The price of madness vol.01 : Dream and Condemnation

Mask of Anger

The ride was silent. Nobody seemed to be in high spirits apart from 113 who didn't dare to show it too much for fear of giving Brena bad ideas.

"Why does he have the right to ride a horse?" She asked.

"Because otherwise he will slow us down." Keryll replied dryly.

"Smart. And at the same time if we attach it to the horse we could even make it run !"

"What I mostly would like to know, is why it is up to ME to get stuck with him." Added Ni'iterci.

A glare from Keryll is enough to stop them.

"We just left the fort and have a long way to cross the swamps of Algirus. So spare me your stupid remarks."

"Permission to speak ma'am?" Brena asked respectfully.

"Granted?" Keryll ventured.

"Why are we heading East if our goal is Oshensta? We'd better join Dayand by boat and cross Asterite to the West, right? It's shorter..."

"That's a good point." Resumed Ni'iterci. "But Oshensta is a human kingdom. And for your information we are at war with them so you can imagine that they have blocked their border... Our only chance of entering is to go by sea from Ambrios or to go around the whole continent to still enter by sea... So in the end it's shorter there..."

Brena smirked at being taken for an idiot like that but restrained herself so as not to offend her General.

The Drake people of Algirus were made up of humanoid reptiles not particularly fond of strangers and living withdrawn into themselves. The only way to cross the swamps was an old wooden jetty several hundred miles long and very poorly maintained. This country was dangerous and many adventurers and travelers regularly got lost there if they didn't follow it because it was very inadvisable to swim in the murky water. Sometimes the Drakes found them in time and took them to the border of their territory, forbidding them to return, but often they were never seen again. Keryll really hoped not to run into them because her mission required them to keep going no matter the obstacle. Knowing that the country bordering Algirus was Fardis, the second human Empire against which they were at war, if they wanted to push them back to the border it would be a death warrant. Theirs or the Drakes. She preferred at the limit to fall on a good old creature devoid of civilization to give her a quick thrashing. Politics or diplomacy were not really her forte. Brena was a brute who struck before thinking, 113 had no experience in this kind of field and Ni'iterci was unknown to her so it was difficult to rely on her skills. Still, the first hours of travel went smoothly and they were able to make their way to the middle of the territory. It was also quite difficult to tell what time of the day it was. The ambient fog did not really leave room for observing the sky. This kind of weather was hated by the Nar', the humidity on their fur being very unpleasant. In addition, this humidity made it impossible to light a campfire to warm up or cook food. 113 was used to not eating and the others were over-trained elite warriors so that wasn't what would bother them the most.

The young Nar' had prayed to all the gods he knew to thank them for this adventure. Clinging to the waist of Ni'iterci, he observed the surroundings, bewitched by the scent of camellia escaping from the red hair of his rider which protruded slightly from her helmet.

"What are you looking at like that? Are you afraid of being attacked in the back?" She asked not without a certain bitterness.

"N-No. I'm enjoying the scenery..." He whispered.

Ni'iterci turned her head as best she could to look at him. Her beautiful emerald eyes shone behind her angry looking mask.

"The scenery ?" She wondered.