"What do we do now? " Kalen asks with a serious expression I have only seen in his face a couple of times in my life.
"We have to get ready to leave,'' Sedrik says trying to get up from the bed but failing. The wound in his chest hasn't completely healed. ''I want you to come with me to the Sapphire Kingdom."
"The Sapphire Kingdom?" I feel nauseous just thinking about it, if there is a place in the world that I never want to go back to, it is precisely the Sapphire Kingdom. "Why do you want to go there?"
"I need to see the Lady of the Waves, Queen Morgana." He answers giving up in his attempts to get up and laying back on the bed.
"Why?" Kalen certainly doesn't like the idea of going back to that place either.
"If there is anyone who can help us against Queen Estenna, it's Queen Morgana." Sedrik says while attempting one more time to get up from the bed and succeeding at it this time. ''We have to get there before the Ruby Kingdom causes more destruction.''
Estenna. Queen Estenna. The Lady of the Flames. That is why the name sounded familiar.
"How do you know she will be willing to help us?" my eyes move to Kalen looking for help. "Maybe she doesn't want to get involved in the problem."
"Of course, she will help us, the Diamond Kingdom and the Sapphire Kingdom have good relations.'' Sedrik smiles at me as if that should make me feel better. It doesn't. ''I am sure the Lady of the Flames wants to take over the Sapphire Kingdom too; if we get to Queen Morgana first and we warn her about it, we can ally and stop the Fire Queen.'' He looks at me and then Kalen, realizing we are not okay with the idea. ''Is there something wrong?'' He finally asks.
"We used to live in the land of the waves. In the outskirts of the Sapphire kingdom." Kalen is the one who answers and making sure Sedrik doesn't have time to ask anything else, he moves towards me. "Well, we have to prepare to leave. I guess we should leave as soon as possible."
I think about objecting. Making up something to avoid going back to the Sapphire kingdom, but I know it would be pointless. Sooner or later, we would have to go back, as far as I am concerned, I would've liked it to be later, but I know Sedrik is right and there is no other option.
"We can't leave until you recover completely," I say. Sedrik seems to be about to argue, so I add: "It won't do any good for you to be the chosen one to save the world if you die before you even start saving it."
"Alright.'' He agrees reluctantly after a brief pause. ''There is only one more thing you should know before we leave."
"What is it?" I ask carefully.
"I'm sure the Lady of the Flames is still after me," Sedrik voice is suddenly dark, his look is serious, and I know what he will say is nothing good. "she is ruthless and cruel, and won't hesitate to kill anyone who gets in her way.''
Kalen and I spent the next couple of days gathering as many ingredients as we can to make some more brews. We both knew that it was very unlikely we would go back to our regular business, but I wanted to be ready; especially after knowing that the Fire Queen won't stop at anything until Sedrik is dead, putting my brother and me in danger. We needed to be ready for anything.
Sedrik's wounds were getting better, I don't want to sound too proud, but I did a pretty good job healing him especially taking into consideration that from the first moment he was able to stand up again he hadn't stop training.
I found out that the strange cane he carried with him was more than just a tool for physical support; one time I could've sworn I had seen him cast a shadow out of it but when I looked again the shadow was gone and Sedrik was back at practicing aermorphing, which he was amazingly good at.
Now we are all right next to the river where Sedrik has spent his days' training. I am sitting on a rock while I see my brother putting his skills with the sword into practice. Sedrik is using his cane to defend himself while Kalen attacks with his sword. I never realized how good my brother was with the sword, he is putting up a challenge for Sedrik who, as expected from a member of the royalty, is really good with it too.
Kalen throws another blow to Sedrik who starts looking just as exhausted as my brother. Sedrik is distracted, and I can see in my brother's eyes he thinks he finally got him; a big smile starts showing up on his face, but Sedrik is fast and notices Kalen's attack, stopping it at the last second and charging back at him, which takes my brother by surprise and is not as fast to stop it. He ends up on the floor with Sedrik's cane pointing at his face. Both of them are out of breath.
''That was amazing.'' Sedrik smiles happily as he helps Kalen up. ''You are really good at this, Kalen.''
''Thanks,'' Kalen replies rubbing the back of his neck, from where I am sitting, I can see his face blushing. He has never been good with compliments. ''I had a great master.''
''Really?'' Sedrik seems curious about it and I know he is about to ask more about it, but talking about master Zeena is painful, especially for my brother.
''I want to try,'' I say walking towards them. Kalen smiles at me thankful for my interruption.
''Are you as good as your brother?'' the look Sedrik gives me is playful but it bothers me a little.
''Judge for yourself,'' I say taking the sword Kalen is giving me.
Without waiting for his answer, I turn around fast and throw a blow at him from my right side. Thanks to watching him fight against my brother I have a pretty good idea of his movements, and I know he would already be expecting my attack. What he doesn't expect is me to stop in the middle of my attack and turn left going straight to his right side, he reacts at the last second and is barely able to stop me.
''Impressive,'' he mutters and then he charges against me.
Our fight doesn't last as long and his and Kalen's, since I am not as good as my brother, but I can defend myself. I stop almost all of his attacks and I am able to get to him a couple of times.
My arms are sore and my chest is hurting from the lack of air since I am not able to breathe and fight at the same time. I am tired but I am also proud of myself for holding on this long.
Sedrik is now throwing blow after blow forcing me to back up, not giving me the chance to attack back. I know I am walking to the edge of the river, one more step and I will probably fall into the frozen water.
I start feeling irritated as Sedrik keeps pushing me back, I barely have time to react and stop one of his attacks, my nose almost touching the hilt of my brother's sword as Sedrik's cane is just a few inches away from my face.
I curse under my breath; my feet are already in the water and because of the coldness of it touching my body, I feel suddenly better and I gain back a little more strength which I use the push my body towards Sedrik's, throwing the last blow to him. I feel a slight push on my feet and the water swirling a little, around us, Sedrik struggles to stop my attack as he trips over his own feet, falling directly into the water.
''Oh Deases! I'm sorry!'' I say as I rush forward helping him up. He is soaked in freezing cold water. ''I didn't mean to do that!''
''It's alright,'' he says, looking down at the water a little confused as if he is trying to understand what just happened. When he looks back at me, he smiles. ''I needed a bath anyway.''
We walk back to where Kalen is waiting. I am looking for different ways to apologize to Sedrik for sending him straight to the frozen river but he seems to notice my internal debate and pushes me slightly with his shoulder.
''Don't worry about it,'' he says as we stop next to my brother. ''I think it is time for us to go.''
''Yeah, it will get dark soon,'' I agree while I pick up my bag from the floor. ''We need to go back to the hut and...''
''No, I mean we have to get out of here. Start our way to the Sapphire kingdom.'' Sedrik interrupts me, and as he sees the look Kalen and I are exchanging he looks at my brother and quickly adds: ''I will meet you in the place you found me, at dusk.''
Without waiting for an answer, he rushes through the woods. Leaving us behind.
I head to the city while Kalen goes back to the hut to pack our belongings. I had to do a couple of final deliveries before we left and I wanted to make sure to grab the last supplies we needed for our trip. We didn't know how long it would take us to get to the Sapphire Kingdom but according to my calculations, from the town we grew up to the Palace City of the Diamond Kingdom it was at least three weeks traveling by foot; and our town was around a week time by foot from the Palace city of the Sapphire kingdom, so that makes four weeks of traveling. We needed enough supplies to last four weeks.
As I walk, I look in my bag making sure I had brought all the brews for the deliveries I needed to make. I am so distracted doing this that I don't realize someone is heading straight towards me. I have a feeling as if my body is being pulled forward as if a hand is reaching inside my chest and it's trying to pull something out of it. I lift my gaze the exact moment I bump into a person. I end up on the floor, thanks to the mighty Deases the brews I carried in my bag are safe and sound inside.
''I'm sorry.'' a male voice says as he offers me a hand to help me up.
''Don't worry,'' I answer taking his strangely warm hand. He is not wearing gloves and the weather it's really cold, and still, his hand is really warm. When I look at him, I feel my body heating up.
The stranger is a young man, probably in his early twenties. His dark coal hair falls down in uneven waves to the left side of his face. His eyes are so dark I can barely see his pupils, his naturally tan skin glows with the sunlight. There is a grin on his perfectly red lips.
''Are you alright?'' he asks and the warmth in my arm makes me realize I am still holding his hand.
''Yes,'' I say a little too fast taking a step back. ''I'm fine.''
He looks at me with curious eyes and I feel as if I had seen him before somewhere. Maybe I have passed him by sometime in the market, or he just has one of those faces that look familiar to anyone. But I know it's not that, because I would remember that face.
''Alright,'' he says. ''Have a great day.'' with a slight nod he walks away from me.
I let out a long, shaking sigh as he walks away. The feeling of the cold air in my face helps me come back to reality. I shake my head trying to focus again. I look back to see if the stranger is anywhere near me, but the path behind me is completely lonely. Trying not to feel unsettled by the strange encounter, I hide my hands inside my cloak and make my way to the city.