Day 13 of the Fourth Month, Year 1016, after midnight

Southern Goldburg Area, Goldburg Province

DEV started to come out of his daze.

No, didn’t he tell her to leave him behind?

Dev felt stuffed. His chest almost couldn’t breathe, because… No one ever did that for him. Even his brother left, although for his own good, but didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. No one… No one waited for him.

He smiled. “You… How did you…”

Victoria glanced at him with a smile. “Good, you’re finally conscious,” she said, sighed heavily. “We never escaped—although, if this is real, we are escaping now…? I hope this is real…”

He looked around and realized what she was saying. So, when he was trapped and dying, all of that… was a dream? Just like how he saw his brother’s execution, how he had lived in the street, and how he was dying under those hits and punches… Turned out it was all a long nightmare.

In front of them was a spiral staircase going up. It was just… it was quite a high staircase. They couldn’t see the ceiling, so they couldn’t estimate how deep underground they were, but it didn’t seem easy to climb…

“Well, we certainly have to hurry,” she said. “Before anything could trap us again.”

“Mm hmm,” Dev murmured in return. They started to climb Goddess knows how many steps. He didn’t count. It just wasn’t possible.

He tried his best not to weigh her down. Only Goddess knew how she escaped while bringing his unconscious self with her. He didn’t want to burden her anymore.

When they reached the top, he was exhausted. Combination of getting his head bashed and having to do extreme cardio afterwards was really not good.

Up above the ground, they came out of a wooden shack and found the same backyard with the same mundane stable and the same normal horses. The backyard was surrounded by wooden fences that they could easily jumped over. Victoria did exactly that, and Dev followed behind her, holding the dim lantern.

The big house of the village head was located directly behind a small river. Dev glanced at her. “Should we just…”

Victoria dipped her hand into the river, up into her arms, and still couldn’t find the bottom. She winced as the belated cold of the water assaulted her senses. “No, this is too deep. I… can’t swim.”

“Ah,” Dev nodded. “Yes. It won’t do if we die drowning after escaping.”

So, they had to walk along the bank until they found a bridge.

The wooden bridge in front of them was connected with the road from the village. It was lit by several lanterns, but losing the cover of the darkness made Dev anxious. “Let’s go,” he said.

“Yes, yes.” Victoria rubbed the back of her injured head, and groaned in pain when she realized what she did.

When they tried to cross the bridge, though, somehow, something seemed to prevent them. Victoria had a bad hunch in her heart. “Why… are we turning around?” Dev questioned in surprise, in his still short breath.

Victoria gritted her teeth. “Magic.”

Dev was taken aback. “Magic… does it really exist?”

Victoria didn’t answer and tapped her pendant instead. Aside from allowing Luz to track her within distance, the pendant has another effect that could only be used once per month—or better yet, after Beth recharged it. It could dispel any magic that was applied on or around the wearer. It was useful for them now—the two could passed the bridge easily this time.

After they crossed the bridge, she saw a familiar black stallion stood by the side of the road, munching on grass in the dark of the night. Dev opened his mouth in surprise. “Windrunner!”

That kind of name was really not too much, for indeed the horse was of a good breed. The stallion looked up when he heard his name being called. He walked silently, fitting his name, and he let his owner to rub him. The horse looked… happy.

Suddenly, Victoria missed her own horse, Snowflakes, which was now kept in Dustor barrack. Hopefully the old mare was taken care of. It was a bit spoiled after living in the royal palace.

Victoria, with all her partial knowledge about horses, realized that the horse didn’t walked limply as it did before. “The horse healed,” she said, astonished.

Dev looked at her, a bit confused, before looking at the horse’s leg. He narrowed his eyes. “That’s… weird. Is it really magic?” He seemed genuinely excited at that possibility. Victoria remembered how he was talking about ‘witch from the future’ and held her laugh inside. They could be discovered by Zindo and his men… She could laugh all she wanted after they put some distance in between.

“Well, we better get out of here,” Victoria suggested, her voice low.

They scurried far from that weird village on the back of the horse. Victoria kept looking back, but luckily, no one came after them. Windrunner was walking energetically, too, as if it was never injured.

It didn’t dawn on her until a few minutes later, atop a horse with her new partner-in crime, that she escaped with her life.

Victoria smiled widely. Well, that’d teach herself not to go out alone again, as dying really didn’t feel good. She really should be less reckless, she realized, but the thrill of adrenaline still coursed upon her. That was an adventure.

But at least she gained a dear friend—and she was thankful that she ended up alive and well. She bobbed her head up and down, almost falling asleep on Dev’s back. The stone road was long, and with Windrunner’s quick walking rhythm against the rough pavement serving as lullaby… This is quite peaceful. She could get used to this.

Victoria couldn’t enjoy the peace for too long because her attention was taken by the appearance of a town that appeared in front of them. It was still quite a few more kilometers, but they could already see the lights that lit it up. Somehow, in the middle of the night, it looked brighter than even the Capital.

As they came near, she figured that it was actually brighter than the Capital. The road to the town was lit by lanterns every single meter. That’s quite a wasteful behavior that even the capital city won’t replicate…

“Why is it so bright here?” Victoria whispered.

Dev frowned. “I don’t know… This is Duskbury Town. The last time I was here, it was normal.”

“And how long ago was that?”

“Well… Four years ago, give or take.”

Victoria considered that. “Perhaps something happened these past few years,” she said. “Why would a small town like this use so much lantern? I wonder what the mayor is thinking.”

Dev hummed in agreement. “And moreover, it’s so far away from the important cities,” he replied, wondering, too. Indeed, they didn’t travel that much from the hunter village earlier. “Where did they get so much fuel for the lanterns?”

Their conversation receded as they approached the town. It was surrounded by spiked wooden fences, and the only way in was the closed gate that’s being guarded by some men in leather armor. The four men obstructed their path with spears. “Who goes there?”

“We mean no harm,” Dev said with a clear voice that was neither loud nor low. “Just need a shelter in town.”

“Why are you out here in the middle of the night?” One of the town guards suspiciously asked.

“Ah, sir, you have to help us,” Dev said, getting down from the horse. “Milady and I have travelled far from Savire and we are in need of shelter for the night.”

The guards glanced at each other. “In the middle of the night? Why didn’t you stop at Nighweald?”

“That...” He sighed dramatically. “I don’t know why, but the people there were very unwelcoming. Milady felt uncomfortable with that, so we kept on going.”

Somehow that answer was acceptable. “Fine,” one of them said. “Get in. Quick.”

As they were ushered through the gate, Victoria, who was still on top of the horse, looked at the guards with the posture of a lady she was supposed to play—haughty and arrogant. “Why do you have so many lanterns?” The question was genuine, though.

But somehow, the guards just mumbled and answered inconsequentially. Victoria frowned. Such a simple question, was it so hard for them to answer?

Dev swooped in. “Come on, milady. We are getting a rest there.” He pointed at the inn directly beside the fence gate. Victoria nodded.

The horse was guided to the stables next to the building. She got off before that, and went into the inn while Dev was settling his horse in the stables.

The inn was also a tavern that was simply named Duskbury’s Inn. Seemed like it was the only one in this town, so she expected it to be full of people. Contrarily, though, the tavern barely had anyone, except the group of men drinking in the corner. Despite of it, the whole tavern looked super bright, with every corner lit with a lantern. Victoria frowned while she observed around.

Still putting on haughty appearance, she was approached by an old woman who smiled respectfully. The innkeeper, she supposed. “Honorable guest, are you staying the night here?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” She arrogantly raised her chin like how she saw the noble girls did during parties. Well, the limited number of parties she was obligated to go to, at least. She normally preferred to roam outside, rather than attending a party.

The old woman’s face didn’t change, though. Seemed like she was used to handle nobles? But what kind of nobles passed through a small town like Duskbury, she wondered inwardly. Of course, the town was on course if someone wanted to go from Edgefort to southern Blue and the other way around, but it was quite a rarity as the south area of Blue province wasn’t very developed. It was the northern one, around the capital of the province, that was more advanced. That was why, even when she went to Blue for a visit a few years ago, she never passed by this town.

“Then, a room, Madam?”

Victoria was about to say two, but Dev walked beside her. “Yes, ma’am, a room for milady,” he cut off. “I’ll sleep in the stables, if that is alright with you?” He asked the innkeeper. Right. Usually, servants didn’t get a room.

“Oh, no, please don’t,” the innkeeper shook her head warily. “We have a lot of spare room, like the one near the kitchen. You can stay there free of charge.”

Dev and Victoria glanced at each other. “Really, ma’am?” He asked again. “I don’t want to impose...”

“Yes, yes, of course! It is dangerous out there.” And then she tightened her lips as if she let something slip. “I’ll show the room for Her Ladyship,” she said, smiling.

Victoria followed the innkeeper upstairs, with Dev behind her, bringing his leather bag as if a servant bringing his mistress’ luggage. She noticed that every two steps of the stairs, a lantern was put on the railing. This was... excessive, she thought.

They arrived at the second floor, and it was as bright as downstairs. Finally, she decided to ask, but before she could utter a word, the innkeeper looked at them anxiously. “Your Ladyship... And you, too, young man. Please, whatever you do, do not extinguish the lantern.”

Victoria was taken aback. She shook her head and looked at the woman seriously. “Please, tell me. What is going on here? Why is everything lit up so brightly?”

The old woman bit her lip. “Recently... Recently there had been monsters,” she whispered.

Monsters?

But monsters lived on another continent, as far as she knew. The only time the monsters left their continent was during the Invasion war, when the invaders from Villianee Continent brought them here to invade Terra Continent, where she lived now. Of course, further back in history, there must be some other occasion that brought monsters out of their habitat, but their era wasn’t one of them. “What do you mean, monsters?”

“Scary things that came from the dark,” the innkeeper said with low voice. “They sprung out on you undetected. Three people here had died already because of the monsters.”

So that’s why they made it so bright. Both her and Dev wanted to ask more questions, but seemed like the old woman was scared with what she just uttered and won’t say anymore, so they swallowed their questions back. “Then I won’t extinguish the lantern,” Victoria said, back to her arrogant façade.

Dev put down his own leather back in the room and left with the innkeeper. Then the princess began examining her room. Aside from the dilapidated walls, the room was cleaned neatly. The bed creaked, but it was no matter, since she was quite tired. The lanterns, though—they were everywhere. Victoria worried that she wouldn't be able to fall asleep because of how bright it was, but her worry was futile.

Not long after she laid down, she was knocked into the world of dreams. []