Loren twitched the reins of her horse and set off after the wolf, following just behind Ma’trii, far enough so the horse wouldn’t be spooked at his presence, but close enough to keep the wolf in sight. Ma’trii led the three down the highway for a few minutes, before veering left off the path. Loren kicked her horse, urging it to go faster, or else she would lose Ma’trii.
“Don’t worry so much, princess.” Kae said from behind Loren. The huntress looked exhausted from such a short ride, and sat tensed on the saddle. “If Ma’trii thinks he lost us, he’ll howl. Then I’ll know where he is.”
Loren nodded, and let her horse walk at a steady pace, even as Ma’trii darted between tufts of tall grass and out of sight. “Kae? I noticed you don’t have any weapons.” She said.
“I don’t. My bow and knives were confiscated by your Spymaster. Don’t you remember?” Kae said matter-of-factly.
The princess winced. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know. Spymaster Isran didn’t tell me. I promise, I’ll get you another bow.”
“You don’t have to.” Kae shrugged. “I can make another one, no big deal. I’d have to borrow a knife, at least.”
“I insist, I’ll buy you the best hunting bow possible.” Loren’s expression was set and determined.
Kae raised a brow at Loren’s serious look, and chuckled. “Calm down, princess. You’re so uptight.”
They rode on for a while, and patchy grass scattered across rocky ground gave way to fields of golden grass and dry yellow weeds swaying in the wind. The grass grew tall enough to tickle the horses’ noses, and hid Ma’trii completely. Pollen and dust carried on the wind caused Cassendir to sneeze every few minutes.
“Where are we?” the scholar said between sneezing fits. He kept the layers of Kespian silk robes tied closely to his body to keep them from flapping in the wind.
“These are the Garruchian Plains.” Loren said, looking back at Cassendir. “The plains extend for miles around Rhodia, just wheat, grass, and barely as far as you can see.” She turned to point back towards Markholme and the Aldoran castle, far in the distance. “From the top of the tower, you can see the plains flowing like liquid gold in the morning. “
“Truly? How fascinating. Tell me, why is it named ‘Garruchian?’” Cassendir sneezed again before taking his book out of a satchel and scribbling down notes.
Loren laughed and pulled her horse up to match the slow pace of Cassendir’s. She told him the legend of the tiger Beastman Garruch. The scholar raised a suspicious brow at the mention of Garruch’s near monstrous build, but said nothing of it. He had seen very few Beastmen, and statistically, there may be a few out there with chests and arms as large and muscled as Loren described. But once the princess began to tell of how the warrior Garruch felled a hundred soldiers with one swing of his axe, Cassendir could no longer keep quiet.
“I highly doubt that, princess.” Cassendir said. “It is simply impossible for a single being to kill a hundred of anything with one blow. Except if they are ants. And a hundred soldiers are certainly not ants.”
Loren smirked. “Cassendir, a lot of things in this world are said to be impossible. Scholars of a scientific mind have been trying to prove that magic doesn’t exist, yet mages are born with their markings and power every day. You’re a mage, as well.”
“Magic has nothing to do with it, my lady.”
“You didn’t let me finish. It is every bit as possible for one powerful Beastman to defeat an army by himself, as they are of dragons flying through the sky.”
“My lady.” Cassendir said gently. “I apologize for bringing you such news, but dragons don’t exist anymore. In the Age of Heroes and the Golden Ages, perhaps, but not anymore. They’re extinct. This is what is recorded by the scholars of the Academy of Magic in Kespia.”
Loren laughed again, and Kae looked back from her horse. “You’re the one that’s wrong, scholar boy.” She said. “Just drop it, and accept what the princess says. She’s completely right. Even about the dragon.”
Cassendir furrowed his brow in confusion, and Loren kicked her horse into a trot, speeding away from him and trampling through the grass.
Chapter Eight
It was several hours of trampling through tall grass and wandering on and off an unkempt trail, till Ma’trii suddenly stopped. Loren’s horse reared and nearly threw off in its panic. After frantically soothing the horse, Loren leaned over the side.
“Ma’trii?” She said. “What’s wrong? Did you see something?”
The wolf looked back at the princess, craning his neck up to see her mounted on the horse. He sniffed, and gestured with his head through the fields. In the distance, near enough for the wolf to see through the grass, were the straw colored walls of Rhodia, the Beastman city.
“Rhodia! You led is right to it, thank you!” Loren said with a smile, and was about to urge her horse on, when she heard Ma’trii whine. “Ma’trii?”
Kae came up beside her, wincing at the soreness in her legs and back from being unaccustomed to riding. “He doesn’t want to go any further. The Beastmen don’t like him, remember? He’ll probably be shot on sight.” She said, shifting uneasily in her saddle.
“Well…What do we do?” Loren asked the both of them. “Ma’trii, where does Kaiten’s trail lead? Into Rhodia?”
The wolf nodded, and gestured back towards the Beastman city.
Loren frowned. “But Kaiten is originally from there. Are you sure?”
Ma’trii seemed to sigh. He walked off some distance to the side, and pointed again, past the walls of the castle.
“He’s pointing out beyond Rhodia, princess.” Kae said patiently. “Not into it. The lion cub’s probably been taken somewhere north. We’ll have
