Under the Oak Tree

Chapter 15: Chapter

“The rainy season is upon us.”

Riftan, who had returned with the horses, looked up at the sky. Maxi followed his gaze. Thousands upon thousands of brilliant stars twinkled in the clear night sky. Maxi cocked her head. There was no sign of rain.

A knight who had been splitting dry twigs to feed the campfire quietly agreed with Riftan.

“It’s that time of year. We’re well into Etherias.(The season of wind, equivalent to autumn.)”

“Just thinking about tramping through the mountains in the rain is depressing. Your armor gets heavier, your greaves sink into the mud...” grumbled another knight who was warming his hands by the fire.

“We’ll arrive in Anatol before that. No need to worry.”

“Have you forgotten? We are to depart again for the capital in just a few days!” The grumbling knight furrowed his brows and glanced at Maxi, who stood next to Riftan like a duckling huddling against its mother.

“We’ve already lost time because of the detour. No good will come of keeping King Reuben waiting any longer.”

“Can’t be helped once the monsoon starts,” said Riftan, binding the reins to a stake before plunking himself down next to Maxi.

The blond knight Ricaydo, who had been listening silently, reacted with disbelief.

“Is the hero who defeated the great dragon disobeying the king’s summons over a rainstorm?”

“Who said I’m disobeying? I’m only suggesting a slight delay.”

“We’ve wasted enough time! If we keep the king waiting any longer-”

His words stung Maxi as if she had been whipped. Blood drained from her face, and she bunched her skirt in her fists. Riftan’s face hardened.

“Ursuline Ricaydo. Watch your mouth.”

The knight’s lips twitched as if he had not finished, but Riftan’s menacing voice shut him up.

A heavy silence shrouded the camp. Only the crackle of burning firewood was audible until one of the knights broke the stillness. He spoke with such cheer that he came across as flippant.

“I agree with the commander,” he said, scratching his head. “I don’t want to enter the capital looking like a mongrel drenched by the rain. Three years we toiled for that campaign! At least let us return in shining armor!”

“Fool! Are appearances all you care about?”

“Sir Ursuline, Sir Hebaron has a point. Why not use this opportunity to show the capital that the Remdragon Knights are not to be trifled with?” remarked Ruth, who had been watching the scene unfold from the shadows.

Hebaron Nirtha raised his chin triumphantly.

“See? Even our sorcerer says I’m right.”

Ruth tried to appease the blond knight. “For now, we watch where the wind blows. There may yet be time before the rains begin.”

The mood lightened, and Maxi quietly released her breath. She gathered from their conversation that the detour to the Duchy of Croyso had delayed their arrival in the capital considerably.

She recalled the map of the Roviden Continent that she had once seen in the castle library. Located at the southwestern end of the continent, Anatol was on a small peninsula that jutted out into the Isirian Sea like a serpent’s head. She vaguely remembered hearing that the land was surrounded by rugged mountains and bordered by a vast ocean to the south.

Drachium, the royal capital of Wedon, was located in the northwestern corner of the kingdom, far north of Anatol. To reach Drachium from Aranthal, the site of the Dragon Campaign, the fastest way was to follow the Yserium River upstream. Maxi’s knowledge of geography was limited at best, but it was not difficult to see that they were taking a circuitous route.

Have they incurred the king’s wrath because of me?

Maxi understood why Sir Ursuline was so anxious to reach the capital. Riftan had turned down King Reuben’s offer of the princess’s hand in marriage. And now he was disobeying the king’s summons, which was intended to honor his victory in the Dragon Campaign. Her guts twisted.

It can’t be because of me. There must be some other reason. What kind of knight would disobey a king’s summons just to bring his wife home?

She dismissed her initial worries. It was simply absurd that Riftan would go to such lengths for her. In this age of lords, the power of kings had declined; lords who owned vast tracts of lands and the manpower required to maintain them often exerted greater influence than kings. But unlike the monarchs of the other six kingdoms, the King of Wedon still held considerable power.

King Reuben III had earned the fealty of hundreds of high-ranking knights through displays of might. It was implausible that Riftan would shirk his duties to such a king for her.

“Come, no need to tire ourselves with fruitless arguments. Let us eat.”

A knight who had been carving a wheel of cheese began to distribute the pieces. Riftan passed Maxi a cup of wine, which she drank to wash down the dry bread that she had grown to loathe. After a dinner of salted meat, bread, and cheese, she stepped into the carriage. f𝔯𝒆𝚎𝚠𝑒𝚋𝓃૦νℯƖ.co𝘮

Despite her utter exhaustion, she could not fall asleep. Her thoughts wandered to the following evening when she would arrive at her new home. What would Anatol be like? Just a few days ago, she had been trembling in fear, but now, even as anxiety gripped her, a sliver of hope flickered in her heart.

Perhaps I’ll be able to start a new life.

But fearing disappointment, she suppressed the hope sprouting inside her.

My good fortune won’t last forever.

She had not only escaped the threat of divorce but also broken free from the terror that was her father. And her fearsome husband had turned out not to be a heartless man – on the contrary, he was kind. Too many good things had come at once, and Maxi knew that the goddess of fortune seldom smiled.

Pulling the blanket up to her neck, she resolved that come what may, she would be brave. 𝘧𝗿ee𝚠𝙚𝙗𝑛o𝚟𝐞l.𝐜૦𝗺

***

The sun was at its zenith when they arrived at the foot of the mountain the following day. A narrow path led into the valley, and next to the path stood a small watchtower. Four sentries hastily came out to greet the knights before leading them to a rest area, where they were able to sit at a table for a proper meal of hot stew and roast potatoes.

After sating their hunger, they rode again. They decided to take the most direct route to reach Anatol before sundown, which meant that Maxi had to step off the carriage to ride with Riftan. She had ridden ponies and foals before, but never a warhorse. Perched awkwardly on the horse, she nervously gripped the saddle. Riftan locked an arm around her waist and drew her toward him.

“It’s a shortcut, so it’ll be a bumpy ride. Lean on me if you want to rest.”

She did not wish to be a burden, but with her lack of riding skills, it was impossible not to hold on to him as they rode through the mountain. She desperately clung to his arms, certain that she would fall off the horse any moment, but he did not utter an unkind word.

After they had been riding a while, they heard shouts from a knight in the lead.

“Commander! There are five werewolves two thradions (360 meters) ahead!”

The other knights drew their swords. Paralyzed with fear, Maxi gripped Riftan’s clothes.

“You’d better not make me take care of it!” bellowed Riftan.

“Worry not, Commander! I’ve been itching for some action!”

With that, Hebaron charged forward, and the werewolves roared. Seeing Maxi gasp and tremble in terror, Riftan pulled her toward him and buried her face in his chest.

“It’ll be over soon. Keep your eyes closed.”

She closed her eyes and pressed her hands to her ears. But she could not block out the clash of swords and bestial roars.

“Commander! Above you!”

...

Maxi looked up reflexively and shrieked. Quick as lightning, a monster with dark fur jumped from its branch and pounced. But before the creature could reach them, it was sliced in half mid-air.

Before she could grasp what had just occurred, Maxi found herself looking down at a sprawled corpse. Riftan clucked his tongue at the sight of his blood-spattered cloak.

“Can’t you even count, Gabel? There were six, not five.”

Gabel scratched his head in shame, having dashed over too late.

“Black werewolves can use concealment spells...”

Riftan snorted in response, then spurred his horse forward. Monsters with the bodies of humans and heads of wolves lay dead on tree roots that protruded from the ground like coiled snakes. After wiping their swords clean, the knights remounted their horses.

Their incredible strength struck Maxi dumb. She had read about werewolves some years ago and knew that they had bones as hard as cast iron and skin as tough as chainmail armor. They couldn’t easily be killed even with a steel sword, yet Riftan’s sword had cleaved such monsters clean in half.

“We should hurry. There might be more of them around,” said Ruth, scanning the area.

The other knights nodded, and the horses began to gallop along the sloping path. Maxi clenched her teeth to stop them from biting down on her tongue. For many hours, they rode over rocky, thickly wooded mountain paths. When they passed the peak, Maxi was greeted by a panoramic view.