The Conquerors Path

With the sour mood between the two young men, the trip began, the horse trotting forth with precision through the dense land, mixed with the color of black, each flower or tree being sighted being unique and completely different from that of the Sylvia realm, its beauty being something else to keep an eye on.

The horses the 5 of us are riding are being trained perfectly to move through this area, a certain level of comfort being given in the travel. Not to mention that I have already traced the complete path forward, and each stone and soil we walk through have been fully corrected and planned, cause I don't want danger that I don't plan for simply cropping into the path that I am taking.

The whole trip from here would be about one day to reach the destination, if we are lucky, from then on it's another day to get back, plus the in-between to get hands on the antidote itself, and to the current travel situation a lot of questions would be arisen forth, like why is Carmelia not just informing the Empire and just getting the Empire to get the antidote directly from the tribe itself?

Are Carmel and Carmelia desiring adventure so much that they would be willing to risk their sister's life on this? The answer to that is no, they are not, in this case contacting the Empire would be of not much better use, first being due to the fact that moving tribes like these are almost impossible to find if they didn't want to be found.

Second tribes like this don't really open up to and listen to the commands of the true power of the Empire, they move like nomads following their own rules and customs, so asking the Eflan Empire for pressure wouldn't really work at all, then there is the fact that I am the only one that can find the place.

Of course, I could have just given up the location and have the Empire deal with it, Carmel and Carmelia can think of this too but there is the fact that I am close to this tribe and also the fact that Carmel had actually pissed me off, so trying to force anything out of me at this time would only break the remaining fragile relation we have.

And that's is the main reason I even want to create this fight, those raging emotions covering up her own troubles to make her travel like this, then the next most important part being, would the Empire really let Carmel move like this all alone without protection, especially when she left the academy with her own identity?

Above that, would the War Council that is secretly protecting me in the dark really let me go without any protection?

The answer to that is once again no, Carmel isn't an idiot to move without informing the Empire, she has already spoken out about her adventure to get the antidote and despite how hard her father tried in the end, she chose to come here alone and the reason for that is due to the church of Razellia taking responsibility.

For you see, the church itself reached out to the War council promising to keep the protection of us coming here, of course, this fully surprised the lot, because churches don't normally interfere in things like this, to their questioning the church didn't give off any answer other than the fact that they are interested to protect us.

And with this no danger would ever come to even touch us, especially with Nini being deployed, hence everyone would take a breather on the protection and know the fact that no danger would befall us.

'Well if only they knew who the church of Razellia really worships now.....'

I chuckled internally at that thought, dangers would befall us and it would be all under my command, I smiled a bit at that thought as the horse trudged forward.

As we journeyed through the unfamiliar terrain, the landscape unfolded before us in a collection of colors and textures unique to the Silvie realms domain. The dense foliage and towering trees cast elongated shadows across our path, while exotic flora dotted the landscape like precious gems in an endless sea of green.

The horses we rode were expertly trained, their movements fluid and sure-footed as they navigated the challenging terrain. Despite the discomfort of our situation, there was a certain level of comfort in knowing that we were in capable hands, or rather, hooves.

As the hours passed, the atmosphere among our group remained tense, with the lingering animosity between Carmelia, Nix, and Melvin casting a shadow over our journey. While I relished in the subtle chaos I had orchestrated, I couldn't help but feel a pang of excitement for the turmoil I was causing.

'Manh am I a lost cause...'

Carmelia, in particular, seemed to be struggling with her inner turmoil, her normally cold demeanor faltering at times as she tried to navigate her complicated feelings toward me. Despite her efforts to maintain a facade of indifference, I could see the vulnerability lurking beneath the surface, a vulnerability I had exploited to my advantage.

Meanwhile, Nix and Melvin's resentment towards me grew with each passing moment, their frustration palpable as they struggled to assert their dominance over the situation. It was a delicate dance of power dynamics, one that I orchestrated with precision as I subtly manipulated their emotions to serve my own ends.

...

Third Person POV:

The sun dipped below the horizon, painting the desolate landscape of the Shadow Realm in vibrant hues of orange and purple. The group had been traveling for several hours, the rhythmic thud of hooves against the stony ground the only constant in the otherwise silent journey.

The main part here is the fact that Austin had been talking awfully well with both Nini and Carmel, who had taken back control, her fun feeling out, the conversation mainly being with Carmel trying to talk to Austin, hoping to get something more to connect with him again, but Austin kept his words soft and small, not really giving Carmel that much mind.

However this didn't seem to deter Carmel as she kept trying to talk to him more and it was within this that Nini started to speak, her natural involvement causing Austin to speak with her such that finally Carmel got the opening to start a conversation with Austin, the woman in question Nini giving a wink of support to Carmel as she did that Carmel felt relief at the notion.

Though as the conversation there heated up happily, it wasn't all that good for the other two, during the travel Nix and Melvin tried to enter the conversation but Carmel was avoiding them, clearly still pissed while, Nini for some reason didn't even put them in her eyes, treating them as if they were air.

The jealousy, unfair treatment, and anger at Carmel's action boast their emotions, while the humiliation of being completely treated like air stretching at the prides of Nix and Melvin, after all, the two of them are the next future Dukes of their Dukedom, they won't go with that pride when they are with Carmel, but they have their own high pride and arrogance.

And now being treated like this keeps chipping at their mental strength, especially with their dark emotions being pushed forth.

"You really have a big affinity with beasts don't you, tell me what's your secret?~"

Carmel asked with a teasing tone, her horse marching closer to Austin, who looked at her for a moment after which he spoke.

"There is no secret to it, I am just that accepting of beasts."

His light response made Carmel pout out as Nini interfered.

"Is that really the case, 'cause I have never seen the Darkfire horse so accepting of another. I am pretty sure that it would not follow you anywhere if you ask it to."

"Neighh!"

The horse, Titi, snorted out at those words, making Austin smile a bit, his words leaking mystery.

"Who knows why."

The tone of his did not help Carmel as she asked him another question.

"What kind of deal did you reach with Angelina for you guys to remain so amicable?"

This question was a bit more sensitive to which Austin, keeping his focus forward, replied.

"Nothing much, that would affect you."

Again a cold response, but before she could speak, Melvin did.

"Hey Carmel, isn't that a pretty flower?"

He jumped in, pointing at a beautifully blooming purple and red flower, to which Carmel, not even looking at Melvin, replied.

"I don't care."

Her disinterest was very evident, to which Austin suddenly spoke.

"Those are highly toxic lumalates - their spores can cause vivid hallucinations and wild mood shifts if inhaled."

"Really? Thanks for the info!"

Carmel beamed with a bit of a smile, seemingly liking the fact that she was making 'progress,' though that in the eyes of the other two going through this felt like something different, both of their eyes flashing as they looked at each other, those subtle emotions slowly growing stronger.