The Elementals

Chapter 3: First Day Together

~ 2 Hours Later ~

The group walked in complete silence, no one making an effort to stir up a conversation. Elizabeth remained in the lead, her gait slightly faster than everyone else's, with Kyle not too far behind. The other four walked together, an awkward aura hanging between them. The constant crunching from the gravel road they walked on seemed to get louder with each step.

"Is anyone else kinda... scared?" Alexis asked, breaking the silence. Candice, who was walking on her left side, nodded slightly and sighed.

"A little, but I think we'll be okay," she said with a soft smile.

"King Hudson said we'd do fine. If He thinks we have the power needed to handle the filth down south, we can do it," Noah said, running a hand through his hair and directing his attention to the one in the lead. "How much farther do we have?"

"Not too much; we should be able to see the town in a few minutes or so," Elizabeth answered, glancing over her shoulder. "Don't complain." Noah scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"No one's complaining, it was just a question," he muttered. Kyle suddenly groaned as he raised his arms to the sky and stretched, staring at the sunrise.

"You guys, this is gonna be a piece of cake. As long as I'm with you, anything that gets in our way will get burned to a crisp," he said as he put his hands behind his head.

"We're supposed to work together, Kyle. If these rogues are taking out whole villages and aiming for the main towns, there's got to be some serious power behind it," Brandon informed, taking off his cloak and throwing it over his shoulder. "I doubt you could carry all the responsibility." The other boy only chuckled, keeping his eyes directed ahead of him.

"You won't become friends with us if you keep up with that cocky attitude. I assume you got everything you wanted with it back home, but it's gonna do nothing for you outside the walls. We're all you have out here," Alexis said. "You can also drop the tough guy act because it's not helping with making you seem brave now; the way you responded to the King's wishes gave away just how scared you really are." As the words slowly sunk in, the smirk on his face eventually faded. Silence covered them like a blanket as they continued on.

After about another half hour, they arrived at Naporia. It was around eight when they got there but the town was already alive and active with creatures. The six made their way along the crowded cobblestone path, looking around at all the shops and small houses. From the looks of it, the population was mostly made up of fauns. Elves and a few elderly elementals worked  the shops, and orcs stood with crossed arms on corners.

"The Inn we're supposed to be staying at is near the opposite gate," Elizabeth said, turning around. "I'm assuming everyone has their own coin?" The others nodded in response.

"So we're just supposed to stay here all day?" Alexis asked while her wide brown eyes looked eagerly to the food stands. Brandon laughed and patted the top of her head.

"Yeah, that's the plan," he said. Noah cleared his throat and shook his head at Alexis' behaviour.

"I think we should rent our rooms first before turning anyone loose to get food," he advised.

"Most of these shops sell only a variety sweets. We'll eat real food at the Inn, then anyone who would like to can freely go satisfy their sweet tooth," Elizabeth said. They all made their way to the other end of the town where they would stay for the day, Noah having to keep a strong grip on Alexis' backpack as they walked so that she didn't run off into the crowd to the shops despite what Elizabeth had said.