“Hah,” Lucien sighed as he felt the rushing wind whipping against him. They had only gone through the forest the first time he road on the giant wolf’s back, so he wasn’t quite able to experience the full impact of what this beast could do. But now that they were out in the open fields, the wolf had somehow gotten even faster.

  The increase in speed had taken a bit to get used to, but luckily it didn’t affect him too much. He wasn’t feeling nauseous or dizzy at all. And it would have probably been harder to stay on if it hadn’t been for the vines that had appeared to tie them all down.

  I wonder how the other’s are feeling? This is probably their first time on something like this, right? He was a bit unsure of that considering the difference in where they grew up, but he still wanted to check on them.

  He couldn’t see the people who were on the other wolf clearly, but he trusted that Aerin would be able to take care of them should anything happen. For now, he decided to check on those that were with him.

  There was a total of eight of them, including the Elder, so they were split evenly between the two wolves. It was him, William, Anthony, and Clara, while the rest were on the other.

  “How are you guys holding up?” He wasn’t sure if his voice could break through the wind and get to them, but he figured he’d still try. He shifted around to look at them, thankful that the vines moved around with him.

  The three of them were handling the situation very differently to one another. William seemed a little pale, though that was somewhat difficult to tell given how tanned he was. The easier thing to see was that he was almost lying down flat on his stomach and clutching at the wolf, as if he was afraid that he’d be flung off the instant that he let go or got up.

  Anthony’s face had taken on a faint sickly green hue, looking as if he was holding down something. It seemed for now that he was able to hold it in, but Lucien wasn’t sure how much longer that would last. It seemed that he couldn’t handle moving at such high speeds.

  Clara was handling things the best out of the three of them. She was hunched over slightly, but not out of fear. It was more like the way someone would sit when riding a horse at fast speed. Her eyes were darting around, looking between the wolf and the outside world that was flickering past in excitement.

  They should be fine. But I should make sure Anthony doesn’t end up vomiting on himself. That would be a pain for him to clean.

  While he had turned his attention elsewhere to think of a solution, he was unaware that his thoughts had come just a bit too late.

  Unable to hold on anymore, Anthony desperately looked around for somewhere to vomit, but that only made things worse. The contents of his stomach pushed itself out his throat. Thankfully, however, the vines stretched up the moment this happened, weaving into a basket and absorbed the vomit, leaving the place clean.

  Lucien thought he heard a rustling sound behind him, but upon looking back at Anthony and not seeing anything different he turned back around. Seems like he was able to hold it in. Maybe I won’t have to worry about this after all.

  Putting that to the back of his mind, he looked ahead and tried to figure out where he was. After a bit of struggling, he gave up and decided to lie down. Not much of a point in knowing where we are if we’re just gonna be gone in the next second. We’ll be able to reach them soon enough.

  Sinking back into the surprisingly soft fur, Lucien couldn’t help but think about the difference between traveling on this wolf and traveling on horseback. Then this made him think about his horse, Chase, that had been with him for this entire journey, and that was now with the elves.

  I really have been just leaving him everywhere, haven’t I? Once this is over I’ll return him to his stable so he can finally stay in one place.

  Lucien laid back and allowed all these thoughts to wash over him, as, for now, there was nothing else for him to do.

  The wolves continued bounding through the fields, forgoing the roads and any areas with people to take the most direct route they could without causing a panic.

  Compared to the trip to the Eternal Forest, it didn’t take long for the wolves to reach their destination.

  Not too far away, a small and quiet village had suddenly become boisterous and lively, as if they was a festival taking place. The people were active and running around, hurriedly putting up decorations, dragging out tables into the main square, and bringing out food and barrels of alcohol.

  Although it was hurriedly put together over the course of the past couple days, and was less extravagant than what could be found in many other places, it truly showcased their excitement.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  A grand army had appeared outside of their village a couple of days ago, saying they would rid this area of the bandits that had been tormenting everyone for so long. For the villagers that had had to suffer for so long, this was a worthy cause for celebration.

  The army was camped in makeshift tents in a large field a short distance away from the village

  The villagers brought food and gifts to the soldiers, currying favour as others drank and danced in merriment. To them, it was already clear that they would no longer have to worry about the bandits, and didn’t mind having to spend so much today.

  Seeing all of this, Elder Aerin raised her hand, bringing the wolves to a stop a distance away from the army and out of sight of the villagers. “We’ll go the rest of the way by foot.”

  The vines that tied everyone to the wolves unravelled before plunging into the ground and disappearing.

  The wolves lowered themselves to the ground, allowing everyone to get off. Anthony immediately dropped to his knees and vomited, while William walked shakily for a while, trying to get used to the feeling of walking again. Lucien stroked the wolf’s nose, only to get playfully licked, drenching his entire body in saliva.

  The two wolves then stood back up, shook themselves off, and ran into the distance away from the village, presumably to find something to eat.

  Elder Aerin’s gaze flickered between everyone, noting their rather unkempt appearances. “Let’s wash up first.”

  Finding a small stream nearby, Lucien and Anthony distanced themselves from the others so that they could clean up.

  The stream wasn’t deep enough for a full body soak, so Lucien started off by dunking his head into the water. He ran his hand through his hair, trying his best to get rid of the disgustingly sticky saliva. He then washed his arm and wiped down his legs.

  Next, he shrugged off his top layer of clothing and went to washing the saliva out of it.

  “Gods that was embarrassing,” Anthony said as he tried to remove the stubborn stains that had clung to his clothes from his most recent attempt to vomit. Seeing that it wouldn’t come out, he sighed. “Luckily I brought a spare change of clothes with me.”

  “Well, if it makes you feel any better, I won’t tell anyone. The others though...” Lucien shrugged, receiving a sharp glare from Anthony.

  Still upset, Anthony begrudgingly used a little bit of fire magic to dry their clothes. The two got dressed and went back to the others. By the time they got back, the rest had tidied their clothes and hair that had been thrown out of sorts by the wind, and William was feeling much better.

  The group walked the rest of the way to the army’s camp, attracting the attention of the soldier’s patrolling the area. Some instinctively reached for their weapons upon seeing a group of individuals coming from the opposite side of the village, but relaxed when they were able to clearly see who it was.

  “Bring us to the commander,” Captain Vernon ordered, to which a nearby soldier nodded and brought them to the main tent in the centre of the encampment.

  Pushing the tent flap open, Captain Vernon walked in, followed by Elder Aerin, then the rest.

  Commander Vernon, as expected, was looking down at a map, her eyes constantly shifting between the map and a set of papers she was perusing as she tried to locate the bandits main base of operations.

  Hearing the footsteps, she looked up at her younger sister and the rest of them, before settling her eyes on Elder Aerin. “It is an honour to meet you.”

  “Likewise.” She lightly nodded.

  “I need to talk with the Elder, the rest of you are dismissed,” Commander Vernon said, her eyes already drifting back to the map on the table.

  The group bowed and left under Captain Vernon’s lead. Stepping outside, the group was unsure what to do now that they had some free time.

  “Go join in the festivities. We might be needed later.” The captain waved them off, allowing them to do as they pleased.

  The group quickly split off from each other. Some went to rest, others went to get food, and Anthony dragged Lucien and William towards the village to join in the fun. William didn’t seem to particularly mind, but Lucien didn’t really want to go.

  Noticing Lucien’s sluggishness, Anthony, who was already far ahead, turned around. “Come on, stuff like this doesn’t happen often. Just relax and have some fun.”

  Resigned to his fate, Lucien willingly let himself get dragged along when he really just wanted to go back and practice his swordsmanship. He was so close to achieving his goal, and knew that practice was more important now than ever before.

  But seeing all the happiness on the villagers faces, Lucien decided that one night of relaxation wouldn’t hurt.

  Some people were still rushing about, and food was still being brought out, but the festivities were already underway as the sun began to set. There was music and dancing, and even a small arena where some soldiers were showcasing their skills under the gaze of the cheering crowd.

  Looking at everything, Anthony was itching with excitement, wanting to jump into the excitement to wash away the embarrassment from earlier.

  The trio filled their plates then found a small table off to the side and sat down.

  “Haven’t been able to relax like this in a while.” Anthony sunk down into the bench with a sigh. Anthony continued talking endlessly while Lucien and William occasionally put in a word or two.

  They were already long used to Anthony’s talkative nature. Albeit, it wasn’t usually to this degree, but considering what happened earlier, they weren’t particularly bothered by it and just allowed Anthony to unwind as he saw fit.

  The trio ate and drank, fully enjoying and relaxing in the warm atmosphere.

  While eating, Anthony’s eyes would sometimes dart over to a young woman who was dancing in the middle of the town square. His gaze became increasingly enamoured with the beauty and grace with which she moved.

  He wanted to go over, but he also didn’t want to leave behind the friends he had dragged here.

  “We’ll be fine, go on and enjoy yourself.” Lucien pushed Anthony to his feet and nudged him towards the group of dancers before sitting back down.

  Lucien chuckled, finding a slight amount of joy watching Anthony behaving like a lovestruck idiot.

  After a while, the two finished eating, and William walked over to a nearby table to talk shop with the farmers sitting there.

  Now alone, Lucien quietly watched the others as he allowed his mind to relax.