The Princess slowly opens her eyes. Luxor's little face welcomes her, as he was sitting on her chest, waiting for her to wake up. She gets her head up, wiping her eyes. Next to her, the General sits just as he was left sitting the night before.
"Good morning." the princess smiles.
"Good morning." the General responds. "Did you have enough rest? We soon need to get going."
"Hey...did you sleep all the night here, sitting?" the princess worryingly asks.
"Yes. You fell asleep on my shoulder, so I didn't want to wake you up. Don't worry, I'm used to sleeping in any condition, while still remaining somewhat vigilant of any possible danger." the General answers.
"Oh..." the princess blushes, gazing at the ground. "I see. Please, never do this again! Laying down is certainly much more efficient for sleeping than sitting up. Next time, wake me up, would you?"
"Alright...as you wish." the General gently replies.
The General's red eyes meet her violet eyes, as they inspect each other.
"Ahem...if I may disturb, there is some commotion outside." Luxor interrupts. "It smells like a group of jackals."
They both stand up at the same time.
"They must've smelled human presence and came here to look for corpses." the General initiates.
"What do you mean, that we stink? Hmph." Luxor angrily asks.
"Huh? And how exactly did you reach that conclusion? Jackals know that whenever they smell humans, there must be some meat around. Or some sumpter beasts, at least."
"Right." Luxor mutters, unconvincingly.
"It seems like we have no option but to pass through them." the General announces. "I'll open that door; you stay on guard. We don't know their numbers, and they're fast" he instructs.
As he begins to open the heavy door, the Princess assumes a defensive position, her spear pointed forwards, while Luxor hides inside her cloak.
As soon as the door cracks open, a jackal jumps in, but the General swiftly blocks it with his spear. Multiple jackals continue to flow through the crack, endlessly.
"So... many jackals." the General grunts, struggling to contain all of them.
"I'll fight too!" the princess jumps in, fighting alongside the General.
"Stand back! Don't play tough!" the General yells.
"Ugh...seems like I have no choice." he utters as his eyes shine with electrical power. A surge of violet matter starts to gather around him... but then comes to a stop as he notices the jackals are now departing. The room is starting to fill up with smoke.
The princess approaches him, heavy breathing. Her body is full of bleeding scratches.
"Somebody has set us up. We need to get going as soon as possible!"
The General, surprised, inquiries:
"What do you mean? Who set us up? How?"
"I've noticed they were all running towards a specific direction in the temple. I've found a sack of what I believe was rotten sumpter beast meat. I've burnt it all in that fire pillar over there. My chamberlain, Masud, once told me that jackals are wary of smoke."
"I see. I was also thinking that such a numerous hoard of jackals was unusual, especially around here. But who would plan something like this?" the General thinks.
YOU ARE READING
Sands of Solitude (Cyno)
General FictionThis is a story about the personal life of the General Mahamatra, by his name Cyno (from Genshin Impact). His days are particularly routine oriented and repetitive, yet one day he took up on a case that unbeknownst to him, will change his entire lif...
