Bloodline

The road ahead - part 3

The plains stretched far and wide in their view as Damian takes a breath of the cool air and stares into the distance. Theres no way we can possibly lose, not without us, he silently thought as he looked back at his friends, Zircon jogging as everyone else rides the horses in a trot. "How far are we going to have to go to reach the kingdom Osred?" Maralyne finally asked when getting tired of looking at the grass sway in the wind. "Quite a distance, we'll be passing many territories and areas before we can reach there, our kingdom being in the southwest. Tesath can tell you about the actual kingdom though, she used to live there before the new but cruel king took the throne. It was a beautiful place and a rich kingdom before the tragedy that took place." Damian and Maralyne look at Tesath, surprised. "You lived in that kingdom? How was it like?" Damian asked as Tesath looks away, a slight bit of red on her cheeks. "It was a beautiful place, we were one of the greatest and liveliest kingdoms of all others in the continent, I was still much younger when that dark king came by, everyone could feel it as he took our throne by force, which is surprising when our kind had many magic-like powers much like mine that can enhance our abilities."

"What do you mean your kind?" Zircon pipes in as he stares thoughtfully into some mountains coming into view through the tall grass of the plains. "Though I look very human to you, my kind are said to have been descendants of an ancient god that married a human in the east, near the kingdom where it would be built after many years. That kingdom would be the eastern kingdom we are at war with, but you may ask, 'what of the bloodline passed down to the children of the god?' Nobody actually knows, but it's said that most people that lived in the kingdom had that godly blood that gave them hidden and amazing powers, them being ones that have the special kind of abilities that are shown through their traits, much like my healing and strengthening powers." "That's a lot to take in, but what about the tragedy that took place there, what of it?" Damian looked back to say. "The dark king ordered many knights and dark mages to hunt us down, the people with the special powers, and force them to work for him, if not then execution was given in the middle of the town where everyone saw. Most got away, but only me and a few others were able to leave alive, the few that got out but captured were put in cages that were on display through the whole city, a strange contraption was connected to the cages that was said to harvest the power and life from the captured victims, nobody knows much of it other than it's all connected to the castle which is always closed off from the public." Tesath says as she looks down, a face showing no sign of anything as everyone remains silent for a moment.

As the sun lowers down onto the big hills of swaying grass, Lutol let's out a big yawn as Osred stops his horse. "I think it would be a great idea for us to camp out here tonight, there'll be dense forests up ahead soon, and we need all the energy we and our horses can get to move through it all." Smiling, Lutol says, "About time, I was waiting for when I would get the chance to eat." Everyone gets off their horses with some of their packs and sit in a circle. They each set their own tent, Lutols being bigger and covered in many patches compared to everyone else's, and they cut some of the grass and make a campfire, Zircon taking out a metal plate and with tongs, setting it into the fire along with some meat chunks. Maralyne and Osred set a large pot on a makeshift stand above the fire and pour water into it, adding ingredients when it boils. All of them converse for most of the time they wait for the stew to cook, and after a few minutes of eating, Zircon sighs, "so how many places are we going to pass before we get there Osred?" "We'll be done with the plains by tomorrow morning, then I will guess two days of dense forest are ahead, then it should be a few more plains before we reach a sort of desert landscape, in which we will then cross part of an ocean before we reach the territory the kingdom owns." Damian eats the last bite of his stew, looking at Osred, "So maybe about a weeks journey before we reach there? Doesnt sound too bad." "That's because I didnt go into explaining each area we will pass, the dark kingdom has holed up in some parts of the area, one being nearby in the forest. You should've asked the army scouts before we went off, we need as much Intel as possible for their positions." Damian nods and Maralyne raises a hand, "So how many people are we talking here, it has to be quite a few if they are camping in there." "I would think twenty at least, we cant underestimate them, especially with how large they were on their first attack." Damian, Zircon, and Maralyne nod and get up, going in their tents, Zircon using a cloak to cover himself, almost making himself invisible in the grass. Lutol stretches and goes in his tent, a hole being made with his axe sticking out as Osred puts out the fire.

"Who am I? Who're my real parents?"
Zircon quietly thought as he slept, turning over and trying to get in a more comfortable position.
"Its going to be a while before we reach there, I hope they're doing okay back at the castle..."
He then let's out a small snore, just as it happened.

*rustle*

Zircon wakes to the sound, and looks around, through his cloak, seeing the tents of his friends through it. A figure moves next to one, but in a careful manner, something in their hand. Zircon moves his hand slowly, and moves the cloak up from his face a bit, and in black and green clothing, an assassin moves closer to the entrance to the tent. The emblem of something on the shoulder is seen, and Zircon let's out a small gasp, to which the assassin didnt hear luckily. Thinking to himself, "What am I supposed to do?? I can't make a sound or else I'll reveal myself and likely not have enough time to get up before they strike, so what do I do??" Zircon looks around and puts a hand to his side, getting an idea. "My knives! Okay...How am I going to do this...?" He looks at the assassin again, it opening the tent and looking inside. "I got one shot at this..." He gets up slowly, and whistles, to which the assassin turns to face him, Zircon having a blade in between his fingers as he lines up his aim. He throws the knife, letting out a breath, and watches it fly as the assassin tries to dodge. Zircon and the assassin get a glance at each other in the process, the knife getting closer and closer...