Will of a Prince

Three days past before Lidia was able to fully recover. On the final day, she woke up Slimo by grabbing on to his shirt and shaking him.

"Slimo! Wake up! You need to make breakfast!"

Slimo screamed as he woke up to see Lidia attacking him. He quickly wiped the sleep out of his eyes and sat up slowly.

"Couldn’t you give me a few more minutes?! The sun is hardly in the sky!"

"But I’m hungry."

"I know you’re hungry. I’m sleepy."

"So?"

Slimo looked at her and pouted.

"What have I gotten myself into?"

"I’ll go hunt us some good meat! I’ll be right back!"

Lidia dashed through a clearing in the woods, leaving everyone stunned at her energy. Jacob walked over to Slimo and patted him on the back.

"Is it just me, or does Lidia seem more energetic recently?"

Maria rubbed her chin.

"Maybe the remedy is giving her a lot more energy to do some work. She could also be excited to finally be able to move again."

"Either way, it isn’t a bad thing for us."

Just as quickly as she left, Lidia returned with a massive creature with its head missing. It was still bleeding over her shoulder as she held it.

"I got one! Do you need me to help you chop this guy up?"

Slimo looked at her surprised.

"That was extremely fast! Excellent job Lidia! And yes, you can chop him up. That would be greatly appreciated. You can leave the seasoning to me."

Lidia blushed, ran over next to Slimo and slammed down the body. She smiled brightly as she picked up a sharp knife made of stone.

"Sounds good. I’ll get this done in no time!"

Lidia started slicing through the creature at insane speeds. Blood started flying everywhere as she slashed through the carcass. Some fell on to Slimo’s face, causing him to flinch.

"Hey, treat it with respect and slow down a little! The last thing we need is for you to accidentally cut yourself!"

As Slimo finished his sentence, it was too late. The creature was sliced into thousands of perfect, tiny pieces. He looked at the pile in awe.

"This is incredible! Where did you learn to cut so well?!"

Lidia puffed out her chest proudly.

"My mom taught me a thing or two growing up. I also got to cook meals for the Rose Clan whenever I got the chance."

"It’s perfect! I’ll pour the seasoning all over it and we can cook it all over the fire."

"Where did you get the seasoning?"

"I made some using the herbs around the area. Isn’t nature awesome? We can make medicine and seasoning directly from plants!"

Lidia simply nodded and helped him pour the seasoning over the large stack of sliced meet before skewering large chunks of them to roast over the fire. Atfer everything was cooked, they all sat in a circle and ate their meal together. Maria and Jacob sat next to each other while Lidia kept Doc company. Slimo was in charge of giving anyone seconds who requested it. As they finished eating, Jacob started discussing with everyone what the plan should be moving forward.

"We made it through the desert, but there’s still no telling how far away these cultists could be. How do we know we haven’t passed their base of operations yet? What if it was hiding in the desert and we missed it?"

Lidia stared off into the distance.

"There’s no way for us to tell. We were only given a general direction. However, I’m sure there has to be some sign that we can follow that will lead us to them."

Maria cleared her throat before giving her input.

"Mom is right. Think about it, these cultists need to have signs put up to lead them back to their home somewhere or else that risks them getting lost in the world. Maybe we should start looking for anything in this forest that stands out."

"That would be extremely hard to do. What if they have an enchantment hiding its presence that can only be revealed to the members of the cult?"

Jacob thought to himself for a moment before looking down at his right arm.

"Maybe it can react to one of us, Maria. Since this mark seems to be somehow connected to them, there’s a chance that we would be able to view these signs too."

"That’s a good point, but how do we know where to look? This forest could go on for hundreds of miles for all we know. And I don’t think we should split up. That’s the last thing we need right now."

As everyone continued talking, a small woman with light blonde hair watched them from the forage of the woods. She was wearing a dark hood with a skull mask hanging from her hip. Her eyes were glistening staring at the meat hanging above the fire. Her pink eyes were studying all of the people carefully as they continued talking. Her beathing was steady as to not make any sound. She started whispering to herself to make note of what she was seeing.

"Five people. One old man, one middle-aged guy, a young man, a middle-aged woman, and a young woman. All seem peaceful. The food looks delicious they are cooking. They seem to be talking about a cult. The food looks really tasty. All of them have a powerful presence to them. I’m getting hungrier just staring at it. Wait... did I say there were five people or four people? Where did that middle-aged guy go? Was there even a middle-aged guy? I don’t remember!"

A hand gripped the nape of her neck and lifted her up slowly. Slimo studied the woman cautiously before carrying her towards the group of people.

"AHH!! PUT ME DOWN YOU CREEP! I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING!!"

The woman kicked and squirmed in Slimo’s grasp but couldn’t break free from his iron grip.

"Hey everyone, look what I found in the woods."

He threw the woman on the ground in front of him. Everyone looked at the woman lying in the dirt in disbelief. They noticed the clothes she was wearing as well as the mask that was on her hip. Maria was the first to stand up and take a step back.

"It’s a cultist! Everyone be careful and don’t let her touch you!"

The woman lifted her face off the ground and stared at them surprised.

"Touch you?! Why would I want to do that?! Your buddy here already did plenty of touching to me! I’m the victim here!"

Jacob pulled out his bone sword and pointed it at the woman. She winced looking at its sharp edge.

"Who the hell are you and why were you spying on us?"

The woman groveled on the ground.

"I wasn’t spying! I just smelt the meal you all were having and got curious! I will leave you all and be on my way! I promise!"

Jacob looked at her confused. This was the least intimidating cultist he had ever seen. The girl could not have been more than two years older than him or Maria. Not only that, but she also seemed to be a complete coward.

"How are we supposed to believe that?"

All of a sudden, a deep growl came from the girl’s stomach. She lifted her head slightly and blushed.

"Sorry..."

Slimo walked over to the fire pit and ripped off a stick of meat roasting above before handing it to the girl. Lidia looked at him in shock.

"Slimo?! Why are you feeding her?!"

"I can tell that she’s telling the truth. Besides, I sense zero hostile intent from this girl. I simply felt her watching us and wanted to see what this was about."

The girl grabbed the meat stick and took her time enjoying the delicacy.

"This is delicious! Are you a professional chef?"

Jacob didn’t know what to say. However, this was their only chance to get information to find out where their friends were being held, assuming they were still alive. He cautiously asked the woman more questions, trying the get as much information as he could.

"You never answered my first question. Who are you?"

The girl looked at him innocently with a smile on her face.

"My name is Squabee! Nice to meet you!"