Interlude: Groupings and treasons

-Location: Unknown-

-Time: 31st March 1052, 23:40-

“*Yawn* How much longer…?” a woman asked, stretching her back a bit in a sitting position. The two travelers have been sitting around for about 15 minutes now, finding a small fallen tree slightly off-road in the plains.

The man glanced at her. She was roughly a head lower than him, putting her at 166 cm in height. A small coat was resting on her shoulders, shielding her from the breeze racing alongside the road they took.

A tiny nose resting above half-full lips was cute. Slightly puffy cheeks and chin-long hair of dark gray hair caused her to look older than 30-something years of age she was currently. Her beautiful, silver eyes glistened as she looked around lazily. However, her most defining trait was a pair of cat-like ears, placed on top of her head between her hair, both standing out to roughly 5 cm in height and covered with fur. Similarly, below her back, a slick tail extended, roughly 90 cm in length and almost 3 in width, slowly moving about. There was no mistaking her for a mere human: this was the appearance of a feline, a cousin to humans.

Under the coat, the woman was wearing a tight suit that seemed to be like a second skin on her, hiding and yet emphasizing her delicately toned, graceful body. On top of said suit, she was wearing a vest that had multiple small pockets on it, their number reaching no less than 15 in even rows. They were small enough to only fit two fingers in each, and the woman was currently stashing some herbs in almost all of them. Other than that, she wasn’t wearing any backpack or anything of the sort.

“20 minutes,” a man answered, looking slightly to his left. “I will say, for someone about to enter a place from nightmares, you could've prepared some more, Saria."

She rolled her eyes, a bit of dissatisfaction showing on her face. "You wouldn't get it, Ezekiel. Your father loves you, doesn't he?"

"...what does that have to do with this?" he frowned slightly. "I did hear from advisors that there is bad blood in your family, but surely King Teilag does understand the importance of your mission? Of OUR mission?"

Saria glanced to her side. Her expression was difficult for Ezekiel to decypher, but there appeared to be some anger that she attempted to mask with a pouty countenance. Crossing her hands below her medium-sized chest, the feline woman puffed a bit of air at her hair.

"As I said, you wouldn't get it," she eventually parted her lips. She did not meet his gaze, but there was a visible glint in the rim of her eye. "You're a prince of Dansel, not Fila. A canine won't understand a feline."

Ezekiel remained silent for some long seconds. A heavy exhale left his bulky body. The armor he wore shuffled with some clangor as he slowly sat down next to her. He undid the gloves on his hands before putting them into his backpack.

"You're right," he spoke slowly. "I don't understand. Fila has always been a peculiar country for me," Ezekiel rubbed his rugged hands together, a stern expression staring into the distance. "But it doesn't mean my horizons are narrow. I'm willing to keep an open mind, as long as you are willing to share your burdens with me."

Saria didn't answer for a long moment, but Ezekiel noticed her hands clenching for but a blink. Deciding against pressing the issue, he continued his thought, "But don't **** yourself to it. I am merely asking for you to pull your weight. If you can't do it, I won't detest you for stepping down."

His words caused the woman to stir in her position. Even without looking at her, Ezekiel could sense the agitation that fumed from her. The intangible pressure from her small body pressed onto his shoulders, but he shrugged it off easily. Between the two of them, he was definitely the stronger one, but he could excuse it as the difference between their classes. Saria was a support type with both buffing and debuffing abilities - which was a good mix with him, who was a machine of destruction on his own, acting as both the damage dealer and tank in the vanguard. But such ponders were secondary at the moment.

Saria huffed slightly before getting up from her position. For the shortest beat, she appeared to want to speak something but decided against it. Instead, she took a few steps forward before turning around and facing her companion. Her silver eyes glistened, a bit of curiosity emanating from them as she scanned him over, visibly checking his state much like he did with her before.

Ezekiel, contrary to Saria, wore equipment that could not be discarded as second-rate. A bulky suit of armor that was made specifically for him (at 185 cm of height it used quite a bit of material) with the cleanest mithril a dwarf could mine and process. On his chest, a beautiful emblem of the Dansel royal family was visible, consisting of a golden lion-headed man holding a scarlet-colored sword. By Ezekiel's legs, a large pack was standing, packed with any necessities they both may need in their travels, all being top-notch items incomparable to anything that could be found anywhere else in the Dansel Kingdom. His parents, and even brothers, spared no expenses in preparing him for this mission.

'Must feel nice to be appreciated.' the thought rang within Saria's mind for a long moment. But she did not speak her mind, instead focusing on her companion's weapon of choice.

On his back, Ezekiel had a war axe. It was a heavy piece of equipment that Saria could not imagine lifting herself. She was almost certain that her entire body mass was smaller than that item's, and the canine prince could walk and even run with it completely unhindered. Inwardly, she could not help but feel a bit of admiration. She was a person who preferred being cunning to being strong, and Ezekiel was the exact opposite. In a way, they complemented each other.

Ezekiel’s face was more square than the woman’s, emphasizing his powerful jaw. The black eyes that rested in his sockets had a certain amount of gentleness to them. His large nose guarded proportionally small lips, and his defined cheekbones gave him an intimidating look.

Much like Saria, his second ears were not normal, placed on top of his head. They were somewhat long, about 4 to 5 cm, hanging down slightly, dark in color, mixing well with his black hair, which was disheveled and of a similar length. Also akin to her, a tail sprouted from underneath his armor, but only 40 cm in length, and quite puffy in comparison.

A light sigh escaped her mouth as she searched for an item in her pocket.

“Let's finish the preparations. Give me your hand,” she said calmly.

Without much question, he did as she asked, and took note of what she was doing. In the woman’s hand, there was a tiny brush, similar to ones that would be used for painting, but only large enough to cover about half of his fingernail. With skill and precision that he couldn’t hope to replicate in this life, the woman’s fingers moved, spreading some kind of silver paint on all his nails. Within a minute or so, she was already finished, and Ezekiel shook his hand a little, waiting for the thing to dry up.

"What's this, exactly?"

"A bit of iron paste. Try using your skill with that."

“<1st Degree Transformation>, <Beast’s Paw>,” he said, commanding his mana into the said skill.

Within a few short seconds, a few bulges seemed to travel under his skin, and his hand lengthened and thickened somewhat, nearly doubling its size. His fingers became a little shorter in comparison to the palm, but his nails widened considerably, becoming almost 4 cm long, and ended in sharp edges, converging toward knife-like tips. The entire hand changed its color to a somewhat reddish one, the change ending somewhere in the middle of his radius. The transformation was complete.

“How is it?” she asked, anticipation glistening in her eyes.

“…not discomforting,” Ezekiel stood up and performed a quick swipe. The nails of his hand cut through the air almost as though they could split its particles. Then, he made a strike at the tree they sat on just a while ago, taking out a chunk of it in the process. “Decent,” he confirmed with a single word.

She smirked a little. “You might want to use this, too,” A bottle hung between her fingers and extended toward him again. “A stamina potion. One of the last things I made before I escaped Fila.”

“Thank you,” he replied, de-transforming his hand and accepting the gift. Without wasting a second, he attempted to pierce it with his gaze, and quickly got confirmation of its contents. "Wait, escaped?" he raised an eyebrow, looking at Saria.

The woman ignored his question, turning her gaze away. "...we have guests," her tone lowered, a tinge of anger sitting at the tip of her tongue.

“Guests?” he raised an eyebrow.

“...two groups. One comes from Fila's direction, but the other... seems to be from Dansel."

In the empty plains, a breeze of wind was whistling quietly, moving the blades of grass, the moonlight reflected onto the ground all around. The road that connected the two kingdoms they were from was a less-frequented one, mostly due to many disputes over these plains and the road’s upkeep. Neither of the two countries wanted to take care of these lands, instead throwing around the fault for the road’s terrible state onto each other. In the distance, a glint of a forest was visible, as the terrain was slightly tilting downward on the western part, leading slowly into a river’s whereabouts.

Focusing for a long moment, Ezekiel noticed a small group. The distance seemed to be about half a kilometer. Judging from the direction, it was as Saria said - they came from Dansel. Although faintly, Ezekiel could see a glint of reflectiveness in the people who stepped forth. They were surely soldiers of Dansel. Though... they appeared more shiny than typical foot soldiers. On top of that, the person leading the parade... looked familiar even from the distance.

‘Colonel Wilan? What is he doing in a scout squad?’ a thought appeared in Ezekiel’s mind as he glanced toward the feline woman. Much like him, she appeared tensed up, staring in a separate direction. Actually, looking at her, the canine could not shake off a feeling that Saria was preparing herself to attack. ‘What’s up with her?’ he wondered for a moment before he looked back to the Wilan’s group, and noticed how they suddenly sped up. 'If they’re sent by father, it’d be a huge discourtesy to not meet them.’ he thought with a bit of dismay.

And so, they waited. Ezekiel didn’t want to leave the woman on her own, but on the other hand, she didn’t seem to want to move from her position, so they quietly waited until the canine group came first, while the felines were only making their appearance in the distance. Truly, that woman’s Sense was something else from his own, Ezekiel had to admit.

“Prince Ezekiel Dansel, heir to the Dansel throne, this lowly servant greets you!” the first of the canine group, head on a level with the prince's, spoke and got on his knee, the rest following suit.

“Colonel Wilan, I greet you,” replied the man, scanning over the group of about ten canines. He easily could recognize the well-built bodies of elite soldiers who were trained for years, even when they were hidden under plate armors that almost rivaled his own. Those weren’t just scouts. It was a squad of some of the most powerful people in Dansel, safe for the royal family itself. “You may stand up. Has something happened to my father for you to come to me?”

“On the contrary, my prince,” Wilan answered. “The king is in perfect health.”

“Then why did you come?”

“King Alazar has ordered us to follow your lead as we’d follow his own. He wishes for us to help you in your quest,” Colonel's small mouth moved quickly as he relayed Dansel's king's order to Ezekiel.

“…I thought I made myself clear at the meeting?” he asked with a glint of anger in his voice.

“My prince, please shed no anger. King Alazar only wishes to support you on your way. We will not intervene unless it's necessary."

Suddenly, the woman’s voice entered everyone’s ears, “Ah, if it isn’t the royal Colonel. I knew that voice sounded familiar,” Saria spoke in a somewhat cheerful tone, a smirk on her face as she came a bit closer. "Such a nice surprise."

“Princess Saria Illia, the most beautiful flower in all of Fila, I, Colonel Wilan Voli of Dansel Kingdom, greet you with the utmost respect!” Wilan bowed to Saria deeply. Although he didn’t show her the knightly vow as he did to Ezekiel, he was definitely showing her the maximum respect he could. The canine group behind him followed in his tracks.

“Such great manners,” she replied with a flutter of her eyelids. “Wish I could see something like this back at my palace…” the woman added, her expression stiffening slowly. “Speaking of whom, there they come,” Saria turned toward the feline group that seemed to be approaching fast. “I’ll try not to disturb you, so speak freely.”

The first of the felines, a large man, stepped forward quickly, noticing the woman step forth to meet them.

“Princess Saria, King Teilag has requested your urgent return. Under the royal order, we are to bring you back. I will ask you one time: return with us peacefully.”

“Such a lack of manners,” she scoffed slightly at them. “You really don’t know how to treat a princess. Is it too much to ask to treat me a little more like they do?" she nodded toward the canine group.

“Princess Saria, what is the meaning of their presence? Are you… collaborating with canines?” the man’s voice suddenly went from being somewhat tender and respectful to rather bland, with a glint of hostility behind it. He surely wasn’t going to take this issue lightly.

“So what if I am, Commander Chia?” she asked daringly. “It’s not like father really cares, is it?"

"Princess... that is a heavy crime. You must be aware of the consequences, are you not?" Chia raised an eyebrow, his hand going dangerously close to the pommel of the sword by his waist.

Saria remained silent for a long moment, glancing over the large group of felines. Comparing them to the canine group was useless. Even though the headcount had to be nearly five times as large, those soldiers were not veterans. Aside from Chia himself, others were probably no higher than foot soldiers, with levels perhaps as high as 60. Maybe a lucky fellow in the group could be nearing their first advancement, but it was unlikely.

In contrast, the people speaking with Ezekiel behind her were on a completely different level. Dansel’s royal knights were most definitely above level 200 each, perhaps even reaching as high as 250. It was like comparing mice to bears.

"Consequences? And who will extort them on me? You?" she asked with a cut tongue, taking half a step back. "Why won't you read the situation, Commander Chia?"

Chia didn't answer, his eyes nervously glancing toward the canine group. He appeared to want to say something, but his lips didn't budge.

"Father wants me back? What for, an execution?" Saria scoffed slightly, her dark gray hair swaying as she shook her head. "He doesn't want to support me on my way, he doesn't want to let me leave, he doesn't want to let me live. What does my fucking father want of me, Commander Chia? To rot away? Because I showed mercy?"

“Princess…" Chia's tone became full of warning as he closed his hand on his sword's handle. "King Teilag won't take your words easily. This is your last chance. Return with us, or face the consequences of your actions."

"..." Saria glanced back at Ezekiel for but a second. "And so is this your final chance, Commander Chia," her eyes glistened dangerously.

"...?"

“I am sure at least some of you care about your lives. If you do, then you’ll calmly turn around and relay my message to my father: ‘Go and fuck yourself. You can use mother’s anal beads, maybe they’ll help you in playing that stupid strategy game you do with your advisors',” Saria said, a stern expression on her face, her words soaked deeply with fury, but also with a bit of relief. It felt... cathartic to her.

“…Princess Saria… King Teilag will not treat those words easily even after your demise,” he said in a warning tone.

“That's good. Father believes in those stupid oracles and whatnot, so let me give you my own augury: The next time I come to Fila, I will raze the whole country down. Now go and fuck off!" she raised her voice in a somewhat commanding tone, and turned around, taking her steps toward the still-speaking canines.

“…Princess Saria… this is TREASON!” Chia yelled as he unsheathed his blade and rushed forward, aiming a clean hit at her neck, intent on beheading her in a clean strike.

However, the woman seemed to anticipate the strike, as she suddenly bent her knees backward, gracefully avoiding his blade. In an almost unseen motion, she pulled something out of her vest’s pocket and threw it at Chia’s face. The thing she threw turned out to be a couple small marbles, all of them smaller than her smallest nail in width, and shiny gray in color. As the things reached the feline’s face, they dispersed into many small clouds of dust, which seemed to easily stick to his skin.

“Fuck off!” she said and snapped her fingers right by his face, some kind of a small contraption on her fingers, resembling glove fingers that only were on her thumb and middle finger. A large spark appeared and traveled toward the man’s cheek.

The moment it made contact, the spark ignited the powder on the man’s face, momentarily enveloping it in white flames. Chia screamed, first with surprise, then with pain, as he flailed with his sword toward Saria, but still didn’t manage to hit her once. Though, he wasn’t the only one attacking her. Another feline closed the distance and was aiming a stab at her heart.

However…

A hand got hold of the blade. It was red, much larger than the feline’s, and its grip was so strong that a single pull was all it took to yank the weapon away.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Ezekiel asked, turning to Saria momentarily.

“Treason, that's what," she replied, her silver eyes glistening in anticipation of his reaction.

“…treason?” Prince of Dansel raised an eyebrow before parrying another few strikes. He then struck at rushing Chia, managing to tear his plate armor slightly with his nails. “Colonel Wilan, have you heard this?”

“I did,” Wilan confirmed. He placed a hand on his sword’s hilt, already expecting the order.

“I’m sure you know how to handle this,” Ezekiel continued, noticing how the timer in the corner of his eye almost ran out. “I leave this issue to you.”

“As you wish, my prince,” Wilan responded. “To battle, knights! Leave none alive!”

Meanwhile, a quake went through the ground, shaking everyone slightly for a moment. Using the momentary chance, Ezekiel got hold of Saria and hurried a dozen or so meters away.

Suddenly, a black void opened beneath them both, sucking them up, and then closing itself. None of the 30 battlers nearby even noticed when the two of them disappeared from sight, or where they had gone.

As they fell down and down, Saria suddenly heard a familiar bell sound. Turning her head, she noticed a notification that appeared.

“Did you just--“

“Yes,” Ezekiel confirmed. “Rules have changed, it seems,” he added as the two of them suddenly stood again, their feet sinking into rough, coarse sand under them both.

They looked around. Desert spanned the terrain. Dunes were stretching as far as the eye could see, the sun beaming down on them both. Within seconds, Ezekiel started sweating slightly but didn’t care much as he drank the stamina potion. Pulling out his war axe, he glanced toward the woman.

“What did you receive?”

“It’ll be useful for experiments. I’ll explain later. What about you?” she asked, showing him a small bottle filled with some silver liquid.

Ezekiel raised his hand, showing that he was now wearing some kind of red bracelet on his wrist. “Synergizes with <Transformation>,” he explained shortly.

"That's good," she nodded, hiding her item in a pocket of her vest.

"Now, why did you do that? Treason is not something being an Apostle will fix easily. You will never return to Fila."

"...that's the point."

"Why?"

"..." Saria looked away momentarily, visibly hesitant. "I told you. You wouldn't understand, Ezekiel. Your father loves you."

'...do you mean to say yours hates you?' Ezekiel wondered but didn't voice his question. Instead, he sighed, noticing that a panel in his field of view vanished. 'No time to ponder too much.'

“Enough of that. Time for Penalty Quest,” Saria said, relaxing her expression slightly.

As if on cue, sand in some distance started moving. Glancing forward at it, she noticed how something was burrowing underneath the surface, coming toward them at a quick pace. How large was that thing? It seemed to be at least 2 meters thick, but its height was impossible to measure without it showing itself.

The thing stopped near their position, and stuck its head out of the ground, elevating it over 15 meters up. It was a huge creature that appeared to be a mix between an earthworm and a centipede. Its segmented body was brown in color, and even from the distance, it was visible that it must’ve been dried up, coarse, and probably rather tough as well.

Saria shuddered momentarily.

“Is it a bad moment to say I’m terrified of worms?”

“…certainly,” he answered.