Chapter 9

The Trip

As they journeyed, they stopped for some water and shared some of the fruit in Olivia’s makeshift bag. They travelled through a lot of dense forest, saw some wildlife and avoided some when necessary.

They spoke about what Olivia would need from the town, which amounted to a few items. A water skin was definitely needed, as you never know when you may see a river on your journey. Rations were also needed for pretty much the same reason as the water skin. Fruit and meat rotted over time and they could be far and few in-between when travelling through a forest. Not all trees are fruit trees, and not all fruit is edible, just like how if your hunting skills are not up to snuff, you may not be able to catch dinner.

Clothes were also a necessity. While the ones she had on worked, for the time being, it would be much better if she had ones that fit. New clothing would improve her comfort immeasurably. Lastly was finding a proper weapon to use. While she had to sword, it just didn’t feel right to her. She didn’t know what it was, but the movements of swinging the sword didn’t sit right for her. Even using the makeshift spear felt better than the sword, but even that didn’t feel completely right. Not knowing what weapon would suit her, they decided to sell the sword for some profit and buy a spear, until there came a time she could train with other weapons and find the one that suited her.

…

As they walked, Ameril continued to talk about the history of the land.

The day before, she spoke about the current status of Khallasia, which was the land they were in. She learnt that Khallasia was made up of four major kingdoms, where each was run by the dominant race in the said kingdom. These races were the humans, elves, dwarves and demons.

This was not to say that these were the only races present in Khallasia or that they were the sole races in these areas. Many other races had set up shop centuries ago in different parts of the land, such as beast-kin, dryads and merfolk to name a few. There just weren’t as many of them compared to the other races. In addition to this, there is much more diversity in the land now, with the various races being spread across all of the kingdoms.

But the kingdoms have not always been as progressive as they were now.

.....

A case in point was when she told her about the incident with the goblins and orcs. It was the story that all of the races told their children in order to ingrain the absolute fear of goblins and orcs in them. Facts about the incident had been embellished over time, making them more monstrous than they were, but that was to be expected.

Back then, the races had been much more solitary than they were now. Each kept to their own kingdom, but the goblin and orc incident brought them together. The meeting of the kingdoms in the human city back then was to form alliances, but the incident also gave them a common enemy and helped bring them together, increasing diversity within their kingdoms.

For most of the races that is as problems long before this, still echoed into the present.

Centuries ago in the land, when the races were first building a foothold and making their own kingdoms, not everyone wanted to make friends. Some of the races saw themselves as superior to others and wouldn’t deign to form an alliance. This also affected some of the smaller races.

Giants were within the dwarven kingdom, and they fought with the dwarves daily in order to control sections of the land.

The dryads, druids and merfolk formed small communities mainly in the elven kingdom, eventually leading them to form alliances and merge societies with the elves.

Beast-kin on the other hand resided in the human kingdom, and at the time, they received no such welcoming party as the others did. What they received was violence and slavery. They were faster and stronger than humans but numbered less than them. The human king at the time was egotistical and took it upon himself to deal with them. This led to many being enslaved.

Now, thankfully, slavery has been abolished. Some people may still practice it, but it is illegal in all of the kingdoms. But, while this may be the case, beast-kin are still seen as second-class citizens in the human kingdom and are treated poorly.

Then there are the demons.

Like beast-kin, they had always been at odds with the other races. Many people chalked this up to the similarities between the races. Aside from the obvious good looks and pointy ears of elves and shortness of dwarfs, they have some similarities to that of humans. But the animal characteristics of beast-kin and varying skin tones and horns of demons was the clincher and caused them to be seen as different and outcasts.

Around the same time as the beast-kin slavery, the human king took it upon himself to go to war with the demons. It raged for many years, with no side really winning in any way. It was a disappointing war that really only ended when the king died, and his son took over. He saw it for what it was and formed a truce. But because of this and the demon’s long-life spans, things never truly healed between the races. It caused them to remain solitary, going so far as to not attend the gathering of the races.

But thankfully, even with the alliance between the many races aside from the demons, no wars have been started. Whether this will remain the case is yet to be seen.

…

The history Ameril now spoke of, was for the town they were headed to.

The town was called Cassus and was governed by a human lord, Lord Edgar. He recently took over from his father who passed away.

Olivia asked if it was foul play. All of the films and shows she watched reared their heads as she wondered if it was a takeover by the son. But there was no such luck. The father died from an illness at the age of 51. This though wasn’t enough to convince Olivia, as it could have been poison.

The son was in his twenties and wasn’t known as the most reliable type. There were plenty of rumours about how he was usually seen in the taverns drinking with other nobles and trying to flirt with any woman he saw. How he would deal with running the town was anyone’s guess.

It was at this point that Olivia realised something. With the lord of the town being human, that meant they were in the human kingdom. While she had learnt that things were more diverse in Khallasia, given that Ameril was an elf she had assumed they were in the elven kingdom.

She asked why she lived here, but the only answer she could get from her was that her parents moved here due to business opportunities. It was clear she didn’t want to go into it any more than that.

‘I wonder if it has something to do with why she ran away’, She thought to herself.

…

History wasn’t the only thing they talked about. They also learnt more about each other.

They spoke about their childhood, funny experiences, embarrassing moments and even plans for the future. The last one was mainly Ameril talking, as Olivia didn’t really have any set goals right now.

It was a real bonding experience between the two. Enough so that the distance between them had shortened considerably. There would probably always be a lingering fear for goblins and orcs, and rightly so, as Olivia was an outlier. Any other goblin or orc would jump at the chance to kidnap Ameril and have their way with her. But, other than this, it was clear to see that Ameril had come to trust Olivia. She may even go so far as to call themselves friends now.

…

The journey took several hours to travel through a very dense forest. They ended up turned around a few times, given how it all looks the same no matter where you are.

Scrapes, trips and falls happened very regularly for both of them, where roots and brambles were always in places you didn’t expect.

They had to make a few pitstops along the way, where bodily functions reared their heads, forcing the call of nature. It was also necessary to just rest for a few moments before getting back into the thick of it.

As they journeyed through some more shrubbery, they had just got onto an embarrassing story where Ameril had ended up falling into a pond during a friend’s wedding, when they passed through a row of trees. As they came out the other end, the scene that greeted them was astounding.

They stood atop a hill and could see rolling hills covered in crops of various colours. Vibrant yellows and purples were among the few that graced the land before them. At its centre was a massive town, surrounded by high walls, spanning a great distance. Houses filled every part of the town, all leading to a majestic castle in the middle. It was hard to see, but it looked like a moat even surrounded the castle as well.

On the outskirts of the castle, large houses could be seen, possibly mansions, likely to be occupied by the rich and wealthy.

Given the distance, it wouldn’t be much longer before they actually reached it, and the next part of her story would commence.

A part of her story where she might even get some clothes that fit.