Chapter 86: The Voltaris Empire[4](Bonus)
The sky was now clear, the clouds that gathered were gone now. The Alpha wolf was slain by the old man but he suddenly vanished without saying anything.
Xior helped the rest of the girls to get up and checked them if they were injured. But all of them were fine.
At the last second Xior used a wind burst to send them back before the Alpha’s flames hit them.
That saved them and only he took the full blow of the attack, the charred skin on his torso was still not fully healed.
As the group sat on the ground, the villagers came running towards them with first aid. They treated the wounds of everyone apart from Xior as he just healed on their own.
They thanked them for defending their village, a report came from other places that they got wiped out completely and if not for them they would end up like the others as well.
Xior and the others went back to the village to check for the old man but he was nowhere to be found.
"We have to be careful, the old man vanished as if he never existed here." Becca said to Xior as they gathered the dropped runes from the direwolves.
"He was on par with the EX Rank Hunters we saw on TV, maybe on par with Rain’s dad...Lee Woo." Xior replied as he picked up two weird runes from the Alpha and the general.
He didn’t dwell much on it and started to walk back to the village with Becca, it was almost time for them to resume their journey towards the capital of the Empire.
They got on their horses and said their goodbyes to the village and continued their journey.
*****
Days pass, the landscapes change. From farmland it shifts to properly built cities fortified with walls all around.
The roads which were not paved were completely paved now. The group traveled without any issues, only Acheron grew quieter with each passing day.
They stopped at one of the cities for some time. Acheron quietly looked at the city at night from the balcony of the inn they stayed at.
She remembered this city, she had been here when she was younger...with her mother. She wanted to cry but she didn’t want to be seen as weak, not at least by Xior.
So she took a deep breath and sighed and continued to look at the people who walked with their loved ones and went about their daily life.
There she saw Xior, bargaining with a merchant and then haggling for some fruit. He was a peculiar human for her. She had seen many humans throughout her life.
Demons, humans and even other creatures came to her because they sought immortality. She gave them immortality but she was sealed afterwards.
But this human...he freed her from the cage by the ones who called her "Mother." He was naïve but he was truthful.
And just like that the stay at that city also ended, they continued towards the capital which was not far away.
After a day of travel they could see the grand high walls of the city, tall and white walls encircled the whole city.
The size of the city was the biggest they had seen till now. The banners of the Voltaris Empire hung at the entrance.
As the group approached the entrance the knight in charge came running on horseback, he saw Meeka with our group and thought we had kidnapped her and were coming to ask for a ransom.
"Get away from the princess you kidnappers!" The knight said as he charged towards Xior who was the nearest to her.
"Stop it Sir Cale, they did not kidnap me." She insisted but as soon as he heard her voice he stopped his sword, inches away from beheading Xior.
While the latter had his gauntlets claw ready to rip apart his stomach. Sir Cale backed away and bowed in front of Meeka to show respect and went back.
As they entered the city, guards accompanied them to the Palace. It was big, bigger than most palaces they had seen.
It had vast walls covered in white marble and the banners of Voltaris which hung all around the Palace.
Just in front of the palace was the main commercial area, the streets were bustling with people, be it nobles, soldiers or commoners.
As they near the castle and Acheron sees it the castle rises in front of her, the same castle from her past.
She trembled, her heart beat increased and she fell down from the horse and curled up into a ball as she sobbed slightly.
The trauma crushed her down, her breath came in shallow bursts, she couldn’t speak, she was too afraid to speak just like all those years ago when she was a child.
But then she stuttered some words, incomprehensible for others but Xior heard them resound in his mind due to the blood pact.
Was it due to the pact that he fully felt how she felt in this moment, he crouched beside her and tried to make her stand but she didn’t want to.
She kept on muttering, "chains...father...blood..."
Over and over again, Xior placed a hand on her head and her breathing steadied. She uncurled and got up but staggered.
Xior grabbed her and didn’t let her fall. The palace was just a few steps away now so the group decided to walk there.
The horses were taken away by the guards who walked beside them. As the crowd came to cheer for the princess who had returned and to look at the group she brought with her, many people stared at Acheron as if she was not human.
Their curious gazes were cut off when the group came in front of her and didn’t let anyone see her face.
At the entrance of the palace stood multiple people dressed in noble attire. They were the officials of the Voltaris Empire.
As Meeka walked towards them they bowed and welcomed her, the princess, the heir apparent, had finally returned after four months of no communication with the Palace.