"It sounded like they were describing hell itself. It is beyond me why they would do such horrible things."
With that last comment Berk went silent for good. Henrik let out a lamenting sigh, glancing around at the half a dozen immature faces around him. All of these boys had volunteered to join him in this mission that would probably last until the very end.
A little further away to the side, sitting around a few other campfires were similarly sized groups of mostly females. They had also volunteered albeit in much greater numbers.
The conditions within the walking city had become quite dreary as of late. Most of the people had opted to follow Dai Zhi's orders and undertake the new series of missions that he personally handed out.
So the moment an opportunity was made available to leave the city all the people left behind jumped at it.
And although Henrik didn't know exactly what was going on, he could still read the room quite clearly. He took everyone that was willing and left the walking city.
He patted the back of one of the boys to his side while standing up, "Come on, cheer up. No use thinking about things like that now so just focus on the mission at hand."
They simply bobbed their heads up and down as Henrik walked towards the outside of their little encampment.
At the very back away from all the other makeshift tents were two wooden structures. The first one had its own campfire nearby around which were three figures, and the other was painted in darkness, silently brooding in its shadow.
Henrik stood just outside the boundary of the first one, watching in silence as the three figures talked and laughed merrily. This little slice of heaven was Hao Xuan's camp and the people sitting inside were obviously the ones he knew.
Fulke, Hazel, and lastly Salome, the simpleton native that Hao Xuan had picked up after arriving on the planet.
Fulke and Hazel were Henrik's closest friends and did everything together so when it was time to move they were naturally leading the pack. And since they were all going and Henrik couldn't get into contact with Hao Xuan, he brought Salome and the camp with him.
After a quick look around to make sure no one was watching, Henrik reached into his shirt and pulled out a paper talisman. He held it between his fore and middle finger and brought it up to his forehead, mumbling under his breath.
"Oh great spirits of the land lend me your strength. Allow me to converse with my kin!"
The talisman abruptly caught fire and started burning from the top down with a pale blue flame. Henrik swiftly closed his eyes while repeating that same line over and over again but the talisman continued to wither away until there was nothing left.
Henrik slowly opened his eyes while shaking his head dejectedly.
"It has been far too long since I was last able to talk to you cousin. Please contact me as soon as you are able to, there is a lot going on down here and I'm not sure how to deal with it alone."
He was about to take a step forward towards Hao Xuan's camp when a voice interrupted him.
"What do you mean by a lot going on?"
If this were a cartoon Henrik's heart would have popped out of his chest. He jumped back like a startled kitten until he saw who it was.
*Cough*Cough*
"Princess Ceni, you should really announce yourself before approaching someone. It is unbecoming of a lady," he said while clearing his throat but then he realized that he hadn't heard her coming at all or even felt the slightest bit of her presence.
Even standing just a couple of meters away he wasn't able to feel any signs of life from her but at least for the time being, he elected to keep his thoughts to himself.
Henrik stood up prim and proper, taking a respectable stance.
"W-What brings you out tonight?"
Ceni shook her head once, "Nothing. I was just coming back," she gestured towards the second wooden structure to the side.
"Oh," Henrik nodded silently before remembering something. His eyes lit up as he hopped towards her, "Did you find him then?!"
Princess Ceni threw him a wary glance and took a step back.
"Yes."
"Great!" Henrik giddily clapped his hands like a young schoolgirl, "Where is he then?! Did you bring him? Is he with you or coming sometime after?" he fired multiple questions while looking left and right.
Princess Ceni's expression darkened upon seeing such enthusiasm from him. A tinge of bloodthirst unknowingly leaked out which brought Henrik back to reality.
"W-What?"
He stepped back.
"Keep your hands off of him.. He's mine," she stated as a matter-of-factly.
