Author's Note:
Thank you @MelBri for the first power stone! :) I hope you continue to enjoy this story.
The sun nearly set when they reached the proximity of the underground cave. It took a bit of time for the knights to brief them, and for Seraphine and Armand to regroup with Flint and Darryl. It looked like Flint had also heard some things regarding the missing children, so they exchanged information on what they knew on the road while riding alongside the Magistrate's knights.
At first, the knights argued that they should leave Darryl behind for his safety, but Seraphine held his shoulders and declared that she would personally protect him. Armand could sense the distrust emanating from the knights, particularly as they had never seen her performed magic, but as the leader of the team, Armand had the final say and agreed for Darryl to stay.
Armand also noted the hardened look in Sir Kingsley when he introduced Flint to the knights, which did not surprise him. Kingsley was one of the ruling family in Dohara - and with that pride often came vanity and arrogance. Armand just hoped that he would not get in the way. Sir Regulus, on the other hand, had a sunny persona and seemed to come from a less well-known noble family. He got along immediately with Flint and Darryl. Dame Ardent, meanwhile, was quite withdrawn the entire time they set up camp, lit fire, and made a quick dinner.
They took turn guarding the fire in pairs while the rest slept. Still feeling guarded against the Magistrate's men, Armand had arranged for him and Sir Kingsley to go first, Sir Regulus and Flint next, and Dame Ardent and Seraphine last. In spite of his protest, Darryl was not assigned to guard duty.
It was an ordinary first round. Sir Kingsley cleaned his sword with great care while Armand stoked the fire, both of them content with keeping silence. It was neither tense nor comfortable, perhaps could be described as slightly uneasy. Before waking up the next guards on duty, Sir Kingsley excused himself to make a report to the Magistrate.
Flint yawned widely as Armand shook him awake for the next watch.
He exited the tent and nodded towards Sir Regulus, who sleepily acknowledged him in a slight raise of hand. Some minutes passed before he offered the dazed knight a pouch containing a strong liquor.
"What's inside?"
"Drink it and find out."
After hesitating a bit, the knight took a small sip and raised his eyebrow, taken aback.
"Whoa, this stuff is strong! Never had anything like this even in Citadel. Did I taste plum?"
Flint grinned as he took back the liquor pouch. "You bet. The only place I've only seen this sold in is Doria."
"Have to say, not bad at all. What brought you all the way to that eastern part of the continent?"
The mercenary shrugged. "What else? Work."
"Heh." Sir Regulus stared at the dancing fire and said rather forlornly. "Well, at least your work allows you to travel."
Flint glanced at him. "Doesn't sound like you enjoy your job very much."
"Hm.." Sir Regulus propped one of his legs up, resting his arm on top. "The Magistrate is one of the good guys, really. It's just.. it gets a bit dull sometimes, especially when we have to look after the young master."
"The young master? The Archon's brat?"
"Uh... I definitely wouldn't address him that way, but yes, Young Master Varrick could be quite a lot to handle."
Flint took a big swig from the pouch and wiped his mouth with his left hand. "That's funny. I heard that the Archon of Dohara, Eldrin Sylvarion, was a wise ruler, being a half-elf with longer lifespan than humans and all. I guess it's not the same case with his son, eh?"
"...I mean no disrespect to the house of Sylvarion."
Flint laughed heartily. "I got you, brother."
They chatted more about mundane things, then decided to wake the next ones on guard duty. Before leaving, Sir Regulus gestured towards the denser formation of rocks not far from their camp. Flint nodded, assuming it would be for nature call, and went to wake Seraphine and Dame Ardent who were sleeping in the same tent.
Seraphine was not actually sleeping - she did not need much rest because of her covenant with Nyra, but mental rest was still important. Dame Ardent did not seem like she got much sleep, too. She sensed her stepping outside several times during their off-duty period.
Dame Ardent watched in silence as Seraphine took out her mirror shard and angled it towards the moonlight.
She could not see anything. As Istaroth said, something seemed to be blocking her vision. In fact, this entire area felt strange.
She put her mirror back in the sub-space.
"Lady Seraphine Mizan... are you a mage?" Dame Ardent could not hold her curiosity and broke the silence carefully. The knights knew about Armand Fontaine, the Commander of the Holy Knight, Flint Blackthorn, a renown platinum-level mercenary, and even Darryl - the clever street urchin of Dohara. But no one seemed to be able to guess the identity of this beautiful woman, who seemed quite out of place in the middle of this wilderness.
"Yes." She lifted her head to gaze at Dame Ardent. For some reason, this slightly unnerved the knight, even though her conversation partner clearly looked younger than her. "This meeting of us is also fate, Dame Veronica Ardent. Is there anything you wish for?"
"Uh..." The knight was flabbergasted. "Yes, no, I mean... wait, when did I tell you my first name?"
Veronica thought that if she had been a man, she would have thought this was the newest pick-up line! Fate? Meeting? Wish?
Fortunately or unfortunately, Seraphine's gaze shifted somewhere else. Wordlessly and calmly, she took out a steel fan from her sub-space. Her next sentence made Veronica tensed up.
"It seems we're under attack, Dame Ardent."