"Captain, everything is prepared and packed up! We are all ready to move out!" Crone reported, standing at attention. The plateau that served as their temporary home for the last week since their arrival to this harsh world has been completely packed up.
A full week has passed by since their arrival. Since the first two days of trouble after trouble, Captain Don and the rest of the group have been cautious in their exploration missions.
The subsequent ventures they had set up had been designed to have at least twice the number of people in them as before. Though this cut down the available simultaneous adventures to two from the previous three, it had also made sure that there was ample force to make sure that all unforeseen issues would be neatly handled.
Through the span of the week, the team had successfully mapped out fully the area they landed in. They seemed to land in the northern, northeastern parts of some sort of desert, which for the lack of a better name, they now called Death Valley.
The name felt rather fitting considering the strange, mutated abominations, these unholy fusions of beasts and insects…
Not too far from them, to the north, the land slowly turned slightly greener, healthier. A grassy plain awaited them.
After the many expeditions, they finally came up with three routes, three options to pick from to continue from their current position, this plateau of vast emptiness.
Knowing the rough general direction of where the missing young master, Aiden should be located, they could continue towards the northeast. Though they weren't sure of how far he was exactly, they only knew that they most likely had a long way ahead of them…
Alternatively, they could continue straight to the north, which would also somewhat bring them closer to Aiden's location, whilst also allowing them to explore the strange-looking silhouettes protruding ever-so-slightly on the horizon. About 2, at most 3 days of travel would be ahead of them before they would reach the spot, forcing them to spend at the very least one full night right in the open, completely unprotected and bare to the dangers of this unknown habitat.
Last but not least, they could very well take the north-western route, which would arguably wouldn't bring them any closer to the missing friend, however, the only source of water they had found so far was to be found in that general direction.
From the distance, after some scouting, they noticed some marshlands that eventually replaced the grassy fields. Thick trees with ominous-looking vines grazed the muddy swamps.
The large group of mercenaries and adventurers could be seen surrounding a large wooden table, with the three different options, paths they could take marked each with a dagger piercing the leather and wooden table.
"There is no question here!" Lily huffed, looking as if she was hurt by the mere notion of such a debate having to take place. "We obviously go to the North East, brother is still waiting for us! What is there to even talk about?!"
"Sister… The Young Mas-" Galina coughed, fixing the way she was about to refer to Aiden, before continuing. "…Brother Aiden is fine and okay as we have discussed. He also expressed that we should take the other two options for the time being, and try to gather more treasures and points for the event."
Yes, during the night following his battle, he had finally managed to successfully reach out to Galina and talk for a couple of hours. He still couldn't reach out to Haven and even contact the rest of the boys, at the very least, Galina was no longer kept in the dark. He explained the rough situation, though he kept silent about little Tolliah's situation for now. He wasn't sure what to do with the little cheery girl himself.
"No! I don't care! I want to have him back!" Lily, however, wasn't ready to give up, throwing a temper tantrum, she didn't want to hear any other solution than to go to her brother's 'rescue'.
"I for one, think we should go towards north." With a loud holler, Naybeah threw in her opinion into the group's discussion, causing Lily to utter a shocked expression in her direction.
"What?! How could you betray brother!" She cried out, slowly growing hysterical by the unexpected opposition. "Shouldn't you be with me on this?! Shouldn't you be already on your way towards brother?! What's up with your 'Chosen Mate' thing then?!"
As if realizing something, Lily's face grew horrified as she exclaimed a dreaded thought.
"D-did you… did you cheat on him?!"
"What are you talking about?" Naybeah looked confusedly at the blonde teen. "Why would I? He is the one that I have selected and the Queen has already accepted. Nobody can take his place, he is the love of my life, the father of my future children!" She exclaimed as a matter-of-factly.
Hearing her statement, the bald man, Jai that stood behind the tall amazon as if he was part of her shadow, flinched, her shoulders trembled. Complex emotions flashed across his face, a momentary sorrow flashed across his usual smile. Yet, it was only visible for a mere moment, in the next second, both his posture and his expression returned to peace.
Crone, Captain Don, and the Silver Howls, that were around the table could only look at their friend with a sympathetic look on their faces. They could only pray for their friend's lost and hopeless cause.
Standing at the other side of Naybeah, the fiery-red-haired princess, Scarlet, only shook her head in silence, ultimately deciding not to express her opinion on either of the matter. In the end, she simply nodded at the amazon's direction, silently agreeing with her on the matter.
Behind them, leaning against a wooden pole, Drake didn't even flinch and bother to speak a word.
Ever since they returned a day later from whatever place they fell in, neither of them said a single word. From their rugged, bloody, and bruised looks it was clear that they were through a great deal of battles. Stuck in the crevices of their torn armors, patches of torn fur gave some hints, teasers into the horrors they have must have been through.
Yet, no matter what they tried, neither of the royal siblings opened up, they remained silent ever since.
They still did their chores and joined the expeditions, but their previous chattiness was nowhere to be found.
Additionally, on the first night after their return, the camp was suddenly awoken from their slumber to a series of hoarse, guttural screams, gradually turning into bloodied whispers before they went silent a few minutes later.
The first thing Drake did when he returned was to slit the throat of their captive creature, showing no emotion but cold, insipid, emotionless eyes before and after committing the deed.
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