Childhood Friends

“And we are through!”, exclaimed Violet happy.

Rudy pulled the cart with her, Alex, Caleb and Cera through the last gate of the Drochnfort, which is the last Checkpoint on the path through the Erzstain Mountains. The journey was long, strenuous and took them two months, but the mountains finally gave them free.

“The Leiwand Kingdom! And more specifically the fields Bluemml! We made it just in time for this sight!”, said Caleb with a smile.

At the feet of the mountains a flowery field stretched across the land as far as the eye could see. Every color known to men seemed to be present in this colorful and random sea of blooming flowers.

“It never disappoints.”, said Cera.

“It’s beautiful!”, gasped Violet nearly moved to tears.

“Not bad…”, said Alex with a shrug.

“Not bad?”, came surprised from all three.

“Hey, not bad is a rather high evaluation! Also it just reminds me of my allergies back home… luckily the flora here is different…”, explained Alex himself.

“Allergies?”, asked Cera confused.

“Ah nothing important… just a health condition I had in the past… but all good now, so nothing to worry about!”, said Alex and tried to dodge further questions.

Cera luckily didn’t worry or cared and faced back in front to bask in the sights. They made their way down the winding path in front of them and were soon swallowed by the colorful sea. The uneven and hilly landscape gave it even more of a wavy look. It seemed to be endless. After one hour as they reached the top of one of the hills, Alex noticed a forest growing in the distance. Five hours and countless hilltops later, they nearly reached it. Only one incline was left.

“Do you guys hear that?”, said Cera suddenly.

Everyone paused and listened.

“That’s… fighting… somebody is fighting… weapons clashing and screaming!”, said Caleb.

“Better check it out then… who is fighting who…”, said Violet.

Pulled by Rudy they raced on top of the hill. There they could see the Origin of the fight sounds. A tree lay across the path and blocked the way for a carriage drawn by two horses. A large group of bandits encircled the wagon, some in combat with the defender of said vehicle. Alex looked closely. It was a tall and muscular woman, swinging a massive two-handed sword around. But the most impressive thing about her was not her weapon, nor the strength and power she wielded it with. Alex thought his eyes played a trick on him, so he had to make sure.

“That’s… We have to help them! Alex, help them! Alex? What the…?”, shouted Caleb and turned, but Alex was gone.

He was already halfway down the hill, his axe in hand and sprinting like a mad man.

“What’s up with him?”, asked Violet confused.

“We have to help them, please!”, said Caleb again and jumped from the cart himself.

He then drew his sword and made his way down the hill as well. Violet grabbed her staff. Cera stood next to her, the long bow already drawn to her cheek. She let the first arrow fly.

Alex dashed forward. Only a few meters left. They hadn’t even noticed him. An arrow flew past him and struck on of the men in front of him. The attacker, hit in the neck, went down with a single groan. Alex swung. The man next to the downed man took notice of his buddy’s demise and his surprised look was still on his face as his head went flying through the air. Alex did not stop. The next arrow flew past him and hitting true. To his right a fireball exploded, courtesy of Violet. Alex jumped, swung his axe high and cleaved the big guy in front of him nearly into two. He still did not stop, but rushed forward, swinging the blunt side of his axe against the side of the next one, flinging him off his feet. The first of the attacking men took notice of the new enemy, but Alex had nearly reached his goal. He saw an arm flying through the air in front of him and knew where he had to go. Alex swung his axe wide, cleaving a path through the attacking force. He saw the two-handed sword sticking out of the back of a man. Slowly it was pulled back and the dead body fell to the ground, revealing what Alex had come looking for. He sighed as he swung his axe mercilessly against the side of an attacker. In front of Alex stood the tall muscular woman with the two-handed sword, sizing him up with a confused look on his face. Alex stared at her features, he thought to be just a trick on his eyes, but they were not. The woman did in fact had two bushy wolflike ears on the top of her head and an even fluffier tail moving animated through the air behind her.

“FUCK YEAH!”, screamed Alex as he slammed his axe into some poor guy’s gut.

He then started swinging into the ranks of the attackers, pushing them back and relieving some pressure off the defender. The tall woman with the animal ears and the tail watched Alex confused for a second then started swinging in the other direction. It didn’t take long, and the last attacker was either slain or running away. Alex turned around after wrenching his axe free from a body. The tall and muscular woman, with the wolflike ears and the fluffy tail stood in front of the carriage. Her ears were pointed at him and her tail slowly moved from one side to the other. She had her weapon slung relaxed over the shoulder, but her body was ready to strike every moment. Alex could not resist grinning.

“Who the fuck are you? You better stop looking at me like that… I haven’t yet decided if you deserve my gratitude or boot…”, said the woman and furrowed her brows.

She had long gray hair. A leather armor and pelt covered her body. The eyes had a wild and threatening gleam in them. One blueish and one yellowish. Alex didn’t say anything, he just stood there. The woman swung her sword and pointed at him.

“Do I look like the patient type? Talk! Or we let our weapons sing!”, she said snarling a bit.

“Hina! Don’t… He is a friend!”, said Caleb loudly, appearing behind Alex.

The woman named Hina looked like she had seen a ghost. She blinked a few times.

“Is that really you?”, Hina asked unsure.

“In the living flesh.”, said Caleb and grinned.

“Questions is, how long it will stay that way…”

Hina relaxed her body and put her sword down. Violet and Cera came down the hill behind Alex as the window of the carriage opened. A blonde head of a woman appeared.

“Is it over, Hina?”, said the head.

“Yeah… well not yet…”, said Hina and pointed at Caleb.

The head in the window turned and the blue eyes grew big. It vanished and the window closed. Hina stepped to the side and one moment later the door flung open. A blonde woman jumped out and rushed towards Caleb, completely ignoring Alex. Her simple yet elegant dress fluttered as she walked past him. Caleb looked half happy and half afraid. The blonde woman stopped in front of him and swung her arm back. With a loud smack she slapped Caleb.

“That’s for just leaving without saying anything to us! You stupid Oaf!”, she said calm and cold.

The woman then pulled him close and hugged Caleb tightly.

“And that’s for coming back in one piece… you stupid fucking Oaf!”, she said in a slightly friendlier tone.

“What… that’s… not… really appropriate… is it?”, stuttered Caleb surprised.

This was the first time that Alex had seen him flustered.

“What? Can’t I smack an old friend? I do believe I have every right for it!”, said the blonde woman.

She hugged him even more tightly before releasing him.

“When did you come back?”, she inquired.

“Just now… What are you doing out here?”, said Caleb.

“Oh, I just visited a city to the north for some official boring business…”

Cera and Violet stood behind Alex, and they watched the whole scene confused.

“I bet an old flame of his…”, whispered Violet.

“Look at how flustered he is…”, whispered Cera back.

Caleb and the blond woman came over to them. Hina went to the blond woman’s side.

“Let me introduce you…”, began Caleb a little bit uncomfortable.

“These are my childhood friends…”

He pointed at Hina.

“This is Hina. I grew up with her on the street of Heast.”

Hina smiled and showed her pointy canine teeth. Caleb pointed to the blonde woman, smiling friendly.

“And this is Elena Sophia von Leiwand. The fourth princess of the Leiwand Kingdom.”, said Caleb slowly.

“You can call me Lena.”, said the princess with a wide grin as she looked onto the baffled faces of Violet and Cera. Alex still only had eyes for Hina.