The Road to Lucon

The sky was painted black with specks of white as the stars lay above. The second night had fallen since the three of them had left Willowstead, and exhaustion had begun taking its toll. Though Caelus had barely broken a sweat so far, even he could admit that travelling on foot for this long was tedious. Mira's usual energy had waned slightly, and Elise, though trying to appear completely fine and raring to go, was clearly feeling the effects.

The dirt path stretched near endlessly before them, winding through hills and sparse forests with no clear end in sight. The occasional rustle of leaves and the distant cries of nocturnal creatures served as a swift reminder of how far they were from any semblance of civilisation.

Elise exhaled sharply, wiping sweat from her brow as she trudged along, "Are we anywhere close?"

"Mira," Caelus turned to her, raising an eyebrow, "just how long does it take to reach Ardentia on foot?"

"Seven days to reach the border city, Lucon," Mira clicked her tongue, stretching out her sore arms, "then another three to get to Ardent. That is if we don't take any detours."

"Ten days?! You've got to be kidding me!" Elise groaned

"Welp." Mira smirked. "That's just long-distance travel for you!"

Elise shot her a deadpan look, "We gotta find a cart or something—anything to speed this up!"

"You got that right," Caelus said, scanning the area, "but for now, let's just look for where to set up camp. We can look for a ride tomorrow."

He broke off from the group and went into the trees, moving ahead to scout for a suitable spot. The landscape progressively became rougher, with small cliffs and scattered rock formations creating natural divides in the land. As he pushed further onward, he noticed a hollowed-out rock formation, a natural three-storey structure carved out by time. However, the faint scent of something musky and stale told him he wasn't alone.

Hobgoblins.

His eyes adjusted to the dim light inside, spotting several creatures within. They were small in number—barely a dozen—but it was clear that this was their home.

It didn't matter. This was about to be his camp now.

By the time Caelus returned to Mira and Elise, the hollow was his. Wiping the last traces of goblin blood from his hands, he beckoned them to follow.

"I found a place! It's clear now."

The two women exchanged bated gazes, but neither questioned what had happened. If he said it was clear, that meant something had been there before.

They arrived at the hollow a few minutes later. It was spacious—more than enough for the three of them. The first floor, now littered with hobgoblin corpses and weapons, was best avoided, so they set up on the second. Mira went about setting up a sleeping area while Elise prepared to cook.

"Hey, Mira..." Caelus said, turning to Mira as he arranged firewood, "it just dawned on me. Your last name. Ardent."

Mira stiffened slightly, pausing in her movements.

"It's not important," she replied flatly

Caelus held her gaze for a moment before letting it go.

Turning to Elise, he shifted the conversation. "Need a hand?"

Elise nodded with smile, handing him a few ingredients. "Help me prep these."

"What made you decide to come with us, Elise?" Caelus asked as they worked

She glanced at him before focusing on chopping vegetables. "I realised... I don't really know much about your past. I only found out you're the Star Child three months ago. If I want to understand you, I need to see the parts of your life I wasn't there for."

Caelus was quiet for a moment, then smiled. "I see."

Once the food was ready, they sat around the fire, eating in relative silence until Elise spoke up.

"Y'know, I've heard of the Celestial Blades before," she said, her eyes locking onto Caelus, "I would think most people on this continent have. Magnaria's elite Holy Knight order. Tell me, Caelus, who were they truly?"

"Well," Caelus smirked briefly after slurping some of his food, "I'm sure Mira's told you that I was a founding member?"

"She has..."

"Well, I remember old King Jair wanted to display Magnaria's strength, so the Order of the Celestial Blades was founded by me and the Polar Twins, Prince Aldrin and Princess Isolde of Magnaria. I remember they were senior Holy Knights at the time, and well, I was just a kid who was still pretty new to knighthood."

"How did you get along with them?" Elise asked

"Horribly at first, but eventually we got to a good place," Caelus chuckled, "they're great people."

"Are there any more?"

"Well," Caelus thought, "about half a year after the founding, we got our first recruit, Gracia Snorrisdottir, a holy knight squire. She started competing with me in damn near everything since she joined! I miss those sometimes... Anyways, you've probably heard of her dad, Snorri Thorsson!"

"I don't believe it rings a bell." Elise turns her head slightly in confusion

"Grand Holy Knight of Magnaria? One of the Supreme Powers of Tiravel?"

Elise shook her head.

"Oh, well," Caelus continued, "our next recruit came three years after the founding and you're already familiar with her. Our wonderchild, Mira!" He waved his hands around Mira with pride, as if he was presenting her, "She completed Magnaria's Holy Knight training in record time of one year and eight months!"

Elise turned to Mira. "Mira, that's incredible!"

"It's not that big of a deal..." Mira replied dryly, "Caelus was immediately inducted into the Holy Knights after he got knighted."

"Hehe," Caelus laughed awkwardly, "anyway! Our final recruit was a warrior from a distant clan, looking to push himself! His name is Dante Corvolegno," he spoke dramatically, "my best bud in the order!"

"That's it? Only six people?" Elise asked

"Yep! We were pretty strong!"

Elise rubbed her chin as she thought. "Y'know, I don't think I've heard of the two outside of Mira and the founders."

"You probably know them by their titles," Caelus replied, "now what were they again? Oh, yeah! The Huntress of Vindholm, the Umbra Knight and the Flame Maiden! I know you've heard of them!"

Mira looked away, clearly embarrassed. "Flame Maiden... Haven't heard that name in a while..."

Elise let out an amused laugh as she watched Mira's shyness. After a moment, she turned back to Caelus.

"You mentioned some Supreme Powers? Just who are they?"

Caelus leaned back against the wall. "The Supreme Powers of Tiravel are just a classification kingdoms use to keep track of the strongest beings on our here continent. Well, there's me, the Star Child. Then there's old man Snorri, better known as Vindkonungr, it means Wind King or something, I don't really remember. Then there's his dad, Thors Erikson, the Lightning's Bellow. Then Apexia, King of the Beasts. Then Sobekin, Lord of the Crocodyls, and Buzza, Queen of the Flies."

He paused then muttered, "Well... there's also those three—y'know what, don't worry about it!"

Elise frowned but didn't press further.

The two of them looked at the sleeping area to find Mira—probably bored from Caelus' talk—changed out of her armour and sleeping. Taking the hint, Elise quickly followed suit. Caelus climbed to the third level to give her some privacy and quickly changed into his nightwear. After coming back down to the second floor, he laid his gear next to his bag, then laid down and closed his eyes.

The next morning, Caelus woke early. Still dressed in his nightwear, he left the hollow to scout the surrounding area. After nearly half an hour, he spotted something in the distance—a merchant cart.

Approaching swiftly and landing softly on the back of one of the horses drawing the cart, he startled the driver, who yelped as Caelus suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Yo!" Caelus greeted. "Are you heading to Lucon?"

"Um... yes?" the driver hesitated

"Great!" Caelus said. "How about a deal? Give me and my companions a ride, and I'll give you some valuable goods."

"Elaborate." the driver squinted

Caelus smirked. "Ever sold hobgoblin corpses to an alchemist?"

"You're serious?" the driver's eyes widened

The driver quickly called out to the merchant inside the cart, with the merchant soon peeking out, considering the offer.

"As long as you can show us the bodies, you've got yourself a deal!"

Back at the hollow, Caelus nudged Mira and Elise awake.

"Wake up."

Mira grumbled, shifting, "What...?"

"I found a cart. We're getting a ride."

Mira sat up groggily as Elise stirred.

"We are?" Elise asked, blinking the sleep from her eyes

"Yeah. Get dressed."

Within minutes, the three of them were in their armour and ready to go. As they walked toward their ride, Caelus turned to them with a smirk.

"By this time tomorrow, we'll be in Lucon."