Yuto and her team rode day and night until they noticed that their horses were getting tired. They used the shortest route possible which had dangerous wild animals and beasts. Regardless of the dangers mother nature seemed to be on their side as they encountered little to no danger at all.
They stopped in Mount Grimvale as they had decided to rest during nighttime. Mount Grimvale was known to be quite dangerous as at times magical beasts would appear. Most people who went hunting in that mountain would go missing, as a result the forest grew dense. No one dared to even chop wood. People from nearby villages swore that they had groans from creatures they could hardly identify.
The night was eerie with only the sounds of creaking crickets and the whisper of leaves rattled by the wind. Yuto stepped down from her horse and her men followed suit. She could feel her heart beating very fast and even her breath was a little uneven.
'Why did I agree to such madness', Yuto thought as she looked around the forest. She could hardly see the sky as the tall, towering trees covered the view of the sky. She looked down and noticed that her shoes were covered in mud
'Damn it', she whispered.
"It's just a little mud prince, won't kill you" Rhett one of the soldiers said while smirking at her "Not used to the harsh conditions beyond the palace. "
"Look at you, getting a little cocky just because I lost a single fight to you. Pathetic" Yuto snickered as she guided her horse towards a certain tree.
The other two soldiers nearest to them, Adrian and Marcus, just shook their heads in a disapproving way towards Rhett.
Rhett was one proud soldier. Raised as a minister's son he had privileges which ended when his father forced him to join the army due to political intrigue. He walked with overconfidence, and his chin tilted a little too high commanding respect. His smirk suggested that he already believed himself to be better than everyone around him. When he spoke, his voice had a lazy swagger that made no one challenge him. His physique was superb as he was tall and lean but muscular.
While on the other hand Adrian and Marcus were identical twin brothers. They were like mirror images of each. They both had sharp jawlines and a piercing gaze that made it difficult to tell them apart at first glance, their movements always seemed to be in sync. The only difference was that one was quiet and calculating while the other was outgoing and always ready for daring mischief.
The commander had started making a fire when Adrian approached him quietly.
"Commander from what I heard we should keep moving and rest at least a little distance from Mount Grimvale. " He said with a serious expression. His eyes looked devoid of any emotion, he looked at Yuto for what appeared to be a second then looked back at the commander whose focus was still on making the fire bigger. The commander did not speak for what seemed like eternity and finally he spoke
"There are just myths. There is no need to worry. The mountain is quite big, continuation can injure our horses and delay our travel. We leave at first light in the morning. "
Adrian nodded and sat down nearest to the fire as the temperature seemed to drop significantly. Soon Marcus and Rhett joined as well but Yuto was nowhere to be seen.
"Where is the prince?" the commander asked
"He went to take a leak," Rhett muffled as he chewed the bread he had stuffed in his mouth. The commander narrowed his eyes slightly and said nothing "he will be here soon..., he just left no need to worry."
After Yuto told Rhett about nature's call, she travelled a little far deep into the forest as she just had to make sure, she was alone. As she grabbed her pants to attend to nature's call the temperature dropped significantly, she quickly grabbed her sword and scanned the environment very fast, but nothing was in sight. She could feel I chill run down her spine. Then she heard a sound of a baby crying and she looked in that direction. A boy who looked about 10 years old wearing dark clothes, was holding a baby. His eyes seemed to be suffering from immense pain. He peeped at Yuto for only a short time and seemed to try to stop the baby from crying. Slowly Yuto started to back away, she was sure that was no human child and that aura from the boy was pretty powerful for her.
The boy looked up suddenly with mischief in his eyes "Do you like running?" the boy said with a voice that sounded like a boy. His voice was calm and collected and even carried a hint of sarcasm. Yuto was a little surprised that this thing could talk. She laughed nervously
"...Yeah, yes. Actually, I run pretty fast," she said as she turned to run but the next moment the boy was in front of her.
"Not fast enough, unfortunately," the boy put on a devilish smile showing his sharp canine teeth. Yuto was ready to strike when her hands went numb and her sword fell to her feet.
'Is this the part l die ' Yuto thought as tears filled her eyes as she dropped to her knees. The little boy started circling around her and the baby stopped crying. He then grabbed her chin and his eyes glowed a little then he backed away slowly.
"You are his, you can't die... yet" the little boy said softly as he walked back deep within the forest.
Yuto sighed with relief as the little boy disappeared, the temperature returned to normal. She could feel her arms and legs again. She quickly ran back to the others. She reached them breathless and sweat beads ran down her face
"I don't care what the plan was, we... we a-re leaving right, " she said grabbing her horse.
"What happened?" the commander demanded. He looked worried but then a emotion flicked through his eyes so fast, but Yuto noticed it.
"The myths got to you. As far as l am concerned you are unharmed."
Rage boiled within him, so intense that all Yuto could spit out was, "GO TO HELL!"