60— murmuring and distrust

Juniper ,Elm ,Oak, Maple , Red fir , Beech and Pine. Lily looked round the woods, identifying the trees as she and her people passed them. She remembered with a small sting of pain the first time she came into these woods. Baba Mbari had gone on one of his journeys and he'd asked her to accompany him. She'd been so delighted. She'd learned her first fighting moves here, in these woods, practicing with her now dead friend and running around, feeling the forest dew in her hair.
Those were some fond memories she would cherish forever and venturing into these woods had somehow sprung her feelings of nostalgia. Shaking her head, she directed her attention somewhere else, banishing the flow of memories from her head. They would do her no good, she thought, walking faster to keep up with the group she was walking with.
The fighters were at the front, supposed to be led by her but instead she was reminiscing on past events that brought nothing but shame and pain whenever she remembered them.
The priestess, led by Ralph by her side was looking around as well, eyes alight with memories. It showed that Lily was not the only one who had history in these woods. Even the cold and daring, such as the priestess still had a soft spot for these woods.
Lily walked past them, passing Ralph who just grimanced when he saw Lily but didn't utter a word. It was startling because Ralph held a blantant dislike of her, for what reason, she was not sure. It had something to do with the priestess, Lily was guessing but in actuality, she didn't really care. Ralph was nothing but a termite in her thoughts. Small and erradical.
"Commander," one of the fighters called out. Lily snapped out of her thoughts and hurried to the front where the fighters, made up of both men and women, all very feral and tough looking were conversing amongst themselves.
"Yes?" She answered, one brow raised, waiting for the fighters to talk. On a normal day, maybe she might have remembered whatever his name was but at the moment, her mind was not even here. She just wanted to get this fight over with, hoping she wouldn't see Nicolas throughout. It was a far thing to hike for but it was what she wanted. Or rather, what she thought she wanted.
"How far is it to the wolf kingdom? The noon waxes clear and bright but very soon, dusk will approach us, leaving us open to attack." The male fighter stated, giving her a narrowed look that told Lily he clearly die not trust her to lead them to safety, even if they were by a far chance, attacked.
Clearing her throat in order to get a little of the command she used to have in her voice, she addressed him.
"We are not too far off, soldier, from what I have been able to gather, we will approach it soon. But I fear that night will meet us on our journey there," she said and a whisper went round the soldiers, the murmurs of the female soldiers louder than the rest.
"We are going to ba attacked, I knew it. How foolish it is to embark on a journey that will not only lead us travelling into the night in these woods but also open to attack," a female soldier spat from where she stood.
Another murmur went round and this time, Ralph seemed to have joined them in the whispers. She scoffed. As if Ralph wouldn't have something to say. She was fearing he had more words in his brain than the number of braincells up there.
"Are you to tell me, soldier," Lily said in a louder voice, halting the whispers and drawing curious eyes to her face.
"That you are suddenly afraid of night? Or of an attack?" She questioned, seeing the soldiers shrink under the new scruntiny. Goddess help them if they were to help the wolf kingdom with them behaving like a bunch of children.
"If you are afraid, you should not hesitate to mention it, soldier. We are not too far away from home and you can still run back there since fear grips you so," she thundered and the soldier's face flushed in embarrassment.
"Of course not, commander. I was just stating my opinion of things," the soldier said, melting back into his crew. After a sigh, the small group started to walk again and Lily thought she saw the priestess give her an encouraging smile but it was gone as fast as it came, it was probably imagined.
A short bout of silence ensued with only the sound of crunching leaves under their boots and sharp intakes of withheld words to fill it. Lily again, fell behind the group as she walked slowly, taking in the freshness if the woods.
It was spring, she was aware and that was the time when all was green and filled with life. Spring certainly suited the woods because it brought out the beauty and tranquility it possessed, all the while staying simple. Nature was in fact, very beautiful.
As she stared round, the group in front of her clearly thought it was ok to whisper amongst themselves now that Lily's attention was taken up by something else.
"She's no commander, I tell you that. She appreciates nature, looking round like some awed child while leading us to our death," the whisper, small and faint as it was flew to Lily's ears and it hurt more than she was expecting it to but she gave no indication of hearing it.
A familiar voice spoke now and Lily identified it as Ralph because he couldn't whisper even if it bit him in his pea sized brain.
"You got that right, Serin, we're on a fool's errand," he agreed and Lily crushed her teeth together, buying her tongue in the process in order to withhold her words.
Let them talk, she thought with a false sense of nonchalance. It's what they do best.
"And also, why are we saving the wolf kingdom? Are we not supposed to take it as our own as well?" A voice, this time female viciously whispered.
"I don't know why Lily wishes to save them. It is as stupid as walking through these godsforsaken woods." Someone else agreed.
" We all know she wants to help her vampire lover, Nicolas after he failed. Besides, we could use more lands, could we not?"
Vampire lover? Lily indignantly thought. Nicolas was not her lover! He was just some bloodsucker with a mouth full of lies and a head full of stupid ideas that had charmed her for his own selfish end. She was not saving the wolf kingdom because of Nicolas. She was doing it because it was her destiny and that spirit had told her to do so. That was the reason.
She blinked the tears out of her eyes and slowed her place so she wouldn't have to listen to more of the gossip but the soldiers were far too engrossed with their conversation to bother to keep their voices down. It didn't matter if she stopped walking altogether, she would still hear it.
"You children speak as though you do not have brains," the cutting voice of the priestess shook the woods, reverberating and cutting off the murmurs that was a painful cacophony in Lily's ears.
"Your commander is leading you to help the wolf kingdom not in her own interests, but in order to restore peace and calmness." She boomed. All attention was on her and Lily watched the old but wise woman who she had,at one point, hated defend her.
"You all know the wolf kingdom is now under the rule of the souless and merciless king Eric. Unlike his son who you consider to be a devil, king Eric does not possess a sliver of humanity. He will, coupled with the vampire lands and the wolf lands now in his control, wage war against the rest of the supernaturals because he thirsts for blood and war." She explained, her strong voice capturing the hungry gazes of the soldiers who nodded in understanding.
"So don't think this is being done for the commander's same because it is not and I'm sure none of you here plan ahead if not, you would've realized that that is exactly what we are doing.
"With king Francis locked up still, his daughter rendered incapable and the vampire king ruling their lands with no mercy in his tight iron fist, he poses a threat to us."
The priestess fell silent but then tried to continued again after a short pause. Ralph went up to her, the bag he always carried along with him sling on his back but the priestess only shook her head. Lily then understood that she had not been the only one enduring the gossip, the murmurs or the resentful stared since. The priestess had picked up on it but had decided to keep them quiet.
Now, she had reached her breaking point. Her patience had snapped and she was lashing at them because she was the only one who could talk to them, Lily realized, still staring at the woman in awe, without any sort of confrontation.
"Commander Lily does not lead you to your death, I assure you that. The only person leading anyone to death is yourselves if you keep up that thought. Lily is the savior, the one to save us and if anything bdoes happen, she will emerge stronger than before and still be victorious because it is her destiny!
" All these is her destiny and she is merely fulfilling it with you as her side because she is a leader and carrying people along is what she does. You might want to appreciate what you have because the generation before you had no savior and still survived." She said on an end note, huffing as she did so, snatching her stick out if Ralph's hands and walking down the path while the group uncertainly followed behind.
Lily hid her smile and continued to walk on, ignoring the stares pinned on her as she carefully took each step for step.
The priestess may have been a pain in the behind for white some time but she knew the right way to set people straight and calling people out in their errors was one of her best trait.
"Commander?" A voice rang out again, breaking the momentary silence.
"How are we to ration the food?" The young soldier asked and Lily sighed.
"I'm sure there is enough for everyone," she replied, looking ahead to show the conversation was over but the soldier walked alongside with her, breaking out if his clique who just watched in interest. Lily wondered what she'd ever done go them.
Sure they were headed to the wolf kingdom's buy was that the grudge here? Speaking of wild kingdom, she didn't even know what to do when they got there. It would be very suprising to everyone when she declared she had no plans. What was she to do? March go the throne room and remove the vampire king from a throne that wasn't his? It was just all too much for her to continue to handle.
Vaguely, she wondered where Nicolas was. Where had he gone to hide? Surely , he wouldn't hide in the vampire kingdom because his father was as bloodthirsty as he was crazy. He had fled the werewolf kingdom and he hadn't come to meet them for help. So where was he? She was sure the slimy man had a truck up his sleeve, a backup plan like he always did and so, she banished him from her thoughts.
"Commander," the soldier reminded her that she was in the middle of a conversation, bringing her out of her thoughts. In all actuality, she didn't want to even be here. She wanted to be in her cave, head cradled in her hands as she listened to just the calming sound of silence. Sad, her destiny had not entailed that as well.
"What is it, soldier?" She almost spat, getting quite infuriated with the soldiers. With the way they were going, they would not get to the wolf kingdom in time, the way she wanted it to be.
"Where are we to pass the night?" The young soldier persistently asked. Lily felt the thread of her patience snapping under the strain.
"Whereever we can, I believe we will just sit for some minutes, maybe an hour to eat and rest and then, continue out journey again. We will reach there under the cover of the night, I'm sure," she stated in an end of conversation voice, walking ahead and leaving the soldiers behind.