The Rise of Imani Firyali *NOW OFFICIALLY PUBLISHED!!*

NINE

9.

retreat and return.

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Soren and I left early the next morning.

We gathered as much food as we could too, wrapping it up in a makeshift pouch we made. Soren's strength amazed me, as his fever had gone way down by the time we left and he did well walking. He told me of a village to the south, which was the closest village we could get to find the transportation we needed. We spent most the day and the night traveling, only stopping when Soren and I couldn't walk anymore and needed to rest.

But because we walked so long, we made it by the next day.

We were exhausted, but we were safe. I didn't catch the name of the small village, but seeing Soren's uniform was enough to get us a horse back to Lamorra and some food. I made sure Soren ate more than I did, as he needed to keep up his strength to fight his injury despite it healing well.

Besides, I had dealt with hunger before.

I convinced Soren to sleep most of the rest of the day at least before we left, and I found myself falling asleep too as I watched over him. We were awoken by the kind older couple who ran the village, who had let us rest in their home. They told us everything was ready for us, and we thanked them and left right away.

We rode until the early morning, and I had never been happier to be in Lamorra. The guards told us that they had almost sent a search party out for us, but when Soren told them what had happened, they wasted no more of our time and gave us passage straight to the queen's palace.

I noticed the academy as we passed it, and I wondered if Willow and Wes had realized we'd been gone longer than expected.

Soren and I rode to the castle, where the guards quickly let us in. We hopped off our horses and quickly walked inside, being told we were in luck as the queen was already in the throne room.

Soren wasted no time barging into the room.

All of the members of the senators were there, dressed in their black uniforms and adorned in medals I didn't understand. They sat at a table in the middle of the throne room, with the queen at the head of it. All of their heads snapped to us as we came inside.

"Your Majesty," Soren called, out of breath but still bowing. I followed clumsily. "We have some dire news."

Soren explained our story, and I noticed Senator Chayton was there as well, his eyes becoming more and more hostile the further Soren went on.

"And that's how we got back here," Soren finished, his face flushed.

The queen looked like she was processing a large collection of information each second, and after a moment of silence and the senators waiting for the queen to speak, her eyes flickered up at us. "I must first praise you two for surviving. Especially you, Imani." I stiffened, surprised. "You very much helped Soren out. Thank you, for he is like family to me and a skilled commander."

"Of course, Your Majesty," I began, hesitant. "I wouldn't just―"

"Forget about the pleasantries!" Senator Chayton exclaimed, slamming his hands on the table angrily. "We have a more serious problem here: the Scourge has begun their attempts to move into this continent! This is a declaration of war, and all because of those ridiculous villagers too selfish to let us know of this plan!"