June woke up feeling sore.
Her back and neck were sore, as well as her arms and legs, for she was lying curled up on her side, in a narrow bed with a thin cushion that made her whole body feel... yes, very sore.
Her right arm, particularly so.
She groaned and tried to stretch her legs, ending up kicking a wooden wall.
Suddenly, the whole room began to shake!
"Stupid woman! Why can't you just stay still!" came an angry voice from the floor, followed by several other expletives.
"Wha–?!"
June was so surprised that she sat bold upright.
The room began to sway once more.
"What did I just tell you?!" the angry voice also shouted once more.
"Nell, please don't yell at Lady June, you're just scaring her even more."
"Who... wha... where am I?!" June blurted out.
"It's just us, Prince Simon and my friend Nell the novice priest," Simon told her. "Don't you remember what happened last night? We're currently in a carriage in the Eastern part of the Twilight forest."
"Twilight forest?" June rubbed her temple. "You mean... it wasn't all just a dream?!"
It took June some time before she could catch her bearings.
"Sorry, I've never been a morning person..." she mumbled.
"It's fine, as long as you're okay," replied Simon. "We are planing to look around the area after having some breakfast, but before that, Nell should take a look at your injury first."
"Oh, thank you..."
June looked at the novice priest who kept glaring at her.
"Is there something wrong?" she asked him.
"Hmph. Just stay seated and reach out your hand to me."
"Don't mind him," said Simon with an apologetic smile, "he's still a bit upset after hearing the truth about the Golden Hero."
"I am not upset!" Nell said stubbornly. "I still stand firm and loyal to my emperor, unlike you treacherous bastards!"
"Oh, suit yourself, then," said June without much interest. "As my father said, never argue with another person's beliefs, may it be in, politics or religion."
"How very wise of him," Simon agreed. "Anyway, there's still some beef jerky left, as well as some buns. I'm afraid that's all we've got, though. We were supposed to reach the town of Eldor last night, after all."
"Will we have to catch something for lunch, then?" asked Nell excitedly.
"I'm afraid so," replied Simon. "I have never hunted before, though, but I still have my sword, and I'm sure we can find some edible plants and fruits here in the Twilight Forest."
"That's if its inhabitants don't eat us first," Nell pipped in.
"Well, most monsters are nocturnal," June pointed out, trying to lighten the mood. "I also have an extensive knowledge of different flora and fauna around the continent, so I'm hopeful that we could at least find some herbs to eat."
"What's a fauna?" Nell asked with a frown.
"It means animals," Simon replied.
"S'that so?" He harrumphed and let go of June's hand. "There. Any better?"
"Oh..." June rotated her arm a couple of times. "Thank you, it feels so much better now... it's as if it didn't get injured in the first place!"
"See, Nell is a magnificent healer!" Simon said proudly.
"So, where do we go now?" Nell asked, his ears turning red.
June couldn't help but smile at the beautiful boy whose skin was as fair as his platinum hair.
"First we need to look at our surroundings," said June.
"Careful!" Nell reminded her as she moved towards the window.
She hang her head outside to take a look.
Everywhere she looked was covered by leaves.
"It looks like we're surrounded by wall-to-wall foliage..."
"Yeah, we noticed," Nell retorted.
"I think we should try climbing down," Simon suggested. "We could use the horses' reins, I noticed they are still connected to the carriage."
"Then we should first take all the things we need and make our way down to the forest floor," said June.
The three companions did just that.
They opened the doors and noticed that the carriage has wedged between two very thick branches. It was a bit wobbly, but it seems that it won't just fall off.
Simon volunteered to hang on the carriage's right side to reach the driver's seat and get the reins.
June and Nell braced themselves on the carriage's left side as he went out the door, and returned later with some good news.
"I can see down the tree from the driver's seat," he told the two. The ground doesn't seem to be that far off, we can simply climb down using the reins."
"Let's do that then," said June, standing up.
"Right, you two go ahead, let me just get our luggage from beneath the seats and on top of the carriage roof."
"I'll help, even though someone threw all of my stuff away," said Nell, glaring at June.
"I can give you some change of clothes if you like?" Simon told him.
"I'm fine with my hooded tunic. I was getting tired of that veil anyway. Good thing someone got rid of all my spares."
"Look, I'm sorry, okay?!" June snapped. "I told you, I'll pay you back as soon as we get to town!"
June was the first to descend.
"Float!" she said as she jumped off the thick tree branch and slowly floated down to the forest floor. She looked up smugly at her companions as soon as she reached solid ground.
"Need help?" she asked Nell with a grin.
Nell ignored her and went down with the reign's help.
"How about you, Simon?"
"In a minute... can you clear out from beneath the carriage so I can drop our stuff?"
The two stepped aside.
Nell went to look around the gigantic tree while June waited for Simon by the thick trunk. He then dropped their bags down, as well as some folded blankets, and even the seat cushions.
"Is that it?" asked June when nothing more seemed to be dropping from above.
"Wait... can you pick the stuff and place them by the side"
There was a flash of silver as a large sword dropped down flat on the ground.
"What the..."
"Okay, that's about it!"
"Is that your sword?" June asked Simon who was currently dangling down the reins.
"Yes, it's my bastard sword, the royal blacksmith personally made it for me!" Simon said proudly.
"That's a bastard sword?" June's brows furrowed. "It looks more like a claymore! Do you plan to drag that thing around the forest?!" she asked once more.
"Don't worry, I'm used to it."
Upon saying that, Simon picked up the sword and lifted it halfway off the ground.
"I've trained real hard to wield this sword," he said shyly, "as you can see, I can pick it up with one hand, now!"
"T-that's just it!" June exclaimed. "A bastard sword is a hand and a half sword, meaning you usually swing it in one hand, with some aid with the other hand. It should measure about 45 inches... that thing... it's aboutfive feet long!"
"Well, I wanted to have a bastard sword like the Golden Hero of legend, so..."
"Crazy! And your arms being that thin..."
Simon was surprised when June suddenly approached him and pulled his sleeves up to grope at his arms.
June was surprised as well.
Simon's arms did look thin, but the muscle underneath was as hard as iron.
"Hey, you two finished groping each other?"
June felt her face burn.
She quickly let go of Simon's arm and faced Nell who was standing right behind her.
"I-I wasn't groping anything!" she said guiltily. "I was simply making sure that Simon was okay carrying that heavy sword!"
"Oh, wow, it's a bastard sword!" Nell said wide-eyed. "Can I see it?!"
"O-of course!" said Simon whose face have turned a dark shade of red.
Simon placed the sword, tip first on the ground, where it dug an inch into the soft earth.
"Wow! How come you never showed me this sword before?" Nell asked while fussing around the sword.
"I couldn't use it while I was injured," replied Simon. "Also, the royal blacksmith had to fix it after my battle with the behemoth. It got quite chipped and cracked back then."
"Woah! Just like the Golden Hero's sword!" mussed Nell who touched its hilt and tried to lift it with both hands.
It hardly moved an inch.
"Well then, I think it's time we take a look around the area," said Simon as he lifted the bastard sword and replaced it in the guard on his back.
"Are you really taking that sword with you?" June asked again.
"Well, we might encounter some wild animals along our way..."
"Also monsters and demons!" added Nell.
"But... it looks so heavy!" June looked at Simon's skinny body once more. She just couldn't help but worry about the puny prince.
"Don't worry, I'm used to carrying my sword around," replied Simon with a smile.
"What about the bags?" asked Nell, "There's three in total, since someone threw mine away." he added snidely.
"I can carry my bag, can you carry the other one with the supplies, Nell?" Simon looked at June. "I can carry your bag too, if you..."
"I can carry my own stuff, thank you!" June quickly said, raising her bag from the ground.
She has no plans of becoming a burden, just because she was a girl. Even if her bag was quite heavy due to the thick grimoires hidden underneath her clothes.
She whispered a quick spell on her bag to lighten her load.
"There much better!" she said to herself. "Come here and let me put a lightening spell on your luggage as well!" she told Simon and Nell.
"Oh, how convenient! Right, Nell?" said Simon with a smile.
"Hmph."
"I hope this makes us even for me leaving your luggage."
"So, where are we headed now?" said Nell, ignoring June's comment.
I was thinking of traveling eastward to find the cliff edge where we fell off, just like June said last night. We'll trail along the cliff until we find a way back up to the Royal Highway.
"Okay, let's go!" said Nell.
"First, we need to know were the east is," said Simon.
"That's where the sun is, right? Then let's go that way!" said Nell, pointing at the sun which was at the northeast direction from where they stood.
"Actually, the east is this way," said June, holding a compass.
"Oh, good thing you have a compass with you," said Simon, "I was actually trying to decide where the sun rose!"
"Let's go, then!" Nell said again, leading the way.
"What's the hurry?" asked June, "First, let's use a magical marker and some magic string so we can trace our way back here in case we need a place to spend the night."
"Nice thinking," said Simon, "the carriage hidden in the canopy is a good place to rest, after all. The wild animals won't be able to reach it that easily."
"So, can we go now?" Nell asked impatiently.
"Yes, we can go now," June said with a sigh.
And eastwards, the three went.
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Go to Part 58
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