The Princess Who Went to War

Chapter 10 - The River

[Calysta] 

"Remember to move away when I say so. My lightning will kill any human it touches." I remind everyone, making sure I emphasize the consequences. They all bow in agreement. 

I point up to the trees, motioning for us to climb up. This way, the Giorem would have a lesser chance of injuring us once it breaks ground as they tend to avoid trees. 

Everyone starts to climb a tree as I use my wind to gently scoop me up from the ground and unto a large branch. I help those who are struggling a bit in order to get them up the branches faster. We cannot risk the Giorem moving away. 

Once I see that everyone is up, and Ser Elwood gives me  a go signal, I close my eyes and channel as much magic as I can. I will for the wind as I move both hands above my head and quickly bring them down with a force. 

A huge gush of wind goes down into the ground, displacing fallen leaves and even soil. In an instant, the huge Giorem gets out of the ground, baring its teeth, expecting a prey, only for us to be on the trees. 

I immediately channel for lightning as Ser Elwood and three of his men jump, their swords drawn. The Giorem shrieks as Randall manages to pierce its side. It flings Randall to the ground as it wriggles around, trying to get the sword out. 

Ser Elwood flings his sword towards the Giorem's eye but narrowly misses. The others completely miss the Giorem but manages to get on the ground safely. 

"Move!" Ulysses shouts from above, being out of the people who did not jump. The men on the ground immediately move away from the Giorem as I aim for the eye and fling my hand towards the Giorem. Lightning srikes but it only hits the Giorem's tail as it quickly gets back underground. 

The people on the ground are tense as I can tell that they are feeling the ground beneath their feet for the Giorem, probably terrified that it might attack them.

I watch as Ser Elwood quickly picks up the sword that had missed the Giorem earlier. I get ready to save anyone it potentially attacks when I suddenly fling forward and I feel the tree I'm standing on start to fall. 

It takes a moment before I realize that the Giorem has surfaced from directly beneath the tree I'm on, and the tree is currently falling down. 

Randall, who's directly beneath the tree rolls away as I quickly channel for the wind to save me from falling face down. 

Up on the air, I take myself higher as I channel the lightning once again. I start falling down as soon as I do, and quickly fling the lightning towards the general direction of the Giorem's eye. It hits its face and I quickly channel the wind back as I'm a few inches away from hitting the ground.

Being that I can only channel one element of the weather at a time, when I'm on the air by using my wind, and I channel for the lightning, I have no choice but to stop channeling the wind and start falling down. 

This is why it is very important that I bring myself high enough so that I have ample time to channel back the wind before I hit the ground. 

The Giorem briefly falls onto the ground at my attack and Ser Elwood and his men quickly attack. I put myself on the ground and look up to see Gwen aiming at the Giorem with her bow and arrow. 

The Giorem manages to protect its eye from the attacks as it wiggles around the ground. The Giorem flicks it tail, sending Ser Elwood and Randall flying into the air and towards a large tree. 

"Gabriel! Randall!" The soldiers exclaim as some of them who are still up on the trees jump down at the sight of their leader in danger. 

I immediately channel for the wind to catch Randall and Ser Elwood mid-air before they collide with the tree and get badly injured. I look back to see the Giorem quickly making its way underground once again. 

I let Ser Elwood and Randall down gently as I quickly suspect that the Giorem will try to attack me once again. I channel for the wind to quickly bring me up and just as I had anticipated, I am a few feet from the ground when the Giorem surfaces from right underneath me.

I unsheathe Talassia as I hold her up, pointing to the sky. Talassia absorbs the lightning and I flick it forward, the lightning travelling through the length of the sword and straight towards the Giorem's eye. It shrieks loudly as it gets electrocuted before it finally falls to the ground. 

I once again use the wind to help me get back on the ground safely. Gwen jumps down from the tree she was on, with her bow and arrow still in hand. We look back to see the soldiers helping Ser Elwood and Randall up. 

As he gets up, Ser Elwood briefly glances at me, as if in thanks. I simply nod as I put Talassia back on its scabbard. Gwen and I approach the fallen Giorem, and so does Ser Elwood and the rest of his team. 

As expected, the same sigil glows right on the belly of the Giorem. I immediately close my eyes to focus all my energy on the magic that is currently burning away from the monster in front of us. 

I open my eyes, as I'm sure it glows just as it does when I use my magic. Instead of the normal colors of the forest, all I see is a huge contrast of black and white, and the dark purple glow of the sigil. 

I watch as the magic burns away from the Giorem's skin and it lifts up into the air. I try my best to keep my concentration as I follow it deep into the forest, only for me to lose the trail as my tracking ability stops and I start to see in full color again.

I tightly close my eyes as the colors overwhelm me, frustrated that I failed in tracking wherever that magic was travelling back to. 

"Caly?" I hear Gwen call out to me. I open my eyes to see all of them staring at me, waiting for me to talk. 

I shake my head, "I lost track deep into the forest." I answer, defeated. 

"Well, at least this threat's out of the way." Ulysses comments as he props one foot up the giant worm in front of us. 

"There could be more." Ser Elwood replies. For a moment, there is only silence. Everyone is probably thinking the same things as I am at the moment. 

If it's very hard for us to fight one Giorem, it would be much harder if they were to start coming in groups. In the past, two Giorems together would be impossible, as they mostly live and travel alone. But these days, with even Giants and Goblins teaming up, it's hard to say what's possible and what's not. 

"We must head back. Other monsters in the area may have heard the commotion." Randall suggests. We all agree and start walking back from where we came from to get back to the gates. 

We get in one line, much closer this time, as I once again start controlling the fog around us. All of us arrive back at the gates with no problem. 

Ser Remnand meets us right by the gates as he said that he was watching from the towers when he saw us emerge from the forest. 

He is thankful that there are no casualties this time, and we were able to finish the mission much faster than normal teams would take to clear out one Giorem. 

Right after the report, we all head out of the command room, except for Ser Elwood who had more to discuss with Ser Remnand.

"Shall we head to the tavern for some drinks?" Randall suggests. Gwen looks at me, waiting for my answer. I laugh at this, as she looks like a puppy asking for food. 

"Go. You all deserve to have a few drinks." I tell them. 

"You're not going?" Gwen asks me. I shake my head. 

"I, uh, have something I need to do." I reply. 

Her face turns serious as she asks, "Do you need my assistance?" I smile at her.

"No, Gwen. It's alright. I won't get into anything dangerous." I assure her. She looks reluctantly as she is dragged away by Ulysses and Randall, with Ulwid and the other soldiers following closely behind. I sigh as I watch them disappear out of sight before heading into the forest by the road that leads to the tavern. 

I get back to the spot I trained at with my winds in the past. I close my eyes as I try to channel my magic tracking skills. For a few times, I train so that I can use it much longer than I originally can. 

The next time we're out there, I want to make sure that I can track the magic all the way from its source and find who is behind all of these monsters. 

I close my eyes very tightly as I rub them, being overwhelmed by how fast my surrounding turned from a high contrast of black and white to its natural colors. 

I was going to try once again, when movement from behind me caused me to quickly place a hand on Talassia and turn to my back to see who or what could be there. 

I find a doe, looking straight at me. This surprises me, as I have never seen a doe in this area. I try to approach it, when it suddenly walks away. 

I persistently follow the doe into the forest, wanting only to pet it, just to get the load of the day off of my shoulders. 

It leads me into a clearing I've never seen in the past. There is a small river, with the river glistening in the sunset. 

I take a seat at one of the huge rocks right beside the riverside as I watch the doe briefly drink water from the river. 

I hear a noise from behind me once again. Thinking it would a doe or perhaps a deer, I gently look back, trying not to scare the animal from running away. 

Instead, I find Ser Elwood right by a tree, looking at me. 

"They're at the tavern." I tell him, assuming that he is probably looking for his soldiers. 

"I am actually looking for you." He replies, and I am taken aback. I look at him, quite confused. 

He looks around before he walks towards me and sits right beside of me, on another huge rock.

"You found the river." He comments. I scoff.

"Am I not supposed to?" I ask, quite sure that he'd once again act as if I'm the intruder to places he likes to frequent. 

"Well, I was going to talk to you, so I guess it's okay." He replies, his brown eyes glistening as it reflects the river in front of us. 

"What did you want to talk about?" I ask, curious. 

"Thank you. Again. You saved Randall and I." He replies as he looks at me straight in the eyes. Totally overwhelmed, at this man staring right at me while we're alone in such a beautiful place, I panic. 

"I bet you hate being saved by a member of a family you despise, huh?" I ask, all cocky, looking straight into his eyes. I simply did not know what to say. Instead of getting mad as I expected, Ser Elwood simply smirks at my response. 

"You're not that bad of a Royal." He says as he looks back and stare into the river.