*All characters, except kids, are 19+. VOL 1. complete.*
Nineteen-year-old Dana never thought that when the three thousand-year war between her people and the demons ended, she and other fairies would be sent off to the demons as brides.
Not long af...
At eight in the morning, the priests and guards woke everybody up. After one final check, ensuring that I had packed plenty of potions and hidden Ike well in my satchel, I bid farewell to my room. Before heading to the castle's dining hall, I handed one of the guards my letter; they said they'd deliver it after we were gone. Since that's what I wanted, I didn't object.
After breakfast, the other brides said a final, and tearful, goodbye to their families before we all went to the courtyard. The Noon Tower's portal can only transport things and people within Elfame; to go outside the kingdom's borders, we have to use teleportation circles.
Once everyone had taken their seats, ten people per wagon, the circles emitted a bright blue light and the next thing we saw were the Dragon Mountains. Moving in single file, the wagons headed straight.
The wagons themselves were powered by magic and didn't need horses. But they still needed drivers, though.
The journey through the mountains was grueling; both mentally and physically. Other than the twenty fairies who volunteered to be brides, I was the only one who didn't cry or whine about the whole situation. Barely two days into our journey, I begged the drivers for a break. Since they were just as sick of the crying and complaining, they complied.
We stopped at a place with a lake.
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"Oh, finally!" exclaimed one of the fairies in the other wagons. Other than the call of nature, we haven't stopped once since we started. (Fairies can go a week without sleep and be fine. Three or four days for me.)
As we all got off the wagons, stretching our muscles, Chepi and the other fairies flew straight to the lake; clothes flying off their bodies as they went. And it wasn't just them, all but the drivers flew into the lake.
(We're all girls here, so no need for modesty. Also, the drivers put up a barrier to conceal our presence and protect us from the chilly mountain air.)
I used magic to remove the travel dust and grime from my body; which got me envious stares from the other fairies that were taking off their clothes, or armor in some cases.
"What?" I asked. "It's not my fault you guys can't do this."
One of the drivers was checking the supplies in the fifth wagon from the lead.
(Just so you know, I'm the only one who's traveling light. At least three of the fourteen wagons contain the personal effects of the other fairies; even the ones that volunteered brought several suitcases. And FYI: Those volunteers are at least two to five centuries old and have been on the battlefield's front lines for most of their lives. In other words, all they brought with them, besides a few changes of clothes, were armor and weapons.)
"Bad news," she said as she came over to the others. "There aren't enough cakes, sweets, and tea to last us tomorrow, let alone the rest of the journey."
