Yet so far

Liam opened his eyes as he felt the hot wind blow on his face and he looked around as he was all alone.

The Sun was shining very brightly as the heat was scorching, the sky was blue with no cloud in the sky and Liam could not like that he was confused.

One moment he was still in the Yonder Realm, it was dark and cold, and the next moment, it was as if he was in a desert.

"Where am I?" asked Liam to himself as he turned around to see himself alone in a barren land.

Liam did no even try to explain what was happening right now, he knew by now that anything could have happened, all he cared about was where he was.

Liam looked down at the ground as he bent down and touched the sand and felt it in his hand, it was dry and grainy, like somewhere he knew, but he was not sure of if he was still in the Yonder Realm or elsewhere.

Liam stood up as he narrowed his eyes at the pale sand, it was really familiar to him, and he knew that he was in a desert.

Liam bent down on his knees as he started to dig through the soil with his hands as if he was looking for something.

Liam kept on digging as he stopped when he saw a red poppy buried underneath the ground as he pulled it as he removed it from the root.

Liam looked at the Poppy as he smelt it and he looked at the sky, he finally knew where exactly he was.

"I am in Wyverdale…" said Liam to himself as he stood up, he had finally made it, he had finally returned after so long.

He knew that he was right about where he was, but he just needed to prove it to himself so he could be sure about it.

"I am in the South" said Liam as he was certain of it, what else would explain the dryness, and the poppy that he had dug up further confirmed that, he was in the South of Wyverdale.

Liam sighed as he looked around, yes, he was happy that he was back in Wyverdale, but it did not make things easier, he was stuck in the southern desert.

"Why could I not have been taken closer to you?" asked Liam to himself.

"I am finally back, but still not with you" said Liam.

"I am so close, and yet so far" said Liam with a smile, this was a twisted game that he was being played.

He did not even know where exactly in the South he was, which meant that he also was not aware of how far he was from the capital.

And to top it all off, he was in the scorching desert without food or water, he did not know in which direction to go in, and he had no means to travel efficiently.

"You have to think Liam, think" said Liam to himself, the worst thing that could happen would be for him to faint due to fatigue, tiredness or hunger, he really did not know what to do in this situation.

"Alright…" said Liam to himself as he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, he was trying to think clearly.

His heart was telling him to go in the right direction, but his head was telling him not to make any rash decision.

"Right it is" said Liam to himself as he knew that he did not have time to waste and he started to walk, he was just thankful that it was not cold, it was better to be in the heat than to be in the cold, but then again, Liam knew that he did not have enough time left until it would become cold in the evening, and then he would be unsure of what to do.

Liam kept on moving as he suddenly heard the sound of neighing and he looked around to see some wild horses as he stopped moving.

"If there are wild horses here, then there must definitely be water somewhere" said Liam to himself as he decided not to derail himself with that, he needed to cover more ground before it got late.

Liam walked to the horses as they neighed and he saw one gentler looking horse than the other, he carefully walked to the horse as he removed his cloak and he touched the snout of the horse carefully as he petted it.

He seemed to have chosen the best horse, it was not as wild as the others at all.

Liam wrapped his cloak around the neck of the horse and he carefully got on the horse so as not to harm it as he pulled his cloak on the horse and it started to move as Liam continued on, hoping that he was going in the right direction.

…

The Sun had started to set as Liam was riding on the horse, everywhere seemed to be barren, and he was starting to think that he had made the wrong choice by going right, he had not seen a single sign of life.

Liam sighed as he was about to give up for the evening as he looked up and suddenly saw smoke in the sky.

"There has to be some people nearby" said Liam to himself as he caused the horse to gallop faster in the direction of the smoke, the hope in his heart getting bigger and bigger as he came closer to the source of the smoke and he saw a burning fire and a wooden fence as Liam got off his horse, he tied the horse to the fence and he jumped over the fence.

"Is anyone here?" called Liam as he looked around, if there was a burning controlled fire here, then there was certainly someone here, somewhere.

"is anyone here" called Liam again as he heard footsteps and he turned to look at what he believed to be a building of some sort.

"Who goes there?" came the voice of a man neatly dressed as he walked to where Liam was.

"I am Liam…" said Liam as he was cut off when the man gasped.

"My King" said the man as he bowed down as soon as he saw Liam, he could not believe who he was seeing right now.

"Duke Peters?" asked Liam in a mix of relief and confusion as he looked at the man.

"Yes my King, it is me, Duke Samson Peters" said Samson as he stood up.

"It has been quite a long while since we have met" said Liam with a smile.

"I should say the same my King, I cannot say that I am not shocked to see you here" said Samson as he was all alone here, there was no one to be seen in a long while, and yet, he was surprised to see Liam of all people here in this barren forest.

"I say the same to you Duke" said Liam as he smiled.

"My King, have you completed your peacekeeping journey?" asked Samson.

"My peacekeeping journey?" asked Liam in confusion as he did not know what Samson was talking about at all.

"Yes my King, all we Dukes received letters from the office of the Queen stating that you had gone on a secret peacekeeping mission and you would not return for a while" said Samson as Liam smiled, hearing Samson say the Queen.

His Queen, his Wura, he knew that she would take care of everything, lying that he was on a peacekeeping journey was for the best, he trusted her so much, he could not wait to see her.

"Yes, I have returned and completed my journey, but unfortunately I did not leave with much and I misplaced my map, which resulted in me getting lost, and wandering around" said Liam.

"Ahh I see my king" said Samson.

"Yes, Duke Peters we are in the South are we not?" asked Liam.

"Yes my King, in the far corner of the South" said Samson.

"If you do not mind me asking, what exactly are you doing here?" asked Liam.

"I was sent here to keep the borders away from bandits, Royal Duke Nigel asked me to take charge of this unprotected front" said Samson as Liam suddenly remembered his uncle, he wondered how he was doing with everything that had happened.

"You see my King, the work of bandits have increased, they are more violent than before, and the safety of the Kingdom Is at risk" said Samson.

"Why would there be bandits, there is a treaty of peace with the East" said Liam.

"My king, that treaty is long gone, the east are yet to fulfil their end of the treaty for months now, and from what I hear, there are rumours of a war breaking out because of that" said Samson as Liam scoffed, of course they were going to turn on the deal that they made.

"How bad is the situation?" asked Liam.

"Very bad that I am afraid a war is inevitable" said Samson seriously as Liam sighed, this was what he did not want at all.