“Finally!” cried Kelser as he collapsed to the ground.
“I can’t believe it!” said Princess Kol as she collapsed to the ground right beside him.
I sighed. “You’re overreacting.”
“I never want to see a mountain again,” said Kelser.
“There’s one right behind us,” I said as I looked over my shoulder at the final mountain that we’d crossed.
“Nope,” said Kelser, “I don’t see anything but dirt.” He buried his face in the ground.
I laughed sarcastically and pulled him up. He refused to turn around, but I held him by the shoulders and turned his body. He shut his eyes. I laughed and let him go. The princess was still on the ground. I was about to walk over when I saw her body shaking. I frowned. It sounded like she was crying.
Kol raised her head. No tears. She smiled brightly although her cheeks were a little puff. “I can’t believe it,” she said. “I’m back.” She kissed the ground and kept repeating that she was back. She picked herself up a little until she was sitting on her knees. “Thank you, Lord of the Heaven—I mean, my ancestors! Thank you!”
I nodded. It had only been a couple of years, but Kol had done pretty well in keeping her promise with me. I knew I couldn’t change her deepest thoughts and habits overnight, but she never praised the Heavenly Eye in front of me and decided to take up ancestor worship like the humans and elves. Actually, she’d wanted to take the humans’ elf worship as her own, but I was already pushing for the humans to stop doing that so it was easy to get her to stop.
“Thank you!” she said, only now standing up and coming up to me. “Without your help, I would never have made it back to my home.”
“Don’t mention it,” I said, “I know what it’s like being far from home and feeling like you can’t get back. Also, we aren’t done yet. Are there any towns or villages nearby?”
The princess looked around and frowned. “I’m not sure where we are, actually. The land by the mountains is barren and unpopulated. The closest villages are near the rivers. If we find a stream or tributary somewhere, we can follow it.”
I nodded. “Sounds like a plan. I think I remember seeing one in that direction from up on the mountain.” I started walking.
Kelser followed. “Man, it feels good walking on even ground.”
Kol nodded. “It feels even better actually walking for once.”
I was tempted to pick them up with magic again.
---
We found a village by the river. The village elders did not know about the princess, since this was a remote part of the world and was really only nominally under the control of the Izlandi Kingdom. In fact, there were no tax collectors or anything. Like in most ancient kingdoms from my world, people really only had to pay tribute in terms of food or soldiers when the armies were rolling out nearby.
The food here was hearty and homely. The three of us who had been subsisting off gamey monster meat and the occasional fruits and vegetables, were happy being able to eat well for once. The village was surrounded by farmlands, which was where most of the villagers worked, with many domesticated animals all around. We asked them the way to the next town or village, and they gave us the general directions, although nobody seemed to have a map.
Speaking of maps, I’d started a new map of the area after we’d left the mountains. I’d also made maps of our journey through the mountains, and left a trail we could follow on the way back, but was hoping we could find the path the princess had taken to get to the other side the first time. Perhaps her enemies in the capital might know.
I stared at the rough map I’d made using the villagers’ directions, and frowned. “Are you sure this is the straightest path to the next village?” I asked.
The village elder, a kind half-blind woman, answered: “That village rests on the banks of the river just like ours does. The simplest path is to follow the river, but we dare not do that.”
“Why not?” asked Kelser.
“A vicious monster has made its den around a thicket along the river’s path. It is too dangerous to pass through it,” she said.
I nodded. “Thank you, we will keep that in mind.”
We left the next morning. I kept asking the villagers if there was anything we could do to repay them, but they refused to accept anything. They had all been fascinated by my elf ears and even by Kelser’s elf ears and red hair, and so they had taken us to be travelers from a far off land, and claimed they were satisfied after hearing some of our stories last night. We hadn’t shared anything amazing, since I didn’t want to tell them about magic or immortals, but they were satisfied just knowing there were sentient beings on the other side of the great mountains.
“It’s a shame they wouldn’t accept any help,” said Kelser. “It wasn’t like we had any gifts to give them though.”
“I’ll send something over after we reach the capital,” said Kol.
“There’s something we can do for them, however,” I said as I resolutely followed the path of the river instead of veering off into the game trails in the forest. Kelser and Kol followed me nonchalantly.
Soon, a thicket appeared around the edge of the river. Somehow, I felt like something was watching us. I sent out magical hands and motion detection magic, and found out where it was. Kelser and Kol were vigilant, preparing magic as they stepped forward. I pretended like nothing was wrong, and walked forward while looking away from the thicket.
Taking the bait, a massive shadow lunged from the thicket and pounced at me. The shadow froze a hair’s breadth from my head. I froze too.
Kelser and Kol blinked. They were staring at the massive monster, which looked like a cross between a monkey and a grasshopper. Saliva pooled around the monster’s teeth, dripping over the side. But even the dripping saliva had frozen. The long whiskers that should’ve been swaying in the wind also stopped in place. And the monster’s large eyes, which should’ve been glaring menacingly at the prey before it, were frozen comically mid-blink.
The only reason I saw all of this was because I’d turned my head at the last moment before casting my still life magic. I almost broke the spell because I wanted to yell at my stunned companions. Why hadn’t they taken care of this thing already!
---
“It’s your fault for not telling us you were going to do that,” said Kelser.
“You can’t expect us to not be surprised when a monster the size of a small hill just stops like that,” said Kol.
“Quit making excuses and greet those villagers,” I said as I saw a small crowd appear in front of the village in the distance. The crowd was bustling and people were pointing while making exclamations. Kelser and Kol ran forward to greet and explain what was going on. This was the second village, so they didn’t know about us yet, but judging by the hospitality of the first village, I was sure we’d be welcomed here too. And if we weren’t? Well… I glanced over my shoulder at the large carcass I was dragging along the ground. I smiled.
I had a feeling we wouldn’t have any problems in this village, either.
---
“You need to teach me that magic,” said Kelser.
“No, you don’t need it,” I said. “It’s terribly inefficient and you have better ways of immobilizing an enemy.”
“But it looks so cool!” he said.
“I know, that’s why I use it,” I said. “But it’s my signature spell, got it! If you want a spell like that, go invent it on your own!”
We were in the second village, having a great feast. The village’s elders, a pair of elderly fraternal twins, were entertaining us around a campfire, although right now their attention was aimed at the demon princess. Kol hadn’t revealed that she was a princess, but apparently this village was close enough to the river trade network to realize that Kol was from the upper classes. They said it was something about the way she spoke. They also complimented my accent, although they said Kelsers’ could use some work.
Since the direct path to the first village was clear now, the elders said they would send a messenger to them soon. More importantly, the river route was now safe, which meant the villagers from the first village could trade downriver. The elders thanked us for helping out their little corner of the world, and gave me a bunch of information about the surrounding area to help me fill out my map.
The next morning, we were off to the first major town on the road to the capital!
Hearts, please!!