Chapitre 7: Enter Fortress Fallinard!
On the next day, the suns were shining brightly. There was not a single cloud remaining from the storm the previous night. Hearing the early birds chirp, Elizabeth slowly woke up and felt the chill breeze of the autumn morning. She instinctively reached for her blanket, but after failing a few times, she opened her eyes. The girl looked around at the vast forest and distant mountains and felt confused. What happened? Every corner of her body was aching. She went to rub her eyes clear, but she realized she was wearing googles. Taking the headwear off, she saw blood drip into her vision. Her forehead was bleeding, but it was not hurting that much.
For now, I should head home. She slid off the bush she laid on and tried to stand up. However, as soon as she put pressure on her legs, a sharp pain shot up. Her left ankle was severely sprained. Moreover, her left shoulder was entirely bruised and bloody and her back was a mess. The pain jogged her memory fast and she recalled the previous night's events. Immediately, she bit her lip and held back the tears, but she knew this was neither the time nor the place to cry. Holding her shoulder and balancing carefully on one leg, she looked around the forest. Bits and pieces of their glider were scattered everywhere. Near a tree was her Whiteangel bow and quiver. Finally, she spotted Benedict a short distance away.
Elizabeth nudged her way over to see the knight was still unconscious. At least, he was alive, she thought, and he fared about as well as she did. In reality, she wanted to curse him out for using such a barbaric flying method. Furthermore, he was the real reason why New Havens was attacked. In a way, he was the source of all her misery and despair. She could feel hatred building inside her. That was what living beings did. They would try to find ways to vent their anger and frustration. But after seeing the magnitude of his injuries, she felt her fury die down. She relaxed her fists and shook those thoughts aside.
The priority was to get warm. They were still wearing the same cold and damp clothing from the night before. Feeling the wet fabric stick to her skin made her sneeze several times already in the frigid morning wind. It was a matter of time before they caught a cold or worse. She scoured the wet forest grounds and found some dry deadwood and kindling. Gathering the things together near a flat area, she went about try to light a fire. She was thankful that her mother made her responsible for lighting the fireplace from time to time. She skillfully lit it on her fourth try.
Satisfied, the girl stripped layers of her clothing one at a time. Once she got down to her underwear, she stopped. Though Benedict was still asleep, and they were alone in the woods, Elizabeth still felt a bit reserved on being naked. He's still wearing his damp clothes, isn't he? She thought as she blushed bright. Elizabeth debated on it for a couple of minutes, but ultimately decided to do it. Benedict was her savior at the end of the day. To not repay kindness went against her principles. The girl gingerly undressed the knight while doing her best not to appear like a pervert. What am I honestly doing? She cried.
Hours passed and noon soon arrived. Elizabeth was both parched and starved as her stomach rumbled. Hunting was not in her list of skills, nor was foraging. If only she knew where they were, then she could find help. But her guide was asleep, and her surroundings all seemed the same. Ah… Am I going to die out here? She thought. To survive everything she did on New Havens so she could die from hunger and thirst. It certainly seemed like a grand joke. She had to wonder which god or goddess she offended for such a cursed life.
Another hour went by uneventfully when a small stampede of footsteps approached. Elizabeth reflexively grabbed her bow and quiver, nocking an arrow, to prepare for the inevitable. That said, even if she wanted to hide somewhere, her ankle was sprained, and running was out of the question. Not to mention, her shoulder was pretty banged up. Shooting an arrow was out of question. So, she stood her ground and saw three soldiers emerge on horseback. Elizabeth tensed up, but the soldiers did not attack her like she expected. What she saw in their eyes was a tinge of confusion, curiosity, and sympathy. None of which was hostility.
"Civilians aren't supposed to be out here. This is a warzone declared by the Alzar Kingdom," the captain stated, but upon noticing their severe wounds and nudity, he offered two cloaks for them to wear. Elizabeth blushed a deep red in embarrassment. She forgot she was practically naked! The girl tactically covered up her chest and privates while donning the brown cloak. He continued, "Now then, what business do you have here in Elwin Path? We saw the smoke from up north." Despite their appearance, the captain retained his caution. A warzone was like that. You never knew when someone wanted your life.
"Captain, that is…" his subordinate uttered as he pointed to the fallen Benedict behind Elizabeth.
The captain frowned and urged his horse closer. "He is… Sir Benedict Hawken, one of the Aerial Reconnaissance squadron captains? I thought he was pronounced missing by Fortress Fallinard." He turned to glare at Elizabeth with his hand hovering above his sword. "Are you one of his subordinates?"
"Yes, yes, I am!" Elizabeth hurriedly answered. "We were ambushed by a Xingyuu reconnaissance party and we crash landed here," she half-lied as she recited the details of Benedict's crash.
"The Xingyuu Empire?" the captain's expression darkened. "If the Xingyuu Empire is making its move through the Etera Forest, then Fortress Fallinard needs to be alerted. Come, we'll bring you both to the fortress and treat your wounds."
Elizabeth heaved a sigh of relief as they joined the soldiers on horseback. Together, they parted through the forest and shot down the open Elwin Path towards the north. Now that she had a sense of security, she felt her shoulders sag as her tension drained away. It was all trees and dirt for two hours before the scenery finally decided to change. The treeline fell back, and her view opened to an enormous flat grassy plain. But instead of flowers and plants of all variety of colours beautifully decorating the grasslands, what she saw was a vast desolate land. Plants were flattened, scorch marks lingered here and there, and buildings were destroyed. Skeletons could be seen everywhere. This was truly the land of the dead.
Elizabeth could not help but avert her gaze. How many people died here? Certainly not a few hundred. Even a few thousand seemed like a gross underestimation. Tens of thousands? Hundreds of thousands? She could not believe it. New Havens was a small town with only a few hundred people living in it. Disputes were rare, but they did happen, but never did it involve the whole town. Not once in the entire five hundred years of history did a large conflict break out. What could have happened here to turn such an amount of people into corpses? Everyone of these people had a story, a family, and a future. To reduce it all to nothing was simply unfathomable and horrifying in her mind. The world she often dreamt of was not as carefree or simple as it looked.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone