Chapter 151: I did this before but #traveling (2/2)

‘Guess I really won’t be joining any cleanup jobs anymore…,’ Ilea thought, taking the silver and handing it to Weavy.

“Thanks, Weavy take this, it’s your starter kit. You can exchange it for goods and services.” she said and enjoyed the somewhat confused look on Claire’s face.

“I’ll make sure to visit again.” she said.

“Oooh, so this is the gold people have been talking about.” the demon marveled at the coins and Ilea just looked at him. Not her job.

“Well then I’ll be off, see you around Claire. And you Cless.” she said and shook their hands.

“Thanks again, for coming to help us.” Claire said and locked eyes with Ilea “Whenever you need anything just write me or come to Ravenhall. I’ll make sure to be influential enough to crush a country for you.” she said with a grin.

“Ah don’t worry about it Claire, I’ll make sure to become strong enough to fight a country by myself.” Ilea joked and smiled before the two parted. Kyrian said his goodbyes to Claire as well before he joined Ilea outside the Hand’s headquarters.

“Where to now?” the man asked as he put on his helmet. It looked like he had already cleaned his armor thoroughly. A task Ilea was still dreading. She spread her wings and motioned towards Weavy who walked up to her before grabbing her arm. They ascended together with Kyrian following close behind.

“Riverwatch, and some friends nearby. I’m sure they’ll like Weavy just fine.” Ilea said as they joined Weavy’s Spawn outside the city. Kyrian created little carriers with his metal that the beasts could hold onto.

“How’s your speed with all that weight?” Ilea asked the man.

“Slower? No idea honestly, we’ll see.” he said and Ilea shrugged at that. They weren’t exactly in a hurry so she didn’t mind. The flight would take a while as the city was at least three times as far away as the capital of Lys. Hopefully no elves would find themselves still hiding in the beginnings of the forest.

“Alright, let’s go then and see if Walter is still alive.” Ilea said as she increased her speed, the cold mountain air flowing through her exposed hair as a smile blossomed on her face. Flying would never get old.

They reached the outskirts of Morhill a couple hours later, Kyrian’s reduced speed really put a hamper on Ilea’s travel time. Contrary to her expectations, it didn’t hamper her mood at all. The past months were packed with training, elven and demon invasions and a lot of talking. Flying over the mountains was beautiful, the feeling of freedom was nearly graspable to her and with her somewhat silent companions she felt joyous in her solitude.

Ilea noticed that the snow weighed less on the trees anymore. Winter truly had ended and soon spring would come. She knew it wouldn’t affect the picture around Ravenhall and Morhil much, they were after all places high in the mountains. Though thinking of Riverwatch and the forest near the Azarinth temple, she couldn’t help but smile and think back on her arrival to this place, her journey so far and the things still to come.

Ilea felt ready as she grasped the air before her with a tight fist, happy to find none of her companions commenting on it, not even Aki. The group found Morhil not completely deserted. Some members of the Hand were present, as were Imperial soldiers that didn’t look like they were part of the same regiment stationed in Ravenhall. At least there were no demons around the city.

“Do you want to stop?” Kyrian asked, breaking the two hour long silence.

“No, not if you two can go on?” Ilea asked and got a nod from him in reply. Weavy sent a confirming feeling into her mind, something she’d probably not get used to. Then again she likely didn’t have to.

“Then let’s continue.” she said, moving her wings to pick up the pace again.

Two hours later the group finally emerged out of the mountain chain in the south of Lys, flying out and towards the plains that stretched as far as the eye could see. There were patches of forests, especially to the West. The ocean was too far away to see already. The suns were still high, indicating that it was at least midday.

The three of them accompanied by Ilea’s talking dagger and a group of demons hanging onto their floating metal frames flew over the plains where the first green was already showing itself in some places. More and more as they traveled away from the mountains. They flew lower than before and crossed the occasional road. Travelers were few and far in between though they did come across a caravan a couple hours into their travels.

The group looked to have more wagons than even people, some of the horses and oxes directly bound to the wagon before them.

“What do you think?” Ilea asked nobody in particular.

“They probably survived a demon attack. Not many it seems. Makes sense doesn’t it? Demons don’t seem to care much about anything else but killing and eating.” Kyrian said.

“How did they get all those animals then?” Aki asked and Ilea shrugged. The man didn’t have an answer and the group went on. The farther they would move away from Ravenhall, the more careful they had to be about the demons they had in tow, especially Weavy. Come to think of it, Ilea remembered the whole debacle with the summoned demon inside the necromancer den.

Perhaps they wouldn’t be most happy about one of their kind asking to live with them but if anybody was tolerant enough to accept Weavy, then it was them.

“Weavy, right?” Aki asked, the wind flowing through them as they reached the beginning of the western forests. Ilea wasn’t sure if this was still territory of the empire or if they were already in another kingdom.

“Yes. Enchantment.” Weavy replied.

“I’m Aki. Did Ilea even ask you what you would like to do?” the dagger asked. Ilea stayed quiet, continuing towards Karth.

“Aki, it is a pleasure to learn your name. I am unfamiliar with this realm. Ilea has not yet killed me and now she is traveling a long way to bring me to a place I might be able to stay. I cannot form an opinion on what to do yet in this newfound realm, not with my current knowledge.” the demon said. Ilea smiled, knowing that he was just a bit different than his kin.

“Eh, you sound way too nice. You’re gonna be abused if you stay like that. Don’t you demons just want to kill and conquer?” Aki asked.

“I indeed want to kill and conquer but how would I do that if I get killed immediately?” Weavy replied.

“I’m beginning to think this was a bad idea.” Ilea said though she still wore her trademark grin.

“Well no shit, he’s a demon you literal tree stump.” Aki said.

“You’re being racist.” Ilea said.

“Yea, because they’re a literal race of monsters.” Aki replied before Kyrian’s laugh shut them both up.

“What is it?” the dagger asked but Kyrian kept quiet. Ilea smiled as well and looked towards the man who kept his gaze onto the horizon.

“Exactly.” she said as her smile widened. “We should pause soon, maybe find a warm place somewhere to stay the night.”

“We should.” Kyrian confirmed though he didn’t sound tired. The Meditation pauses they did earlier were simply held in the air. Moving slower while airborne allowed for the skill to replenish their mana easily enough.

“A bed would be nice.” Ilea said and looked for roads and villages as they continued.