Tales of Lost Souls | Mia's Journey

CHAPTER 11 - standing out

As we wanted to ask more questions about Atlas' god, the crowd found something new to gather around. They frowned at two men who just entered the city. One was pretty tall with long brown hair and fox-like ears, and in his hand, he had a lance with a lantern attached. The other guy was shorter, with black hair and mismatched eyes. One was yellowish, and the other was purple. Both of them seemed... familiar.

"Oh! It's you! What's up," the man with the fox-like ears said, "Remember me? I am Bermott! That guy beside me is Duriyan. A dark-mage! How awesome is that?"

I then recognized the two of them: Bermott was the guy who picked me up when I first arrived in this world - Duriyan was the mage that broke the curse of the village Tashken stole from.

"You know those guys? They don't really help with making the citizens like us," Atlas commented on the Situation. He talked as if he was already a part of our little travel group, which grew in just a few days.

Tashken smirked as Nodachi took the lead, "It's my honor to meet you both. Bermott, was it? Mind keeping your voice down a little? Marshall's citizens are not fond of mages and screaming." Bermott nodded before he apologized. His partner stood there in silence the whole time.

We decided to walk to the castle together. It was mostly a way for Nodachi to keep an eye on the group, as we had three troublemakers here. He was afraid they might create trouble and get all of us kicked out of the city.

There was also a little chance to disband our travel group without saying a word: Most seemed like guys with an arrest warrants. If he go up to the castle and they get arrested, neither Nodachi nor I would've been the bad guy to disband or leave.

Surprisingly, the royal guards didn't stop us as we walked upon the bridge leading to the castle's entrance. In front of the giant wooden door stood a man wearing black armor, having a sapphire embedded in the middle, and some with leather parts. Under it was a black shirt with white pants and a black-red fabric hanging down from his belt. The loose fabric had a crown drawn onto it.

Something I didn't realize until later was that he whore the same chest plate Nodachi also had on.

The man had black hair with bright blue tips, something I hadn't seen anyone else have, as everyone I saw had a natural hair color. He bowed, "Welcome to Her Majesty Queen Marshall's castle. I am Elrond Dahalag, leader of Her Majesty's Royal Guard and leader of the Sapphire Knights. My queen is already waiting for you to arrive. Allow me to guide you."

As he looked up again, Nodachi and his eyes met. Neither seemed to enjoy seeing each other again... The tension was almost visible between them. Elrond didn't comment on them meeting, and nor did Nodachi. We followed the knight to the throne, where the queen and another knight had been waiting for us. Elrond kneeled before the queen, and so did we.