Misadventures Of Two Lost Souls

Chapter 13: Lack of Direction

It had been a rough few days of travel, but they had finally arrived at the small town away from The Citadel and the whole war now fully raging. This place was small enough to go unnoticed but large enough to be considered a city.

Two months after the fight at The Citadel walls, Xenoia had led a group over here to check out and look over any damages that might've occurred lately, as well as recruit any men willing to fight for the forces of the kingdom.

Xenoia was a strong leader, yes, but she couldn't form any relationship with these people, and that only isolated her more.

The city of Holden was maintaining itself in great shape, no dark forces had roamed to this area so far. It was a relief, to say the least. The Holy Knights announced the trouble that had occurred and was occurring in the area and quickly assured them of protection. She had never spoken in front of so many before, but the situation just became more dire each day. 

Was everything going to be okay, they asked, and Xenoia said it would be.

They were going to protect the kingdom, they asked, and Xenoia said yes.

Xenoia assured them about safety, how this war wouldn't last long, how the kingdom would be victorious in the end, now she just had to believe it herself.

On the way back to The Citadel, as they all settled down for rest for the night, Hyaci stayed up watching the fire as other soldiers took turns. She didn't need sleep. The others took turns of two and sat a bit away from her whispering to each other. 

Nobody in this group doubted her abilities as a fighter, as a good leader, but she knew they doubted other things. Safe to say, she had been a disaster for a few months now. Sleeping was tough, trying to stay up and afloat was too. She was jumpy, almost snapping at anybody that looks at her with either pity or judgement on their faces. This was more than she ever wanted, being involved in a war like this. But the tranquillity of Hammerhold was only in her memories now.

She made sure to pray for the gods and goddesses at least a few minutes every day. She was hoping maybe it would aid good things to come her way. So far she hadn't had any luck.

The walls of The Citadel could already be seen from where they were, they'd reach home again in the morning and the new ones could start training, the others continue it. What would Hyaci do?

She stared at the flames and thought about this. What was she going to do? Those days adventuring with Alric, as nerve-racking as it had been, made her feel more useful than leading fighters. She felt like she was truly doing something no other could do. It's not like she had grown addicted to the feeling of adrenaline from fights or the calmness of nights with only nature surrounding them. She was just fond of them and not the large groups of people that made her feel so unimportant.

She sighed and shifted slightly, instead of focusing on the fire now looking at the stars over her head. It was so quiet and calm here, even if the white noise in her head was quiet enough to let her think.

Maybe she could keep going out on missions like this one, the days of travel made her feel at peace enough. But she still had others to command and such... Too many people around her. Leaving the kingdom altogether and her duties as knight didn't sit right with her either, she had vowed back in Hammerhold and she was going to keep going until her demise. She owed them that.

A small noise made her perk up, stilling her breathing to listen as clearly as one could. They were like footsteps, but everyone in the camp was supposed to be asleep and The Citadel was still a day of travel. Why would she-?

A humanoid figure jumped on top of her, a knife raised high aimed at her neck. With no hesitation, Hyaci quickly reached up and held the other creature tightly by the neck.  As it let out a gasp, General Xenoia called out to the rest of the camp, her voice steady.