White Ravens: Advent of War

Lelei Merces' Return

It had been a daunting battle, but Sigil's group emerged victorious by the skin of their teeth. They were lucky that they found Lelei alive. Had they been a minute later, the armored arachnids might've gotten her, although they somehow felt that she could've made it out alive, with or without their help.

Lelei Merces was a tall, athletic woman. Her left arm was riddled with scars, and she was wearing a tattered white shirt. Her long, flowing black hair was slightly disheveled, but her beauty indeed exceeded that of an ordinary woman.

Beneath her seemingly delicate appearance, lay a fierce warrior. Gust reckoned that Lelei might even be a match to their Commander Liana, in both beauty and strength.

Instead of going back to New Valeria, Sigil decided that they should push through. Although it might seem like a foolish plan, Lelei agreed with him. She mentioned that there weren't many scouts around the pathway, and their meager numbers could be easily taken care of.

Thus, the group set out for the other exit. A perilous journey could be waiting for them out there, but the group had resolved that this was their best course of action indeed. They didn't want to impose on the McBrides any longer, and besides, now that Kael had seen them in the capital, that man would probably stop at nothing to arrest them all.

Along the way, Lelei told Lucy that she must return to Fort Vestige to report to the others that a group of armored arachnids attacked the caravan. That way, they would assume that the arachnids had devoured Lelei. And even if they were hesitant to believe it, it could still but the others some time to return to Ritz.

Within Regalia's territory, the only place they could safely come and go was Ritz. It was a town governed by two ruling lords: Valdano Vanderbilt, and Shae Faust. By now, Valdano and Rune's party were probably on their way to the Old Valeria. Thus, the city was under Lady Faust's sole jurisdiction in the meantime. Fortunately, she was one of Valdano's closest allies. She had also expressed a strong interest to support Lord Reinbach in the past, and she did the same for Lady Merces.

From the southern coast of Regalia, they could travel northeast towards Ritz. It would take at least four days on horseback, and a week on foot to get there. Luckily, there was a highway town situated in the middle of a grassland. They could buy a carriage there or at the very least, hire a coachman to take them to Ritz.

After hours and hours of walking, they finally reached the exit. By the time they got there, the moon was already riding high. There weren't any soldiers like they had initially assumed. Perhaps they were thinking that the prison wagon had safely crossed the pathway or they just didn't care enough to their duties. Either way, this was advantageous for them.

Once they had reached aboveground, Lucy bade them farewell, and promised to ensure that nobody would suspect that Lelei had escaped. Lelei embraced Lucy and said, "Thank you for your service, young lady. I promise you, the revolution will soon reclaim our beloved city of Hyrule."

A tear fell from Lucy's eyes, which she immediately wiped away before bowing and running towards Fort Vestige.

Sigil and the others continued traveling eastwards, making sure that they put a great distance between them and the fort. In the event that they must fight against Regalian soldiers, it was better to be in a place where no reinforcements could arrive quickly.

By Tatiana's estimation, it was already midnight now, and they were still walking. She and Corselia were on their last legs, and their eyes had grown tired. They proposed to rest for a moment, and take alternating shifts of lookouts.

Sigil glanced at everyone and noticed that even Lelei was exhausted, so he agreed to camp beneath a large oak tree. "I'll take the first shift," he said.

"Count me in," Lelei suggested. "It's the least I can do for all of you for saving me."

And so, Tatiana and Corselia rested immediately, while Gust said that he wanted to scout the area first and gather some firewood as well. Lelei and Sigil remained with the other two to guard them, and sat in silence.

As the night wore on, Gust finally returned from his scouting, and reported that there weren't any suspicious movements around. He had also brought back a couple of rabbits and four fishes along with the firewood.

Once the three of them had setup the campfire and cleansed Gust's haul, they roasted the animals over the fire and shared a meal.

"I've been meaning to ask this, but are you all Wisterians?" Lelei asked while munching on a fish.

Gust glanced at Sigil, and the latter nodded, so he responded, "We are, ma'am. We're from the twelfth rune knight squad of Wisteria. Normally, our squad should have a name by now, but we didn't get to that point."

"What happened?" she asked.

Sigil got up and clenched his fists. "A lot that we can't discuss right now, Lady Merces. Perhaps in their eyes, we might've committed treason, but I believe we did the right thing. My brother, Rune, may be an imbecile at times, but he's every bit a knight as any other, perhaps even more so."

Lelei stood up as well and placed a hand on Sigil's shoulder. The latter felt surprisingly relieved to be held this way. "Your brother sounds like a fine young man. I hope I get to meet him someday," she said.

"It seems that we're not that much different, then," she added. "You did the right thing in your country, and I've been trying to do the same in mine."

Lelei looked at her clenched hands and then turned to the moon above them. "Someday, I hope that we can all live in a peaceful world. The ruler of my town, Chancellor Valfred, are using the Regalian-Wisterian war as an excuse to impose heavy taxes. My people can barely live without the taxes to begin with!"

Through gritted teeth, she growled, "I must reform the revolutionary army and liberate Hyrule from that wicked man's grasp!"

Following that heated discussion, they soon fell into silence. Two hours later, Corselia and Tatiana woke up to take the next shift, so that the three of them could fall asleep. Once the sun had risen, they woke up Sigil, Lelei, and Gust to tell them that it was time to continue their journey.

Just like always, Sigil was far from friendly during the morning. Lelei noticed the change in his behavior, and distanced herself from him. "Has he always been like this?" she whispered to Tatiana.

The latter chuckled and answered, "For as long as I've known him, he's never been a morning person. It would be wise to just let him be for now. He'll start talking to us when he feels like it."

After almost two days of traveling on foot, they finally arrived at the highway town that Lelei mentioned. There, they decided to stay the night. They managed to find some accommodations, though it was a bit dingy, since they all had to share one entire room.

It was either this room or stay at a barn, and they all mutually agreed to just book the room.

Later that night, Lelei, Gust, Tatiana, and Corselia went downstairs to the tavern, while Sigil remained in the room to chart the course of their travel and budget their finances. It seemed that they were running out of funds, and were in dire need of replenishing it. Before the others left, he told Gust and Corselia to look for potential work that they could finish in a day or two.

They were both annoyed of being stuck doing the boring job, but since it was an order for Sigil, they would rather not object. Lelei and Tatiana remained in the tavern and gathered information out of their own volition.

As they keenly listened in on the drunkards' conversations, they found out that news of Lelei's disappearance had traveled to this town already. Fortunately, none of them recognized Lelei anymore. She had been incarcerated for three years, so her hair had grown out, and her face was now a little different than it used to be. Additionally, Tatiana made her wear a hood, and hide half of her face with her bangs, so that it would be less likely for people to recognize her.

"They say that the she-devil Lelei Merces had escaped her prison caravan. The guards from Fort Vestige found corpses of armored arachnids in the pathway she was being transported in, and they assumed that she managed to kill the monsters somehow," said a slightly inebriated man.

"Bah! Sooner or later, they'll catch her again and she'll be rightfully executed for her crimes," said his equally-drunk companion. "Oh, did you hear? One of the soldiers from Fort Vestige had apparently been captured for letting Lelei Merces escape. I hear she'll be tried for treason in New Valeria in a few days!"

"That manipulative witch! She actually managed to brainwash one of our soldiers? What a waste! If you ask me, they should've just killed her right away. A public execution is just a formality anyway!"

Lelei's eyes widened in shock. She got up from her seat, ready to give those men a beating. However, Tatiana held Lelei's arm and shook her head. While Lelei was hesitating to do as Tatiana had said, a hooded man approached the two drunkards in front of the bar.

Both men glared at the hooded man and removed his hood, revealing a young man. He combed his curly brown hair back while looking straight into the drunkards' eyes. Annoyed by the young man's steely gaze, one of the drunkards got up, ready to bash the young man's head with a glass mug.

But before he could react, the young man grabbed a knife from behind him and pierced the drunkard's hand into the bar counter. The other drunkard fell backwards on his seat, fearing that he was next. He tried to back away from the young man, but the fierce young man didn't allow him to escape.

He combed his hair back once more, revealing his piercing blue eyes. From inside the pocket of his hooded coat, he grabbed two needles, which he casually threw at the drunkard on the ground. The needles struck both of the poor bastard's shoulders, which made him bellow in agony.

"Don't you dare disrespect Lady Lelei like that again! You fools have no f*****g clue what you're talking about!" the young man growled.

Suddenly, the other drunkard removed the knife from his hand and endured the pain. Afterwards, he used it to attack the young man, but the latter managed to avoid the clumsy strike of the drunkard, and even struck the foolish man's abdomen. The drunkard dropped to his knees and puked from the force of the strike.

"Apologize," the young man said through gritted teeth.

By now, everyone in the bar had gotten up, ready to attack the young man. The bartender had hidden himself behind the bar, and the other customers surrounded the young man.

"Alexander, that's enough!" Lelei shouted.

It seemed that the young man was caught off-guard when he heard the voice. Everyone fell silent as they looked at Lelei. The young man's eyes widened in shock. It looked like he had seen a ghost.

"L-lady Lelei?" Alexander stammered.

Lelei approached him and gave him a half-embrace. "In the flesh, boy." Then, she looked at the other customers, removed her hood, and tucked her hair behind her ears. "We don't mean to cause any trouble. Please, worry not. My companion over there is a skilled healer," she said while pointing at Tatiana. "She'll be healing their wounds for free, and as for the commotion..."

Fortunately, Sigil came down the stairs just in time. Lelei cast a glance and pointed at him. "That guy over there will pay for your next round. Enjoy the night!"

Everyone in the bar cheered, except for Sigil. It seemed that he had been pulled into another troublesome situation.