With the troops collected and the rest of us returning to the camp, we began the quick routine of stuffing anything of note onto wagons and hightailing out of enemy territory.
Rayji and Tesera complained about the need to move so suddenly, but as we gave them the run down of what was happening, they gave grim frowns as they nodded in turn.
"We're going back home," Tesera said as she hugged Flaur's waist.
"That we are," Flaur reassured her in a soft whisper.
Everything was now on an invisible timer as our deceit could be unveiled at any point in time the longer we stayed here. Our strongest defense now was hoping that Baron Valefor and his men would assume the 'routed' royal corp would defect; such was explained to me by Flaur.
"Valefor underestimates me, this is a fact that I've known for the longest time. Thankfully, this is working in my favor as he believes that my royal guard would defect if my death was a given. I can't believe how happy I feel knowing how others view how weak I am, kya--haaa," Flaur said as she gave a half-hearted laugh.
"But to bring him up once more, I do wonder what he'll do next now that his plan to get the Quellians slaughtered had failed. If anything, this is something we should seriously discuss once we're back in the capital," Flaur explained.
She was right, my logical assumption that Valefor was hoping to use the genocide of the Quellians to fan the flames of dissent in Flaur's kingdom was a point of attention. But, I highly doubt that was his only plan, and if anything, this would open up more avenues for him to take to seize power from Flaur.
I felt a rising tension grow under my skin like a tunneling snake. There was an enemy that I had yet to see for myself amassing power just over the horizon, a natural leader with a blade pointed at the Queen's throat.
This tension, however, wasn't a negative feeling. It was of anticipation, as I needed to be on my a-game to prevent something like this from happening ever again.
"Ignis, our wagon has been prepared. We will be riding with the Demon Queen," Ashari said as she walked up to me.
She was now wearing her old clothes again, still as form-fitting and sheer.
"Thank you Ashari, not just for telling me, but... for everything," I told her.
"No, Ignis, I should be the one thanking you..." Ashari glanced over at Flaur, "If it weren't for your quick thinking, all would've been lost," She said as she rubbed her wrists.
"To believe you'd save a princess and a monarch within such a short span, Lunarsa must be watching over you, hehe" Ashari said with a giggle.
"Lunarsa, huh..." I muttered to myself as I redirected my attention to the wagon being led up to us.
Tiki was paired next to a horse, them both sharing the harness of a large covered wagon. Tiki casually licked the air as the horse next to her whinnied nervously; I wonder how they'll get along in the trip ahead.
"Let's board, we have no more time to waste," I commanded as I went along with Ashari and the others.
---
All that was left from the campsite was remnants of burnt timber and small dugouts from where tents were erected. I watched it slowly disappear from behind us as we trekked further into the woods, going opposite of where I had assumed we were going to take.
"You must be confused as to why we're going through the forest instead of cutting through the plain," Flaur noted as she caught me staring out of the wagon.
"Is it that obvious? I guess I should work on my poker face," I joked.
"To explain, this was the path my reconaissance team had taken when we had first chosen this spot to be our base," She began to explain.
"It may be slow to take the forest path, but it would be the least likely path to be discovered by Valefor and any of his troop." She concluded.
"Smart," I said.
"Hehe, yes, praise me for my superior command!" Flaur puffed her chest up as she rested her hands onto her waist; was she some big-boobed superhero now!?
"If we're taking this path back to the capital, how long will it take us to get there?" I asked.
"Hm, Stergos do you have the estimate?" Flaur asked Stergos who was visible through the coach window.
"It will roughly take us three moon-cycles, especially now at our current pace. If we don't encounter any issues on the way that is," Stergos explained.
"Three moon-cycles, that isn't terrible," I said.
"It isn't, especially with our pre-knowledge of the forest path," Flaur brought up.
I gave a small sigh of relief having heard this. I was worried I would be scrambling to come up with the escape plan, but it looks like that was covered by Flaur and her existing support given by Stergos.
"Once we're to reach the end of the forest line, we'll stop for the night." Stergos said as he then refocused his attention on the drive.
As I took a glance out of the wagon and up at the sky, I saw the purple atmosphere slowly change into an orange hue; it looked like how watercolor spreads on dry paper.
Just a couple more hours, and we'd be one step closer to being home free--
!?
The wagon came to a sudden halt as everyone inside lurched forward from it's reaction. Flaur who was sitting opposite of me tumbled downward and landed onto her face, she stayed faceplanted as I recovered and got up onto my feet.
"Stergos! What's going on!?" I shouted.
Stergos didn't turn around as he faced whatever it was outside that had caused us to abruptly stop.
"We're under attack by an Aurum Paladin!" He said as he blocked what looked like a blinding golden beam with his forearm; searing his coat's arm off.
As the golden beam was deflected, it destroyed the upper half of the wagon's canvas covering, revealing the perpetrator in question as she hovered above us with wings clad in light.
"Found you~" The woman wearing golden armor said in a gleeful tone as she pointed her lance directly at me.