We walked through various forests, meadows and hills. The sun had already risen above us and was shining through the small gaps in the trees. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a pool. I nodded slightly to Lasin that we should stop. The water was as clear as glass and the sun's rays were reflected everywhere.
"I'm going to take a bath, so keep an eye on things and don't think of anything."
I frowned slightly. "Me and think of something?" I laughed. "If only there was something to look at." She turned away, offended. I sat down a little further down the slope. A few moments passed and then I could hear people climbing out of the water. She came to me, dressed.
"You take a bath too, I won't be in such stinky company."
I frowned. "The stench is a natural camouflage." She rolled her eyes.
"Your presence is enough for you and everyone notices you." Without a word, I got up and headed for the pool. After that, we refilled our drinks. I sat half-naked on a stump and pulled out a loaf of bread. She tried to be inconspicuous, but unsuccessfully. She stopped me by looking at my body.
"What are you looking at?" I reprimanded her. She looked away.
"At a tree." Lasin was only covered by larger shirts.
"When did you take my shirt?" I asked in surprise. It was my last shirt in good condition.
"It was lying here, so I borrowed it." Lasin fixed her gaze on the bread and licked her lips lightly. We were hungry, but we couldn't afford to eat it all. I cut it in half and put the other half back in the rag. I cut the rest in half again and gave half to Lasin. With unquenchable hunger in her eyes, she accepted a piece of bread and immediately pounced on it.
"Where are you from?" I broke the silence.
"From the Luskar Empire, but due to problems I was forced to flee, where are you from?" I flinched slightly at the sound of the empire. "Luskar is not completely corrupt," she added.
"I come from Detruisia, from a farm," I replied.
"You, and you're from a farm?" She laughed. I stabbed her with a sharp look. She immediately stopped laughing. "You don't seem like a farmer at all." I bit into the bread and swallowed.
"Do you think I should have a scythe and cut grain here somewhere so that I could have grown up on a farm in the past?" I asked angrily. She rolled her eyes.
"I just think farmers usually don't know how to fight." I looked into those azure eyes.
"Girls can fight normally?" I paused. "That's even more common than a farmer." I raised one eyebrow curiously.
"I had to survive somehow," she said desperately.
"You see, I have it anyway."
A silence that ended our conversation.
The next day of the expedition passed in varying degrees of peace, here and there we trained against each other. Considering that we were traveling on the road to the capital, we met almost no pilgrims or caravans.
"Do you know what's going on, that there are no traders on the road?" I asked.
"The only thing I heard is that there are some border problems with the empire." A large person emerged from around the bend. Judging by the figure, it was an experienced warrior, seven feet tall. I placed my hand discreetly on the hilt of my sword. His short, blond hair highlighted his long ears. This race is called the Ming. The Ming are the most common race that wields magic. Their orange eyes fixed on me. We walked a short distance past each other. I breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly, the Ming stopped and turned to me.
"Don't I know you from somewhere?" he asked. I stopped and turned to him. He was watching me closely, his eyes couldn't miss even the smallest detail.
"I don't think so," I answered confidently. Lasin looked at me suspiciously.
"Okay, it was probably just a mistake." Ming calmly continued. I was relieved that it was nothing more. My senses told me that he was dangerous and I shouldn't get involved with him.
"Strange," Lasin said uncertainly. Her gaze indicated curiosity. I don't need to explain anything to her. I reassured myself. The ground suddenly became softer beneath us. There was a crunching sound of roots and the ground began to give way. I jumped and got to solid ground. Suddenly the ground gave way completely beneath Lasin. She screamed. After the situation calmed down, I leaned over the edge. Lasin fell about three meters below the surface of the road. I jumped down.
"Are you okay?" I asked. She hissed in pain. Obviously she was. It felt like a room. I looked around and stopped at a stone tombstone. I walked over to it and removed the pieces of rubble that were covering it. The inscription was written in an unknown language.
"You ask if I'm okay, and when I indicate that I'm not, you suddenly become interested in a stone with a few letters on it." I walked over to her and pushed the rubble away from her.
"Can you walk?" She moaned slightly in pain.
"I don't know yet." I grabbed her hand and lifted her to a standing position. "Yes, I can, but slowly." She leaned against me and tried to take a few steps. The head of the Ming appeared from the hole above us.
"Are you okay?" he asked and jumped down. I looked at him in fear. What is he doing here? Shouldn't he be gone by now?
"More or less," I replied. Lasin frowned at me.
"Speak for yourself." Ming looked at the tombstone. He stopped and turned to us with a noticeable shock on his face.
"This is what I've been looking for all this time." Lasin and I looked at each other, neither of us feeling comfortable in his presence .
"What's written there?" I asked. It was some ancient text.
"Year 2184, monument of the dead." I'd never come across anything so old. We were in the year 4230. Nothing has survived from two thousand years ago, and no records have been preserved. Anyone who tried to find out anything about that time gave up after a few months because it didn't get anywhere.
"This changes a lot of theories," he muttered to himself. I looked at him incredulously.
"It's just a monument of the dead," I said. He shook his head. He obviously decided there was no point in explaining it to me. I climbed out of the pit.
"I'm Lasin and this is Daen, who are you?" Lasin introduced us, breaking the sudden awkward silence.
"I'm Jurian, nice to meet you." He watched me suspiciously. It was uncomfortable. "What is your family name, Daene?" As if his eyes were searching for a tiny crack in me.
"Lirdenk, but I left them." It was a truth I had to admit. Apparently, that was enough for Jurian, and he stopped suspecting me so much for now. I looked around. As if nature had gone silent after the unveiling of a monument.
"Cover it!" I ordered.
"What is it?" Lasin asked. Suddenly, a faint rustling began. All my instincts told me that we shouldn't have uncovered it.
"COVER IT!" Jurian felt it too, and began covering it with pieces of rubble. We were angering the very Nimer.
"What the hell got into you!" Lasin shouted in my ear.
"We've discovered something that must not see the light of day," Jurian said.
"Where are you headed?" he asked.
"To Endton, why?" Lasin replied.
"We may not live to see tomorrow, so I don't want to die alone, and I'm also headed to Endton now that I've found it," he paused. "Can I join you? I'm certainly not going to be a bother." I looked at Lasin with a no. She looked back at me questioningly, as if to say, What do you have against him? I shook my head to tell her not to worry.
"Yes, we'd be happy to have you company." I glared at her. His presence and suspicion made me want to just leave, but I promised Lasin I'd go to Endton with her, and promises are valuable to me.