Chapter 20

Baby's POV

I wasn't really sure just how long we had been travelling; just that it felt like forever. It got worse as we made our way through Rissivera. Between the frequent attacks; which eventually happened so often that I stopped feeling concerned for everyone's safety and just watched the soldiers and my dad in action, and the spring weather which mostly consisted of rain and mud, our journey through that country alone was more than half our total travel time.

I felt so bad for our servants and soldiers. The grime had been bad enough, but now they were also battling cold and mud. We would stop frequently for the earth elementalists, which I learned was a person who had an affinity for and worked with the earth element, to harden the muddy road so that the animals, carriages, and wagons didn't get bogged down in the thick mud.

One day I had been using my aura most of the day and had just pulled back because of fatigue when I once again heard the sounds of an attack; by now an all too familiar sound. I strained to expand my aura so see the battle, but could not generate enough energy to get it past the circumference of the carriage. A tried several times, but each ended in failure and even more fatigue.

It's not that I didn't trust my father and our soldiers, but for some reason I had this need to see what was going on; like a compulsion. I once again gathered my energy, but this time I was able to hold it in, gathering it and compressing it, then like a rubber-band or a shot-gun, released it.

I honestly didn't think it would work, but at this point I would do anything to know what was going on outside our little carriage.

It did work, and even better than I expected. Not only did I get a glimpse of the surrounding area where the fighting was, but my aura went the farthest it ever had before. The pictures it created for me to see didn't last very long, but I felt that it used up less energy as well.

'I can make this work' I thought.

After that day, I practiced my 'shotgun' aura. It used up a lot less energy than continual use which meant that I could 'see' pretty much the whole day now and I wasn't sleeping and eating nearly as much as before.

I could feel our whole group's sigh of relief when we arrived at the bridge that connected the Rissivera Kingdom to the Imperial lands. The Imperial city was at the center of the Imperial lands, and the imperial palace centered in the Imperial city. The imperial lands had 4 bridges attached to 4 different kingdoms to the north, east, south and west of it. The remaining 8 kingdoms branched off of those looking like a type of net. I was informed by Sapphire who had a very know it all tone in her voice.

The line going into the Imperial land was the longest we had come to as of yet. I thought we were going to have to stand and wait all day and was surprised when I heard my dad send one of the soldiers to the front of the line to inform the guards of our arrival. Something he had not done at any of the other bridges.

"We are basically home so we don't have to worry as much about being used as hostages to entrap dad" Jasper said, apparently seeing my puzzlement.

I nodded my thanks and continued to observe my surroundings. Like all the other bridges, there was the distinct smell of delicious food coming from the food carts lined up on both sides of the roadway. My stomach growled loud enough for my family members in the carriage to hear it clearly. I really wanted to try something; really anything that wasn't mash and soft fruit and water.

The roads were much smoother and we were able to travel much faster once we began traveling in the Imperial country. I noticed villages and towns along the way and realized that the closer we got to the Imperial city, the more crowded the roads were.

I could feel the excitement of my family in the carriage, the soldiers and servants outside the carriage, as well as the people traveling on the road; headed in the same direction. Everyone was excited. I really wanted to ask why, but the more I thought about it, the more it occurred to me that for most of the people traveling with us; they weren't just traveling to the Imperial city, they were going home.