The trip back to camp was short.
Although the soldiers were well within high spirits, the overall mood of the group seemed to hang heavy and low, like all the energy had been sapped out of their bodies.
Kion rode on a horse to the side, downing his rations and water ravenously. An arm cast suspended his right arm across his chest, and a full body cast extended across his torso, covering the area where his ribs had been cracked.
He didn't seem to fare any better than his brother, whose head was wrapped tightly in bandages, the marks where the Egovore had taken root oozing with blood.
Meanwhile, the soldiers kept their distance from a sulking Kion, seeing that he was in no mood to talk to anyone.
In the crowd of moving soldiers, one particular soldier branched off of the group, not minding the heavy tension in the air not the darkened mood about the red-haired prince he was approaching.
"They look up to you, ya know…" Sir Gaius said when he got within talking range.
Kion said nothing.
"Trust me. We feel your pain just as much as you do." He said, gesturing to himself and the other soldiers. "To come so close to death…", sir Gaius scoffed, "i don't know what we would have done if…"
He paused, his next words stuck in his throat, too heavy to slip free. They all knew what Kion and his brother had gone against. After analyzing the remains of the Egovore, even Sir Gaius had to admit that an epic-grade warrior such as himself stood no chance next to that thing.
An SSS-class monster.
Somehow, Kion had managed to defeat it. He had not come out unscathed, as could be seen by the many scars and bruises that littered his body, but the unbelievable thing was that somehow, he had won.
Sir Gaius looked at him with a new feeling of awe in his gut. The other soldiers did too, but his bad mood dampened the atmosphere so badly that he was worried they might never get in the right spirit for the more challenging journey ahead.
He extended a hand and placed it on Kion's shoulder.
"That indomitable strength of yours, the one you showed when you won your brother in a duel, the one you showed when we lost all our goods to those mercenaries, the one you showed to defeat this monster…"
Sir Gaius paused…
"I need it from you, prince Kion. The road ahead may be rough, but we are all right behind you. Take all the time you need to recover, but when you come back, you come back as a leader. Is that okay with you?"
Gaius waited for a response, but was worried that he wouldn't find any due to the long silence that followed.
Kion's head remained down. Very slowly, he turned his head, staring straight into the eyes of the young knight.
This close, Gaius could see a fire reignite in the boy's eyes. A fierce resolve to fight, to burn, to lead…
"I will." He said in a definitive tone.
"Good." Sir Gaius responded.
They both nodded at each other, a silent exchange of assurance and will. They both knew what to expect looking forward, and it would not include any sign of weakness.
Gaius rode back to reconvene with his soldiers, who eased up upon seeing that Kion was finally looking up and forward.
Their knight had stoked the flame within him.
After Sir Gaius, came another rider who, unlike him, didn't have much care of his flame within, but cared more about how he was faring.
"Back in Styria I heard of a skilled healer adept in the arts of —- . He could help you with your wounds, and also banish the blight that festers in your system." Penelope said witha gentle voice.
"How did you know?" Kion asked.
"I did read a lot back when I was still a little Noxian girl. I know quite a lot much about monsters, my lord."
"Is that so? And you think that a replenish-mancer can heal me?"
"I prefer to cal them healers, but yes. A skilled one can."
"Do you have any way of reaching this one. We've not been in Styria for hours." Kion asked, doubt tinging his voice.
"Actually, I had spoken to him on the off-chance we required his services. We are not equipped with any healers at all, afterall, only the medics. But nonetheless, he did agree given that we were travelling in the same direction."
"You told him that we're going to Port Tabara? Our mission is not meant to be divulged to just anyone, at least before we get to our destination."
"I know," Penelope conceded, "but I knew you'd need one, given your penchant for running off into trouble. Can't you see? Im trying to help."
Kion's faced remained motionless, logical and calculating. He had finally started to show some emotion, some reaction that proved that he was still a person just like anyone else. This sudden reversal worried her.
"Where is he?" He asked after being quiet for too long.
"Oh he's already at our camp, with the remaining soldiers. We're almost there."
"Good." Kion gave a one word reply.
Penelope was worried. It wasn't just his silence that bothered her, but the cocoon he had wrapped around himself, the withdrawal, like a snail slowly retreating to its shell.
She had sense that energy before, back when she was assigned to him in his quarters. Then, she hadn't understood what it was all about, the pattern to his heightened resignation, but now, she could almost tell…
That Kion had sustained more than physical injuries in that fight. Outward harm wouldn't cause this much damage. No, it had to be beyond. There had to be a mental side to it.
She knew exactly what egovores were capable of, so coming to that conclusion was expected.
The only mystery that remained was something that Penelope may have never been able to answer herself.
If this had somehow reignited it, then what had caused his initial phase of resignation and coldness when she was assigned to him?
Even back then, he seemed to have that air around him, like someone had damaged him almost beyond repair, but who?
Before that day, she had never remembered him to be in any battle, or any sort of mental struggle, apart from the constant bullying of all the Royal advisors and his brother, but that never seemed to bother him.
Penelope stretched a hand towards Kion. She wanted to feel his pain, to share it, but how could she tell him that she couldn't bear to watch him crack.
To watch him retreat once again, to that cold but kind-hearted soul who always saw her as more than an object, as more than a maid…
Penelope's hand froze midway, and she quickly dropped it to her side. As a slave was considered treason to touch a master without his/her permission. Kion had considered her more as an assistant than a slave, but she didn't want to test her luck so early.
The crew finally burst through a clearing of trees, finally reaching the main roadside. Everyone dismounted and led their horses to the grass fields on the other side to graze.
Penelope was about to lead her horse away when she spotted a man on a donkey carrying a heavy bag of traveler's goods.
"There he is." She pointed Kion to the pair who were situated merely a stone's throw from their caravan. The man had been chatting with some of the soldiers, and it seemed they were all sharing a good laugh.
Kion took one good look at the man's face.
He quickly turned to Penelope.
"You didn't tell me he was an elf."