The Princess Who Went to War

Chapter 7 - Giorem

[Calysta]

It is the next day and Gwen and I wake up just before the sun rises, as we did yesterday.

We both head towards the training grounds, and find a good number of soldiers already training. 

In just a few minutes of standing there, Randall approaches us. 

"I'd like to challenge you to spar." He tells her. I raise an eyebrow as I look at Gwen. 

"Challenging a Royal Guard? You'd embarrass yourself." Gwen confidently replies. 

Randall laughs, "Well, we'll have to see about that." He says as turns back to walk towards an empty space just beside the armory. Gwen quickly follows.  

They start to spar, with Gwen quickly taking the offensive. This takes Randall aback for a moment, but he quickly recovers. 

A few people gather as the sight of a Royal Guard against a soldier is sure to take the interest of many. 

I walk away, fairly confident that Gwen will take this win. Randall is a good soldier, but Gwen would be able to take five soldiers by herself. 

Royal guards are trained since childhood, and Gwen is one of the few women to make the cut - even being chosen to be my personal guard. This alone, says a lot about her skills. 

Very few people become official part of the Guards, even fewer are chosen to be personal guards of the Royals. There are only five, in fact. Two for the King, one for Atticus, one for me and one for Liliana. 

Soon enough, a selection will be made once again, to choose another guard for Atticus, as he is directly next in line to the throne. 

I walk away from the training grounds and decide to head into the forest along the road towards the tavern. 

I intend on training my aiming and control of my winds, now knowing that it can cause serious injury. 

I find a small and quiet clearing and stand right in the center of it. I want to try and see if once fired, I could take my wind back. I close my eyes, take a deep breath and hold my right hand up and will for wind. 

Instantly, wind starts to bounce off and on my palm. I look for a target and find a lone green apple hanging from a tree to my right. I flick my hand towards the apple, and the wind goes straight into the apple. 

I hold my hand out, immediately trying to stop or dissipate it, only for me to fail. It quickly sliced the apple clean and the bottom half false to the ground.

"I have to try again." I tell myself as I take another deep breath and hold out my right hand and will for the wind. It bounces off and on my hand before I aim towards an acorn hanging by an oak tree. 

I quickly flick my hand and immediately hold it out to stop the wind, but fail once again, and the acorn falls down the ground as well. 

I try a few more times, only to fail again and again. I start to get frustrated as my failed attempts pile up. 

I am startled when the bush rustles just behind me and I quickly get into a defensive position, my hands hold out towards the noise, ready to summon the wind.

"Your Highness." Wilbur says as he stands there, looking at me, before quickly bowing. 

I put my hands down. He looks like he was just going through this area and had no idea I was here. 

"I apologize. I was startled." I tell him. 

"Please don't apologize." He tells me as he bows even deeper. I chuckle. He sounds nervous. 

"You may go to wherever you were headed." I tell him. He slowly looks up and nervously looks to his left. This makes me curious. Usually, soldiers would head to the training grounds at this hour. I guess Wilbur isn't keen on training. 

"Then, I'll take my leave." He says before he walks away, looking nervous. 

I go back to concentrating and trying to train, slicing a few more apples and acorns in half. 

By the time the breakfast bells are ringing, I've barely made any progress. I would have to train more if I want to have better control. 

I head to the dining halls, where I meet Gwen. She tells me all about her spar with Randall and how she was mortified as she almost lost. 

Right after breakfast, we head to the command room to receive our mission for the day. We are asked to clear a small camp of Goblins in the forest. 

We were teamed with Ser Rem, the knight with blonde hair that led the soldiers that arrived with us to their stations. 

He has a total of forty soldiers under his command, but will only be bringing nine with us. I found this ironic, as we faced a lot more goblins and two giants yesterday, with a fewer people than we're facing a small camp of goblins today. 

As expected, the soldiers look on edge with Gwen and I joining their team for the mission. 

"Please feel comfortable. I'm here to help." I remind them. 

We go through the forest as we did yesterday with no problem. Ser Rem's tracker is quite talented as well. 

Once we found the camp of goblins, it was rather easy to clear them out. Without giants leading them, goblins on their own are not as smart. 

Again, we find the glowing sigils on them. As they burn away, I close my eyes and try to pinpoint where the magic is headed. Usually, once magic like this burns away, it heads back to its source. 

I follow the magic deeper into the forest, until its traces disappear. My magic detection skills are not as good as other's. 

When I open my eyes, I see Ser Rem staring at me, waiting for an answer. I shake my head. 

"Shall we head back?" He asks. I nod as we start our walk out of the forest as a group and I control the fog around us. 

We are silently walking when we all stop, collectively feeling the ground shaking. 

"Giants?" A soldier asks, referring if the shaking could possibly be due to the footsteps of giants. I reach my hand down to touch the ground as the shaking gets stronger. 

"Giorem!" A soldier shouts, but it was too late for any of us to react. Before we know it, four men come flying into the air as the ground below their feet suddenly opens up and a huge Giorem, a giant worm with hundreds of teeth come out of the ground. 

Other soldiers immediately attack the Giorem with their swords drawn, going for its body. The Giorem gets ready to attack them, diving right at them.

I use my wind to push them out of the way, and the Giorem goes straight into the ground. It's under the soil once again. 

We all get into defensive positions, trying to feel where the Giorem might come out next. We are at an extreme disadvantage everytime the Giorem is under the ground. 

It is very hard to predict where it might attack next. 

"Your Highness!" Ser Rem shouts as Gwen and I, along with another soldier come flying into the air. I look down to see the Giorem right underneath us, its mouth wide open. 

"Not a chance." I say as I reach my hand out and the wind carries the three of us high into the air before the Giorem's teeth could reach us. 

It falls right back on the ground when it doesn't reach us. I set us down slowly as soldiers from below start attacking the Giorem's body. 

The Giorem's weakness though, is its sole eye right at the center of its head. It is what we must target. 

Now on the ground, I will for lightning. The sky above us turns dark as thunderclouds quickly appear. I hold both my hands towards the Giorem, struggling to keep up with its constant movement as it tried to avoid and attack the soldiers. 

"They're too close." I shout over to Gwen, talking about how I might hit the soldiers if I miss the Giorem. 

Gwen immediately runs forward, trying to warn the men, "Move away!" She shouts, trying to get the soldiers' attention.

"Move away!" She shouts again, catching Ser Rem's attention. Ser Rem looks back at me, with my hands aimed towards the Giorem. He looks up at the sky, looking at the lightning. He immediately realizes what I am trying to do. 

"Fall back!" He shouts. Everybody moves backwards as I quickly channel the lightning from the sky. The Giorem dives forward, narrowly missing the lightning. It did, however, hit the side of its body, causing a loud shriek. 

It dove down the ground once again. Everyone is on the defense as we try to pinpoint its exact location once again. Before I know it, I'm once again flying through the air. 

Looking down, the Giorem has its mouth wide open once again, but I can also see its eye. 

Still on the air, I lift my hands upwards, channeling lightning from the sky and immediately fling my hand downwards as I fall downwards as well, knowing I had one chance at this. 

Lightning hits its face, right on its mouth and eye. The Giorem shrieks and falls down, with me following.

I quickly try to channel the wind to lift me back up, but I barely have the time to do so. I only manage to lift myself a feet or so before I finally hit the ground. 

"Your Highness!" I hear Ser Grem and Gwen exclaim as they immediately runs towards me. I groan in pain as I look up to check the Giorem. 

"It's still alive." I say, not loud enough. 

Gwen kneels beside me, trying to help me sit up as Ser Rem stands behind her. 

"Still alive." I tell them both. They look at the Giorem, still moving very slowly as it struggles to stay alive. 

Ser Grem runs towards it, with his sword drawn and stabs it right in the eye. I take a deep breath out as I lay back, closing my eyes and letting my full weight fall on Gwen. 

"Your Highness!" I open my eyes to find Ser Elwood and his soldiers along with another knight and his own soldiers arriving. 

"We were in another area when we saw the thunderclouds and heard the Giorem's shriek." the other knight says.

"We have to go. Monsters in the area are bound to come after that shriek." Ser Elwood says.

"Is the Princess badly injured?" Ulysses asks as he looks at me. 

"I don't think I can stand." I tell them, feeling a sharp pain on my hip. 

"I'll carry you." Gwen offers as she turns around, offering her back for me to climb on. 

"No, we'll be faster if she's on my back." Ser Rem says. He kneels down in front of me. 

"Help Her Highness onto my back." He tells Gwen. Gwen hesitates for a moment, before helping me. 

Ser Rem slowly stands up with me on his back. When I look forward, Ser Elwood's eyes meet mine. He doesn't say nor do anything. 

"Head back as quick and quietly as possible." The other knight commands, and we start walking out of the forest.