The Dragon Bond: Heirs of Lyra

Chapter 59

She stretched her stiff neck, wincing from the pain as it radiated from her scapula to the base of her skull. Sleeping on the ground was not doing wonders for her body. She felt four times her age and smelled even worse. There was no time to rest. When the horse needed a break, Elysia busied herself with hunting for food. It was difficult cooking a meal without creating smoke. Hunger and sleep deprivation were only adding to the Princess' frustrations.

Her clothes were torn up from walking past so many brambles, her shoes were wet from the mud--Niebla's constant overcast made sure of that--and her saddle was sore from riding. Despite all the discomforts of the journey, Elysia knew she needed to trudge on. She was all too aware of her destiny looming over her like a hawk ready to claim its prey. One wrong move and she could be the ruin of her entire kingdom.

However, she hoped the risk of her actions would be overcome by the reward of gaining an alliance with Bacciballum. According to the Fates, it was Lyra's only hope. Which meant Elysia was their only hope. This gave her enough fortitude to carry on.

Several times throughout her journey, the Princess had to avoid patrols. While in some cases she could simply divert around them, other times were deemed necessary to hide. The size of her horse did not make the task easy. More than once she had to abandon her horse in case a patrol caught sight of it. With time she always made her way back. The horse was loyal, knowing to wait for her until she returned.

This time, when she spotted the unmistakable Nieblan emblem from her position up the hill, she knew there would be trouble. It was not a simple patrol, keeping a loose eye on matters and riding through the forest. This was an entire battalion. Her stomach flipped so many times she thought she might be sick. She fought frantically for a way to avoid them.

Unfortunately they were everywhere. If she wanted to get past them she would have to go around them entirely, wasting hours of time.

There were so many of them and Elysia noticed some bore the colors of other kingdoms. This meant war was a lot closer than her parents realized. If Niebla was already gathering troops from other kingdoms, it was not looking good for Lyra. They needed more alliances fast.

Elysia hoped this was merely a test group, full of young soldiers training for the real thing. It was not an uncommon occurrence for kingdoms to train their troops months before waging war. Doing so gave them time to work out flaws and instill focus while enhancing combat skills.

Lyra did this with their advanced army, those who were paid by the King to serve. Elysia hoped Lyra's civilian army was doing the same.

While she had distance on her side, the Princess took time to conjure a plan. After each idea failed miserably against every flaw she could muster, she determined the only logical thing to do was go around. She would have to go back the way she came and then go around, losing several hours, but it was the only safe solution.

After wasting half the day going around the large group, Elysia found a place to rest. She felt defeated. Her feet ached from the walk and she tried rubbing some feeling back into them. A noise from her horse made her stand. She walked over to the gelding and pat his neck affectionately. He was hungry no doubt. She reached into the saddle bag for its food, only to come up empty. Frantically she searched again.

Eventually she came to the realization that the bag must have come loose, falling out at some point during the journey. The Princess groaned in frustration. This day was proving to be a waste.

Knowing a hungry horse would not get far, she made course for the nearest village. Originally, her intent was to avoid villages like the plague. No unnecessary sightings. Unfortunately, there was no alternative.