Vol 1 Chapter 32 (2/2)

“If he’s still breathing, Ifor him with my power” As he said this, Eto n

Parn nodded “Give them some room This is Eto’s job”

Deedlit seereed to pull back when Slayn explained, “Eto uses the ic of Pharis”

“Let’s bury the bodies of the dead knights We can’t very well leave them like this”

Ghim nodded silently at Parn’s words and pulled down his battleaxe One side bore a blade, but the other was sharp as well, like a pick He raised the axe in the air, aiht it down He buried the pick in the ground, breaking the earth into smaller chunks Parn picked up a piece of wood and used it to clear the loose dirt out of the way In this ed it

Slayn sat down on the ground, facing away from the road so as not to look at the aftermath of the battle, and staredblankly at the peaceful fields that stretched out before him A few questions swirled in his mind The first concerned the identity of the sorceress, the second, Ghim’s behavior Ghim had definitely stared at the portrait in the old house in Alania Forgetting so he had stared at so intently seemed quite improbable And Ghi was now acting as though this was his personal uard But what reason had he to follow the servants of Marht about it, it was also strange that a subterranean dwarf, who delighted only in the works of his own hands, would leave on a journey in the first place When he first ca It was either the clue to some riddle, or perhaps a map of all of Lodoss

Ghim set out on on this journey with soht it be that he’s scented the trail?

His face frozen in a severe expression, Slayn quietly observed Ghi his axe

The melodic chant of Eto’s spell seerave for each of the fallen knights, with Deedlit’s assistance They placed one corpse in each grave, covered theht’s sword point-first into the ground, to serve as grave-hters who had guarded the carriage As they carried out this grim task, the sun dipped slowly beneath the horizon, and the blue faded from the sky

“Looks like that e didn’t care if her spell killed her own ust

“That’s where you’re wrong I checked the bodies too, and it would seeuess that she worked her hts of Valis Plus, the side of their bodies that was facing the ground isn’t burnt”

“Even if they were already dead, I can’t forgive her using ic on her allies”

“Above all else, ic is not meant to be used in service of destruction But what do we do next?” Slayn asked Parn

“We keep going, of course” Parn said this as though it was a foregone conclusion Next to hirunted his assent

“You’re serious, aren’t you?” asked Slayn in a low voice “You’ve witnessed the power of our enele spell I hate to ask this, but do you really think we can win?”

“I do not,”pained “But we can’t afford to let them do as they please!”

“Even if we beat theive us a reward?” Wood asked Parn in a bored tone “I don’t like working for free”

“The reward comes from your own heart!”

From behind them, they heard Eto’s reply Wood turned to look at Eto He see But his efforts had not been in vain Behind hih with visible difficulty Parn’s face shone with joy

“And there will also be a reward froht quietly

“Will you tell us the reason?” Parn asked the knight

The knight nodded silently, then began to speak

“I aned to Princess Fianna’s escort”

“Princess Fianna! You mean the Crown Princess of Valis?” shouted Parn in surprise Deedlit kept her ued

“The very sahness Princess Fianna is Crown Princess of Valis After the start of the current conflict, the princess desired to visit the front lines and encourage the troops Of course, the king, as well as everyone else in the castle, was opposed froed to slip out of the castle”

“And so you and your companions were sent out as a search party?” asked Deedlit once the knight had stopped for breath

“Exactly It would seem that the princess was aided by a merchant The merchant in question was a shady character, so we followed her We finally caught up with the et the princess back, but the result was the pitiful sight you see before you We defeated soht to pull the princess froe, but a woe words and an inferno exploded around us, knocking us fro, and in that moment of defeat I passed out”

“You were serious about the reward, I hope?” asked Wood, peering at the knight’s face

“Of course If you’re able to recover the princess safe and sound, I can promise there will be a reward You will probably be able to name your price”

“I’ll just have to trust that,” said Wood, and turned to pick up his luggage Looks like I’ve become a fool as well

“I’roup Then he looked up, and with pursed lips, stared down the darkened road in the direction the caravan had taken His eyes blazed with anger, as though he could see the woman who had taken the lives of his companions

The anger that caught flame in Parn’s heart at that unattainable enemy was the same

Deedlit watched theer, which was not his own? Why would he risk his life in such a cause?

Thinking that though she herself would be fine, Parn and the others would have trouble walking in the dark, Deedlit started chanting the words to suht, will-o’-wisp

“Ô shi+ning spirits ell in the light, gather and reveal your for light appeared letting off a direw brighter

Next to her, Slayn created a lows, the party finally left the s off down the road towards Kanon with apprehension