Angel Monarch

After half an hour of lying on the ground, Sera finally collected enough energy to try to stand up. Her eyes gradually opened and as she was about to move, she noticed something soft cuddling her side.

Her head turned and while a headache was splitting her skull, she stared into the golden eyes of a white hippgoryph.

Seeing her friend safe and sound her eyes turned teary. Slowly she tried to reach out her hand, but the excruciating pain stopped her from doing so. Kastral noticed how much suffering she was in, and gently place his head on her hand.

With a bit of chuckle she began scratching his chin, but then suddenly a large amount of essence appeared in her depleted soul. With a gasp and wide eyes she stared at her mount, who was just enjoying the pets with closed eyes.

"What?... Did you think I would let you suffer in pain? Am I that horrible to you?"

This time she actually began to cry, and with slow and methodical movements she placed her head on the hippogryph's.

"You could have done it sooner... You know how painful it is to get hit by five ascended all over your body at the same time?..."

They both laughed, then just stayed in that position for a good while.

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Eventually they separated and when Sera rose to her feet she was very surprised. All around her people were staring with shocked expressions. There was a few hundred of them at least.

With a calm demeanor she looked at each member of the crowd, which seemed to make them uncomfortable. They began looking at each other, then slowly they knelt before her.

As the people went to one knee in subordination Kastral only watched Sera. Something was different about her, instead of looking uncomfortable like she used to, there was a small smile on her face.

It looked strange, but he always suggested for Sera to act more like a leader, so who was he to judge. While she stood all proud, he stepped behind her and spread his massive wings. From the people's position it looked like she had a pair of angel wings.

Her head turned around and with a kind smile she nodded towards him.

"You probably wonder who I am! The answer should be obvious to you, I'm your savior! But you haven't been fully saved yet, we still need to reach Flensburg, an outpost north of here! So everyone loot this camp taking everything you deem necessary! We move out at first light!"

After finishing she stood there waiting for objections, and when non came she just went and climbed onto Kastral's back. He made a loud screech as they took to the skies leaving the people in an awed state.

...

On the eastern horizon the sun had only started to brighten the sky, but on the ground a large group of humans were already marching towards their destination.

Many of them wore the goblin's armor, they looked ridiculous since it wasn't made for beings the size of humans, but every small protection counted in the wild.

Luckily they had found someone with a working watch so the knew exactly where Flenburg was. The group was led by those four people Sera had initially met, one of the girls seemed weirdly familiar to her.

In a fleeting memory she saw a girl whom she used to attend the academy with back in Newber. No matter how hard she tried to remember, it was only a small fragment of the memory.

When she didn't remember that, she tried to recall farther into the past, but soon realized her whole mind was full of gaps. She had no recollection of the name of her friends, what her parents done for work, or even how they looked, but as always she forgot about the feeling of loss as well.

Sera rode in the skies watching over the group, but everything seemed strangely peaceful.

"Looks like those goblins thoroughly cleaned out this area from monsters... They were at least useful for something... Those bastards!"

Her rage was trying to creep back in, but she learned from her past mistake and didn't let it take hold of her mind. Kastral looked back at her with concern, he already started to notice the changes in her personality.

It has been going on for a while now, she was more on edge, easier to rile up, and worst of all... more hollow. When first they met each other she was full of love and joy, but now she seemed a bit broken. He tried to forget about it and remined himself how much she went through these past months...

'I will definitely talk with Bea about this... Better safe than sorry!'

The group walked until midday when they had to take a break. Sera walked between groups, they didn't seem to be in a talking mood since most people stayed silent.

Walking through the camp she heard something strange coming from her left... Children and laughter. Stealthily she approached the source of the sounds, there she saw a few kids holding sticks and mock fighting each other.

One of them a girl with light blond hair said she was someone called The Goblin Slayer.

'Who is this Goblin Slayer she tries to impersonate?... Sounds very arrogant to me, who would call themselves that?...'

With a small smile on her face she moved on to speak with the person named Bran. He was the designated guide for the group, and a very resourceful person who nearly began worshipping Sera every time he saw her. It was a bit uncomfortable at first, but she got used to it fast.

As she walked, the people stared at her and even bowed their heads. She didn't even look at them and just held her chin high. From their point of view she was like a king or a deity. They can witness her and pray for her help, but their fate is purely hers to decide on.

After a few minutes she finally arrived at the front of the convoy where Bran and the other three were currently staring at a map. From a few meters away she watched them without announcing herself.

"So Bran how far are we exactly?" Asked the black haired woman. She was pretty average looking, but a lot better than some of the other captives.

'She is pretty new to the encampment, maybe a few months...'

"It's hard to say, the terrain around Flensburg is basically a marsh. Walking through it with 436 people will be a challenge in and of itself."

"Hmm... We are currently here right? That's about what, 25 kilometers? How fast do you think we can make it to Flensburg." Said the red haired woman who felt even more familiar when Sera saw her up close.

'That face, those eyes, that hair... Where had I seen her, maybe back in Castleburg? But that wouldn't make sense, I spent less than a month there and she was captured long before that... But that only leaves Newber, I'm not the only survivor?... That still doesn't explain the familiarity though...'

She was beginning to lose herself in these thoughts, when she noticed the sudden silence around her. The four of them stopped talking and were instead looking at the ground, their faces showing nothing but reverence.

"My Lady, what do you need from this humble servant?" Said Bran without looking up. Sera needed a lot of self control to not roll her eyes. It was truly hard to talk with your followers.

"I just wanted to know how long do you think the journey will be?" She said in a perfect monotone, her voice contained a slight demand inside of it too. It was also full of authority, which gave it another sense of need.

"We are about two or three days away from Flensburg! It will depend on who bad the marshes are in this time of year." He said still not looking up.

For a second or two she stared at him, then just slowly nodded and said, "Good job, Bran!"

Hearing his name from her mouth made Bran's whole existence tremble. It felt like his god had spoken to him.

Without any more word Sera moved on. She went to a bit of stone outcropping and sat down. Watching the plains was peaceful, but deep within her mind she felt that something was off.

The feeling of loss was a permanent companion for her.

'What is happening to me?! Why do I feel this great sorrow?... I should be happy! We are only a few kilometers away from our destination... The others will be waiting for us there! They will find out that me and Kastral are fine, Bea and Vicky must be worried sick...'

The feeling of depression only increased the more she thought. With a bit of shakiness in her hand, she touched her cheek. It came away wet... teary.

'Why am I crying?... Am I forgetting something?...'

Quickly she recalled everything that happened to her in this life, which weirdly enough wasn't much.

She was born to a good family, but she couldn't recall any of it's members. She went to some kind of school, but didn't know it's name or what she was studying. After the destruction of her city, which's name she couldn't remember, she stumbled upon his current friends and family.

The events after that were clearer, but still a bit foggy. It felt like some kind of darkness was creeping in her mind making it harder to remember events of the past.

While Sera was holding her head and struggling to recall who she was, in the large group of humans an old man was staring at her from afar.

He was old, but weirdly enough quite fit. His hair was mostly gone on the top and what remained on the sides was white as snow. The whitish-blue eyes of his, were covered by a pair of welding glasses, and he wore a large lab coat.

While looking at Sera's inner struggle, on the old scientist's face a cruel and satisfied smile appeared.

[End of Part 2 – Angel of Hope]