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"We were careless," spoke Sir Rayner, enraged. "We gave too less credit to the humans while we conquered them. They've taken back Ozryn and we have to revisit our strategies now."
"Shit! Those damn b*******!" several knights cursed, their wildly raging manas so intense that a mere stomp of their foot in their anger created cracks in the ground.
"What do we do now, commander?" asked Sir Alden. Despite the fury in his eyes, he maintained composure. It was clear why Sir Rayner had appointed him as a captain of his army.
Sir Rayner's eyes shifted to me before he answered Sir Alden's question. He strode to me and stopped when he was two feet away and looking down at me. I was certain I saw concern flash in his eyes as he glanced over me once. His eyes were unexpectedly tender too, which made my heart skip a beat.
"Are you unharmed, Alysa?" he asked. His tone was gentle, caring, as if he was genuinely worried about my wellbeing. It had caught the attention of all the Zeros around us, and not in positive light. Surely they had noticed his gentleness with me.
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"I-I'm alright for the most part," I answered.
"Good. I don't want to have to deal with anything troublesome with respect to you while we travel." His gaze and voice were icy again, with his eyes narrowing sharply at me. It seemed to ease the displeasure that risen in many who had seen his momentary kindness to me. He looked away from me then, and at the other Zeros. "Move out! We're going to the fort in Dunser Hord."
"Dunser, commander?" spoke Sir Nemel, sounding mildly concerned. "That's the winding canyon where people can never return from. We'll be walking to our deaths."
"I know the canyon like the back of my hand. The caverns in the center of the canyon will serve as our stronghold for now."
"Understood. Alright, everyone, you all heard the commander! Let's go!" hollered Sir Siward.
We traveled on foot, crossing challenging landscape before entering a rocky canyon while innumerable stars twinkled brightly above us. I was glad that I was wearing my night slippers - the most comfortable ones I owned, which made walking easy. But that didn't mean that walking for several hours without rest was easy. The terrain wasn't friendly and the Zeros walked at a speed that I couldn't keep up with easily. I had to jog every now and then to make sure that I wasn't lagging behind, and I was out of breath and unable to take a step further after several hours of walking.
"Hurry up! On your feet, human!" snapped one of the men who were keeping an eye on me.
Heaving while I sat on my knees, I glanced up at him. My sleeve dampened from absorbing the sweat I wiped away. My throat was parched, desperate to replenish the water I had lost from perspiration.
