Hand resting on the hilt of his blade, Edric patrolled the old camp's vicinity. The wasteland was quiet, eerily quiet, the stillness broken only by the faint rustling of ash carried by the wind. The air was thick and carried an uncomfortable scent. The dead earth crunched beneath his boots, each step echoing in the silence.
The princess had agreed to treat the stranger with the supplies they found in his backpack. Reluctantly, but she did. On the condition that Edric would regularly look out for the creature that injured him in the first place.
The stranger's condition was dire. His leg was almost completely torn apart, only held together by the bone. In truth, Edric didn't expect him to make it through the night, however, the man's regeneration was faster than anything Edric had ever seen.
It was eerie enough to make them wonder if he was a beast in disguise after all. To be safe, they had taken down one of the torn tents and used it to tie the man to an old log. Crude, but it was at least something.
Finishing his patrol, Edric returned to camp. And again he had encountered nothing-no hostile creature had ever appeared in his sight. What may have sounded like pleasant news, only served to fuel further uncertainties within the two.
They had been given the means to defend themselves by the trial, and remembering Halric's words, they knew that wasn't a given. What was a given, was that it wouldn't continue to stay this way.
It was only the second day they'd been here, of course. However, Edric was beginning to fear the fallout. And there was another problem: hunger and thirst. With nothing to hunt and no water in sight, they'd die because of their bodily needs before any monster would get the chance to tear them apart itself.
With a growling stomach, Edric took a breath and turned to the horizon. The sun was rising quickly, casting shadows over the barren wasteland.
The princess was sitting next to the stranger, fire dancing between her fingers. While Edric was out on patrol she had taken her time honing mana control and conjuring small fires here and there. With each one, she improved drastically.
He observed her for a while, watching as the fire jumped between her fingers, expanding in size and also diminishing again.
"How's it going?" Edric asked, sitting down, leaning against a log across from her, trying to strike up a conversation.
"Good. I think I'll be able to conjure a fireball soon," she answered, her focus still on her flames.
Edric gave her a nod, and with that the conversation ceased. Their relationship was strange, more an uneasy alliance than anything else. They didn't like each other, but neither did they dislike one another.
As two people who had entered the trial, it was natural for them to stick together, trying to make it out alive. However Edric couldn't make sense of her. Her demeanor, the way she acted was almost too composed.
Or maybe the weight of their situation simply still took time to settle in.
Edric's gaze shifted, observing the stranger. His breathing had steadied, no longer ragged and uneven, and his leg already looked much better than the night before. To the point where it looked like he'd be able to walk again, once he woke up.
It was weird. This entire world had been created by the trial, and so had he. Most likely. But he appeared so real… He bled like a real man, he took breath like a real man, looked the part and the desperation in his voice also sounded human.
How much of this was merely a projection and how much reality?
As if on cue, the man stirred.
The princess swiftly distanced herself, while Edric's hand settled on the hilt of his blade, ready to draw it at any moment.
A low groan followed. The man tried to sit up, only to find himself bound by something. His eyes opened - first confused and then narrowed once he noticed Edric and the princess.
He blinked. "You…"
"We pulled you out of the dirt and patched you up," Edric said, gesturing at the torn tent that wrapped around him. "That's a safety measure."
The man glanced down at the bindings and the log beneath him. "Charming. Really."
Then, without warning, he suddenly shot up, ignoring makeshift rope as though it hadn't been tied around him at all. His demeanor shifted, eyes widened, as though only now coming to himself.
Edric took a step back, unsheathing his sword and pointing it at the stranger.
"I- I remember now!" he stammered. "The crawlers - the farm… How long have I been out?!" the stranger asked, his voice cracked, full of panic.
He looked between them, frantic. "How long?!"
"Just the night," Edric responded, readying to strike down the stranger.
If possible, he wanted to avoid a confrontation. This man wasn't normal, his regeneration was exceptional and his strength also surpassed that of an ordinary human. Not just anybody could've freed himself from the binding, even if it was just the cloth of an old tent.
"Just the night?" he asked, sounding almost relieved. "Then there's still a chance."
"A chance for what?" the princess asked, her hand engulfed in golden flames.
"Listen, thank you both, for treating me but I need to go," the stranger said, the urgency in his voice almost palpable.
Edric moved to block the camp's exit, feeling his heart beat against his ribcage. While reluctant to face the stranger, they needed to know more.
"Sure," he said. "Just answer us a few questions before you go."
The stranger didn't respond, his gaze settled on his right forearm.
The next moment, a flicker of red shimmered into existence - fabric weaving itself from nothing. A cloak, of the same deep crimson as his hair, formed in an instant, draping over his shoulders and falling just to his knees.
It blended seamlessly with the brown leather tunic that he was wearing beneath, while his trousers that shared the tunic's color, frayed at the knees, remained visible below the cloak's hem.
"Sorry," the stranger said, his brown eyes settling Edric. "But I have no time."
Edric's grip tightened around his blade, his mind spinning. Was that his power? Conjuring items into existence?
"You'll have to make time."
The stranger gritted his teeth. "You don't understand… It's urgent!"
"I believe we do understand," the princess spoke, her voice calm but sharp. "You mentioned a farm, and crawlers. The latter which are most likely some kind of beast judging by the way you appeared here at our camp. You were attacked and now want to go back. But what makes you believe that you can defeat them now? In your state?"
Edric blinked. "You weren't alone on that farm, were you?" he asked, but it sounded more like a statement than a question.
The stranger didn't answer right away; his expression shifted to one of desperation, his gaze cast downwards. He was aware of his own condition, while much better than before, he still hadn't fully healed.
Looking at Edric and the princess he realised that they wouldn't just let him go, in the end he relented.
"Alright if you must know… but I'll be gone after," he said. "We were twelve people, excluding me. Around two weeks ago we arrived in this place, not long after we found a farm and made it our refuge, while trying to figure things out."
The stranger paused, jaw clenched. "It wasn't much, but there were tools. Some food and a well. We patrolled around the farm, taking turns to watch out during the night."
Edric didn't interrupt. Neither did the princess, though the flames in her hand dimmed.
"But there was no sign of hostile creatures," he spoke, the words leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. "Not until yesterday. That's when they suddenly came. Crawlers, hundreds of them. I tried to lead them away from the others, bought as much time as I could." He looked down at his bandaged leg. "Didn't get very far."
Edric's face paled as he listened to the stranger speak. That was why they didn't encounter any beasts. It was because they traveled in a single large horde.
But if they had found the people in the farm, would they come for them too? How long would it take before they found their small campsite?
A dull chill pressed against his spine, the reason they were still alive was because they were lucky. Blind, reckless luck.
"So please, let me go," the stranger pleaded. "If there's a chance that one of them is still alive I need to save them."
"I see," the princess said, musing. "Then, we'll accompany you."
Edric stared at her, dumbfounded.
Are we? The question buzzed in his mind, but he didn't ask it out loud. The idea of walking into a potential deathtrap, putting themselves in the claws of an unstoppable horde, didn't particularly ignite longing in him.
"Alright wait a second now, are we sure that this is a good idea?" Edric asked, his gaze fixed on the princess, disregarding the stranger.
"You said it yourself when you decided to rescue him--it's a risk we must take," she responded.
In a way she was right. They had to either choose to advance to the city on their own or help the stranger and gather potential allies. While helping the man was far more risky, it also offered a great reward.
But still, if it were left to him, he wouldn't go. Edric's eyes set on the princess, who was resolute on going.
He grit his teeth, in the end he had no choice. He was a knight and she a princess, she had the last say. Until now he hadn't been confronted with that, but the shackles of his birth remained.
Shaking his head, Edric let out a sigh, every cell in his body protesting against the words he was about to say. "Then let's go already. I don't want to stand still in one place with that horde roaming around."
The stranger stood in place, jaw slack. "Thank you, both. Really."
"You'll answer our question on the way," the princess added.
Quickly they gathered the few belongings that they had and bid farewell to their camp.
Just like that, from one moment to another, the rather peaceful trial turned into a nightmare. Edric had expected it. Of course, it wouldn't be as easy as simply surviving in a desolate wasteland. But at the same time, somewhere deep within him he had hoped that things would continue to stay like they had the day before.
This wasn't their first day in the trial, however it felt as though it had just now really begun. As though the day before had merely been a prelude.
Once again, Edric and the princess began their journey through the wasteland, this time in the company of someone else and a clear destination in mind.
With the stranger leading the way, they moved cautiously, each step they took deliberate. Edric's hand was firmly wrapped around the hilt of his blade, his mind replaying the stranger's words. The tension in the group was thick pressing against them like an impending storm.
Edric almost hoped that something would finally happen, that a beast would come and they'd strike it down to be done with it. For him, it was better to face a terrible situation rather than to wait for one to arrive. The suspense gnawed at him.
But as it had ever since they arrived in this godforsaken place, the silence of the wasteland stretched on. Only broken by an occasional gust of wind, sweeping ash and earth across the barren land.
Now, more than before, it was unsettling.
The man leading them, though surprisingly swift and sure in his pace, had yet to offer any sort of explanation beyond from what he had shared earlier. Granted, nobody had bothered to ask for one, but still.
The princess, for once, also seemed visibly on edge, though Edric couldn't find joy in that. A faint glow emanated from her left hand as her gaze continuously swept across the landscape, alert and unblinking.
Over time the landscape around began to shift. What had once been flat and barren now rolled into a series of low hills. The ground beneath their feet rose and fell in uneven waves, as though the world beneath them was shifting.
The wind had grown stronger than before, kicking up clouds of dust and ash that left the air with a bitter taste. More and more, dead trees began to appear around them. Their twisted, blackened limbs jutted out from the soil like skeletal hands reaching towards the sky. Some were half-buried in the dust, their roots desperately grasping at the earth trying to hold onto something, before they'd decay and fall like the others.
This place was a graveyard of life, and from what little they had learned in the camp, it was one created by human hand.
Edric's thoughts drifted to the princess.
He wondered what she was thinking behind that quiet, unreadable expression. Ever since they had entered the trial, she had shown an almost unnerving calm. She was calculated, composed, and with a sharp resolve to move forward. There was no fear in her, or if there was, it was deeply hidden.
He hadn't asked why she was so determined, or why she had wanted to defy her father so much. Perhaps it was easier that way, walking beside someone who acted as though nothing could shake her.
One day he'd find out.
"Anyway," Edric called out to the stranger, breaking the silence. "What's your name?"
"Vale," he said, without looking back at Edric, who was bringing up the rear. "What about your's?"
"Edric, and hers..." Well, he didn't really know her name.
"Cecilia," the princess said.
"Right." Edric cleared his throat. "So, Vale," he added, trying to steer the conversation in a more useful ground, "mind telling us something about the crawlers? Since we might be fighting them, you know..."
Vale grunted. "Not much to say. They look like human corpses - stretched thin, skin grey, with eight limbs. Arms, legs, doesn't really matter. They crawl like insects," he paused, his voice sounding bitter. "Alone, they're not really dangerous, but in swarms..."
Edric swallowed, picturing the creature in his mind. A deformed human body, twisting and moving unnaturally over the ground. He had fought before-bandits, soldiers, and even some beasts in training. But this was different.
Still, maybe it was better that way. If they were only human, almost, he could kill them even without needing the help of magical abilities which he hadn't yet received.
"Thanks," Edric said. "Mind telling us where you're from?"
Vale frowned, turning his head just enough to glance back. "You should know that we Descenders don't really share that with others."
"Why's that?" Edric asked, curious.
Vale's gaze turned back to the path ahead. "You're not from an academy, are you?"
Edric hesitated, unsure how much he should reveal about himself. "No. I'm more like a soldier, in a way."
"Figured," Vale muttered. "They teach Descenders to keep quiet about that kind of thing-so that we from opposing kingdoms don't start killing each other. There's no merit to that in here."
"Has that actually happened?" Edric asked.
Vale let out a dry laugh. "I haven't seen it myself, but I've heard stories of Descenders carrying their kings banner into this place. Sadly enough for them, monsters don't care which king you serve."
Silence followed for a while, only the crunch of ash beneath their boots and the wind filled the space between them.
"So there's multiple kingdoms here?" Cecilia asked. Edric noticed something strange in her tone-something which he couldn't quite identify.
"In here?" Vale replied, glancing back at the two. "No."
The hills began to become steeper, the once gentle slopes now rose sharply, forcing them to climb with every step. The air grew thinner and colder as they ascended, and the ground beneath them shifted with every movement-loose stones and unstable earth making their progress slower than it should have been.
Only after they'd finally reached the top of that hill, did they find some respite. The journey would now continue downwards and then onto even ground, but for the moment, the harsh incline had finally eased. Edric took a deep breath, his lungs burning slightly, from climbing all those hills. If hunger and thirst weren't taking its toll on him, he wouldn't have been as exhausted as he was.
"Hey, do you have food and water on that farm?" Edric asked, his voice a little rough.
"Yeah, some old bread and there's a lake on the way," Vale answered.
That brought Edric a small measure of relief. Even stale bread sounded like a feast after over a day of not eating in the wasteland.
Thinking back, it had been even longer than that. Before the ceremony where he was knighted, his mother hadn't let him eat-said a bloated belly would ruin the look. Ridiculous, really, considering his physique had always been solid.
"Sounds amazing," Edric muttered.
"Better eat before it goes moldy," Vale replied dryly.
After a while, they had left behind the last hill and stood on solid ground. Far in the distance, a faint shimmer hung in the air. A glint of something reflective. Maybe water.
Edric squinted his eyes. "Is that the lake?"
Vale nodded. "We're close."
Vale suddenly held out his hand, motioning the pair behind him to stop. A wooden spear manifested itself in his hand, formed out of flickering blue light.
"You wanted to know more about the crawlers, right Edric?" Vale asked, the tip of his spear pointed forward, a low grumble in his voice. "Let's greet em then.