Extra's Guide to Surviving a Dark Fantasy World-Chapter 47: Obryth the Third

In the end, we managed to come up with a simple plan.

Before we approached the caravan it was important to determine if they were hostile or not. The last thing we wanted was for us to approach them only to be swarmed by a group of armed and possibly stronger than us reflections.

So that’s what we did. For the next few days we constantly followed the caravan, while using Stormraven to carefully analyze their patterns. Thankfully their movement was much more similar to our own. They would set out in the morning, travelling throughout the day, thankfully heading north and would set up camp exactly at sun down.

There they would make a large camp and use the scaled lizard-like beasts and the carts to surround it in a circular formation. A group of well armed guards will come out to patrol throughout the night in shifts, while another group, dressed in much better clothes would come together in the center near a bonfire, where they would sit around, talk and maybe even celebrate with dancing.

Honestly, if I didn’t know any better, I would have absolutely assumed them to be normal humans.

It was on the fourth night when we decided to finally make contact. The three of us sat huddled together in a single tent, desperately fighting off the cold desert. We had decided not to use fire for the last couple of days for fear of being discovered by the caravan, only consuming whatever canned food we had left.

Honestly this was just a precautionary measure. We weren’t exactly sure if they could even notice something like this. But we decided it was better safe than sorry given Aria’s knowledge on the subject matter and my first hand experience with those ladies in the red robes.

"We have to treat this as another human interaction, meaning it’s important that we keep our stories straight," Aria spoke.

"Our style of clothing is completely different from theirs, not to mention that out of the three of us, only the two of us speak the language," I added.

In the end, I had revealed to Tess’s shock that I spoke ancient Khravean. I had initially planned to keep this a secret, especially since the language was typically reserved for nobles. However, with Aria already suspecting my noble heritage, there didn’t seem to be much point in hiding it anymore.

We were busy finally finalizing our plans when I noticed something from the eyes of the stormraven.

"Wait," I spoke, stopping Aria from continuing. "There is movement in the camp."

Both of them became alert at the same time as I began describing what I was seeing.

"There are guards outside the camp discussing something... one of them is pointing in our direction."

"Have they discovered us?" Tess questioned.

I shook my head. "It doesn’t seem like it; they are still standing there talking."

I was busy giving them details about the guard’s movement when Tess’s posture suddenly became alert. We were about to ask what was happening when she rushed out of the camp, sword-ready.

We followed as well, only to see her striking at empty air.

A soft clang resounded through the air, causing Aria and I to immediately take out our weapons.

Tess took several steps back as well, standing in front of Aria, her sword ready to strike at a moment’s notice.

The air shimmered in front of us for several moments revealing the figure of a man in his mid twenties dressed in golden armor, his body covered in white robes.

"I can’t believe you saw through my illusion." The man spoke in perfect Khravaen causing me and Aria to stiffen up.

This man, he must have secretly left the caravan using that skill of his and Stormraven had been too weak to see through it.

"That sword style of yours as well; it seemed a bit too refined for a bunch of raiders." He spoke once again, his gaze deeply analyzing each one of us. I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling this guy gave me. It was as if, with barely a moment’s effort, he could take down the three of us in an instant.

"We aren’t raiders." Aria immediately blurted out, perhaps sensing the same feeling as well.

"Then why have you been following us for the last couple of days? Not to mention that bird, it’s one of yours, correct."

"Apologies, my lord. We are but mere travelers who got stranded in the desert; our stuff was lost in the last sandstorm. Rude as it might be, when we saw your mighty caravan and a large group of warriors, we weren’t sure if it would be safe to approach, so we decided to keep watch." I bowed my head while speaking in perfect Khravean. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Tess and Aria looking at me with their eyes wide open, but I ignored them.

Whoever this guy was, we needed to show him respect 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

"At least this one has a little respect." He spoke. "Your clothes, they don’t look like they belong to Elduvar’s dominion; where do you come from?"

"We come from the other side of the shattered sea; we are mere traders who lost most of our crew in the previous sandstorm. Once again, please forgive our insolence for spying on you."

The man looked at me carefully, his eyes scrutinizing my every move. Seconds passed, and I began getting a little nervous. No way was he going to believe it was he?

"Other side of Shattered Sea, huh? Oh, whatever." The man shrugged and sheathed his sword.

"I honestly don’t care about any of that; I was only going to use you as an excuse for proving my master of arms’s incompetence anyway."

Suddenly, the air around us began to shimmer once again, revealing the figures of a dozen or so armed guards. All of their swords pointing in our direction.

"Rejoice, oh traders from the shattered sea. I am Obryth, the third of my name, and I am going to take you to Sarhina, the most beautiful city in the world."