Leafaria. A One Last Knight side story.

It took a long time, but finally we were there.

Seather: The great city of mass strength.

As we approached the city, I noticed that it wasn't the kind of place you could just walk into. Like most of the towns and villages nowadays, Seather was surrounded on all sides by a huge wall that covered even the tallest homes within its boundaries.

As we grew closer, I noticed that the gates, though huge, were not our only problem.

There were six powerful-looking guards in front of the main entrance, each with an even more powerful-looking weapon in their hands.

At about 50 yards from the gate, Smith pulled the cart to a stop and jumped off the cart to the ground below. Himora and I just sate and stared at him in stunned silence. As he pulled a small knife from his pocket and began to whittle at a piece of wood that he had produced from his other pocket, Himora was first to speak.

"Um...aren't we gonna...you know...go in?"

Smith was like a rock. He simply sat and whittled away at the wood as if nothing had been said. This time, Himora wasn't as polite.

"Okay. Maybe YOU have time for a break, but WE have to keep moving. Since the whole 'village loss' thing, we probably shouldn't stay still for too long."

Smith still didn't budge.

Something in the direction of the town must have bothered him, for he wouldn't even look towards its gates. The Dwarf was stubborn and wouldn't be moved...

Not by anyone or anything.

"Me ain't goin' ta dat city, boyz. Ye can go an' do whatcha hasta do, then come fine me when yer done."

Smith climbed to his feet and walked to the back of his cart, where, upon arriving, he sat back down and continued his whittling.

"Don't think ye gunna getz me ta go dat way...Cuz ye won't"

Himora's earlier argument didn't seem to have any type of effect on the stout little Dwarf, so we gathered up our belongings and climbed down the side of he cart to the hard-packed dirt road below.

"Uuh...I guess if you don't want to come, we can't make you."

I said, heaving my hag over my shoulder.

"Paladine himself couldn't make me."

He replied bitterly.

"Fine, be that way."

Himora said in a calm, yet mocking tone."

"I've never seen an adult act like such a baby... let's go, man."

As much as I didn't want to admit it, Himora was right. Smith was just being stubborn, and I knew he meant it when he said he wouldn't go in, so I didn't even give it another try.

"I guess this is goodbye."

Smith stopped what he was doing for a moment and looked into my eyes. A mixture of fear, shame, and honor flickered within his gaze for just a moment, then the fear and honor faded.

"Aye..."

He said, then he slowly continued to cut away at the little hammer that now started to take shape from the piece of wood he was carving. Himora and I hadn't said anything for the first few minutes after we left Smith and his cart behind. It was an awkward feeling to be away from him since we had been traveling together since after the raid on my home, which now felt so long ago. Himora and I had grown a lot within the past two months that had passed. Not so much physically, but a lot more mentally than anything else.

"I knew this was going to happen..."

I thought aloud.

"One day we would be together, then the next, you and I would be on our own again...we just weren't meant to be with him for long."

Himora knew me best.

"Yeah...that's you, alright."

He said with a light laugh.

"Wha...what do you mean?"

I asked, growing slightly offended by Himora's sudden outburst.

"You always were the sentimental one between the two of us."

He started.

"I had a feeling we would all go our separate ways sooner or later. When we first met the guy, I could tell he was a lone wolf. He didn't really like company..."

Himora was right.

Smith seemed like a pretty strong dwarf who would prefer to be alone. He was always quiet, and didn't even talk to me and Himora if it wasn't necessary.

Just then, a hint of fear shot through me as a horrible realization popped into my head.

"Him...Himora? What happened to Kerina?"

Himora's eyes widened, and his sword slipped from its home, pulsing with the will to protect.

To save.

To kill.

"HURRY!"

He shouted as we both turned on our heels and ran full speed toward our comrade.

"I knew we couldn't trust her! I knew it!"

Himora shouted between breaths, his hair shifting wildly in the wind made it seem like he was moving twice as fast as he really was.

"WE CAN'T JUST ASSUME THAT SHE'S THERE TRYING TO KILL SMITH!"

I shouted to him in an attempt to slow him just a little, but in the back of my mind, I was thinking the same thing he was.

"We have to make sure he's okay. He may be capable, but we're his friends. We have to make sure he's okay."

Himora was right. I knew that in my heart and mind, so I quickened my own pace.

As we grew closer to the cart that we had left but 50 yards from the main gate, my fears were confirmed by the sounds of seemingly small womanly screams of pain. It had to be pixies, and that had to be Smith striking them down.

"I TOLD YOU!"

Himora shouted with an 'I-told-you-so' tone in his voice.

"Yeah, yeah! Later!"

I responded as I braced my spear and headed toward the battle that had broken out.