Frederick Kaiser: Chapter Forty-Two

"I can't believe it... We have lost everything..." Xavier trying his hardest to get a hold of himself. Erdmuthe is treating his wounds. "Thank you Erdmuthe." He says kindly as he groans in pain.

"Arman, Mother, Bertrand, Garrick... They all didn't make it." William begins crying.

"Stop crying, William. It's unbecoming... You are a man now!" I shout out to him. I'm so tired of all the emotions. I just want to be back home!

"Shut up Fred! I don't need to hear it! William is only seventeen! And if you cannot tell we have lost everything! He has a right to be upset!" Hamlin shouts out as he stands up tall towering over us. "Since I am the oldest Prince here! I will be leading us to our destination of Raud!"

"I think we need to change that!" Xavier shouts out.

We all look at Xavier. And Erdmuthe agrees. "Xavier is right! There is a risk that they know where you all are going."

I look at Erdmuthe. Who does she think she is? She may be my half-sister. But that does not mean she gets a say in anything!

"Um excuse me Erdmuthe! You don't get a say!" I look down at her. She looked furious! She stands up and punched me on the face. It was a hard blow I fall to the ground.

"Fucking Princie! Still after all this. You feel superior to everyone else! You should be glad I am still here! Ingrid and I could have easily left!" Erdmuthe turns around and continues to try and tend wounds.

"That was really uncalled for Fred! She has helped us and you, after all, this time! Stop being such an asshole!" Welt walks over to me. It looked like we were going to fight.

"Don't Welt... He will forever remain an asshole!" Hamlin looks inside his bag. He has nothing useful and looks up at the stars to see if he can navigate it.

We have been travelling nonstop since we have been kicked out of the castle. Far away from any civilisation... With no direction... Gunter is still crazy. Fat man remains exhausted the whole time. His wheezing is driving me nuts. He still hasn't spoken to me. And I am glad... I cannot stand his smell. I can't imagine now the perfume has worn off.

Erdmuthe tried her best cleaning up Xavier. As Xavier's bruises are fully showing. He then walks over to Hamlin. Since Hamlin is now the oldest sibling. This apparently makes him the leader of the group. He is older than Welt by like half an hour since they're twins. I notice he gets along well with Erdmuthe and Ingrid. And does like to tell people what to do... Like everyone in my family.

"Alright once light shows we shall be on our way!" Hamlin says in all seriousness as he looks down from the sky. I fear he has no idea of what he is doing...

Welt looks around the camp and will stay up as guard. We are resting temporarily. We have no sleeping mats or anything... We must sleep on the hard dirt ground. For food Welt and Ingrid went hunting. Found a few rabbits. The dragons had to eat some raw roots. Disgusting according to Duryss. But it's that or starve.

Xavier stands next to Hamlin. "I think we should go to Burrdin, not Raud. I think it'll be too dangerous to go close to the Purple Empire. They can't be trusted. The Shadow Emperor will invade everywhere in this nation. They can buy people out. And we all know Chancellor Artair likes his money. I wouldn't be surprised if he finds us just to sell us to get Inclementia's clemency."

Welt nods in agreement. "I agree. I believe we should go to where the rest of our family is. Or try and claim asylum in the Blue Empire. They're a neutral nation. The war between us and Red is officially over. I don't see the harm. They are more honourable and are not so easily bought out."

"I just want to be home..." I say. As I laid back. My face still hurts from that punch. I rub it softly.

I fall asleep and by the next day we are travelling again. I am so sick of travelling. Ingrid tells us to avoid villages. We must remain low. There will be people after us and cannot see us. Erdmuthe and Ingrid have been helpful. I feel guilty that I wasn't so appreciative. My face still hurts from that punch. I hate showing it... Too bad they don't know the lands of east or south that well. Ingrid and her bandit group are from the north and Erdmuthe is from Demur.

I need a bath... I smell revolting. My hair is a mess. I'm now growing a beard. Constantly itches!

I hate this... I HATE THIS! My Delphina is dead! Now I will have to pay someone else to make love to me. As I tried to sleep. I started to feel cold and shiver. Duryss began to shiver. I sit next to him as he tries not to crush me. Trying to keep ourselves warm.

A week passed. We are out of the dead forest mountains and I see the flatlands which hopefully leads to the Blue Empire. One of the ends of the mountain chain. Such a beautiful sight to see.

I have never been around this part of the world. The brown Empire connected to the south. The Blue Empire to the east. And the Purple Empire North East. The Purple Empire is directly located underneath the Light Green Empire which is now also Shadow territory.

I prefer to remain at home than anywhere else. I never really cared to learn about anything else...

My train of thought broke when I hear Hamlin yelling at us to hide into the dead forest. We all snug together trying to blend in. I look up and notice it!

It's that flying dragon that tried to capture us. It's flying around the area! It must have been trailing us! It's a larger body and dark scales make it easier to spot it during the daytime. However, it kept flying past. We all sigh in relief! As we broke formation to look at where it is going. We notice a human rider!

"That thing didn't have a rider before!" Duryss remarks.

Took me by surprise that Duryss called her a thing... She is also a dragon. But it has been well known in dragon herds that differences are not usually tolerated.

"How strange... What kind of dragon is that? Dragons flying like that. Remarkable!" Erdmuthe asks.

"No idea... Out of all my years, I have never seen anything like it." Ingrid replies. "When I travelled the world with Elrick. We have seen many things. But nothing like that."

"It's not the same dragon!" Xavier points out. We all look at him in surprise. There is more than one dragon that can fly? Well, that's not going to be in our favour. If they have many of those dragons flying around.

"What makes you say that Xavier?" Welt asks.

"The dragon that almost got me only had two legs with its forearms being the wings. This one is four-legged with two wings on its shoulders. And looks a little smaller." As Xavier blathers on about this dragon. I look at Ingrid at the other side of the group. I have always wondered about Ingrid. She hasn't said much... I don't even know her at all. I know Erdmuthe being my half-sister. But what is Ingrid's story? Why are they with us?

I look back to the sky where the flying dragon eventually turns into a dot in the distance.

We all sigh in relief.

"Hey, Xavier." As I turned next to my brother. "What is the deal with Ingrid? Why are the girls still here?"

"Really Fred? You haven't thought of it? Haven't noticed anything until now? You really know nothing of anyone else apart of yourself..." Xavier rolls his eyes as I remained silent. "Ingrid and Elrick were husband and wife. Ingrid is your sister-in-law!"

"Ugh... What?" I look at him in shock. I know brother had a sketchy history. But I never knew he was married.

"Ingrid and Elrick met when they were young. She is the reason why Elrick became a bandit and a criminal. He chose her over royal protocol."

"Ugh... What?" As I stuttered. Ingrid isn't event hat pretty? Why sacrifice everything for her?

"He stole from the wealthier in his position. And gave it to the poor... This solidified their relationship as Ingrid fought for women's rights and the poor. Elrick was caught and was sentenced a few years in prison. Elrick by choice served his full sentence and Ingrid saw him almost every day in his sentence. Once Elrick served and released, Ingrid proposed."

Wait a woman proposed? That's not right! A woman has no say if she wants to marry someone. It's completely up to the man if he desires her or not. Women in this nation are never to overstep male boundaries! She probably never had any dowry or gifts to give him since she was so poor...

"Since it was Ingrid who proposed they could not wed legally. But Elrick made an official proposal himself in front of the family. Father was furious... You know what he is like to women who have strong opinions. Father lovingly said that Ingrid is nothing more than a wart on the bottom of your foot... And she is ugly to boot. Arman against our father's wishes. Officially married them later that night. And told Elrick to run away with her... And from there Elrick was dead to father. Our loving father never wanted to see or hear from him again. As you know... How reacted to the news of Elrick's death. He really did not care..."

I smiled. "That explains why he never came to the extended family reunion gatherings."

Xavier smiled in return with tears in his eyes. "Elrick did visit us every now and then... Just in secret. You've seen him. Mother saw him. Never saw father though... Elrick, Mother and Arman did keep in touch. Father imprisoned Elrick again when caught smuggling food to the smaller towns. Arman, however, did let him out to help aid the war effort. With Elrick's and Ingrid's connections, we got many soldiers."

Xavier looked down as if he was going to cry. I started to feel it too... Remembering that day... Elrick was still my brother. Just sad I didn't try to get to know him better... I really should have. I felt the tears swelling in my eyes again. I tried my best to hide it.

"Ingrid is here Fred because it was Erick's last request of her... He told her to protect his family." Xavier looks up and sees Ingrid standing over him. She looks so intimidating here... She isn't a dainty girl that's for sure.

"Are you both done talking about me? We need to get moving!" She asks.

She says so little and yet still packs a punch.

And like that, we are on the move again. Everything is so quiet... We haven't even come across any wildlife apart from a few rabbits. Which became easy food. The mountains are steep, and it is no easy path down the mountain. Hamlin says we have no choice but to go around to reach the flat earth. As many paths look destroyed. The dead tree forest extends all over the mountains. It is very dangerous. It is not surprising that I hear of many deaths in a day on the mountain chain. And with heavy bull dragons. This makes it harder to balance on ledges. They have large chins to dig up the ground. But make for shit athletics.

I should not forget the large cave-dwelling spiders, ghouls, baby Zimadu's, large snakes and I don't even want to know what else is hiding in these mountains.

We also fear the Red army can be lurking around. They successfully invaded us. In this span of time, they could easily reach here. Which makes me wonder of Bhaltair and Derrick. They were at the war front. So, we had to be even more careful... Straying away from the normal paths is now even more dangerous. Walking paths, you can see cliffsides collapsing.

Hamin leading us through these dangerous passages for the past week. I cannot help but admire him... I stopped annoying him as he tries to lead.

We saw many red army groups trailing through the mountains. I wanted to fight a few. But with everyone insistence, I didn't... It was only a small group we could have taken them out easily. Their dragons a weak and can easily break in two. Steal their stuff. But no... We hid until they passed us. A group above us on a higher ledge. And another massive group of them at the base of the mountain. Even though we are hard to reach. It was nerve-wracking! Luckily, they didn't notice us or thought we were civilians. Even though I hear they attack everyone they see. But the war is officially over now. So, who knows... Maybe if we were easier to reach, they will attack us.

We finally stop at a section of the mountain which has an easier path. By looking at everyone's faces they are worried.

"What is it?" I ask sternly.

Hamlin turns to us. "We are way too far south. I recognise this path... This is the path to Chuma. See how the path now widens."

"Chuma? Maybe we can hide there! You know for a while." I suggest eagerly. A bath! Proper food! People who treat us with respect! Women I can sleep with! I felt so excited at these thoughts.

They all sigh. It is a very tempting choice... Hamlin mentions how Chuma has been a pivotal fortress in the war. It has the best protection anyone can muster. Towering walls that nothing can break through, Draconium cannons, trebuchets. So much so the Red Army gave it up attacking it! They decided to push further north instead. Which I heard many towns and villages have been abandoned and refuged inside Chuma. The move saved the people. But gave a larger opening for the Red and Brown armies to walk through.

Duryss roars in excitement. And everyone caves in...

Ingrid with authority speaks again "Let's go to Chuma... It'll be a long journey as we need to go down the mountain. We need tethering gear for us and the dragons. We cannot go on like this. Weaving along the mountain pathways. We need to head back to the northeast to the flatlands. As you have seen looking down many of the paths that lead down there have been destroyed."

"Ingrid is right," Welt suggests. "We also need proper food, shelter and rest... I don't think it'll be much harm staying there a day or two and then leave."

"They will never let us leave..." Xavier says. "We are the royal family. They will not let us go lightly."

"They know harbouring any of you they are greatest of danger. You will be surprised how easy it'll be to give you up if their own family is at risk." Erdmuthe mocks. "And I know for a fact the Shadow folk never joke around if they threaten you."

I have heard of the Shadow Empire torturing and killing people. Like us we own slaves. But we differ of how far we can go into punishing them. I saw a bard slave get his tongue cut out by making a funny joke about father. I heard the Shadow Emperor will do many worse things.

Hamlin gives in and we all track to Chuma. But it was not what we expected. We all hide behind the dead trees. The walls of Chuma are remarkable! They're so tall! You can't even see the buildings behind it. But to our disappointment... The shadow army is there.

"How the fuck are they here already!?" Hamlin whispers in frustration.

"They must have been planning this invasion for a very long time," Xavier replies.

"Backstabbing bastards!" I whisper out.

Looking at them all... We are vastly outnumbered. They made camps and everything. There is no easy way to get into Chuma. I like to fight against my enemies. But even I have my limits and I know that is asking for death... We all vote it is too dangerous.

We left and started walking down a steep path. Located nearby, the cliff edge is too steep and dangerous to climb down. It'll be easy to fall to our deaths. We hold our breath for long periods. This is so scary! Don't look down, don't look down, don't look down! We had no ropes or tether gear. Much of the path has been destroyed by the red armies as they passed through... It took us most of the day to scale the steep cliffside. Duryss shat and farted everywhere due to his nervousness. It only made the situation more distracting... And smelly.

After a long trail and almost dying multiple times we all managed to survive... I sigh in relief! We are now on solid land. Why did my people decide to make many settlements in the mountains?

"Hey look! corpses! "As Xavier runs over to investigate. The dragons need a rest, so we stop. Duryss is being very quiet. He must be so tired. I gently rub his head. Ingrid and Erdmuthe go hunting again as we hide underneath more dead trees.

I walk over to Xavier as he looks at the lifeless bodies... There is only two of them. One is a human and another is a bull dragon. As I looked at the human he has been impaled by a tree branch. He looks peaceful... He must have fallen from the top of the cliff into the dead trees. And the dragon is impaled by rocks and has a crushed head. Rather disturbing... I hope for their sakes it was quick!

"Must have been a falling accident... "As Xavier bows to them. "That's all we needed to see is more death. This war has taken so much... And now we have lost everything..." Xavier cries. William walks behind him and pats him on the back.

"It was our father's doing. Xavier... We will get our home back!" As William comforts him.

This pissed me off onto a whole new level. He is our father! Not some random villain in a story. If we had won, the war. We could have Red as our slaves. The family wouldn't complain then. Father did what he needed to do! Daxius Pavus... Father said it was a trap! I must be the only person in this nation who still loves him. And I abandoned him, our leader, our father... But how do we get our home back? I keep saying I want to go home. But I know I cannot just walk back there. We would have to fight to get it back. Where do we even begin with that?

After Ingrid and Erdmuthe returning with newts. We eat and set off again.

We came across shadows scouts. But we took care of them with ease... Some dragons under mind control have been dealt with We are surprised how many scouting agents are down here. Why here and not up the edge of the cliff? How strange.

We journey forth. It is so much easier now we are travelling on flat land. I look behind me and I can see the walls of Chuma far above us. I then look forward as Hamlin is doing his best to navigate this large world... And this is just in our nation.

After a long journey... WE MADE IT! The flatlands... Where the city of Burrdin resides. But what hope do we have if other like Chuma has been taken over? William is excited about seeing Rayna. If they made it... But I didn't want to say it out loud... As weird as it sounds, I do have a conscious in some way. I didn't want to take Williams hope away...

As we walked through the flatlands, I can see Burrdin. We all run forward with our dragons. In complete excitement! Duryss ran as fast as he could for such a bulky dragon. But as we ran closer the more, we became disappointed...

We were too late...

A whole army has invaded the city. It can easily be seen. Dark smoke is billowing from beyond their walls... Their walls have been bashed and broken through. And we see both red and black soldiers there. This is not good at all...

"Xavier... You usually know of war updates. Was there anything at all about Burrdin being taken over by Reds?" Hamlin asks.

"No! Of course not! If I knew we would not have come here!" Xavier shouts nervously. "That means we have no idea of the other groups' whereabouts! I hope they're not in their grasp."

William cries again he was close to Rayna and Max. He grew up with them... He really hoped he would see them. Now everything is up in the air and unknown.

"We have no choice everyone... We will not be safe anywhere in our country. We will seek asylum in Lan-Se." And like that Hamlin rides off on his dragon. We all follow suit. We have no idea what to expect. But we have little options... I just hope the people in Lan-Se still remain honourable.