Realm of the Mad God: Novel

Chapter VI

The morning of the next day, Kira and Elliot arrived near the entrance of the Fedrinas Kingdom. To their surprise, it was not a castle at all; rather, simply a large town fortified by massive stone garrisons and four tall surrounding towers. Like all the other cities of this realm, it had no government; the town heralded no king or queen, or even a mayor of any sorts - it was run entirely by its citizens, most of which were travelers gearing up for war. At the kingdom's entrance was a wooden drawbridge, which had recently been lowered; a band of about fifteen or so travelers had just left the town and were departing eastwards past the Liavel Hills.

"Are those the travelers departing for war?" Elliot asked. "They seem a rather small group."

"Probably not; I wonder where they're going, though?"

Kira and Elliot rushed towards the group and confronted a Necromancer amongst them. "Where are you guys going?" Kira asked.

"We're heading to the Maduin Swamp to kill the Lich that dwells there."

"A Lich? I thought all the travelers were gathering together to slay a Red Demon!"

"Yes, that too; but first we have to take care of some of the weaker monsters guarding the Red Demon's domain as well."

A Lich shouldn't be very hard, Kira thought. Even if it DID guard the Red Demon's territory, I don't see how a single Lich could impede an entire army that's marching off to war.

"How long is this journey going to take?" Elliot asked.

"We're only going to the swamp; about a day or so. Expect to encounter a lot of nasty monsters along the way, though!"

"Only a day? Kira, can we follow them, then?"

I don't see why not. If we go into town right now, then we'd have to sit around and wait for Claire and the others to arrive. This journey should give us something to do in the meantime. Kira nodded.

They joined in with the group and began heading down a road that led southeast; it would leave the Liavel Hills behind and cross into the lowlands, along which they would encounter the swamp. The day was very warm, and the air rather humid; it was quite sunny and there was hardly a breeze in the air. The swamp's gonna be terrible in this heat, Kira thought. She gazed up at the cloudless blue sky and wondered if it ever rained inside this Realm; of course, having only been in this world for a few weeks, she could not confirm anything.

At noon, they stopped by a small river to eat lunch. Kira sat down beside Elliot underneath a willow tree and began eating a sandwich; for a while, neither of them spoke. As usual, Kira found herself deep in thought while she ate. I wonder if the others are okay? Well, since Eilin's with them, they're probably completely fine right now. Still, I'm worried; the Snake Pit is definitely amongst one of the harder dungeons. Will they make it out fine?

She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the tree. And yet there's another thing that troubles me. Elliot...or, more specifically, his memory. He's been the only connection between me and my past after we came into this world. But now, he doesn't remember anything; it makes me feel so...distant. I want to know more about myself; more about the life that I had before Oryx took me into his Realm.

"Elliot," Kira suddenly said, "Have you still...no memory of our lives before we came into this Realm?"

The boy shook his head. "Not at all. Why do you ask?"

"Well...you know. The past is important; it lets us know who we are through our memories. Without it, I feel like I've just lost my very identity."

"But no one in this Realm remembers their past. We're just like everyone else, now."

Kira sighed; she stood up when she saw that the group was about to leave. "I was thinking; you can't possibly be the only one who can remember their past inside this world. There must be others out there; I want to find them, and maybe they'll tell us how we could recall our memories. And then, once we do...perhaps we'll even be able to discover a way to escape this Realm?"