Over the Void

Chapter 3: Erased and Reborn

Morning came. To Esther's great relief, they hadn't been eaten in their sleep. She felt warm and cozy, realizing she was snuggled up against Royal. She didn't blush, the concept of romance was too foreign for that. But she did realize how much she had been touch starved all her life, and wanted nothing more than to stay and appreciate it while she could.

Sadly, Royal awoke soon after, and sat up stiffly. Unlike Esther, he fully realized what the situation looked like, and blushed, before playing it off as smoothly as he could.

"So uh, is my arm really that comfy?" He chuckled nervously. Esther just nodded happily, and Royal immediately felt bad that he had to ask her to let go so they could get up. But alas, he did it anyways.

"Hey, we gotta get up, right? So you gotta let go." His gut wrenched.

Esther let go reluctantly, before regaining some pep in her step, and getting up to go find something to eat. While she did that, Royal took down everything and gathered it up. All things considered, he did it fast for not knowing what he was doing. And soon after, Esther came back with some food to snack on. More Manafruits. Royal suspected she loved them specially, so he didn't complain, even though they didn't sit right before, and they weren't again as he ate.

After eating, they set out again. Esther rather liked her new cloak, it was soft and smooth and felt like a cozy blanket. Royal felt hot in it, thanks to also wearing armor. But he didn't complain. Walking along in silence, the pair stumbled upon a clearing with a nice lake. Esther and Royal had completely different ideas of what to do with he pond. Esther went to get a refreshing drink, and Royal furiously dunked his head to cool down, which startled Esther as the splash got her wet.

"Hey! That's cold!" She said, more surprised than hurt. Royal just laughed nervously, and dried her face with his cloak. Esther leaned into the touch, loving the soft cloaks so much.

They kept going for a while, hours maybe. Eventually, Royal was starting to get tired, when Esther spotted another village. She wasn't entirely sure if they would be friendly this time.

Sadly, they did not have time to prepare for such an outcome. Instead of going to see the town, they were met with fierce growls from behind them. Esther went rigid and blanched in panic, as Royal spun around and took up his sheild. It was a good call, and something sharp and slightly on fire flew from the trees, making a loud sound as it was stopped short.

The sound attracted a few townspeople, who came to see. Royal himself got a better look at this assailant. It was ugly, short, and had big ears and a pig nose.

"Esther? What are those?" He asked, an edge of urgency in his voice.

"Huh? Those are Goblins! They're horrible and they attack everyone all the time!" She said, scared.

Royal assumed a defensive stance. "I have no idea what I'm doing, but we need to make them leave, right?"

Esther could only nod. But she swallowed her fear and readied a fireball to attack back. While Royal tanked the incoming sharp objects with his sheild, she tossed her spell over him and scored a hit on one of the goblins. It screeched inhumanly and started smoking as it was engulfed in the fire.

"That seems a bit harsh, no?" Royal cocked an eyebrow, before grunting as a bigger thing was tossed at him.

Esther panicked, remembering that goblins were highly flammable. But it was too late. With one of their kin gone, the remainder were too mad to leave. "I'm sorry. They're flammable, I forgot. Now they won't let us go!" She half spoke, half cried.

Royal grimaced. He didn't like this at all, but it was a lot different than school. Here, he could fight back, but he didn't know how. Lashing out randomly with his sword, he scored superficial hits at best, and mentally decided to just let Esther fight, and keep her safe.