When Leigh got to the path, he took a deep breath in and out. He had dreamed of what he might see beyond the walls and the path, but never imagined it would be under such circumstances.
'Why do I still feel nervous even though I know others have passed through it?"
Excitement and fear alternated and took the main seat in his heart, but he pushed himself and took that first step regardless.
As he put his first step in the usually foggy space, he didn't feel any hindrance at all, so he continued forward.
As if the last bits of the shackles binding him had finally fallen off, Leigh felt liberated and light. He led the army and began to move forward.
Kayra was next to him to telling him where to lead his army next, as she already knew which path they had to take.
On their way, they finally saw what mysteries the path contained.
Rocks, lots of rocks.
But even rocks were enough to fascinate the passing villagers, as it was something they had never seen before.
Like new-borns, the soldiers looked around while they were marching. They would often whisper among themselves and point at the new things they saw along the way.
Flowers, a new type of rabbit, a green insect they never saw before. The novelties just kept on coming as they descended from the mountain.
And leading this army , the biggest new-born of them all was looking with big eyes at the new world unfolding in front of him.
"Leigh, if you don't close your mouth, a new type of fly might fly into it", Adamas chuckled.
Closing his mouth and glancing at his friend, Leigh continued watching his surroundings change as he started to approach the forest.
The climate was somewhat similar to that of the village, but the animals and plants seem to be quite different for some reason.
As they got to the foot of the mountain, they saw the forest that Kayra talked about.
Big trees, 10m tall towered above them, as the forest stretched as far as their eyes could see. The forest didn't seem to have a path, so the soldiers would have to walk between the trees.
"Although the environment is perfect to ambush an enemy, it also applies to us, so be careful", Leigh told everyone.
Having made sure that everyone was on guard, Leigh made them move forward under Kayra's lead, into the forest.
As they made their way, Leigh could hear a new type of bird singing its song in the trees. He took a deep breath of the forest air that he never visited before, and felt refreshed.
The vegetation in the forest seemed to be a mix of things they knew and things they didn't.
Leigh saw mushrooms growing next to tree trunks he had never seen before, and wondered if they were edible. But didn't have the time to found out.
They soon found themselves arriving at an open clearing in the forest.
Right as Leigh and Kayra got to the centre of the clearing, they saw someone coming from the forest.
It was Sica.
He came alone, and went straight to Leigh.
"The Nibo family head salutes the lord!", Sica greeted.
"Good to see you as well sir Sica. What have you found out since the last report.", Leigh said.
"Responding to the lord. The forest has no other village than the one 7km away from here. The village consists of farmers and a city hall. There was no trace of Ilis and his men, suggesting that this is not the city where the king and his family resides.", Sica reported.
"Hmm. We still know too little about the outside world. At this rate, we will never find them", Leigh said, and began to ponder about what the best way to solve this problem was.
Turning to look at those who came with him, his eyes fell on Liera.
She was the most social person he knew, able to befriend anyone she saw, and an easy person to talk to. Combined with the fact that she was a beautiful young woman, she became irresistible.
An idea suddenly popped up in his head.
Half an hour later, 2 figures could be seen exiting the forest and walking towards the little farmers village.
"Are you sure this is a good idea Leigh?", Liera whispered.
Leigh said to leave their armour behind to not rouse the suspicion of the villagers. So right now, she didn't have anything but plain clothes on her. It didn't stop Liera from exuding a certain elegance though.
"Of course it is! Just think of it as an opportunity to meet new people.", Leigh whispered back.
The village was surrounded by a wooden fence 1m tall, and there were 4 openings in it to enter the village. They were currently approaching the west entrance.
"Alright, showtime.", Leigh said after seeing a farmer exiting the village, "Liera work you magic."
Nodding and going along with Leigh's idea, she started approaching what looked like an old farmer that was carrying some farmer tools on a carriage.
It was still early in the morning, and it was about time that the farmers would start getting to work.
"Good morning mister! Do you have some time to show us directions? Me and my companion here seem to have lost our way.", Liera approached the villager and said.
"Oh, hi there young lady. How can you have lost your way so much to reach all the way here?", the old man chuckled and said with curiosity in his eyes.
"We are really bad at navigation, so we have no idea where we are right now.", Liera shyly said, acting embarrassed in front of the old farmer.
"Hahaha! For travellers, you sure don't have the essentials down. We are now at Lester Village. The utmost north-west village in this little country of ours.", the old man laughed and said.
"What!? Then we have really gotten lost!", Liera acted all surprised.
"We wanted to find prince Ilis Ilemo, but got lost on our way to him."
As if gulping down poison, the old farmers face suddenly scrunched in a disgusting way.
"Are you people that belong to the prince?", the old man said in a disgusted manner, and proceeded to spit on the ground in front of them.
Leigh saw the man's reaction, and understood that Ilis and his men already had a reputation here. He swept in the conversation to turn the situation around before they lose the chance to gather intel.
"Us!? Belonging to him!?", he said in an equally as disgusted manner. And spit on the ground as well, aiming his saliva to fall next to its predecessor perfectly.
"We only have a message to bring to him, even though we are disgusted to even look him in the face."
Relaxing slightly, the old villager seemed to have regained his calm.
"That bastard won't listen to any messages, I'll tell you that right now. The other day, we warned him from going up the forbidden mountain when he asked for directions, and then he proceeded to beat some of us up for not answering his question.", the farmer said in a angry and sad voice.
The old man did indeed look like he had received injuries by the way he walked out of the village.
Leigh's ears perked up when he heard the word 'forbidden mountain'.
"I don't seem to have heard of this forbidden mountain you speak of sir. What is that about?", Liera said when she saw the look on Leigh's face.
"Oh right! I need to warn you as well. Listen up kids, no matter what anyone says or promises, do not go up the mountain in the middle of the forest behind you."
"Why is that", Liera asked with a confused expression.
"Because demons live up there."