Chapter 199. Road to Eldridge

~Sun-World, Eldridge territory~

A fleet of carriages rode through the cold desert. The sand stirred beneath their clacking, rumbling wheels, dust trailing their path—rising like ghosts reaching for the moonlit sky, only to fall hopelessly back to the ground. The fleet comprised over twenty large carriages, each carrying a group of fairies, trolls, and soldiers assigned to guard them.

Annalyn and Elena sat together in one of the smaller carriages near the front, their vehicle pulled forth by two horses and guided by a driver who had his face wrapped in a thick scarf to protect it from both the cold and the dust.

Inside the carriage a single candle slowly burned, faintly illuminating Annalyn’s face as she slept peacefully on a bed of straw, wrapped in a dark brown fur coat. Elena sat opposite her, thighs tucked against her chest and her arms securing her knees. She stared at Annalyn’s small round face in silence. She looked exhausted.

After waiting for hours to