Will of a Prince

Three hours into their voyage, Slimo finally spoke up to everyone in the group.

"Hey, do any of you happen to be friends with three random people that I am unaware of?"

Maria looked at him with a weird expression.

"Everyone who would be outside Iron Kingdom’s walls is right here. How about you, Squabee? Got any friends we don’t know about?"

"Hmm... No. People think I’m too crazy to be friends with me."

Maria scratched her head and whispered to herself.

"I wonder why that is..."

Slimo continued speaking.

"I keep feeling this strange gaze of malice coming from three different things around us, but I have no idea what they are from. Every time I turn around to check what it is, it’s like its presence completely disappears!"

Lidia looked up at Slimo weakly.

"You’re just sensing things. I haven’t sensed anything at all."

Slimo rubbed his chin.

"Maybe you’re right. It has been a long day."

As the group continued walking, the three epigones continued their pursuit. When they finally came across a large stone valley, one of them prepared to make their move. The whispered to their comrade next to them quietly.

"I’m going to go for the big guy in the back. He should be the hardest to deal with first. One of them already seems to be incapacitated."

"Just give me a count down, I’ll be ready to strike once you reach your target."

"Okay. Three, two, one..."

The follower climbed over the rock, preparing to hurdle down towards Slimo. However, the moment he stepped on to it, a massive stone shard fell from above and pierced through their head before they could do anything. Their fellow follower looked at the scene in horror.

"What the hell just happened? Did one of them manipulate the rock surface?"

They steadied their breathing and kept an eye on their prey. No one seemed to be manipulating anything. In fact, none of them had even moved a muscle or seemed to pay them any attention.

"Just snap out of it. These people are nothing."

However, as soon as the follower turned around to jump into the valley, the mouth of an elder beast made out of stone opened its mouth underneath them, swallowing them whole before they could even make a sound.

Slimo got chills down his spine.

"Are we absolutely sure I’m not sensing things? I could have sworn I just felt an elder beast!"

Lidia leaned on Slimo more.

"Can you please just carry me! I’m so tired of walking already and I’m dying here! Who cares if an elder beast is going to attack us. And I’m not even that heavy!"

"I care about that! And no! I need to save my energy for whatever it is I’m sensing!"

Lidia made it look like she was about to cry. After staring into her brown eyes for a while, Slimo grunted and swooped Lidia up in his arms effortlessly.

"I hope you know if we die it’s your fault."

"Shut up, carry me, and find those trails already. I’m getting hungry!"

Slimo stared down at Lidia in awe.

’Why the hell am I getting bossed around?! They wouldn’t be able to do this without me!!’

The third epigone was still hiding on the other side of the valley, waiting for the attack to commence from their other two followers before they made their move.

"What the hell is taking those idiots so long? Did they forget about the plan?"

After waiting three more moments, they couldn’t take it anymore and prepared to jump off the ledge down into the valley.

"I’m done waiting for them. I’ll be able to take out two of them before they even have a chance to realize they are being attacked."

However, as the follower looked down, they started getting more and more nervous.

"Was this valley always this high?"

Their legs started to shake on the ledge. After slapping themself three times, they finally prepared to jump down.

"Just do it. Come on, just get it over with."

The more they stalled, the further along Jacob’s group went. They were going to miss their one and only chance at the element of surprise. Eventually, the follower felt their own urine coming down their leg and they hopped off the ledge and ran away.

"Are you kidding me?! There’s no way I’m jumping from that high up! I’ve lost my mind!"

As soon as the follower made some distance, they tripped on a small rock on the ground and fell into a large lava pit, evaporating instantly.

Maria started sniffing the air.

"Do you all smell that?! That smells disgusting!"

"I think Slimo just pooped himself from all the sensing he was doing!"

Squabee, Maria, and Doc started laughing at him. Slimo looked at them angrily.

"You damn kids. How are you both over twenty years old?! And that’s not funny! When has my bad feeling ever been wrong! And Doc, why are you laughing too?!"

"Because it was funny."

Jacob started slowly waking up from his deep slumber. When he opened his eyes, he was staring at the ground, and it felt like a lot of blood had rushed to his head. He looked around and saw he was slumped over Maria’s shoulder.

"Huh? Where am I? What happened to me?"

Maria threw him off her shoulder and stood him up in front of herself. Then, she gently kissed him on his lips and messed up his hair.

"I love you."

Instead of waiting for a response, she continued walking while holding on to his hand. Jacob was so dazed he didn’t know what to think of the situation. He scratched his head and looked at her a bit confused.

"I love you too?"

Maria smiled and looked back at him, smiling.

"Good."

Jacob wanted to ask a million questions about how they ended up in this situation or how much time had passed since he was asleep, but instead he kept walking forward with the rest of his group. He turned around and saw Slimo carrying Lidia in his arms.

"Any luck on finding some tracks?"

Slimo almost seemed hurt by this question, causing Jacob’s heart to drop slightly.

"Please don’t mention anything about tracks or senses right now."

’What the hell happened when I was asleep?! I was just asking an honest question!’