Jun threw his backpack and bow to the ground as he plopped down on a nearby rock.
He was panting heavily, throwing his sweat-drenched black hair back. The night sky was absent of clouds that allowed the galaxy and sea of bright stars to easily be seen.
Him and Arkshan had hiked through the hilly grasslands that surrounded Perenykisk for the past two days. It was like an endless, unchanging of scenery that felt like forever.
And the boredom wasn't even the worst part.
His back and feet ached from having to carry his backpack for miles upon miles.
On foot.
Jun's entire felt body like it was trampled by a stampede of horses and thrown down a rocky cliff side.
Thankfully when they were leaving, one of the many towns they passed through, called Tevarest, where they thankfully ran into a wagon driver.
The man who drove the wagon was sending up some type of crops for selling in a city up north. Thankfully, north was where Arkshan and Jun needed to go.
Jun's back had gotten a break as they traveled the whole afternoon and into the evening with the man. They had asked where the city was and the man replied that it was called Krasdź and was located in the forests, that surrounded the Ten Claw Range.
Jun was happy at first that their journey, after dropping off in Krasdź, wasn't going to include any more walking. He was right, but not in the way he was expecting.
As now the entire jounery to the dwarves' mine in Kordegórmuni was going to have to be hiked instead of walking. And in extremely mountainous terrain that is littered with forest and cold peaks of Drake's Mouth.
The best part was that there was absolutely no path or trail to go into Drake's mouth.
So Jun had to endure branches and other pieces of foliage being smacked into his face by Arkshan.
The only unsettling thing about the mountainous forest was the amount of random ruins of wooden houses and wagons scattered throughout it.
Even though the cool breeze of the night air was welcomed by Jun, as he was sweating profusely while hiking, he still wasn't very happy about it.
He looked out into the montane forest of fir trees down below and the peaks that seemed to never end. It reminded him of the times when his mother would walk him around Koami and show him all the temples and forest trees.
A sad smile came to him as he thought of holding his mother's hand.
————
Jun saw a large shrine that was made completely out of stone carved within the side of the mountain.
Its columns and walls were intricately decorated with designs to symbols. A huge statue of a dragon was carved with so much detail that it looked like a miniature dragon was in the temple.
Incense, bowls of various foods, and piles of coins were at the foot of the dragon.
He looked up to his mother, her long brown hair and luxurious robes flowing in the cold montane air.
"What temple is this?" Jun asked as he went closer to the entrance of the temple.
"This is the Sacred Temple of The Forest" His mother responded, calmly walking next to Jun. "It's dedicated to the ancient dragon Eirlong. It is where he collects his tribute from Kaomi nearby."
Jun looked at the dragon statue again and pointed towards it.
"Is that Eirlong then?" His mother nodded her head.
He looked at the temple in awe as he had never heard of any temples dedicated to dragons, especially in the capital Shiyong.
"This is also where—" Jun's mother began to say before she was cut off by a girl shouting Jun's name.
"Hey there Hualin!" The girl shouted as she tackled Jun in a hug.
Her name was Mina Li and resided in Kaomi.
Jun had met Mina when he was in his early teens and quickly became friends with her. He couldn't see her frequently because of what he had to do back home, but he saw her whenever he would visit Kaomi with his mother.
They did everything together while he was in Kaomi. From running around the forest of fir trees to just complaining about their problems they had with their families.
She had short black hair and quirky bangs that always got in her eyes, that she would constantly complain about. Mina also had light brown eyes that got lighter in the sunlight, along with tanned skin from having to help out her family with work outside.
Mina gave Jun the nickname Hualin because she said he was like a flower, as "hualin" in Huazan literally was "flower".
She also used it as a way to tease him for his long black hair as she had mistaken him for a girl at first along with his pale skin.
As nobles from Shiyong and large cities had their hair long and pale because of their status. While peasants and merchants wore their hair short because of their status. Peasants also had tanned skin because they had to work long hours in the sunlight, while nobles had the luxury of staying inside away from the sunlight.
Though Jun was a noble, Mina told him that he didn't sound like one as he wasn't snobby and uptight.
Along with treating her as an equal instead of someone below him.
"Ah! What do you want?!" Jun struggled to say while Mina squeezed him tightly around the neck, their cheeks touching.
"Let's go do something together Hualin!" Mina exclaimed, grabbing his hand and pulling him into the forest.
Jun could hear his mother softly laughing as he was dragged into the forest of fir trees.
————
Jun felt hot tears streaming down his face as he cried softly.
Mina was his first love that he had all those years ago.
He still vividly remembers that a few days after his seventeenth birthday, he had snuck out of his house at night because of the high tensions growing in his household. Jun was able to secretly get one of the horses in the family stables as he decided to ride all the way up to Kaomi.
He had gotten off the horse on the outskirts of the village as he discreetly made his way to Mina's small house. Jun knocked on her window and brought her back to his horse.
They both decided to ride all throughout the montane forest surrounding the village. The cold, night air whipping their faces a dark pink as Jun weaved the horse around the crowded trees.
Eventually him and Mina made it to a secluded lake within the forest. There he cried to her about his troubles as she offered her shoulder to him. After Jun poured out all of his feelings to her, she had kissed him.
His first kiss.
Mina confessed to him that she had fallen for him, but kept it repressed as she knew he was a noble and she was a peasant.
Jun was awestruck by what she had told him, as he had felt the same.
There by that lake, Jun had many firsts. From his first kiss, his first confession to his first love, and losing his virginity. Afterwards he promised Mina that he would marry her right away once he turned eighteen.
He promised with his whole heart.
Now she was dead.
By dying a horrendous death in the massacre ordered by the Emperor Jiekai who had went insane.
He continued to cry until he couldn't no more. All that was left now was sniffling and dry coughs as Jun remembered Mina. The scent of the fir and cherry blossom trees surrounding them. The call of nocturnal birds singing their songs of longing.
Her utterly beautiful smile that lit up the night when he confessed.
Wholly perfect inside and out to him.
And only him.
Jun huddled his legs to his chest and leaned back on the huge rock behind him. Shoving his face in between his knees as he tried to forget his past.
He unconsciously touched his right ear as he felt the ghost of her hands put a fallen cherry blossom flower there.
Jun closed his hand tightly, nails digging into his palms, as the tears ran.
"I'll see you soon..." He choked out, barely audible. Though lies were threaded thickly throughout his words.
Mina was an angel.
Jun was a devil.
He could never bare to face her again after what he's done.
From the women and the men he's slept with to just make ends meet. Trying so hard to forget that anything last year even existed.
Including her.
Though Jun could never forget her. No matter how hard he tried.
He just couldn't.
"Ya! Are you a child?" An annoyed voice yellowed out from the darkness.
Jun looked up from his knees to see Arkshan carrying a bundle of sticks. His amber eyes pierced through the darkness of the night as they came closer to Jun. He didn't understand how Arkshan could tell that he was crying in the almost pitch black night.
Maybe he has night vision.
He watched Arkshan lay the sticks and branches in a pile, wiping away his tears and thoughts of Mina.
A spark flickered in the air, followed by the faint scent of smoke. The area slowly lit up from the growing flames in the campfire.
Jun saw as Arkshan's tongue flickered while he looked down at him.
"I-I...I wasn't crying..." Though Jun's voice embarrassingly cracked to where he soon decided to mutter, "I'm just sweating."
"You smell like sweat and tears. Disgusting." Arkshan spat as his face cringed, showing how uncomfortable he was. "Plus your makeup is ruined..."
"Do...do you have water then?" Jun didn't think Arkshan would ever dare to be kind to him.
It was worth a shot.
A long sigh came from Arkshan as he dug around in his pockets. After a short moment of awkward silence, he tossed a canteen and a small vial at Jun who barely managed to catch the two.
"Water and oil." Arkshan sat next to Jun on the rock, pushing Jun away with his tail. "There's a lake downhill. You bathe tomorrow."
Jun sat on the edge of the rock as he put some water from the canteen in his palms.
"You sound like a woman," Jun retorted offhandedly as he began to wipe his makeup off.
He expected Arkshan to hit him or get angry from what he said, but Arkshan didn't react to it.
"I hate filth." There was a long silence before Arkshan spoke again. "And women aren't less than a man. They're stronger than them, take a look at yourself."
Jun was taken aback by Arkshan's comment.
He talked about women in a light that he never heard a man say before.
It wasn't that Jun was trying to downplay women, just they usually took better care of themselves than most men. Though him calling Jun weak stung his pride a little.
"I didn't say women were less than men. Just they're usually more vain about hygiene."
"Good." Jun felt like he earned a speck of Arkshan's respect from saying that.
He wiped the remainder of his makeup off and opened the small vial. The fragrance of lilies and roses bombarded Jun's nose as he took the cap off.
So this is why he always smells so nice.
It had to be a very concentrated oil, which were extremely expensive. Even in small vials.
He rubbed a little of the oil between his hands and ruffled it all throughout his hair. Even though it was a strong fragrance, in a small dose throughout his hair made it have a light and delicate smell to it which was pleasant to the nose.
Jun looked over to give Arkshan his stuff back but saw as he was already leaned back on the large rock. His draconic tail in between the large rock and the one they sat on.
He placed the objects on the ground near his backpack and decided to get some rest as well, leaning back as he closed his eyes.