Chapter 229: The Next Step

{I wanted to let everyone know that I have a p-a-t-r-e-o-n with two new exclusive stories on it. One is The Aeternus Universe, and the other is a new story with a basketball system. I hope you guys will give it a chance. The link is /easyread. Remove the dashes. Webnovel censors the word.}

It's been a few hours now, and night has fallen. I've kept the same speed at max, and we've made some progress, but The Kingdom of Pleer is very far from The Kingdom of Zenith and its lands. There are so many kingdoms it's a little strange. There are very few empires. I've never been to a capital of an Empire. "I'm pretty tired... Mind if we stop and sleep?" Sally sounds very tired. I oblige and bring us down into the dense forest. I gently let her off once we land, and I quickly set up the tent for us to rest tonight.

historical

She immediately climbs in and snuggles the soft furs. She releases a deep sigh. I didn't even get a chance to find a good spot. I crawl into the tent myself and lay next to her. She reaches over with her eyes closed and lays her arm across me. "It's not as comfortable as a bed, but I still have my pillow." She pulls her body to mine and lays her head down on my chest. I'll admit that I'm mentally tired myself—the peaceful sleep that will be away and uninterrupted by anyone. The constant service at Amelia's mansion was getting annoying.

I close my eyes and slowly drift into sleep. The night slowly passes, and we both sleep deeply. I see a bright light coming through my eyelids, and I flutter them open. It's the sunshine rising through the treeline. Since it's not above the tree yet, it's bright beyond belief. "Errrmm... Turn of that bright light..." Sally is obviously not happy with the incredible amount of sunshine coming through the trees. I slowly lift my body and rub the gunk out of the corners of my eyes. Sally flops down on the furs as I continue to move.

I exit the tent and stretch my body as I bask in the sunlight. "Don't sleep in too long, Sally. We have a long journey ahead of us." She grumbles from inside the tent as I say those words. I chuckle to myself, and I quickly make a fire. I still have meat leftover from the last time I had to go hunting which is nice. I sit next to the fire and pull some of it out of my inventory and dig in. Protein is important, and as someone who is taller than most, I need that energy. After I'm about halfway done eating, Sally finally crawls out of the tent with messy hair and crusty eyes.

I laugh out loud seeing the state she's in. She looks at me in annoyance and bares her teeth. I calm down and toss her some meat too. She quickly digs into it as if she isn't a woman but an animal. I watch in amusement as she makes a good case of being a wild animal. I stop staring and look back into the fire and enjoy my food too. "We could've slept in longer if not for that damned sun... Why doesn't the thick forest block it out!" I close my eyes and drone out her ranting. She needs some time to wake up, and that's fine.

A few minutes later, I'm finished with my food, and I can see that Sally is still hungry. She finished hers before mine. Now that she has food in her, she isn't as cranky as she was. I toss her some more, but this time she calmly eats it. "You could've fooled me..." I lightly mutter a condescending sentence under my breath, and she darts her head at me and glares. She quickly stands up and tries to tackle me. Inside it's like she hit a tungsten steel pillar. She tries to move my body from where I'm sitting, but I'm not allowing it.

She gives up and sits next to me. "Thanks for the food..." I wrap my arm around her as she says that. We both eat our food in content silence. After about 10 minutes, we are both fully awake, and I put out the fire and pack the tent up. I place it in my inventory, and now that we are ready to go, I toggle my wings on, and I kneel. "My favorite part of the day!" Sally makes sure that I feel her energy and excitement for the calm and relaxing flights the next few days until we reach Pleer. I smile, and I launch off the ground, and we are quickly above the clouds.

I look down at the passing forest as I flap my wings to reach max speed. I decide to fly higher than normal and keep ascending. After a second or two, I'm even higher above the clouds. "Why are we up so high?" We don't have to yell at each other at this speed since her head is next to mine. "It's really nice up here, though..." Flying through the clear sky is awesome. Clean air free of any pollution, and it once again brings me back to the state earth was in when we were taken here. So many things wrong. Nothing here is like earth in terms of environmental health.

As Cera and Sally travel to the Pleer kingdom, there is some commotion in the capital city Pleer. There are rumors that Slayer Zern is coming to their country. Many don't know the destination Slayer Zern is heading for, and many nobles and royals in the capital are terrified for their lives. The nobles and royalty in the Pleer city are terrified that Slayer Zern will do to them as he did to the nobles in Bellvia. That day was marked as the first time a king's royal subjects were killed, and nothing could be done about it. There is a Hames family, in particular, that is worried.

I slam my fist on the table, reading the secret reports. My father's horrible pass time is coming back to bite this family, and he isn't alive to pay this debt. I'm worried because there is a report he is traveling with an elven girl. That was one of my father's favorites. I was glad the day he died. The disgusting pig of a man deserved it. As his only daughter, his actions repulsed me. My older brothers were like him in many ways. I have to wait before I can make my move. "I swear on my name, Kelly James, that if Slayer Zern shows up here. I'll convince him to kill all of you." If all my brothers die, I can inherit the Barony.

I lean back in my chair and lay the paper on the counter. This can be my only chance to right the wrong of my family and shut down the slave trades going on in our land. I hear a gentle knock on my office door, and it slowly opens. "Lady Kelly, your eldest brother Kaden is here to see you." Great, the worst of all, my brothers. He is about 25 years older than I am, and I'm 20. He had the most exposure to our father, and that has caused some twisted logic to enter his mind. "Shall I send him?" I compose myself and nod my head. My butler leaves, and I think about today's visit.

He is certainly here to discuss something about Slayer Zern. He must be terrified and desperate for some sort of answer. The door swings open, and Kaden charges in. He stomps towards my desk and slams a report on my desk. "THE DAMN ELF THAT SLAYER ZERN IS WITH USED TO BE ONE OF FATHERS PLAYTHINGS!!!" I immediately pick up the paper and look at the report: a half-elf named Sally, born from a bandit that our father hired. Now I know for certain they are coming here for our family. "What the hell am I supposed to do?!" I lay the sheet of paper down and look at Kaden.

He will be the one to pay for our father's sins, and he isn't exactly clean himself. He has slaves himself, and it disgusts me just as much. "I fail to see how any of this is my problem, Kaden. I'm not in the line of succession, and once I renounce my name after my marriage, I'll no longer be a part of this family." In truth, I've been trying to overthrow my brothers for years, and I've made lots of progress. I need that one final push, and Slayer Zern will hopefully give that push. Kaden's face twists in anger, and he leaves the room.

I'm the only one in the family with any political savvy and talents with money. Kaden comes to me often with problems. Thinking he is entitled to what I've created for myself, and that is where all my idiot brothers fail. They don't own me like they do their slaves.