Preparing for Travel

I awoke with a jolt as my vision came rushing back to me, immediately lifted a hand to block the sun as it began to rise above the horizon. "Was it just a dream?" I thought to myself before I remembered that Veythar had healed my wound. I quickly glanced at my leg and saw that it looked the same way that it did after Veythar healed it. "So it wasn't a dream." I thought to myself.

"Good, you're awake." I heard someone say to me. I looked up to see Kaida standing before me, eyes fixed on me and her sword drawn. "Now stand up and prove to me that the darkness hasn't tried to claim you yet." I stood up and once again extended my leg towards her to show her my wound. She used the edge of her sword again to lift my leg further to examine it closer.

"How is this possible?" She said when she realized that the marks had faded, "The Corruption hasn't spread at all, and it's even faded." She took her sword off my leg and looked at me with wide eyes. She quickly regained her composure and said, "Zahyr was right, you are different. Come, let's head back to camp, we need to prepare supplies so that I can take you to Elyria."

"Good, looks like I won't have to try and explain myself to her." I thought to myself as we started walking towards the camp. All of a sudden, Kaida stopped and turned towards me. "What is it?" I asked her, confused as to what she was doing. "You said. you have no memories, and no knowledge of anything about Tenoria." She said, her tone sounding as if she was accusing me of something. "Yeah, why do you ask?" I replied with a nod. "Because I never told you about Elyria, and you didn't even question why I'm taking you there."

My heart leaped in my chest as I debated whether to tell her everything or listen to what Veythar said and not tell her. "I had a dream," I told her, "and in that dream, I met someone, a Nyoran. He told me many things, but he told me that I need to go to Elyria with you and see the Elemental Nobles." Her eyes narrowed when I mentioned the Nobles. "Who was he? Why does he want you to meet the Nobles?" She asked me, almost demanding. "I can't tell you that." I responded, "He told me to tell no one but the Nobles themselves."

"Why? What does he gain from this?" She questioned still suspicious about Veythar. "Again, I can't tell you that, but I can tell you that he only cares for the good of Tenoria."

She stared at me as if determining if I was lying or not. "Fine, if you're vouching for him, then I'll take your word for it. But if people die because of him, then their blood is on your hands."

"Thanks for the encouragement." I thought sarcastically. "By the way," I said to her, "his name's Veythar."

She just looked at me before walking away, and I quickly walked after her. I decided not to say anything, so that she doesn't become more suspicious of Veythar, and she didn't ask any more questions.

We finally reached the camp after several minutes, and as we walked in I felt the attention shift from themselves to us. First, it was mainly on Kaida, and then they turned their attention towards me. I just kept my head low and tried to ignore them. I only felt their gaze shift away from me as we walked into the large tent in the middle. I breathed a sigh of relief, glad that I wasn't the center of their attention anymore.

"Oh thank the Guardians, you're alive!" I heard someone say. Looking up, I saw that it was Zahyr sitting by a table with a map in the middle. He stood up and walked over to me, looking at my wound. "The marks, they've faded, how?"

"He refuses to tell me, something to do with a Nyoran named Veythar that he met in a dream." Kaida cut in, answering his question before I had a chance to. Zahyr looked back towards me, confusion on his face, "Who is he? How did he meet you in a dream?"

"Look, I wish that I could tell you more, but I can't, you're just going to have to trust me, okay?" I answered, stopping him before he could ask any more questions. He didn't reply for a moment, before giving a nod and saying, "All right then, keep your secrets, but if you trust him, then I'll take your word for it."

Kaida cut in, "Enough talk, we need to go to Elyria, and we need to bring him with us, he's someone that the Nobles need to meet." Turning her attention towards Zahyr, she continued, "Prepare supplies, enough for the journey, and horses too." Zahyr gave a quick salute, before exiting the tent. I watched as he left the tent, watching the flap close behind him.

"Boy, come here," Kaida said, trying to call me over to her. Annoyed at her calling me boy, I turned to her and said, "I have a name you know, you can call me Zarek, it's better than you calling me boy." I wasn't expecting to call myself Zarek, but it was the first name that came to mind since it was what Veythar called me.

Kaida just rolled her eyes at me and said, "Fine, Zarek, come here." I went over to her, pleased that I had something to call myself. She extended her arm to me, showing me a dark grey cloak. "Wear this, it'll help to not draw that much attention to yourself, considering your ... unique fur color." I took it out of her hand and put it on, it was able to cover my arms and legs, and when I raised my hood you could see none of my fur.

She nodded and extended some bandages, "You're going to need these too, it'd be safer to cover the Corruption's marks than run the risk of someone seeing it underneath the cloak and causing a panic." I took that out of her hand and put it in my pocket, planning to use it later. "One more thing," she continued, this time giving me a sword, "you need to learn how to use a sword, I'll personally train you on the way, otherwise you're as good as dead, and we can't be having that."

"And here I thought you were warming up to me." I thought to myself as I took the sword and held it in my hands. "Wrap the belt around your waist, it'll be easier for you to carry," she added, seeing that I was just holding it. I wrapped the belt around my waist and slid the scabbard through a loop in the belt, allowing it to rest on my right side.

"Good you're ready, now follow me," Kaida said before exiting the tent, and I quickly followed after her. I was met with the sight of three horses, each with saddles and packs, supplies for the trip ahead. Zahyr was already mounted on one of the horses, and he greeted us as we approached. "Everything prepared General, we have all that we need."

"Excellent," Kaida replied, before immediately mounting one of the horses and looking back at me. I realized that she was waiting for me, so I walked next to the last horse and tried to mount it. I did not know how to mount a horse, but since I saw how Kaida did it, I was able to sit in the saddle a short moment later.

"Perfect, now folow me and stay close, can't have you getting lost." Kaida said as she urged her horse into a trot, leading the way as Zahyr followed behind her. I wasn't sure how to make my horse move, but once again I copied what Kaida and Zahyr did, and was able to get my horse to follow them as we started our journey to Elyria.