Leaving Valtuz (Part 2)

Meanwhile...a small handful of soldiers and mages stay in the city along with the two kings and princes.

"It seems we have a long week or a month ahead of us don't you think, Nikkonvas?" said the Ergexian King.

"Very much so, Ederon." Nikkonvas sighed. "I thought I was about to go deaf from that explosion earlier"

*MROOOO!!*

*ROOAAARR!!*

Sounds of monsters cry out and appear in the center of the streets.

"What the hell!?" one of the knights yelled. Clamoring fill the streets as these four large beasts run about in various directions.

"Your majesty! Two bear-type monsters, a bull, and a tiger has entered the city! But they're not attacking!" another knight said.

"Monitor them and repel them, they must not attack the civilians!" Nikkonvas ordered.

{Now...}

Now that the army is distracted, we sprinted through the street. During that sprint, Viridesca used her Wind to reduce enhance Zala's speed.

*Wooosh!*

Zala soon became a black blur, maybe a nightly wind since her fur is completely black.

We soon reached the entrance to the forest and kept going at a fast pace during Viridesca's spell.

"Taudera, Stein, Flammen, Santrasa, go to the Nolten Village." "Vampa, Burya, Groza, go to Nolten Village as well!"

As for my command, they ran to the forest, but they did not regroup as it might be suspicious. Vampa, Groza, and Burya flew through the skies.

"Good, we're in the forest. Zala, let's make some distance!" I said.

"Neigh!" Zala whines with determination and kept sprinting through the forest. I'm gonna make some distance so that we don't have to worry about the Noltian army catching up.

{15 minutes later...}

We reach to the opening where the bandit camp was built until we destroyed it.

I slow Zala down to walking speed so that we can recollect ourselves. Zala sputters and shakes herself.

"System, how far are we from the Noltian Army by time?"

[You are 50 minutes from the Noltian Army.]

Good, we made quite the distance since Zala is extremely fast and weaves through the trees smoothly. We soon pass through the destroyed campsite and continued heading through the forest.

We soon find an abandoned building out of wood, but it is nothing but ruins. The roof has a massive hole, the porch was collapsed, and the walls are also broken as well.

That house must be the size of one of an apartments inside of a apartment building.

I used Perception to find anyone that is residing here.

[There are no lifeforms detected in this building.]

"Hyoran, let's set camp here." I said.

"In the rain?" Hyoran said.

"Yeah, but I got a better one." I said, I jumped off of Zala and created a slightly raised platform that has the dimensions of 50 feet long and wide out of Earth Magic. I then created a 20 foot tall cone roof over it and added an entrance out of Earth Magic.

"Wow...you made a tent!" Hyoran exclaimed.

"Yeah, I can adjust it when needed." I said. "Viri, use your Wind to dry out the inside."

Viri nodded and flew inside the tent, she then made her emerald eyes glow bright and a gust of wind blew out of the entrance.

*Bwooosh!*

The most of the water that was inside were blown out, but it needs vents so that smoke and vapor can escape. For that, I created vents for it so that the gases can escape while preventing rain and snow from coming in.

But first, I need spare firewood.

"Gris, Noire, Mavros, Dichrome, come on out." I said.

*Shoom!* *Shoom!* *Shoom!* *Shoom!*

They come out of the shadows to greet me and await my orders.

"I need you four to grab firewood for us. Sticks, branches, it doesn't matter. Can you do that?" I said.

*Woof!*

*Ragh!*

They happily complied and went into different directions to collect firewood.

"We can't light a fire if the wood is wet." Hyoran said.

"I know, but I can take the water out of the wood to make it dry." I said. "Come on, let's get out of the rain."

I took the backpack inside the tent while bringing Schwarze, Pauram and Fennec, but it is still dark inside. I used Light Magic to create a light bright enough for us to see, but not where it is blinding.

We retracted our hoods as we're away from the rain and I created a pit for the fireplace. I then opened the bag for the last batch of wood where it is 3 short logs. I put them at the pit which needs one more thing.

Fennec jumps off of Hyoran and her eyes flashed at the firewood just like last time we set camp.

*Foom!*

A small flame bursts into life and spreads its presence on the logs. Paura jumps off of my head and lands on the wall. I rummage through the bag where it still had the food Ezo and Tuya prepared for us.

I unwrapped the package and it shows pieces of meat and various vegetables meant for 4 people.

"We're making stew?" Hyoran asked.

"Yeah, one moment." I said. I quickly created a pot out of Earth Magic so it can hold water and the contents.

*Woof!*

Gris and Noire returned to the tent with large fallen branches. Dichrome comes back with a log in his mouth. Mavros came back with sticks and twigs.

"Good job, put 'em right next to me." I said.

The four put the wet wood next to me and sat down, but I need someone to look out for us while we're asleep. And I know who can do it without fail.

I stepped outside of the stone building to call out someone.

"Mirtis." I said.

*Wrooooh...*

Mirtis emerged from the shadows and knelt down to await for orders.

"I need you to stay outside to protect the tent from oncoming invaders, especially you, Mavros." I said.

The reason I sent them out there is because they're undead. They don't need to eat, sleep, drink, or take a shit.

Mavros exits the tent and Mirtis stood up to face towards the forest. I also summoned seven more Death Knights to guard the tent as well.

"We won't have to worry about anyone coming to attack us." I said.

"We'll sleep until the sunrise?" Hyoran asked.

"Yeah, once the sun rises, we start moving again." I replied.

I turned to the soaked wood and I extracted them to the point their dry, leaving the scraps of dirt, grass, and wood behind. I put the water on the stone pot and added some more as it wasn't enough.

I took the now dry wood and put it in the pit to fuel the fire to boil the water. I then put the food in the pot. Then I put the spices, sauces in the pot since Tuya added all of the ingredients. Finally, I created a lid and closed it.

"I have a question, how will Santrasa, Stein, Flammen, and Taudera get to Nolten Village without scaring them or raising suspicions?" Hyoran asked.

"They won't, they'll be in a different location. I have a feeling someone might use it against us if I bring that many beasts here." I said.

After I killed 300 bandits and let the rush of battle get into my head, they basically mistook me as a monster and nearly kicked me out. I don't know what Ezo and Tuya will do if they saw me like this.

For that, I won't make that same mistake again.

*Bwing!*

Arex appeared in a silver light, sitting on her knees. She looked around that everything is out of stone.

"This place...you created this." Arex said.

"Yeah, but now that you're here, mind explaining what happened back in the Valtuz Mountain?" I said, wanting answers.

Arex gave a regretful look by abandoning me, but it wasn't without a reason.

"Okay, I will hold nothing back."