Chapter 13

Third person's POV

"Are you there, guardian? I don't know if you are the yellow dragon. Still, I need your assistance again right now," Emilia spoke in her mind, and the yellow dragon responded immediately.

"I am always available; why do you need my assistance if you can devise an escape strategy if I am correct?" Emilia was surprised when the yellow dragon responded, and she looked at the four knights who couldn't hear the yellow dragon's voice.

"So you're saying I can devise an escape strategy? Is that something I'm capable of?" Emilia confronts her guardian.

"Yes, you can do so because you are a princess who has been well trained and educated. You must be self-sufficient; if you constantly seek my assistance, it means you are reliant on me," Emilia began to think after the guardian responded.

"What did your guardian respond?" Luke was perplexed as to what was going on.

"I can't hear your guardian's voice; are you speaking in private?" Ryan questioned Emilia, who closed her eyes to concentrate.

"Yes, we're talking, and I'm doing it with my mind," Emilia explained, looking at Luke.

"He suggested I can create my own strategy to escape the army of Spence. I don't know how I'm going to do that and how I'm going to start thinking about it," Emilia remarked, not knowing where to start because it was her first time creating a strategy. Still, she knows, so she can develop a diverse strategy.

"You can do that if you focus on developing a strategy, which is what I've done since becoming General of the Army," Luke added, surprising her.

"Can you show me how? Or should we collaborate to develop a strategy, as I believe you have some better ideas?" Emilia's suggestion piqued the interest of the three knights.

"We can help too, my lady," Caleb interjected, and Emilia smiled at the three knights who were always willing to help her. She is always thankful for her knight, who always stood by her side.

"Let's devise a plan; do you mind if we stay here for a while, John?" Emilia approaches John, the person who hired them, asking for a job.

"Be my guest today; no one is coming here anyway," John responds, returning to his book.

"Do you know the spell that allows you to change your form?" Emilia questioned the four knights, who were taken aback.

"I'm not sure, but could you explain?" Luke responded.

"You don't realize it because before I had some advanced training in the Spence kingdom, you were always teasing me, Luke," Emilia exclaimed. The three knights tried not to laugh because they remembered getting wet from the water spell.

"I always remember that, and I miss teasing you," Luke murmured, and Emilia shook her head.

"I read that we can use the changing form spell; I can do it, but you must do it as well," Emilia explained, thinking about how they would practice the changing form spell.

"We need to practice that first before we can use it for a long time," Luke suggested, and Emilia stood up from her seat.

"We shouldn't hurt them, so I'll use my change form spell so you can see how I change my form," Emilia added, and the four knights nodded.

Using the change form spell, she transformed into a different person with different clothes, hair, appearance, and eye color. The four knights applauded their hands, pleased that their lady was knowledgeable about spells.

"Do you have any suggestions for how we should practice the change form spell?" When Luke inquired, Emilia sat down again and drew a piece of paper. She had a quill and ink on her palm.

"Before attempting the change form, you must think about someone you saw far away from Garmend Town," Emilia explained, and the four knights nodded.

"We will begin to practice and make certain that we do not harm any Spence soldiers," Luke assured. Emilia nodded, dozing off and returning to her proper form as she waited.

Luke looked at Emilia, who was already sleeping, and thought she was tired from what had happened. He concentrated on practicing changing his form, and within a few hours, they had mastered the change form spell.

After a few hours, Emilia opens her eyes and looks at the four knights who are quietly practicing, she stretches her hand, and she watches Luke change his form.

"I finished!" Emilia smiled as Luke exclaimed.

"That's fantastic! Perhaps we can observe the outside now that the army of Spence has gone now!" Luke was surprised by what the princess said.

"I thought we would escape together and go to the Reid homes?" Emilia smirked as Luke inquired.

"Because you took so long to practice the change form, perhaps the Spence Army is gone at this time," Emilia replied, pointing to the clock near John.

"It's getting close to nighttime, you're right. Let's go outside first, Ryan, Caleb, and Sean. You stay here." Luke gave the order to the three, and they just nodded while still attempting to cast the change form spell.

As two Emilia and Luke walked outside John's small inn, Emilia transformed into another person. They search for Spence's army to see if some of the armies are still there. When Luke holds Emilia's hand and they continue to search for the army, she is surprised.

"What are you doing with my hand?" Emilia questions Luke while he holds her left hand.

"So you won't get lost because I don't want you to get lost while I'm looking," Luke explained, and the princess smiled.

As they began to walk, it was late at night, and people were still walking around with flashlights to see where they were going.

"You care too much, Luke," Emilia said quietly, and he didn't respond because he adored her.

When they noticed that the army of Spence was no longer at Garmend Town, they decided to return to John's small inn, where the three knights awaited them.

"How is your search going? Are they gone?" Sean requested that Luke returns to his original form while Emilia returned to hers.

"Yes, they're gone, and it's already night, so today has been a long and exhausting day; what do you want to eat, my lady?" Luke questions Emilia while looking around John's small inn.

"Let's go back to the Reid homes, and I think there's some meal there that we can buy," Emilia responded, and Luke nodded as they said their goodbyes to John.

"I almost forgot to say, tomorrow come back here. The job is waiting for you," John reminded them as they exited the small inn with their cloaks and hoods.

While they were walking, Emilia smelled food being cooked at a food stall, so she looked at the man cooking some food and went there. Luke noticed Emilia going to the food stall and saw the princess looking at the food being prepared.

"Would you like to eat here?" Emilia nodded when Luke asked her a question.

"How much do you charge for this food you're preparing?" While the chef was cooking, Luke inquired.

"Welcome! Fifty silver coins per person, and you can sit and wait for your food." The chef greeted the five, and Luke noticed Emilia had already reserved a seat for them.

"Come here, Ryan, Caleb, and Sean! Luke, please pay for the food!" Emilia gestured, and Luke simply smiled, noticing how excited the princess was.

"Serve me a five for this and one whole turkey. The drink is water only, please," Luke chose and paid for the food.

"Thank you; please wait ten minutes for the food to be served." The chef gave his advice and began to cook.

Luke went to the others and sat down, and while they waited, Emilia observed the chef who was cooking. And after ten minutes, the chef served the food.

"This is your order! Have fun with the food!" The chef was serving the food that Luke had requested, and Emilia was pleased because she could smell the cooked turkey and beef with buttered vegetables.

"Let's start eating so we can go back early," Luke exclaimed, and they began to eat. While eating, Luke noticed an army approaching: the garment army.

"The Spence army will be back here tomorrow. They didn't show us the person they were looking for. They just told us she has scales on her palm," Luke overheard one of the army members say, and Emilia halted for a moment.

"They said the girl possessed the dragon. I don't know, but I think it's a monster. It's perilous if she's here at Garmend Town," Emilia continued to eat because Ryan and Caleb were on her right side, where the army was.

"Do you believe we should find another place to stay?" While they are eating, Caleb suggests, Luke notices Emilia's hand clenching. He notices blood on her palm because the scales are very sharp.

The three knights were shocked to see the eyes of the dragon in Emilia's eyes as Luke quickly held her hand, and she drank the water. Sean uses his power to create a blindfold for Emilia, making her appear blind to the army of Garmend.

"Poor girl, they're looking after a blind girl. I think they're siblings," Luke heard, still holding Emilia's hand.

"We should get some rest now that we have things to do and plan," Luke advised as the five finished their meals.

Sean notices the princess crying and biting her lips; they don't know what to say because they will be caught if they mention anything about the princess. When Luke had finished eating, everyone stood up and helped the princess walk while Luke placed the hood on her head.

"Don't let go of my hand until we get back home," Luke advised, and she didn't respond, continuing to walk while crying.

But Luke understands that she needs to console Emilia because the five will face challenges along the way.