Alex jumped to the saddle of his horse, making him trot to get near the carriage. On the driver’s seat, Anika was smiling at him, and from the side window, the Princess looked scared. Alex went to her and said:
“Everything is safe, Miss Ebell, you don’t need to be so scared.”
“I don’t need to be scared? What about all those Monsters? What are they doing there, gathering the dead horses and taking the clothes of the dead? They are going to join us?”
“Miss Ebell, they are Orcs. At least make an effort not to sound so ignorant. The ones that we faced first were Goblins, together with a huge flock of Harpies. Only uneducated people refer to all those different species as Monsters. From now on and as long as they behave, they will travel with us and help on protecting you. They are not going with us inside a City or a village, and I will take care of sending them to a place where they can live in peace, without worrying about Humans going after them, and without Humans nearby that they can attack.”
The lady’s maid poked from the window and asked:
“How can you be so sure they won’t attack anyone? They are Monsters, they can’t be trusted!”
Alex looked at the Princess and signalled with his head to the maid:
“See? Uneducated people. Try not to act like her, Miss Ebell, you are going to represent Beliersia in the court of Bouria. As for you, lady’s maid, I am getting sick with your annoying character. To me, you are the one that can’t be trusted, because you keep on forgetting all my warnings. Either you are a fool, or you are doing it on purpose to test my limits. Not a good idea, because I am not in a good mood after that coward attack. The Orcs are going to travel with us to Bouria. You, am not so sure, you might push my patience a bit too far and found yourself abandoned in the middle of the road.”
The maid stuttered:
“Y-you wouldn’t dare!”
“Try me. The Quest is to escort Miss Ebell to Bouria, not you. To me, you are expendable. If I were you, I would remain in complete silence the rest of the voyage, and away of my sight.”
Alex then turned to the Princess:
“We are going to rest for a while, to give time for the Orcs to smoke the horse’s and the Harpies’ meat for the voyage, and for us to burn the bodies of those soldiers. You can either remain inside the carriage and lose a great opportunity to learn more about the Orcs, or you can join me and find out if they are indeed worthy of being trusted. I am not sure if I can put my faith in them, but I believe in Ghar. She said she will take care of them because they all acknowledged her as their Clan Leader.”
Princess Ebell hesitated for a few seconds, but she then nodded:
“You are right, I need to learn as much as I can. Miss Anika, can we go join the others at the front?”
Anika smiled while grabbing the reins of the horses:
“Sure thing! As soon as you sit down! Alex, things looked dangerous for a while up there, but none of those Goblins came to a striking range! I wasn’t able to do a thing!”
Alex shrugged while kicking his horse’s sides:
“Save your Magic for another opportunity. This voyage will take a while, perhaps we get attacked again and maybe I let you fight all alone if you are so eager to be in danger.”
Alex went to the front, and Anika mumbled while making the horses trot:
“That’s not what I meant… Why is he in such a bad mood?”
A few moments later, Anika stopped the carriage and jumped to the floor. She looked back to the window and asked the nervous Princess:
“Are you waiting for me to open the door for you or what? Because if you are, better to sit down and get ready for a long wait!”
Princess Ebell took a slow deep breath and opened the door, carefully exiting the carriage while holding the tip of her long dress. Her lady’s maid came out from the other door and helped her.
Princess followed Anika and sat on a low rock near Ghar and Gabriel Dawson, listening to Ghar talking about her infancy and about the last time she was with the Orcs nearby, that were from her mother’s Clan. Ebell was scared and extremely nervous for being near so many Orcs that were smiling and growling, and one of the biggest ones offered her a piece of smoked horse meat that she carefully grabbed, trying her best not to touch that big hand of his. The Orc made a snoring laugh and asked Ghar while pointing at her with his head. Ghar muffled a laughter and Olive’s voice said:
“It seems you got yourself a fan, Princess Ebell. You should feel honoured because it seems that for a female that is not an Orc, he said you are very beautiful and he wouldn’t mind hunting with you! That’s the equivalent to a date, where they came from!”
“Thanks… I guess.”
Ebell made a slight smile towards the big Orc and he smiled back. She then looked to her left to where Alex was, and saw him standing, looking at a concentrated tornado a few meters from him. She wondered what that was, and Ghar explained:
“Shinatobe is inside of that, questioning one of the guys that attacked us. At least she was kind enough to not let us hear him screaming in there because she looked angry.”
The Princess kept on staring at the Wind Tornado, wondering what was happening inside of it. Then, she saw the tornado slowly disappearing, and only a pool of blood with mashed flesh on top remained near a rock, with Shinatobe facing it.
The Princess almost choked with the piece of meat she was munching, and when Shinatobe walked to get near Alex, he threw a gush of fire that burned the blood and flesh to smithereens. Shinatobe spoke for a while with Alex, and he then nodded and walked to get near James Macdonald. Princess Ebell quickly got up, excusing herself, and she almost ran to go to Alex. She arrived near James Macdonald almost at the same time as Alex did, so she was able to hear the conversation from the beginning. Alex noticed that she was there, but he still continued:
“It seems those guys that were following us in Bouria were indeed from the ‘Galtian Khaganat’. That Commander from the Security Force overheard them while they were waiting for us. As for the Dark Mages, he didn’t know much about them, only that the leader was the one that told him that there couldn’t be any witnesses in Baron Rowan’s last meeting with them, right after one of the Dark Mages sliced the Baron’s throat. Those bastards from the Security Force killed everyone in the Baron’s house, including the young maids and servants. I knew they were rotten, but I didn’t know they were also completely mad. We must be extra careful during our voyage, not only because of the Orcs that joined us, but because the Dark Mage leader escaped, and he could try again.”
Alex then faced the Princess and continued:
“It seems Miss Ebell’s mission is more important than we all thought because if even a group that was supposed to have disappeared almost three hundred years ago reappeared and went to such lengths to stop her from arriving at Bouria, I am afraid she won’t be safe even inside the Bouria Castle.”
While the Princess was slowly opening her mouth in shock, Alex signalled Kagu-tsuchi to join them. He got up from his place near Okami and Suijin at a campfire, and went to him, puzzled. Alex placed one hand over his right shoulder and said:
“Kagu, I have a new mission for you. From now on, you will always be with Miss Ebell, until we reach Bouria, while she is living in the Bouria Castle, and until I tell you to stop following her. And I do mean always. If she needs some privacy, be at some distance where you can detect a Magical Void appearing near her.”
Kagu-tsuchi frowned and pointed with his thumb to the Princess:
“Follow her around forever? I am not your servant, you now? Who told you that you can order me around like that? Go kill yourself, I am not…”
Alex punched him in the stomach so hard, that Kagu-tsuchi fell on his knees. Alex puled his hair back and spoke near his face with so much Magic around him, that the soil trembled:
“I wasn’t asking, Kagu! After what you did in the war, you should be the last one to demand being well treated. You either do as I say, or you will die this instant. Did I make myself clear? Shinatobe!”
Kagu-tsuchi felt the lightning sword of the powerful Wind Spirit near his neck, and her voice roared in anger:
“Just say the word, Alex, and I will detach his ugly head from his useless body.”
Alex approached Kagu’s face again and whispered:
“I know how much you suffered after your last Mage’s death, but I also know that it was because of what you and she did, that the alliance was created. I won’t risk the balance of the alliance being disturbed by Dark Mages or by you. That Dark Mage leader escaped, but you are right here, for me to vent my anger. Are you sure you want to annoy me any further instead of doing your duty to protect the lives of all beings in this World?”
Kagu-tsuchi answered while staring at the lightning sword near him:
“I… will do as you say.”
“If you are saying that you will do it just for me to rest assured and you will flee at the first opportunity, I must warn you that I am not so caring as Shinatobe. I will turn this World around to find you, and because of our contract, I can feel you anywhere you decide to hide. And when I find you, I will hurt you a lot more than Shinatobe would. She would eventually kill you, but I will keep you alive so that I can torture you for as long as I am alive. Every. Single. Day. Understood?”
Kagu-tsuchi gulped and turned pale. Alex took a few steps back and while Shinatobe was getting away from the scared Spirit of the Wind, Alex faced the frowning Princess:
“I don’t care about your excuses for not having Kagu with you, Miss Ebell. You seem to be more important for the future of the alliance than I realized, no way I am going to let you alone so that an assassin sent by those Dark Mages kills you.”
The Princess bit her lower lip and spoke while looking at Kagu-tsuchi, that was slowly getting up:
“I understand your reasons, Earl… I mean, Mister Alex. It’s just that… Can’t Okami be with me? Because having a male Spirit following me around, sounds like…”
Alex interrupted her:
“I know, but I won’t ever be able to convince Okami, and Kagu is a Fire Spirit, a very powerful one. He will be able to protect you and kill anyone that threatens your life. Okami is a little more forgiving. She would just knock out anyone that could attempt against your life. Maybe I can find a female Fire Spirit to take his place near you one day, but for the time being, bear with him. Please?”
Ebell slowly nodded and made a slight smile:
“Well, since you are asking so nicely, how can I refuse? But the moment I catch him sneaking into my room or trying to see me naked, I will personally slice a certain appendix from him.”
While Shinatobe was looking, Kagu-tsuchi turned into a small light and went to the Princess’ tiara. Shinatobe asked Alex with a raised eyebrow:
“I wasn’t expecting you to become so angry with him. What happened?”
“I got a glimpse of his thoughts and feelings when he was killing the Goblins. He was enjoying it a bit too much, and then I remembered one of his memories of the war when he was also enjoying seeing a platoon of Human soldiers roasted alive by his Fire Magic. It made me want to break his neck. I am starting to think that one of these days, I will erase him from existence.”