With the spell of wind to support her, she did not have much trouble in dragging the cart with her though it weighed much more than her.
Her eyes were scanning the map that was stained with blood and then at the path. According to the map, she was on the right path and if she walked for a few more kilometers, she would reach the exit.
But when she stared at her surroundings, she did not feel it was the case.
The woods were getting dense and the shadow of dark only increased around her.
The sky has already turned red and soon it will be night. If she would not return by midnight, she would lose by default.
If only witches have the spell for finding a path and if they have, she knows that spell!
To her surprise, she had not met a single person. She had stopped walking and stood there.
She had decided that she would not use clear magic spells that could place her in danger but she was sure that she would lose without them.
“I was not the first one to cheat! Changing my map initiated it.” she said with a sigh.
She had thought Daclan was making sure that her things would not be messed up. But she had already lost her horse and now her map was wrong too.
Taking a deep breath, she touched the ground and closed her eyes. Whispering the soft spells, a faint light started to come out of her fingers.
Soon a small plant started to come out of the ground that grew tall instantly. She was sitting on the branch of the tree when it continued to grow larger and larger.
She was higher than all the trees that existed there. It gave her a good view of the sky and of the ground too.
She could not see men walking on the ground but she could see the tent. It was on her right side.
If she walked straight to the right for a long time and then turned a few times to her west and then south, she would soon reach the exit point.
She used the map to draw the path again and matched it twice. Once she was sure that she was done, she patted the tree as if she was praising it for its good work.
“Well done!” She smiled at the tree and then jumped from the tree.
As if the wind’s hand spread its wings and held her. She did not fall on the ground but sways in the wind a bit before landing on the ground on his feet.
With a smile she dragged the cart now. She already had a glow of winner on her face as she hummed the tune and started walking leisurely.
She could see the lurking animals but when they felt the silver glow around her and the numbers of beasts she was dragging, they did not come closer to her.
They howled and roared from the distance as if asking her to leave already. In exchange, she smirked and raised a brow while growling back at them.
Her voice was more vicious than them. It scared them and they took their steps back. She was like the queen of beasts with everyone bowing their heads in front of her.
Nobles, who were sure that she had already lost her life, much less the chance of winning, were surprised when they saw her walking to them from afar.
Many of them have taken a break and were grilling meat on the fire they have lit.
“Finally!” She was relieved that she was among the nobles again. She could use this chance to make some contacts.
With a smile on her face, she walked towards them even when she felt that their face turned dark and gloomy after looking at her.
“You all do not look too happy to see me. Am i disturbing your quality time?” she stared at the meat of the animal and then laughed, “who would have thought that you all will cook a bison instead of using it as a sacrifice for the hunt!”
Bison are hard to find and must be a better beast than a wolf. One was enough to scare away or kill more than three wolves!
They all adjusted the expressions on their faces and looked at the hunt she was dragging with her with a smirk on their faces.
Though she had killed more than a dozen wolves, they were not the strongest beast here.
“We still have half of its body as proof. You can not expect us to starve or eat a larger dog in food. Do you?” she knew that they were mocking her hunt but she just shrugged her shoulders.
“Yes, eating a dog is awful. But what can I do? I only have that. So, I will depend on you as my subjects for my food too.” with that she let go of the cart and sat on the nearest stone where others were sitting.
They have a frown on their face. The duke who had mocked her even gritted his teeth. The woman was braver than they had thought.
Could she not see that she was not welcome here. When he looked at his other partners, he noticed how they were staring at her cart again and again with a look of wonder in their eyes that only worsened his mood.
He could not let them sway to her. With a smile on his face, he walked and sat on a stone in front of her.
“Who would have thought that a young girl would announce herself as the emperor! I must say that I was taken aback, my lady.“ He tilted his head when he kept her gaze, “but then, what less can I expect from the wife of the lord. He must have taught you well on how to rule the human race. After all, the war was started with the same goal.”