CHAPTER 6
SPENDING THE night in the plain valley, the men Gatria was traveling with wanted to make a tent for her, but Gatria declined the idea. The weather was nice and so the stars that adorned the night sky. Gatria wanted to fall asleep staring at it. Therefore, after their simple meal, Gatria made her bed— a flower petal bed made from her essence— and laid on it to watch the sky.
As she watched the stars, she could hear Treven doing his best to make Zarek understand his intention again, but Zarek was as clueless as ever. Grath volunteered to be the designated watch for the night. While Drago— well, he laid himself an arm length away from her and gazed at the stars as well.
It was peaceful, until Drago asked the question she didn't want to hear nor answer. "How are you and Warlord Kar?"
But as much as she didn't want to answer Drago, her mouth opened to do just that. "Something..." happened. That was her supposed answer, but there was something in Drago's tone that made her feel like answering truthfully, so she did. "He... betrayed me."
Drago was silent for a long time that Gatria thought he had lost interest in their conversation, but then, she heard his low, deep voice.
"You're in pain." It was not a question, but a statement that Gatria didn't deny. "You still love him."
Gatria wanted to deny those words, but her mouth could only open and no words would come out.
Turning her head at Drago, she saw him smile while staring at the night sky. "Warlord Kar adored you so much, so I'm having a hard time believing that he betrayed you. Maybe... there's a reason behind it." His head turned to face her and their eyes met, "don't you want to find out?"
Gatria's whole face became void of emotion as she placed her hand over her chest. "Will... it change anything?"
"It might."
"Or it might not." Gatria returned her gaze at the stars. "I feel nothing but pain. Thinking about him suffocates me. I want to kill him. How could there be love when all I feel is excruciating anguish and agony?" A lone tear fell from Gatria's eyes. "If this was love, then I don't want it."
Drago became silent, after a short while, Gatria felt a finger drying her tear.
"Forgive me." Drago whispered. "I didn't mean to make you cry."
Gatria's gaze remained at the stars in the night sky. "I know. It's okay."
Drago didn't speak after that. He remained silent as he watched the stars with Gatria.
After a long while, when night had deepened, Drago turned to Gatria. "Can't sleep?"
Gatria blinked at the night sky. When she didn't answer, she heard a beautiful, deep humming sound from beside her.
A soft melody that lulled her to sleep.
The next thing she knew, she was in deep slumber and only woke up when the sky started to brighten in the horizon.
Stretching her body, Gatria started her day by washing her face with the water she stored in her ring storage, then she boiled some water using their campfire.
"Why is the queen doing all the chores?"
Gatria turned to her side to see Drago sitting on the log next to her. He just woke up and just finished washing his face, but Gatria couldn't deny that Drago was handsome even when his hair was disheveled.
"My kingdom had long fallen," Gatria answered as she reached for Drago's hair to fix it, "it's just a useless title at this point."
Drago became silent and frozen while Gatria was fixing his hair as if it was a natural to do so. He didn't know if Gatria noticed, but he literally didn't know what to do. He just sat there until Gatria withdraw her hands from his hair.
"There," she said with a satisfied smile on her lips. "Your hair is not messy anymore."
"Thank you," Drago mumbled as he hangs his head low to hide his face.
Gatria, who was oblivious to Drago's thoughts, returned her attention to their campfire. And Drago was so thankful that Treven finally woke up and went to sit on the log together with him and Gatria.
After minutes passed, Drago excused himself to wash his face again, hoping that the burning sensation he feels all over his face would disappear.
Thankfully, before they set out and continued their journey, it did.
From then on, Drago spent his days putting a safe distance between himself and the sword goddess. The reason was self-preservation. He had a mission to do and he was planning to separate with everyone in Belrac. He needed to reach Ager and get to the bottom of this fast. The more he stays here, the more of his kind was being hunted and killed.
"Argh! Aaaaahhhh! Fuck! I don't want to walk anymore! No! Never!"
Treven shouting and complaining were nothing new so Drago just tuned him out. And Gatria did the same. Though she thought that Treven will finally stop complaining now that the half-demon he was smitten with was traveling with them, but that was not the case. After traversing the plain valley on foot for a few days, Treven was at it again.
"This is boring as hell!" Treven groaned in annoyance. "I'm buying a carriage once we arrive in Belrac! Do you hear me, Gatria?! Do you even care about me?!"
"Traveling here is a lot easier than in the Demon kingdom. It's all ice there and one misstep could end your life." Zarek said while frowning at Treven's complains because he didn't understand what Treven was fussing about.
"Don't mind him." Gatria patted Zarek's shoulder. "He's always like that. He'll be fine after he complains some more."
Zarek turn to Gatria. "He's always like that?"
"You have no idea." Grath muttered and sighed. "This is nothing compared to Lord Treven complaints when we were traveling to Ashmire."
"Hey!" Treven glared at Grath. "That's because you and Gatria are boring! From Belrac, we're going to use a carriage. Yes. No one can stop me! No one! Not even you, Gatria. I am not walking anymore! My feet feel like they're close to abandoning me!"
Gatria sighed. "Do whatever you want."
Treven grinned before running around on the plain valley. "Yes! Carriage, here I come...!"
Gatria just shook her head and continued walking until they reach the end of the plain valley at noon.
After resting for a while outside the great forest of Tazman, Gatria and the others decided to enter the forest to continue their travel since It was still early to stop and set up camp. But before they could venture further, they felt presence surrounding them.
"Bandits?" Grath asked in a low voice while everyone continued walking as if nothing was amiss.
"Well, this forest stretched towards the mountains that borders with the Thurene Kingdom." Treven had stopped complaining and his fingers played with his arcane weapon, soulshard. "And that kingdom is home to mercenaries and bandits. The Infernal empire wanted to annex it before since it's the only kingdom close to the empire that still not under their control, but before that happened, the Mistress of Flame escaped and the empire's capital was destroyed afterwards."
Hearing Treven, Gatria closed her eyes to feel the forest around them while still walking. Scattering her essence and enveloping the trees with it, Gatria was able to build a connection with the trees and other vegetation around her.
A connection strong enough to make a conversation.
'Their group is large, Your Highness.' The soft whisper of trees filled Gatria's head. 'Please be careful, Your Highness.'
'I will.' She replied through the link in her mind. With her connection to the trees around her, she was able to pin point the bandits location and their exact numbers.
"We're surrounded by forty bandits." Gatria informed everyone. "Some were demi-humans, but most are humans."
Treven sighed as he turned to Gatria. "Should we get ready to fight?"
Gatria shook her head. "No. It's okay. I'll take care of them. Let's just continue. We have to find a good spot to spend the night before sundown." With a flick of her wrist, the vines and roots of the trees imbued with her essence crawled and came to life, attacking the bandits by her will.
Countless screams were heard throughout the forest, alarming Gatria's companions.
Drago gripped the hilt of his sword and went into an offensive stance. Zarek draws the scimitar hanging on the side of his waist. And Grath summoned his flaming claws. Only Treven stayed calm.
Zarek scrunched his nose. "I smell a foul stench of souls."
"Must be the bandits." Treven walked to Zarek, took out a handkerchief from his ring storage and used it to cover Zarek's nose before looking at Gatria. "Did you kill them?"
"No." Treven was about to point out that it was merciful of Gatria when Gatria added, "I used roots and vines to wrap their bodies around the trees, only leaving their nose open to let them breath. Let's see how long they'll last before they die a miserable death. They might turn out a good fertilizer to the forest."
Everyone was at a loss for words as they stared at Gatria who walked pass them with no emotion on her face. Gatria had been nothing but gentle throughout their travel, so to suddenly see that part of Gatria made them quite a shock. Only Treven managed to stay calm.
"Come on, everyone. The sun is about to set."
Gatria's voice snapped everyone out from their reveries and immediately followed Gatria, silently.
Nobody talked about the bandits while traversing deeper into the forest. Even after Gatria found a perfect place for them to rest. Everyone puts the bandits and what happened to them at the back of their minds and continued with their journey to Belrac.
Along the way, they've met a few groups of bandits who ended up with the same fate as the first bandits that tried to ambush them. Wrapped around a tree somewhere.
Gatria's companion wanted to tell theirselves that it was an uneventful journey since they didn't fight themselves, but the screams they heard was enough to admit that it was an eventful travel. It just so happened that Gatria did all the fighting.
"I never felt so useless in my life," Grath muttered under his breath.
Treven who was walking beside Grath, slouched his shoulder and muttered, "You and me both, Grath. I just wish I could've felt like this inside a carriage. Walking everyday is making it worse."
"Treven, why do I feel like Gatria is very scary?" Zarek asked Treven so innocently that Treven just wanted to put him in his pocket.
"Because she is." Then Treven warned Zarek. "Whatever you do, don't anger or betray her, or else, she will wrap you around a tree and leave you there to die."
Zarek shivered and tightly closed his mouth. He had heard the bandits scream so much that it already puts a shadow of fear in his heart. To Zarek at that moment, Gatria was scarier than the demon king.
"When we fought before, she didn't use anything other than her sword," said Drago while looking at Gatria's back who was in front of them.
"That's because she takes pride on her sword skill." Treven answered Drago. "If she could help it, she doesn't want to use her abilities blessed with her by the deities. She's too overpowered, really."
Drago stared at Gatria's back. "A real warrior, huh...?"
The four continued grumbling and muttering to themselves until they saw Gatria stopped on her track.
Treven decided to ask, "Gatria, what is—"
"Treven, w-what is this...?" Gatria's trembling voice made everyone look at where Gatria was looking.
In front of them should still be a forest stretching passed Belrac, but before their eyes was a barren land. A dead soil.
"This..." Treven cleared his throat to find his voice. "The barren land should be kilometers away from Belrac, but looks like it devoured Belrac as well in just a short period of time."
"What the... " Even Grath was beyond surprised. This was not like this when he was travelling with Her Highness, Queen Sollel.
Gatria kneeled and place her trembling hands on the ground to examine the soil.
Dead. It's dead through its very depths.
Is this... the result of my resentment?
Was this her fault?
As guilt consumed her, she draws a large amount of essence out of her body and she imbued the dead soil with it.
—But nothing.
No! It can't be...! Gatria couldn't accept the truth of her resentment that she imbued her essence on the dead soil once again, and again and again, but nothing was happening. Nothing!
"No... it's— it's not working..." Gatria's voice trembled. "This... this— I did this."
Gatria draw out more essence to try once again when an arm wrapped around her waist, hoisted her up and carried her in his arms so that even her feet wouldn't touch the ground.
"You're going to die if you just mindlessly imbued your essence into that dead soil without thinking about yourself!" Drago's face was dark with a hint of worry as he looked down at her. "Calm down first and think."
"No." Gatria struggled to be free from Drago's arms. "I have to do something immediately! Let me go—"
"If you want me to let you go, kill me. That's the only way."
Gatria's stilled and her eyes widened at Drago.
"Go on. Kill me." Drago tightened his hold around Gatria's waist. "I will not let you go until you've calm down and clear your mind. What you want to do is a suicide. I won't let you."
Gatria's hand that was trying to pry away Drago's arm fell down as if she had lost her strength to struggle and said, "I'm... I'm calm now."
"I don't believe you."
Gatria met Drago's golden eyes. "I'm calm now. I swear."
But Drago didn't budge. "Swear on your sword."
That made Gatria quiet while Drago sighed at Gatria's silence.
"I'm not letting you go." Drago declared. "In terms of physical strength, we're on par. But in terms of essence, you're stronger than I am. Though I don't think you're going to waste your essence on me when you can save it to restore the forest that had become a barren land. So, stop struggling, calm down and think."
"Drago is right, Gatria." Treven, who was surprised that Drago actually did that to the Mistress of Nature, chimed in. "Calm down first."
"... Okay." Gatria reluctantly agreed.
Gatria didn't struggle anymore, but Treven requested Drago to continue carrying Gatria. "Don't let her touch anything, Drago. She might be temped to use her essence again."
Drago nodded at Treven and looked down at Gatria. "You heard your warlord friend, keep your hands to yourself until you calm down."
Gatria nodded and let Drago carried her in his arms. As time passed, it had become tiring to balance her head, so she just let it fall on Drago's chest while doing her best to calm herself and steady her in turmoil emotions.
"What can I do...?" Gatria mumbled to herself. "My resentment was too strong..."
Drago could see how much the sword goddess was blaming herself that he couldn't help asking. "How come you're blaming yourself? You'd been imprisoned, so isn't this the fault of the people that imprisoned you and the people living around here?"
Gatria shook her head lightly. "It had become like this because of my resentment when I was imprisoned. I didn't know it already spread this far."
"Isn't it normal to feel resentment after what happened to you?"
Gatria blink at Drago. "What...?"
"It's not your fault." Drago looked down at Gatria with an earnest glint in his golden eyes. "It's theirs. The resentment that made this forest a barren land was because of what those people did to you. You didn't turn it into a barren land because you want to. It's because of their own action that this happened, so don't feel bad or guilty. In actuality, you didn't even have to do anything. Let them taste the consequences of their action. Let them live the life with no Mistress of Nature by their side. Even if you're an over-powerful being, you can't fix Azitera alone, Your Highness. It should be done together with every inhabitants because if it was just you working hard to return Azitera to its former magnificence, then what's stopping them from destroying it all over again? If they couldn't help even just a little, then they don't deserve your blessing of a bountiful land."
Gatria pressed her lips together. After her escape, she always thought that it was her responsibility as the overseer of Azitera to return it to its former beauty. She thought that by fixing everything by herself, it'll make Azitera great again.
But Drago was right. It's not just her in Azitera. There's a lot of inhabitants living in it and it was also their responsibility to keep Azitera alive and healthy.
"Don't you think that if all the inhabitants had a hand in making Azitera bountiful again that they would cherish it more?"
Gatria's lips parted. "... how do I make them understand that?"
"By educating them." Drago answered as if he already thought about it ahead of time. "Show them that by lending a hand and helping the Mistress of Nature take care of Azitera, it'll go back to being bountiful again."
"Show them...?" Gatria didn't know if she could. The majority of Azitera's inhabitants were humans.
As if Drago could read his mind, he said, "your warlord friend told me your hatred towards humans and it might be difficult for you to show it to them, but the majority of Azitera's inhabitants are humans, so you have to think of something."
"Kill them...?"
Drago chuckled. "I believe that you're not that heartless, Your Highness. I mean, you can kill the soldiers, the nobles, the royals and the rotten ones since it was them that went against you, but how about the commoners? Those innocent humans who only wanted to live a peaceful and normal life? Those humans who didn't seek power and didn't know anything? Those humans who are working hard and honestly to make a living and live everyday?"
Gatria's jaw tightened. "But they're humans..."
"So?"
Gatria's eyes snapped at Drago. "I hate them all!"
Drago smiled at Gatria softly. "Your Highness, not all the apples in the barrel are bad. There's still good apples left inside. You just have to take out all the bad apples to not spoil and affect the good ones."
Gatria became silent at that. She only snapped out of her reverie when Drago moved let go of her. As her feet touched the ground, Drago carefully let go of her waist.
"I think you've already calmed down. Don't do anything suicidal again," Drago flicked Gatria's forehead. "If you did, I will interpret it as you losing to me twice, sword goddess."
Gatria glared at Drago. "That's unfair!"
Drago shrugged and turn his back on Gatria. "The victors makes the rules, Your Highness."
Drago said that so nonchalantly, but Gatria felt like it was personally aimed at her and her situation.
Gatria stared at Drago's back and felt a shift inside her. Since when did his back become so dependable?
CECELIB | C.C.