Princess of Victory - Guardians of Forewood [1]

Chapter 8: A Moment of Peace

Day 13of the Fourth Month, Year 1016, after midnight

Southern Goldburg Area, Goldburg Province

DEV started to come out of his daze.

No, didn't he tell her to leave him behind?

Dev felt stuffed. His chest almost couldn't breathe, because... No one ever did that for him. Even his brother left, although for his own good, but didn't mean it didn't hurt. No one... No one waited for him.

He smiled. "You... How did you..."

Victoria glanced at him with a smile. "Good, you're finally conscious," she said, sighed heavily. "We never escaped—although, if this is real, we are escaping now...? I hope this is real..."

He looked around and realized what she was saying. So, when he was trapped and dying, all of that... was a dream? Just like how he saw his brother's execution, how he had lived in the street, and how he was dying under those hits and punches... Turned out it was all a long nightmare.

In front of them was a spiral staircase going up. It was just... it was quite a high staircase. They couldn't see the ceiling, so they couldn't estimate how deep underground they were, but it didn't seem easy to climb...

"Well, we certainly have to hurry," she said. "Before anything could trap us again."

"Mm hmm," Dev murmured in return. They started to climb Goddess knows how many steps. He didn't count. It just wasn't possible.

He tried his best not to weigh her down. Only Goddess knew how she escaped while bringing his unconscious self with her. He didn't want to burden her anymore.

When they reached the top, he was exhausted. Combination of getting his head bashed and having to do extreme cardio afterwards was really not good.

Up above the ground, they came out of a wooden shack and found the same backyard with the same mundane stable and the same normal horses. The backyard was surrounded by wooden fences that they could easily jumped over. Victoria did exactly that, and Dev followed behind her, holding the dim lantern.

The big house of the village head was located directly behind a small river. Dev glanced at her. "Should we just..."

Victoria dipped her hand into the river, up into her arms, and still couldn't find the bottom. She winced as the belated cold of the water assaulted her senses. "No, this is too deep. I... can't swim."

"Ah," Dev nodded. "Yes. It won't do if we die drowning after escaping."

So, they had to walk along the bank until they found a bridge.

The wooden bridge in front of them was connected with the road from the village. It was lit by several lanterns, but losing the cover of the darkness made Dev anxious. "Let's go," he said.

"Yes, yes." Victoria rubbed the back of her injured head, and groaned in pain when she realized what she did.

When they tried to cross the bridge, though, somehow, something seemed to prevent them. Victoria had a bad hunch in her heart. "Why... are we turning around?" Dev questioned in surprise, in his still short breath.

Victoria gritted her teeth. "Magic."

Dev was taken aback. "Magic... does it really exist?"

Victoria didn't answer and tapped her pendant instead. Aside from allowing Luz to track her within distance, the pendant has another effect that could only be used once per month—or better yet, after Beth recharged it. It could dispel any magic that was applied on or around the wearer. It was useful for them now—the two could passed the bridge easily this time.