Tales of Onoris (Book 1)

Chapter 18: A New Mission

My heart raced as I abruptly awoke from my sleep. My head pounded in agony as I breathed in and out, my body was soaked in sweat; the nightmares were becoming worse. The light from the window on my left side hurt my eyes so, I turned to my right to block the stream of light from entering my eyes.

The sweat on my body made me feel dirty, so, I quickly took a thorough bath and went on a search for my friends. It didn't take me long to find them, as I was walking down the stairs I could hear them in the dining room, and they seemed to be engaged in conversation on an important topic. I entered and was immediately welcomed with the savory aroma of frying pig. "Morning!" I said as I took a seat next to Shael. They immediately returned my greeting. "Is everything right with you?" Roger asked. "You looked pretty angry last night."

"Yes, I'm fine," I said as I began to dig into the breakfast.

"Anyway!" Klayden said after taking a bite of bacon. "I wonder how the Seledianon army will respond to their loss of territory?"

I set my gaze upon Klayden as I swallowed my breakfast. "What are you talking about?" I inquired nervously. He looked at Roger and returned his attention to me. "I guess if Shael wouldn't know you wouldn't have known about it either," he said playing with his food. He sighed and dropped his knife and fork with a clank. "While doing our task, we heard that the witch army had taken some ground from our forces.

Leaning back into my seat, I sighed and crossed my arms. "Shit! The only thing they can do now is hold the line until they can build a bigger force to push them back."

Roger nodded in agreement, "That's what I proposed."

For what felt like a while, we sat silently in thought. Klayden broke the silence. "Well, that's not our job, so I can't lose any sleep over it."

Shael raised an eyebrow, "It would be soon if the Seledianon army can't be successful."

Klayden shrugged. "I heard the king's health is deteriorating. If that happens it could be a big loss to morale."

Roger got up from his seat and stretched, "If that's true, I have faith that he will pull through and be healthy once more," he said walking with his wares in hand.

It was a couple of hours after breakfast and I was bored out of my mind. While aimlessly walking around the house, I encountered Reinhold's study. Resting my hand on the knob, I turned it, but to my disappointment, the door didn't budge. Earlier, the others wanted me to go and train with them, but I respectfully declined. As I walked to the backdoor the sound of metal clanging was becoming louder. I entered the patio and took a seat on one of the many chairs that lay there. Shael, Roger, and Klayden were on the field in black gambisons and furiously fighting with the barastyrs. At the tree line, my eyes fixed on the mountains in the distance. The sky was blue and not a single cloud was in sight. Colorful birds sang their songs as they went from flower to flower.

 This feeling of tranquility almost made me shed a tear. This feeling didn't last as my mind began to race. My encounter with Abbadon re-emerged, and the words he said to me replayed vividly. "When our queen is resurrected, we will continue to bring forth the others, and this world will be remade in their image."

I furrowed my brows in deep thought. I hadn't a clue what he spoke of. I planned to tell my friends about it but I wondered if I should or should not. I decided I would go and inform them. I kept so many things from them already, it couldn't hurt to tell them about this.

"You three!" I shouted while gesturing for them to come.

They all paused and looked at me surprised before strolling toward me. Out of the blue, a loud and familiar voice called out to us. I whipped my head around startled. Klyaden, Shael, and Roger's stroll became a dash. How did he return so early I wondered as the heavy sounds of boots got closer.