outside the carriage window, the horizon revealed the first hints of dawn.
The sky transformed from a sea of darkness to hues of indigo and violet. The stars gradually faded, yielding to the brilliance of the rising sun.
Cole sighed in relief, realizing that the ominous dreams were merely figments of his imagination.
"Yeah, just a dream," he thought to himself, convincing his mind to dismiss the haunting visions.
Slowly, they pressed forward, entering the town which wasn't nearly enough as Cole had expected it to be.