Chapter 24

While they resumed their journey, Ayla couldn't stop looking at the King – he looked worried. Very worried.

'What could have contained that message to make him this worried?' Ayla thought while she kept stealing glances at him.

The King advanced in silence while he kept looking at the trees every five minutes and frowned.

"What is he looking at?" Ayla finally asked Milton.

The Mage, who was also lost in his thoughts, blinked at Ayla a few times and asked, confused, "What?"

"The King, he keeps looking at the trees, then forward, then back at the trees as if they hold the answer to some riddle."

"They do. Well, in a certain way. Runes and symbols are painted or carved on certain trees, or ropes with knots or colored beads are tied from the branches. They reveal a lot about the area we are in, how far we are from clans, if dangerous animals live, and so on. If someone gets lost, all that person has to do is find the trees with runes. "

Ayla looked more closely at the trees, and now that she knew what she had to search for, she saw some trees painted with runes.

"That one over there," Milton said and pointed at an oak with some symbols ~▲ followed by ||||. "Those symbols tell us that we are four hours away from the Wind Clan. Also that the Wind Clan has a mine."

Only four hours to see people from her Kingdom, Ayla thought. Also, she was starting to become fascinated by the ingenuity of the people from this Kingdom. Although Nordmar was a dangerous Kingdom, the Nordmarians found a way to make their lives easier.

It was late when they finally made it to The Wind Clan.

The Clan was built on a plateau and surrounded by a palisade made from tree trunks. Two warriors were guarding the entrance.

"Who goes there?" one of them asked.

"Rhobart Braveheart, King of Nordmar!" the King said in a strong voice.

"My King, we did not recognize you," the guards said and hurried to let the travelers inside the village.

A horn sounded twice, stopped, then sounded once more, announcing to the Clan that the King had arrived. From a big house, a man came outside, followed by a woman. The man was missing his left arm.

The King dismounted and looked at the man and then at the woman for a few moments.

Ayla got off her horse and remained close to Star and Kerra.

"I still can't believe you married this old fool, Atha!" the King said, grinning.

"That makes two of us," the woman, Atha, said.

"Who are you calling old?" the man asked in an incredulous voice.

The King and the man looked at each other for a few moments before bursting out in laughter. The two men met in the middle and clasped each other's right arms. They looked like two brothers that haven't seen one another for a long time.

"Kristoff!"

"Rhobart! Long time not seen you, old friend! And you even brought Tizgar, Gorn, Kerra, and Milton," the man, Kristoff, said. Then his eyes fell on Ayla. "And who is this beautiful lady?"

The Princess blushed and mumbled, "Ayla."

"I am honored to have you as a guest in my house. Please, come inside and eat smoke meat and bread with me and Atha, my wife," Kristoff said to Ayla.

"What about me?" the King asked. "I am your King!"

Kristoff laughed, "All of you!"

When the others followed Atha inside the house, Ayla looked at the horses.

"Don't worry about the horses; someone will take care of them," Kristoff said.

Ayla followed Kristoff and entered the warm house, leaving the cold behind.

Kristoff and Atha invited everyone to sit at a round table. Ayla chose the seat close to the fire.

"I am guessing you are not here to see me," Kristoff said.

"I am here to ask you about the ore mine production."

"It is slow. We had some problems with some minecrawlers last week, and it killed two of my men and wounded five."

Ayla paled. The King wanted to send war prisoners inside a mine infested with minecrawlers? It took two-three strong warriors to kill one minecrawler. The King sighed, "I also want to see the war prisoners."

"You can't send them into the mine! There are minecrawlers in there!" Ayla blurted.

"Not now, Ayla!" the King said.

"But –"

"No!"

"Minecra – "

"No!"

"May I say something?" Kristoff intervened. When King Rhobart gave his approval, Kristoff continued, "We already got rid of the minecrawlers, and the mine is safe."

"Satisfied?" the King asked Ayla. "Now stop talking!"

Ayla crossed her arms, refrained from saying anything else, and stared at her boots, 'I don't know why I bother. He is just a brute!'

"As I was saying," the King spoke after a few seconds, "I am here to see the Myrthanians."

Kristoff nodded, "I have them in the barracks for the time being."

"Good. I will see them in the morning. One night won't make any difference."

Kristoff looked at the King, "There's something serious going on, am I right?"

"Orc attacks," the King said.

Ayla's head snapped up and looked directly at King Rhobart, "Orcs – ?"

"Ayla! Do I need to span – ?"

"Like Rhobart was saying, Orcs have been attacking and destroying villages," Milton said.

Tizgar and Gorn snickered while Ayla and Rhobart stared one at another like they wanted to kill each other.

Kristoff cleared his voice, "But this is something that happens each year."

Milton nodded, "Yes. That's why we didn't realize what was going on up until three weeks ago."

The King, who finally stopped looking at Ayla as if she was a poisonous snake that was about to attack him at any time, said, "Attacks have doubled or triple in all the Kingdoms. Survivors of the attacks say that apart from Orc warriors, there have also been Shamans. In some cases, even elites."

Kristoff paled, "The last time we had to fight a Shaman was fifteen years ago."

The King nodded, "And it took five Paladins and three Fire Mages to kill him. And that's not all. Strange activity happening in the Black Forest has been reported. Trackers, warriors, and even knights have been sent into the Forest to see what's going on. None returned. "

Kristoff looked very intently at the King. "What are you not saying, Rhobart?" he asked.

The King's reply made Ayla shiver with fear.

"I think the Orcs are preparing for war," King Rhobart said.

They sat for a few moments in silence until Atha, who had sat in silence, listening to what the men were saying, asked, "And what do we do now?"

"We get ready," Rhobart Braveheart said.