"This is the end of me!"
"Who decided that should we wear these heavy suits of armors?"
"Why are we doing this again?"
These were just the beginning of what Aylin had to endure on their journey. "To hell with you," she muttered. A few hours ago everyone had seemed so excited about this mission. To be fair, that was before they had fallen into a pit of sagging mud, ran out of food and got caught in a snowstorm. "What a bunch of crybabies."
"All right, that's it," Damian said and let himself fall into the snow. "I'm done."
Aylin towered over him, about to lose her temper. She growled and took a deep breath.
"We're just not made for this, Aylin," Toru joined in. His face was red by the cold and crystals had started to build on his lips. There were snowflakes caught in his lashes. In short, pretty much his entire body felt frozen. "Let's go back. We'll never make it anyway."
That was it. This was the last straw. "I didn't know men can be such a wuss." Aylin's voice was building up as if she was yelling at every single snowflake falling from the sky. "We have a duty to fulfill! I'm not marching into the other part of the realm for nothing! Our Queen is in danger, so we have to save her!"
"...or die trying," Damian interjected.
"No one's forcing you to," Aylin snapped back. "This might be the only shot we get. I'm not just going there to be the realm's savior. I'm protecting our honor!" She screamed the last words. "And I can do it on my own," the girl added fiercely.
Her brothers looked at her apologetically, but not without admiration and perhaps a little bit of envy in their eyes. They'd never be as strong as their sister. "We'll send you a Banthu, so you can ride," Toru suggested. "Exactly," Damian agreed. "We're only a burden to you, but you can make it."
Aylin nodded. After she had embraced her brothers for what might be the last time she turned around, not wasting another thought on the dangers ahead of her, and stomped into a blizzard of more and more snowflakes. She was going to do it. Her realm would not fall. The queen would be coming home, and she would be the one guide her.
