Journey to Aachen part 1

The emperor went back to his capital, Nicea. He left a small army to keep the new lands of Etna in his control and root out all those who opposed his rule.

The only lands now that were not in control of the empire were the nation of Sparv, Fairfax kingdom, the kingdom of Aurelia, Elis colonies, state of Westephal, Realm of Angol, Raiden dukedom, Harldrar kingdoms, the kingdom of Guiscards, nation of Brahm and the city-state of Vatigaad. Everything else had fallen to the Heain empire in the Aesis world.

King Ritter had sent his skillful diplomats to get them all to work together for the final showdown against the emperor while they still had time. The emperor now controlled two-thirds of the entire Aesis world. No one could win against them alone so everyone basically had only one option.

In the meanwhile, Rufus was gathering a convoy to head north. They would ride to the capital city, Aachen, of the Aurelian kingdom.

King Ritter had already left days in advance with his greyhound knights to make sure the preparations were all done.

Rufus took along with them the rest of the Ghersengs that had survived the battle with them, the leftover troops were told to be ready to march out at any minute.

"Why are we heading north now of all time? We should be ready to head south to face the imperials," Edward asked.

"King Ritter has arranged us a gravity ship so we can sail to the solo green moon world and meet queen Satifa," Rufus explained.

All of them stared at Rufus who was riding on top of Gwon who was in his Seng form. After his newfound resolve, he had become much more leaderlike.

He brought along with him Liana, fearing that she could easily be assassinated by the soul watchers.

"Has anyone of you ever been onboard a gravity ship before?" Amala asked.

All of them shook their heads.

"Well, I have, many times," Yosef said.

"How is it to be onboard one?" Haley asked with intense curiosity.

"Well, I guess same as on any other ship that sails on the water. You are able to breathe thanks to the oxygen the gravity stone pulls forward towards it, and with the help of divine winds, you sail across the universe. The only dangers are getting caught by pirates or leviathans."

"Leviathans?"

"They are these powerful monsters that live in the universe. Most of them are harmless, but some can be dangerous. Some leviathans have even reached full consciousness and intelligence, these once can even rival the gods."

All of them looked shaken.

"No stress guys. Traveling from a world to its respective moon world is a short trip. The odds of encountering one are extremely slim."

"How did you learn all of this?" Amala asked.

"Eichi are known to sail across the universe. We don't have a home so we are used to roaming the universe for a place that will give us a home for even a while. I also spent time on a dokkaebi slave ship, BUUUUUT don't recommend that experience to anyone."

~~

After two weeks of riding, they reached the lands of the Aurelian kingdom. Winter had just begun in the Fairfax kingdom, but in the Aurelian lands, it looked like winter had been there for a while. There was snow at least one meter deep with the temperatures reaching far below zero.

The large and deadly Saxon forest had to be traversed if anyone wanted to reach the Aurelian kingdom. Many creatures watched as they traveled. Large white wolves could be seen stalking their caravan, hoping they could snatch any stragglers. Galeks that had not traveled south on time had frozen dead with their corpses littering the ground.

They saw the first castle that was built on a side of a large rock. The walls were not tall, but more impressively, a deep ditch had been dug around it. Inside the castle was a small town where less than a thousand people lived in.

When they reached the first outpost town, they were greeted with looks of distrust. The garrison soldiers checked their papers and saw that they were truly invited by their king. They then let them stay there for the night, safe from the dangers of the climate.

"These people don't seem to trust us much," Haley said as they got to their rooms.

"Can't blame them. They seem to be like us grey skins. Provisions are few and they need to be shared evenly. This kind of lifestyle build trust and unity among the people. They of course look down on people living in the south who have food to spare and don't value what they have as much as we or they do," Amala explained.

"They also have fought wars against us so I guess being forced to accommodate their enemy's king must be vexing," Doreen explained.

"The wars were also extremely bloody. My father led many unsuccessful campaigns in these parts. The previous king wanted to control these lands, but all those wars just cost unnecessary lives," Edward added.

"Must be hard being allied to your enemy," Liana said as she entered the room.

"No need to be worried about anything Liana, we won't let anything happen to you," Rufus said smiling.

Liana stared at him back.

"Rufus, I am forever grateful for you, for how you saved me, but more importantly I am grateful that you see that I am not my father or brother, even though their blood runs through my veins," Liana explained.

They all looked at this young girl who was now in her early teen.

"I am young, but I do understand why people hate me, but I don't plan on you doing all the work to make sure people learn to forgive me. I must also do my part."

They all stared at each other knowing what she said was right.

"Still, do no ever beat yourself up too much because of the sins of your family. Family is close, but they are not the same as you," Rufus explained.