The Transcended: My Lord

Chapter 47 (the final chapter)

Lord Deminas returned riding a horse with three more in tow behind it, bound to one another with rope. "We're in luck: a scout came by and now we've got some basic supplies too. However, that also means we can't linger."

Meya gave him a crooked smile. I hope his death wasn't a swift one.

He dismounted and eyed Gail and Nina who sat beside Lea's shallow grave—now covered and adorned with a few picked flowers. "We need to go."

With a nod of respect to the grave, Nina rose and studied the golden-tan horses with dark manes. After a moment, she approached the last horse in the line and smiled as the gelding reacted in a friendly manner. "I'll take this one, if that's alright."

Lord Deminas nodded, attention still on Gail. "Gail, we need to go."

She was still shuddering and sniffling from crying and didn't react.

He turned to Meya, and, getting the hint, she rushed to Gail. "Hey, come on, now. Stand up. We need to get out of here." She helped Gail to her feet. "Can you get on the horse?" Gail was hunched, hugging herself, and moved slowly.

Patience running thin, Lord Deminas paced over to her. He grabbed her and unceremoniously helped her mount the third horse. She squeaked and hugged the horse. "Put your feet right and sit properly. I don't want you falling off."

Although she still didn't speak, she did obey, albeit with a trembling lip.

Lord Deminas growled in annoyance, but he turned to Meya next who was already standing near her horse. The fact that she'd waited for him caused his expression to soften slightly. As he helped her get into the saddle, careful to not reopen her wound, she breathed in his scent and stiffened.

"You're bleeding."

His eyes shimmered and he smiled, impressed. "Just a few arrows. The wounds are already closed."

Meya noticed the broken links in his hauberk: on his arm, his shoulder—though she didn't smell any blood there—and more just below his collarbone. Before she could say anything else, he walked off and mounted his own horse.

Lord Deminas led his horse back into the field, the others following in tow. Allowing the animal to set a pace itself, they were quickly galloping westward, away from the castle.

~⚜~

After thoroughly scavenging an abandoned cottage for supplies, Meya went back outside to Lord Deminas. He was busy taking inventory and strapping newly obtained items to their horses. Without pausing, he asked, "Any luck?"

"Some dried meats and roots, my lord." She gave him a half-full leather bag. "There was a lot more food, but... spoiled." She sighed then added, with a smile, "But I found some extra skins, which I filled with water from the well. So now we've got five." She handed them to him. "And I also found some coins in a jar."

The lord attached two skins to his saddle and distributed the others. "At this point, we need to take whatever we can."

Meya looked at their acquired mounts and their cargo. Leather bags with garments and blankets, two bows, a quiver with arrows, two axes—one taken from the enemy and the other, a little rusty, found in the cottage—cups, a cooking pot, two bags of food, and another smaller bag containing the silk packages of human meat. Now if we could only make a fire... Her stomach grumbled and she blushed.

Lord Deminas gave her a small smile and removed the smaller bag, reattaching it to her saddle instead. "Try to eat some later."

She fumbled with the dress she'd scavenged from the old cottage—it was a little musty but whole and clean. "Thank you, my lord." She licked her lips. "How long will this last me?"