"Kion?"
Kai's voice rang out softly. The confusion that had clouded his face moments ago was finally gone.
"It seems your brother is back to enlightenment," Gartium remarked after observing him closely.
"What does that mean?" Kion asked, brow furrowing.
"It means his body is finally reclaiming itself," the elf explained. "The mist did quite a number on him."
Kai managed to rise to his feet, though his balance was still unsteady. His expression hardened the instant his eyes met Gartium's.
"Where did you pick this imp from?" he asked with a sharp sneer.
"Is that the thanks I get, you ungrateful dung?" Gartium shot back.
"Oh, it talks?" Kai retorted, smirking.
Before Kion could intervene, Gartium lunged at him, but Kion caught the elf by the shoulder, pulling him back just in time. Kai only smiled faintly and turned away.
"Why won't you let me knock his tooth out?!" Gartium protested, struggling in Kion's grip. "Then he won't be so smug!"
"He's not usually like this," Kion said calmly. "Don't worry, I'll speak to him later. He's just… overwhelmed."
Gartium huffed and yanked himself free, stomping angrily toward the smaller carriage the royals had assigned him.
Kion exhaled deeply. The worst of it, at least for now, was over. They were alive—and it was largely thanks to Gartium.
To an overly pious man, the elf's timely intervention would've been called divine providence, a gift from the gods themselves. But Kion wasn't one for superstition. This wasn't the work of any deity.
It was Penelope's doing.
She was waiting for him now in his carriage, her calm presence the silent counterweight to all that chaos.
Kion smiled. There was no end-point in sight for them. The journey still continues.
He got into his carriage with Penelope sitting opposite him. She was scribbling something on a piece of paper, but Kion paid not much heed to it.
"Is that anything important?" He asked.
Penelope, who was lost in thought, suddenly snapped back to reality.
"Oh, umm, it's nothing too specific. Just some future arrangements for our journey."
"Alright then." Kion replied, seemingly satisfied with her response. He was aware that she usually organised a lot of things beforehand, so nothing was new.
"Let's get moving!" He shouted at the remaining soldiers packing up their tents.
***
The forest slowly began to level out to flatter plains and rockier roads, signalling to Kion that they neared the sea.
The carriage slowly made its way over the fields, and up a rocky slope to the path by the mountainside that was going to lead them to their entry point.
The carriages rounded a bend in the road and stopped, the path too narrow to go any further.
"We can't move any further with our carriages, your highness." Sir Gaius said to Kion from his place atop a horse.
"It's still a long way to the entry point. We're going to be walking for a while then." Kion concluded.
"Who said anything about walking?" Gaius shifted from his position, and Kion could see three exotic creatures behind him. They looked like panthers but with brightly coloured fur, and twin horns that twisted in uniques shapes from behind their ears.
Panthenaires.
Kion could remember the creatures from his last life. They were usually a rare find, as they resided near the mountains and usually kept away from people. But taming one was even much harder, as they were very wild. Only expert beast-mancers could manage to deal with them.
Somehow, Gaius had secured not one, but three of this beautiful creatures. They're sleek agile bodies made them perfect for the narrow terrain. They were also insanely fast. At this time, the sun was just beginning to drop towards the horizon. Kion reckoned that they would be at Port Tabara before sundown.
"They're perfect." He commended. From the corner of his vision, Kai got down from his own carriage to give the creatures a quick inspection.
"You've really out done yourself, Sir Gaius." Kai said.
Very soon, the royals were off again. Kion rode a panthenaire with Penelope, while Kai rode alone, and on the last panthenaire, was Sir Gaius and Gartium.
The other soldiers had agreed to use a much safer and accessible entry point, but that would be cause for some delay. This meant that the royals were to expect back up as early as the day after the next.
In mere moments, due to the panthenaire's speed, they had reached their destination: Port Tabara's entry point.
The sixth and most dangerous entry point seemed like something of an accident.
Port Tabara's north end was surrounded by a watershed mountain. The "entry point" was simply a caved in section of the mountain through which people could enter and exit the town. B it the entry itself was strewn with rocks and debris. Crashed carts littered the alley. There was no gate nor checkpoint, just a huge hole in a mountain.
The guards stationed there looked worse for wear.
"Name and purpose." They asked in a drab tone as the trio made their way towards the entrance.
"The princes of Stormholt. We have clearance to come here regarding a rather pressing issue. Certain abominations we've all come to know as Greitors." He said as he handed them a rolled up envelope with a seal.
Meanwhile, the guards were slightly surprised upon hearing that they were princes and even more shocked after finding out what their purpose was.
They snatched the letter from Kai's hands and frantically read through it.
After a while, they looked up, a bit more colour in their faces.
"Your highnesses. Welcome!" They bowed. "Forgive our ignorance. We had not gotten any word of your arrival from the capital."
They made way for them all to pass.
"We'll need some directions on how to get to the minister of this town. A certain Lord Fergio I believe?"
"Oh yes, our lord Di'capri…" one of the soldiers answered, "you'll find our tour guide just after these mountains. He's a skinny elf with red hair, can't miss him."
"Thank you." Kion said as they all passed through and into the town of Port Tabara.