The Ancients

Chapter 2

The first few days of the trip went by calmly. The three elected to stay off of main roads and outside of the towns if they could help it. They had expensive armor and blades; it could attract the wrong people's attention. Not many commoners knew Liam outside of his name, but the king's son could go for a heavy ransom if the wrong person knew who they were looking at.

It was better to avoid any extra attention than to run the risk of being ambushed.

After the fourth or fifth day, Liam started to hunt. Mostly rabbits and pheasants he found in the woods when they stopped near them. He said if he kept fresh game coming, they would be able to ration the meat that was already dried in case their trip took an unexpected turn. His two companions agreed that it was a good idea, besides the fresh food tasted better than their dried-out rations anyway.

At first Alex would become anxious with Liam going into the woods alone. Insisting that he go with him, but Liam and Vipin convinced him that his armor would be too loud, and he would scare off dinner. So, for a while Liam wouldn't be gone for more than a half hour, but now once they made camp the two didn't worry if he was back before sunset.

Vipin could hunt, but Liam spent years in the wilderness training before the war started. He had hunted with Nix Elves and lived off the land for almost twenty years. He tracked game in half the time it took Vipin and his arrow always found purchase where he intended.

This allowed him some solitude, which was not an opportunity provided to him in Aurum. Being called to council meetings, followed around by servants and squires, his schedule filled with lessons in politics and history. Grooming him to take the throne. Especially now, in the middle of the war, lessons in strategy became intense.

He would spend hours in lectures where they would ask him possible scenarios and have him respond. Pressing him to become victorious in impossible battles that were set for him to fail.

Vipin could see him leaving the war room late at night with his father and tutors. Dark circles under his eyes, an empty look on his face, like a lifeless body that would stumble back to his room just to start again early in the morning.

"I don't want the throne," Liam told her once. "I'm going to get us all killed."

Vipin had tried to remind him that they made the scenarios impossible on purpose. That battles wouldn't always be like that, and they were making sure he could make the correct choices if it came down to it. Her comfort had helped for a while, but the thought of his impending failure took its toll.

Logan would be better at this, Liam would think to himself. The second born Ivalo had always taken more to the politics in court and the strategies of battle more than the act on the field. It was a comforting thought that Liam would have his brother's mind on his side when he took the throne. He could come to him for his council and wisdom.

Though, his brother's brilliance didn't help him in his lessons where he faced defeat. "Thousands are going to die if you make choices like that," his father would tell him. It seemed no matter what choice he made; his kingdom fell.

Here, away from the city, surrounded by his friends. He could forget about the impending feeling that he was going to be responsible for millions of people, and he was going to get them all killed.

Here he could make Vipin and Alex laugh and keep them fed. He might not ever be the best strategist, maybe he would always have to lean on Logan's help for battles. But here, he knew he could protect them, that they would all be safe.

Even though he was sent to accomplish a task for his father, it was almost relaxing to be on the road again. In the wilderness with no one to breathe down his neck and tell him he was failing.