With the Rebel Army still recovering from the attack, their morale has decreased to quite an extent, as many are still affected by the losses suffered. Realizing the dangers of a full-scale battle, Risty did not come make any major plans to attack Claudette due to the casualties and being heavily outnumbered. Instead, she focuses on small-scale operations with Annelotte such as recruitment and slow-paced plans to liberate the cities they go into from Claudette's Army.
"So what should we do next Annelotte?" Nathan asked.
"Tomorrow, we will continue the same journey to the town we were originally heading to, but got delayed, because of all that has happened recently. I can already tell that you, yourself, haven't fully recovered and I want us to be at our best when we leave."
"Understood." Nathan left Annelotte and Risty without saying a word, which worries both girls.
"Do you know what is wrong with him?" Risty asked.
"I think he is still feeling a little guilty over the failure of the raid, especially hearing that he was forced to leave Nowa behind. He doesn't know if Alleyne holds anything against him because of that."
"I am sure that if Alleyne considers him a friend, she would understand." Risty assures Annelotte.
Annelotte's guess on Nathan's trouble is almost to the point as Nathan makes his way to Alleyne, who is currently cleaning her spear in another room. Both immediately took notice of each other as Nathan enters.
"Nathan? Is something wrong?"
"I kind of feel like talking to you, but before that, where is Legolas?"
"He was just here not long ago, but went to help the injured troops from the failed assault. What exactly do you want to talk to me about?"
"What happened to Nowa has actually been bothering me for quite a while. I definitely regret leaving her behind even though she forced me to. There is no way I can get over this without knowing what you are thinking since Nowa is your best friend."
"I can tell that you feel sorry for leaving Nowa behind. I don't blame you since Nowa's decision is her own so you don't have to worry about that part since I have already forgiven you. I am worried about Nowa to, but knowing how she is now, I am pretty sure she can handle herself. I would give her 76 points for her courage, but it would have been more if she hadn't acted alone."
Nathan smiles at Alleyne. "All right, if you believe in Nowa that much then I will do so as well. It is also good to hear your old self again after this ordeal."
"When you say old, I hope you did not mean my lack of involvement with men."
Nathan laughs at Alleyne's assumption, which she did not take well. "What is so funny?"
"I can't believe you thought I would assume that. I meant that I am glad seeing you are back to the way you are."
Alleyne becomes slightly embarrassed, but after looking at Nathan laughing, she soon starts laughing herself.
"By the way, you have gotten awfully close to Legolas ever since we first met him. How do you describe this kind of relationship?"
Alleyne becomes hesitant after hearing Nathan's question, quickly becoming embarrassed since she never put much thought into having a relationship. After thinking for a few minutes, she looks up at Nathan.
"I don't really know what to think about him, but I can say that he is probably the closest friend to me who is actually an elf. He is the only elf I know who treated me like a friend and one of the only two people I felt I can actually care about with the other being Nowa. I guess that is my thought of Legolas, at least for now."
"Glad you find another you are close to although I feel kind of sad that you left me out of the equation."
Alleyne quickly realizes her mistake and desperately attempts to correct it. "Sorry, I meant you too, but you kind of caught me off-guard with what you asked and I didn't know how to really respond properly. I promise you that you are a true friend to me. I didn't mean to leave you out."
"Good to know. I am glad that Legolas is helping you out. Hopefully, things will work out for the best."
"By the way, do you think we will have another chance to visit your world again? There are still a lot of things I would like to explore there."
"I would definitely like to bring all of you for a visit once the chance comes. The only people that make my life worthwhile in London are my parents and Airi. Other then them it feels pretty empty."
"I will be looking forward to when the time comes."
Nathan leaves the room to meet Airi in another room, leaving Alleyne alone to clean her spear as she smiles at the possibility of a brighter future that both Legolas and Nathan can provide for her. Once Nathan reaches near the entrance, Mirim started staring at him as she is not used to fighting alongside with guys.
"Can I help you with something?"
"Sorry, but I am not used to having boys here other than within my own family. It sometimes makes me curious on what it would be like."
"I don't blame you since about 70 percent of this army are mostly girls. You will see what it's like when the time comes."
"Thanks Nathan. I almost forgot, my name is Mirim, a former member of the Queen's Army who defected to the Rebel Army."
"Glad to see more of the Queen's Army defectors coming to our side. We will all be fighting together soon enough so be ready when the time comes."
"Of course." Satisfied with her conversation with Nathan, Mirim leaves happily to return to her position, assisting the blacksmiths in making weapons for their soldiers.
"Blacksmiths huh?"
Nathan turns to Airi. "Speaking of which, when was the last time we saw Rana and his family?"
"We haven't seen them since we our first stop to pick up your weapons. Why would you ask that?"
"With Claudette's Army occupying the Continent in search for us, won't they be endangered of being captured for assisting us?"
"I am worried about them to, but they are not weak so I believe they will make it, although I wish we would have found out about the Rebel Army sooner so we can take them with us."
"You and me both Airi. You know, ever since we got back here, we have been distancing ourselves from each other due to past events leading up to this. I am not blaming you or anybody, but what do you think of our relationship right now?"
"There is definitely some distance between us ever since areeing to help out the Rebel Army, but it couldn't be helped. Nonetheless, it doesn't stop me from looking forward to spending time together once this is over."
"Like Alleyne, I am hoping that this will be over soon so we can get back to our lives."
Nathan and Airi exchanged smiles to each other before getting back to their positions.
Meanwhile back in the castle, one of the guards comes down to the dungeon to check on Nowa only to find her cell open.
"What? Where is she?" As the guard sticks his head into the cell, Nowa, who is hanging on the top rim of the cell, swings behind him and kicks him, locking him up.
"I can't believe you easily fell for that."
"How did you get out?" The guard yelled.
"Sorry, but that is a secret. Don't worry, another guard will come and get you at. See you later." Nowa left the guard in the cell and uses her agility to find a way out of the castle without alarming anyone.
As soon as Nowa gets outside to one of the castle towers, a woman sits right behind where she is standing, apparently aware of her presence.
"What took you so long?"
"Sorry about that Maria. I didn't expect the Rebel Army to come this quickly so I had to go with the back up plan."
"I guess that is understandable. You plan on hiding yourself or join the Rebel Army to overthrow Claudette?"
"I will join when the time comes. Until then, both of us have to assist the Rebel Army anyway we can without causing too much activity."
As soon as Maria yawns, she knows that it is time for her to retreat. "I am starting to experience Narcolepsy so we will have to talk about this some other time. Take care."
"You too Maria." Maria left in a hurry after she and Nowa said their goodbyes.
The scene switches over to the next town where two kids were being chased by one of the Queen's mercenaries for stealing food. The mercenary easily outruns the kids, but before she can make her next move, Yuit orders Vante to attack and easily subdues the mercenary.
"Never steal from someone you can't outrun." Yuit lectures the kids as the rest of the group arrives.
"I see that you easily took care of the enemy mercenary, but you didn't have to get Vante to hit her that hard." Nathan pointed out.
"It couldn't be helped, especially when children are involved. I just had Vante attack out of reflex."
"Right." Nathan said sarcastically.
"So what is the next mission here?" Yuit asked Annelotte.
"First we have to lay low since this city is obviously crawling with soldiers from the Queen's Army. Then we can slowly work our way to getting information we need from these townspeople."
Before they can continue any further, they spotted Liliana, who collapsed from exhaustion.
"Liliana without her ship? That is a rare sight to behold." Tarnyang said.
"She doesn't appear to be a threat at this moment, but is better not to let your guard down." Legolas warned.
Nathan slowly approaches Liliana and shakes her. "Hey, are you okay? What happened?"
Liliana wakes up and immediately recognizes her former attackers, immediately stepping back away from them.
"I recognize all of you. You all destroyed my ship from our encounter in the forest. Are you trying to get some revenge from that event?"
"No. We didn't expect you to be here actually. That is why I am asking what happened to you? Where is your ship and crew?"
Liliana angrily takes sight of Annelotte, Yuit, Vante, Sainyang, and Tarnyang. "They are the ones who destroyed my crew and my ship, along with one of the Queen's associates, Ymir."
"I am guessing they did not tell you anything while the rest of you were preoccupied did they?"
Legolas, Nathan, Alleyne, and Airi turns to them and eyes them with suspicion, making them nervous.
"What exactly did you all do?" Alleyne asked.
"We were sent by Risty to get Intel from an ally inside of a nearby village, but when we got there, Liliana was raiding it so we had to do what we can to stop it."
"Well that explains why, but you said another person named Ymir also got involved. Who is she and why did she do so?"
"Ymir is a dwarf who works as a blacksmith as well as running the Iron Mountain weapon factory, known for forging top-quality weapons and entering Queen's Blade to prove the weapons" superiority over others. After she lost, her weapon was broken by Claudette and by her clan's law, she is forced to submit to her demands where she becomes one of her closest associates, making her an official member of the Queen's Army." Alleyne answered.
"That little girl took Vante and caused her to destroy my ship! This is the second time my ship collapsed for the same reason! The next time I see her, I will kill her!" Liliana screamed.
"I am guessing you are not part of the Queen's Army based on your behavior."
"Nope, I used to work for the Swamp Witch until her demise at your hands. I am currently under the leadership of whoever commands these Orcs. Before you ask anymore, I don't know who the leader is. I was promised a crew if I joined their army, but with my ship destroyed a second time under their command, they probably won't take me back so I used my surviving crew members to make plans to raid villages to get what we need."
"So you only raid to survive? It looks like you are taking more than that. Why can't you just get what you need and where is the rest of your crew?"
"I can't help it since I am a pirate. I lost control of my crew since the last attack. They still obey me, but it doesn't matter if I don't know where they are."
Suddenly Nathan takes out his blade and holds it near Liliana's neck. "Sorry, but there is no way I will let you do what you want. It would have been easier if you had just stop causing trouble."
Liliana remains unintimidated. "Oh, so you plan to kill me?"
"No, but you will need to be our prisoner until all of this is over. The problem is that somebody has got to take you."
"We will do it." Tarnyang volunteered.
"I am sure all of you can handle yourselves until we get back. See you until then." Sainyang told the group before leaving with Liliana after tying her up.
"Now that our group has less members, we have got to be more careful knowing that enemy troops are occupying the city." Legolas points out.
"We don't need to be that overcautious Legolas. I remember just three of us traveling through occupied cities before all of you suddenly came and join the battle." Annelotte said.
Nathan defense Legolas' action. "It can be helped since I was like that when I first came here. It takes time to get used to your new surroundings so I don't blame him."
"By the way, where do we plan on stopping first?" Airi asked.
"It was a long walk getting here. I suppose that we should do what Risty said and lie low for a while to get some rest. I know a restaurant in this city so let's go there."
While eating, the group still lock themselves up in a conversation on how to get recruits and how the city can be liberated without causing too much activity. Before their conversation could continue, screams were heard from the outside. The group immediately rushes and grabs hold of one of the runners to get answers.
"There are some ugly creatures heading from the forest killing everyone. We are all running for our lives."
"Ugly creatures. Does he mean the Orcs?" Annelotte asked.
"Most likely. We can't allow the Orcs into the city. Airi, can you fly to find out how many are coming?" Legolas asked.
"About 200 are coming, but they haven't reach the city yet. Is there a plan to stop them?"
"With the Queen's Army also retreating from the unknown attack, we should be able to make a move to block them. Find as much flammable material as possible. We will create a trail of fire near the tree line to block their path." Nathan ordered.
Everyone did as they were told as they scramble the restaurants to get wooden boxes, spices, oil, etc. Airi took a more wide approach by summoning her spirits to find more materials and have them set. Once all the materials have been gathered, the group waits for the Orcs to come.
"There are only a few of us so we can't do a direct assault." Alleyne warned.
"I know, but we have to hold out as long as we can so the town's people could retreat. It will be a while before the Rebel Army could hear about this even though I sent a spirit to report them." Airi said.
As soon as the first line of Orcs comes out of the treeline, Nathan throws a grenade on top of the gathered materials. After a few seconds, the entire line of materials was ignited in flames, immediately setting those on top of it on fire, eventually killing them. Realizing that the rest of the Orcs were caught off-guard, the group takes this opportunity to ambush them, taking down as many as they can before they themselves are possibly taken out.
"The entire town has retreated, but it looks like we won't be able to stop them from taking over the city as we had planned. There are too many." Yuit complained.
"We still have to hold regardless. We already took out this many, I don't see why we can try again." Nathan attempts to motivate the group to keep fighting.
Before the battle continues, two figures suddenly dropped from the sky and crashed down on to a small group of Orcs in front of the group, temporarily stopping the battle. Once the smoke clears, the figures are revealed to be Maria, a masked woman warrior, and Nowa."
"Nowa?" Alleyne said in disbelief.
"Did you all miss me?" Nowa smiled.
I am really almost starting to run out of ideas for this story. This isn't something that I wanted to do, but I might have writer's block so until then, the story might have to be put on hold unless I can think of new ideas within my usual writing period.