The Rules of Blood

Volume Two ; Chapter 106 (322) - The Stone that Woke the Valley

Blanc clicked his tongue twice, pulling his new horse by its reins.

The mare was a beautiful black with a leather saddle on her back, just enough for two people to ride on top of her.

“Are you two comfortable?” Blanc chuckled, turning his head towards the women on the mare’s back.

“It’s… weird,” Velakia, who sat in front, grabbed onto the saddle itself as if her life depended on it.

Sera just laughed as she sat behind Velakia, her arms holding onto her waist, “Give me the reins, Blanc, I’ll teach Velakia how to ride.”

“Before that,” Blanc began, putting a hand above the mare’s nose. “What should we call her?”

“I have a name,” Velakia smiled, thinking now how much that random encounter changed her life. “Silvia.”

Blanc smiled warmly, remembering all that had happened that day, “A fitting name. Silvia, it is.”

“Then,” Sera put her hands forward. “Let me see what Silvia can really do.”

Blanc pulled the reins over Silvia’s head and placed them into Sera’s hands.

“Sera, p-please, do not go too fast,” Velakia stuttered.

“Why?” Sera chuckled lightly. “Does speed scare you?”

“Sera, take it slow at first,” Blanc sighed, “She won’t know how to hold herself or move with the horse without falling on her head.”

“You know I ride horses better than you do, little brother. No need to lecture the master,” Sera laughed, before, with a flick of her wrist, made the reins hit Silvia’s back. “Hyah!”

And with that, Silvia dashed forward, while Velakia was throwing curses at Sera for ignoring her request.

[Translated from Iskahese.]

“Tell me, Tahreni,” Lendros sighed, “Why the fuck did we let the Princess get on top of a horse?”

“Because she ordered us,” Tahreni scratched at her forehead.

“She will be fine,” Blanc entered the conversation, the most difficult of words still a challenge to pronounce, “Sera is with her.”

“If the Princess gets hurt, you know I will kill you, right?” Lendros muttered, looking at the back of Blanc’s head as they walked.

“Lendros,” Tahreni clicked her tongue, annoyed with her old friend and his quick temper.

“Don’t worry,” Blanc replied. “Almost nobody rides a horse better than Sera does.”

And in ten minutes, Blanc’s words became evident to the two, since by the time Velakia and Sera returned to the three of them, Velakia was the one holding the reins.

“This is so fun,” Velakia laughed, as Silvia came to a stop in front of the three. “Should I take you for a ride, my dear Blanc?”

Blanc chuckled, “Humble yourself before you learn how to fly off a horse as well.”

“So is that a no?” Velakia muttered.

“I never said that,” Blanc replied. “Make way, Sera.”

“Be careful, you two,” Sera laughed, getting off the horse. “It would be bad if you were to break a bone.”

“I jumped from way higher places,” Blanc grunted, getting up on Silvia, behind Velakia’s back, “But even if I am to fall and break something, I at least have someone to blame right… here.”

“Get your hand off my hair,” Velakia hissed. “You lack trust in my abilities.”

“Well then, show me your horseriding abilities, my dear,” Blanc invited.

Velakia flicked her wrists, “Hyah!”

“...”

“Flicking your wrists won’t do anything if you don’t hold the reins,” Sera corrected.

“Bahahaha, whoa-” Blanc almost fell off Silvia’s back laughing, which seemed to have made Velakia annoyed enough to correct her mistake before Blanc could recover.

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“HYAH!”

And gone they were.

“You are crazy!” Blanc held onto her waist once he balanced himself.

“That’s what you get for laughing at me,” Velakia replied, her waist moving upward and backward, matching Silvia’s momentum.

“I think we have a bigger issue,” Blanc muttered, the wind moving his gray hair however it pleased.

“I feel the issue waking up,” Velakia began laughing. “A bigger issue indeed.”

“This woman…” Blanc sighed, clenching his jaw.

“Hey! Where are you putting your hands? I’m focused,” Velakia argued.

“I call it, focusing under pressure,” Blanc chuckled, dragging his finger across Velakia’s thigh, until he too felt something grabbing him. “Wait! You need to hold the reins with both hands. What are you doing?”

“Focusing under pressure, just like you taught me, no?” Velakia taunted, a hand behind her, doing to Blanc exactly what he was doing to her.

And so they rode and fooled around, changing places and taunting each other for a straight hour, making sure to return to Sera, Lendros, and Tahreni from time to time, letting them know they were fine and whole.

After that, with Velakia as translator, Lendros, followed by Tahreni, joined Sera on Silvia’s back, as she taught them how to ride.

Both failed spectacularly.

Especially Lendros, who, as it seems, had a fear of large beasts.

Which finally made sense as to why Lendros panicked in the fight against the giant mole.

But before long, in a small valley, with only dirt, a small patch of grass, and a dead tree as the only vegetation around, they decided to camp there for the night.

Now, more important than ever, as all that taunting from earlier in the day got too much into Blanc and Velakia’s heads.

Still, they acted properly.

They tied Silvia next to the patch of grass, set up their tents, cut up some wood from the dead tree, started a fire, had dinner, and talked about the road for the next few days.

Once everything had been discussed, everyone went to sleep early.

All except Blanc and Velakia, as yet again, have found a reason to busy half their sleep time with other nightly activities.

However, an hour after midnight, they too went to sleep, to ensure they won’t be needing any for a few days.

Half an hour before dawn, Blanc woke up, still naked.

And after donning a clean pair of clothes, he quietly went outside, planning to let Velakia sleep a little bit longer.

But before he rekindled the fire, he went to Silvia, who snorted heavily when she saw him, letting her head bobble from side to side.

“Are you that happy to see me, Silvia?” Blanc whispered, a smile on his lips as he placed a hand on her snot. “We barely met yesterday.”

And after the mare bopped him with her head, Blanc finally revealed what he held in his hand.

“Fine, fine,” he sighed, opening his palm to reveal a fistful of nuts and raisins, “A small treat for doing a good job yesterday. But this is it, be good today, and I’ll give you more tomorrow, understood?”

But Silvia did not reply, only chewed on her newfound treats, satisfied with herself.

Blanc stood there for a few good seconds watching her eat off his palm, before, out of nowhere, the silence got interrupted as a small rock rolled down into the valley, catching the attention of both Silvia and Blanc.

“Hmm,” he muttered calmly, despite the weird feeling this created in him.

But he decided to act upon it, just to be safe.

“You stay still, okay?”

And in a rush, he darted from tent to tent, shaking Tahreni, Lendros, and Sera awake.

He offered no explanation for barging in, and none of them asked. If Blanc was in their tent, it meant something was wrong.

Just before he entered into his and Velakia’s tent, he caught sight of a dust cloud rising beyond the valley, back along the road they had taken.

Something was coming.

So… it wasn’t his imagination after all.

He dropped to his knees beside Velakia and shook her awake.

She startled upright, eyes wide. “What? What’s wrong?”

“Get dressed. Quickly,” Blanc ordered, already strapping his pack shut.

Outside, muffled gasps and curses in Iskahese carried through the dark outside as all of them hurried to collapse the tents and gather their belongings.

Velakia pulled on her last layer of clothing, glancing at him. “What’s coming?”

“I don’t know,” Blanc muttered, pulling the bed back into the marble. “But trouble all the same.”

They rushed outside, and while Velakia rushed to speak with Tahreni and Lendros, Blanc began to bark orders while collapsing his tent.

“Sera, take Velakia with you on Silvia,” he pulled one of the hooks from the ground. “Me, Tahreni, and Lendros will run alongside you.”

Vibrations came from above them, and while he did not stop unmaking his tent, his eyes were at the top, waiting to see what came from above.

The vibrations slowly intensified, the dust cloud approaching closer and closer.

It was just enough for him to manage to throw the tent into his backpack when a soldier clad in armor, riding atop a red lizard, approached and looked down into the valley.

When the soldier saw them staring at him, he unsheathed his sword, waving it behind him.

Blanc’s eyes went wide, recognising the coat of arms on the man’s armor.

“Blood fucking Seraph,” he muttered, drawing the attention of everyone.

“Blanc…” Sera panicked, half in tears already.

Blanc clicked his tongue. “Hurry, take Velakia, and the damn horse, and go.”

“But-”

“Go, I said!” Blanc clenched his jaw, looking back up towards the top of the valley.

They were in the worst place possible for an assault.

He was careless.

But at least the rest listened.

Sera placed her and Velakia’s bags on Silvia’s side, and after helping Velakia on before she too got up.

“Brother,” she said.

But Blanc was too caught up in the whistling that came towards them, making the dark sky even darker as tens of arrows were falling towards them.

“RUN!” Blanc yelled.