We decided to travel through the Beastarian Kingdom to reach the Orc Kingdom, as we'd made sure to tell the kings before we left.
After stopping briefly before the bridge to gather ourselves, we crossed.
Unlike every quest before this, we had no direction—no idea where to go or how to find the Orc King's castle.
Outsiders hadn't been there in years. We'd be the first.
So, with no buildings in sight, we just picked a direction and headed into the woods, making sure to leave a trail of glowing arrows behind us.
The spell probably wouldn't last long enough for the knights to see it—but it was for sentimental reasons. So I figured, why not?
The sound of our horses' hooves against the dirt filled the air as we searched for any sign of where to go, careful not to let our guard down.
It was just us again—just like old times.
Then we saw it—a forest of enormous trees. We decided to head toward it.
"These must be the trees they used as bridges," I said as we entered.
Once inside, I realized they were so tall I couldn't even see their tops.
The foliage was dense, and we could see animals moving through it as their calls echoed all around us.
"What kind of tree gnome lives up there?" Alva joked.
Talos started humming loudly.
Then Alva joined in.
We laughed.
"Uri, you want to climb up there to check?" I asked.
He pretended to jump off the horse, and we all burst out laughing yet again.
Unfortunately, we weren't tricking tree gnomes this time, but that memory never faded.
As the forest floor grew muddier and stickier, I sighed. Great. A swamp.
"Maybe this isn't the way," Alva suggested.
"Maybe it is. Let's just not get stuck again—especially with the horses," Talos said, leading us carefully.
Knowing this wasn't a good idea, I whispered, "Sorry, Juniper," and we went anyway.
As we trudged through, I couldn't help but wonder—how had we not seen any signs of them? Any traces at all?
I knew they were completely self-sufficient. The orc knights that invaded—that was their first time doing anything like that in many years. Other than that, they didn't really interact with the other kingdoms.
But why live so far away?
And how did they know where to go with no clear pathways? King Wey was right about it being untamed here, but this was more than I expected.
Or maybe we just picked the wrong way to go.
Dead trees surrounded us, and the croaks of frogs echoed through the swamp.
Talos lifted his halberd. "This wouldn't work as a butter knife, would it, guys?"
"Don't worry, frogs—your tongues are safe today," I said.
We laughed.
"Ya know, I kinda miss that old sword, but I'm glad I have this instead," Talos said.
"Look," Uri said.
We turned to see an area of dark, shallow water and dead trees. Old stone structures crumbled nearby, the whole place looking long abandoned.
Finally, signs of civilization—but not quite what we expected. Something told me we still had a ways to go, but maybe we were heading in the right direction after all.
As we passed the ruins, I couldn't help but wonder what that structure had been in its time.
By the time the sun began to set, we were still trudging through the swamp—until, thankfully, the ground began to dry and open into grassy plains.
"We should set up camp around here," Talos said.
I conjured the supplies I'd prepared for us, and we settled in for the night. I started a fire while Uri insisted on hunting for food, claiming he wanted to test out a new technique he'd been practicing.
While we waited, Alva tended to the horses. I looked through the spells I'd bought, crafted more arrows for Alva's stock, and polished Talos's armor while he did pushups.
A little while later, Uri returned—and Alva did too.
"Fish and rabbits," Uri said, hauling the catch with a proud smile.
"I'm so happy to—I'm starving," Alva said, sitting down. "Wait, why are you so happy?"
"The technique… it's almost there," Uri replied.
"And you're still not gonna tell us what it is?" Talos asked, finishing his workout.
"Trust me—it's worth it," Uri said.
"That scroll was a real blessing, huh?" I asked.
"Yes," he replied, setting the food over the fire.
"I'm surprised we've found nothing. Nobody. No traces of them either," Alva said.
"Me too," Talos replied. "You guys can go to bed first—I'll keep the first watch. Then Alva, you can go."
"Huh?" Alva objected.
"That's fine, I can go second," I said.
"Thanks, Vel," Talos said.
"Then I'll go," Uri added.
"No, I'll go third. Uri, you can take the last watch," Alva said reluctantly. "You got the food—you've earned some rest."
We ate, talked about the journey ahead, and then went to sleep.
The next morning, we woke up thankful that nothing had attacked us in the night. We didn't camp often, and it had been a while since the last time, but all in all, I'd had a pretty good night's rest.
While we were getting our gear on, I noticed Uri's daggers on the ground near him instead of hidden under his cloak as usual.
Out of curiosity, I took a closer look — and realized something.
"Uri," I said, "your daggers are so dull."
He blinked in confusion, then put one in my outstretched hand.
I conjured a whetstone and sharpened the blade.
My father's a blacksmith, remember?
When I handed it back, his eyes widened.
"You've been fighting with dull daggers this whole time," I said. "Just imagine what you'll do now."
"I… I didn't realize. Thank you."
I should've known sooner. This whole journey, he's never bought a thing — not even a single upgrade.
One by one, I sharpened Uri's daggers. When I was finished, we packed our supplies, ate some leftovers, and mounted our horses, ready to head back out.
We continued on our way, the land not changing much now from rolling grassy hills until we saw a massive sight in the distance.
Mountains.
An extremely tall mountain range, in fact.
We immediately knew that was where they were.
Minutes turned into hours, and with our destination finally in sight, we were a little more focused than yesterday.
As we drew closer to the mountains, we realized they were capped with snow—a rare sight for us humans. They towered higher than any I'd ever seen, their peaks brushing the clouds.
There was no doubt the castle rested at the summit.
Then, for the first time in this kingdom, we spotted the start of an actual trail. We followed it.
By evening, we reached the mountain's base, where the path split in two.
The left trail was steep and rocky, leading straight upward. The right curved gently around the mountainside, a longer but safer route.
None of us could make a decision, so we decided to camp there for the night to sleep on it.
We slipped into our usual routine—Talos trained, I crafted and reviewed my spells, Alva tended to the horses, and Uri went out hunting.
When we woke up that morning and started getting ready, we saw the knights had caught up to us—several dozen of them.
After a moment of wondering how they managed to reach us so fast—sure, we'd left an arrow trail—but I also remembered our horses were on the lower end, at least according to the stables. To me, though, Juniper was the finest horse I could've asked for.
"Talos Party, hello," one of the knights called out.
"Hello," Talos replied, walking toward him.
"I'm glad we caught you before this fork in the trail."
"Yeah, we're still figuring out which way to go," Talos said.
"We're setting up camp here. Some of us will stay behind to tend the horses while the rest head up the mountain. It gets colder the higher you go, so we're leaving ours here — you should do the same."
I hadn't even thought of that—but it was a good idea. Thank goodness they came when they did.
After stowing our horses with the knights, the four of us returned to the trail to decide which way to go.
Left was steeper but faster. Right was gentler but longer.
I figured Talos would want the quicker route—he was always the straightforward type.
Talos walked ahead, scanned both paths, and noticed something on the ground beside the right one.
He crouched down and picked it up.
It was a flower.
A yellow tulip—the same kind the fairy had picked for us in the flower field.
He turned it over in his hand, then looked at me with a small smile.
"Let's go right," he said.
We followed the gentler path, where more flowers began to appear, and the grass grew taller and thicker until Uri and I could barely see above it—like we were sinking into a green sea.
Talos led the way, cutting through the brush, when Alva suddenly spoke up.
"Talos, let's just give them piggyback rides."
Talos looked at him, then at us, then back again.
"Okay," he said with a grin.
Uri and I hesitated.
"Come on, guys," Alva insisted. "It'll be fun."
"Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it!" he chanted, with Talos joining in.
"Oh, what the hey," I said, climbing onto Alva's back.
Uri hesitated for another second before climbing onto Talos's.
And just like that, the four of us ran through the tall grass, laughing the whole way—piggybacking toward destiny.
The sight of it—the legendary Talos Party, on their way to face the tyrant Orc King, with the fate of the kingdom in their hands, sprinting through a field like children—would've been something for the citizens to see.
But this is exactly what made us who we were: our bond, our friendship, our trust.
Because in a world full of danger and uncertainty, small moments matter.
Something Talos finally understood.
After some time—long enough for the laughter to fade into quiet focus—we reached a point where the mountain path leveled out, and in the distance, the cities of the Orc Kingdom came into view.
We climbed down from our noble steeds and took it all in.
Finally, we'd arrived.