Chapter 11

After trotting through the grassy fields outside the kingdom and into the overgrown forest for a few hours as Fiona slept, Keira came to an abrupt stop.

"From all sides," Keira said.

"Earlier than expected. I'll take the back." Rui hopped off his horse and headed behind the carriage.

"Oh no!" Fiona sat up straight. "We're surrounded!"

Kinda late.

A short green figure with pointy ears leapt out of the bushes towards the carriage, axe swinging.

"Ha!" Keira threw an ice shard at the goblin, hitting it mid-air in the chest.

The goblin cried out in pain as it was knocked back into the bushes.

"How did you see that coming?!" Fiona held her hands against the glass, looking down at the goblin. "Can you sense them like me? That's amazing. I didn't know any ice users could do that."

"Stay hidden! Goblins like precious cargo."

Fiona frowned. "Hey! Is that a compliment or an insult?"

"Stay down." Keira thumped her fist on the side of the carriage and quickly drew her sword to slash through another one headed toward Aria.

"Thanks, but I can handle myself." Aria's eyes glowed blue, and water surrounded her hands. She blasted a goblin coming at them from the other side.

So she can fight... Good to know.

"Ha ha ha." Rui cackled as he slashed through one after another with ease. "Even surrounding us, they don't stand a chance."

"Under the carriage!" Aki took out his bow that he had brought and pulled back an arrow, his hand shaking.

Ice crept along the ground and froze the goblin under the carriage. It hacked at the ice with its axe, shards flying off from it.

"Go for it," Keira yelled as she rushed to slice down another goblin coming up the side.

On command, Aki released the arrow, landing his shot. He cringed, looking away.

Thump, thump.

Down the middle of the road, a large green goblin, three times the size of the rest, wearing a crown, stomped towards them, bow in hand.

"Raw!" The goblin leader let out a roar, and more goblins came running out from the surrounding woods. It drew back an arrow, aiming at Aria, who was busy fighting off a goblin trying to get at Fiona, hiding inside.

"Aria!" Aki pulled back his own arrow, hands shaking even more than before. "Dammit."

The goblin leader let his arrow fly.

Aria turned, waving her hand with a trail of water behind it.

A shadow flew overhead, dropping down in front of Aria from the top of the carriage, in time to slash the arrow away.

Keira glanced back at Aria to make sure she was okay and charged toward the goblin leader.

He shot off a plethora of arrows, but Keira dodged each one.

A few of his minions ran out in front of him.

"Ha!" Keira's eyes glowed as she sliced her sword into the ground and swung it toward them, and icicles followed the path, hitting the minions as the leader jumped out of the way.

Keira jumped on her own icicles and lunged towards the leader.

He took aim.

Keira sliced down, her magic surrounding her sword as it went straight through his arrow and then him.

The goblin leader fell back and turned into a red crystal, landing on the dirt road with a thud. The rest of the goblins cried out and fled back into the forest.

She picked up the crystal, holding it up to examine its clarity and size. Didn't expect one so big from him.

The carriage door opened, and Fiona hopped out. "That was amazing! I couldn't see it all, but you totally got the jump on him. On that note, how did you jump so high?"

Keira pointed at the carriage. "Jumped off the roof."

"I've never seen anyone fight like that. It's like you have no fear. I'm sorry I wasn't any use." Fiona bowed to her. "I should've noticed them sooner."

"That's what happens when you let your guard down and take a nap in the middle of the woods," Aria said.

"Sorry, but the ride makes me queasy, so I had to lie down." Fiona pouted as she pushed dirt around on the road with her foot.

"It's okay." Rui patted her on the back lightly. "We all made it through fine."

"Are you sure it's okay?" Aria asked. "This is a long journey, and if she's sick now, how bad will it be later?"

"It'll be fine! We can manage."

"Um... Excuse me." Aki cleared his throat, his bow hidden away on his back again. "If you're feeling sick, I might be able to help you."

Aria's eyebrow quirked up. "You can heal ailments?"

"Somewhat. It's not instant, but I can help." He swallowed hard and glanced at Keira, who nodded.

"Oh, I'll take what I can get." Fiona held her hands together. "Please try to help me, and I'll be less of a burden on this quest."

Aki took her hand and closed his eyes. His green fire surrounded his hands and spread to her.

"Oh! I'm on fire! Ah! Wait..." she trailed off and stopped trying to pull her arm away. "It doesn't hurt? What kind of odd sorcery is this?"

Aki took a deep breath and stepped back. "You should already be feeling better by now."

Fiona nodded. "I do. Will this stop it going forward?"

"For a while, but it's not a permanent fix."

"Interesting..." Aria mumbled. "What all can you heal? What kind of ailments?"

"I've had limited chance to heal ailments, so it's hard to say. Something simple like nausea isn't hard, but a disease is harder."

How hard is poison? How hard was it to restore me? Considering how you showed up afterward, I can't help but wonder if you'll be okay riding your horse after this. She watched him carefully as he took another step back.

Fiona took a few steps and a deep breath. "Definitely feeling better. I wonder if it'll last until we reach Tanten."

"Ha..." Keira turned to Rui. "Break it to her, please."

"Okay, I've got this. Fiona, Tanten isn't even the next closest town, never mind reaching it anytime today."

"Oh... How far is it? Do we have a map?" Fiona asked.

Aria sighed and pulled a map out of the compartment under her seat. "Here. This is the one for around here."

Fiona unfolded it, and her eyes widened. "That's our kingdom down there, isn't it?"

"Yes, and we're here." Rui pointed it out on the map, west of which they had started. "We have to keep travelling along this path, all the way over here. That's Tanten."

"No way... Haven't we been travelling for hours? How is it still so far away?"

"The world is a big place."

"I know, but... I didn't think it took so long to travel. We are staying on this continent, right? I'm not sure if I can handle a boat."

You'd think she would've asked all of this before joining us.

"Thankfully, we can stick to land. This town over here is our next stop." Rui pointed at the house marking on the map, where they were getting close to.

"At least that one seems reasonably close."

Aria snatched the map back. "Can we get moving? Getting attacked here once is bad enough."

"Right, sorry." Fiona bowed and climbed back into the carriage as Aki and Rui gathered the small red shards from the goblins.

"Good to go?" Rui patted Aki on the back.

"Yes, sir. I mean, Rui." Aki glanced at Keira before hopping back onto his horse.

What was that about? Keira took her lead on Sora as they continued on their rough path through the forest, with Rui guarding the rear. She glanced back at Aki to see him rubbing his eyes.

Maybe we'll have to make more stops than originally anticipated.

Her eyes caught Aria's, and she frowned, nudging her head forward.

Something tells me she doesn't like me too much. Keira lightly touched where Wakaru's pendant hid under her armour. Not that I blame her.

After another hour, the greenery lightened, and the forest opened up into a vast, grassy field with wheat fields in the distance, along with a town.

"Finally!" Fiona cheered, face against the window of the carriage as she stared out the window. "And I still don't feel sick! Thank you, Aki. So, what's this town called?"