Heart desired

//Chapter 60//

He led me more in to the city. I found out that his name was Bran and others called him Branny. He was very talkative, saying all the stuff came to his mouth. There were several people who had died from arrows here and there. Bran didn't spare them a second look, as if he had seen this before.

I supposed he had. After all, this was his job.

"Polan came last night." He said. "He told me all about the stones and how you managed to save the Yorosso fort. It's remarkable. I can't believe our guys really had a chance against Elves."

I assumed this Polan guy was the messenger Aarr sent here. I nodded, trying not to look at a toddler on the floor, his chest opened up with a wound. I felt my stomach churning.

"Only if these guys were lucky ad that." He said after a pause. "Everyone thinks cleaning up is an easy job. We don't have to fight at the front lines, that is true. But we witness death more than necessary."

"We sent the stones here." I said. "I can't figure out why those didn't make it to here. That's why I came with the Crown Prince."

"Crown Prince is here?" He asked. "Where?"

"In the carriage." I said. "He is sleeping. He must have exhausted himself for the last few days." I saw another child and stopped on my tracks. I could have mistaken her to be sleeping if she didn't had a hole in her chest. "Can't you cure them? Is killing them necessary?"

"We have never find a cure." He said, leading me deep into the town. Houses were burnt. And the smell of burnt flesh were everywhere. "We are immortal. We live for a long time, possibly eternity. We captured some test subjects who were driven insane by the earlier attacks. We are still experimenting on them, trying to find a way to bring them back. Oldest experiment is fifty years old, I think." He turned to a left from a street. "So far, we didn't have any luck. Death is mercy comparing to lose all your worth. Once, a healer managed to bring a man back for a several seconds. All he did was begging to be killed."

For the first time, I started to hate Elves.

I had asked Bran to bring me to where the battle had started. He kept going in to the heart of the city as he talked. The more we went in, the more we found bodies. The previous ones we found had holes in their bodies, bleeding to death. These ones were burnt to crisp, sometimes with only skeletons remaining.

It was hard to look at, to breath that air in. "Let's go back." I said. "The Crown Prince must be awake by now. He will search for me."

"But we haven't come to the starting point yet." Bran said. "I can take you there. It's only a several blocks away."

"I will investigate that part after I come with the prince." I said. I really wanted to get out of there, as fast as possible. I didn't want to empty my stomach infront of this man. I turned back. "There's no point in wandering around the streets anyways. If I was Relach, I would not be hiding in here after all."

"Relach?" Bran asked, following me behind. "I know him. In fact, I met him just two days ago."

"You did?" I asked. "Where?"

"Just outside Sermeth." He said, scratching his ear and searching his memory. "We were friends, you know. He was carrying this huge sack of something on a hiruta. I asked where he was going, and he he told me he was coming to Leven. I told him to be careful because I kept hearing Elf sounds from the forest. He brushed me off and went his own way. I didn't see him after that." He sighed. "He is also probably dead by now. Are you looking for his body? I don't think you can find it in here. Look at all this mess. Some are only skeletons."

I quickened my steps at the mention of burnt skeletons. "What do you mean you can here Elf sounds?" I asked. I never knew there was a sound like that.

"It's my ability, you see." He said. I didn't need to turn and see his face to know there was a proud smile in it. "I can hear even the smallest sound from a far away. Before Elves attack, they have to move from trees to trees and run along the ground. It's different than any other animals. I can hear it."

"That's great." I said. We were back to where I could see the carriage now. "Where are the other clearing soldiers? I only saw you."

"We have taken different territories each. There were several who came with me. They left after I started talking to your highness. We have business to attend to, you know."

I knew the soldiers dislike for me, so I brushed it off. I had already sensed their departure. But I just asked to know if he was trustworthy or not. After all, he said he had met Relach. Bran could be the spy as well.

"Ah." I said. "Can you wait here? I'll go and check on his highness. We want you to show is where you saw Relach for the last time. Don't worry, I'll give you a gold coin once I get my information."

"A- a gold coin?!" He asked as I walked past him. "Thank you so much for your generosity, Your Highness!"

He stayed behind just like I told him to. I rounded up the carriage and went to the opposite woods, where he could not here me. Then I remembered his excellant hearing and stopped bothering before heaving in to the woods, emptying my stomach.

I shook my head to clear up the image of charred flesh and smoking bodies. There were soldiers, women, children, toddlers and even Coucuminis. Each time I remembered a body, I heaved again and again.

It took me a lot of time to calm down. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, feeling numb in the stomach. Elves had a vegan diet from the nature. If I was a carnivore, I was sure I would turn herbivore after seeing those burnt guts.

If Bran heard me, he didn't come running. I wad grateful for that. This was not something I wanted him to see.

I went back to the carriage and drank some water to give some moisture to burning toungue and throat. Resh was stirring in his sleep. I looked at him to see him slowly opening eyes. He blinked several times, as if he was experiencing a different kind of reality here.

"Hey, sleepy head." I said, trying to sound cheerful. "Good morning."

"How much time had passed?" He asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Well, we came to Leven, I went out with a soldier to look at the situation and then I came back and you were finally awake."

"How is the situation?" He asked.

"Bad." I simply said.

"Well, there's some good news for you." He said. "I saw Rawen in my dream. And some had began to call you the true queen."