Reincarnated: A Dragon's Tale

09. The Road to the Royal Capital

 We were by the road, on our journey to the capital. It was night and we were all around a bonfire after dinner.

 "Hey, are we almost at the capital yet?" I asked one of the soldiers traveling with us.

 He just chuckled a bit before answering, "Hardly. I know we've been on the road for two days, but we still have at least six or more days to go. The capital is quite far, little miss."

 His name was Treu, and he was the nice soldier who stuck up for me when I brought Bobo, my dragon, into town. Like me, he thinks I should become a soldier so we can end the war fast!

 "Indeed, that is precisely why I proposed our journey to Svet, the holy city. It would require but three days' travel to reach its sacred gates." 

 That was Priest Synder, the evil priest who was gonna take me away to the Church of the Goddess.

 "Oh, stop it. You just wanted to take the kid to one of the Cardinals of the Church."

 "And pray, what issue could there be with such a course of action? The girl is of the Church! It is naught but arrogance on your part to assume the right to take her to—"

 "Who said she's yours, ol' man?" This time the one who spoke was the other soldier, Rik. "Her dad's bravely fighting in the front lines, you ain't claiming her when her pa' is still alive."

 At those words, the evil man just made a face, like he was about to say something, but then he got cut off.

 "Please, everyone. Calm down! We already decided to head to the Capital, so there is nothing else to discuss. Let's just relax while we can; let's enjoy this beautiful night," said Lizzy before ruffling my hair.

 "Stop it! It's embarrassing!"

 Rik just smiled, and the other soldier kept looking at Lizzy.

 "I'm still surprised we brought Miss Lizzy with us. But well, the little kid cried for her and all," he said before chuckling.

 "I wasn't crying! I didn't cry!"

 He grinned at me, "Sure little miss, you didn't. Your eyes were sweating, that's all."

 Lizzy giggled at that, and Rik just nodded with his eyes closed. Even the priest gave a soft smile at the comment.

 "I didn't!"

 Before we started the trip, the day after I showed Bobo to the village, I asked Lizzy to come with us. But I didn't cry, I swear! And just like that, we were talking about how I definitely didn't cry when something bad happened.

 All of a sudden, Rik jumped up and rolled to the side super fast, and then he was on his feet in no time, pulling out his sword. At first, I was surprised, but then I saw it—an arrow on the ground! He totally dodged it!

 "Shit, the dragon ain't back yet... Lizzy! Get the kid to the carriage!"

 "We'll hold them back! Hurry!"

 I was still confused when Miss Lizzy grabbed me and took me away in her arms. Then I saw them—lots of shadowy figures were coming out of the forest. And there was Rik, slicing up this short green guy—there was blood everywhere! 

 Treu and even the bad priest were ready for a fight with the little guys, but that's all I saw before I was taken inside the carriage.

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 Lizzy's Point of View:

 As soon as we got inside the carriage I hastily took Elara to a corner, as far as possible from the entrance, and hugged her tightly. I was doing my best to keep her distracted from the chaos outside.