Dark and Cold

“Escape the clutches of the king, even if it means killing. Show ‘em no mercy, Leith.”

Those words from earlier, spoken by an unfamiliar voice, echoed through my mind.

It’s dark outside. Dark and cold. Not a ray of sunshine permitted through the sea of clouds. At any given moment could their sky-stored water come pouring down. No birds travelled the heavens, nor were there any visitors in the castle’s garden. The harsh wind was the finisher to the weather’s ominous effect.

I casted a backward glance over my shoulder. Six heavily armoured Royal Guards were out for my head, running at the volume of a stampede.

Facing forward again, I saw no other choice but to run through the neatly kept flower field. This circular field is filled with blooming ice maidens; my favourite flower. It fairly stings trampling them, but I need to cut my route of escape shorter.

At the sound of a horn blown, out of the castle was yelled, “Four to three at the gates!”
It was Hradsig who was yelling. He’s not our army’s strongest tactician, but he’s good at quickly drawing up a plan. When we were defending Sterngrove from a raid, he lead our outnumbered unit to victory because of his quickness. On top of that, he’s also the one usually in charge of beating minor monster attacks.

Though I suppose he’s an idiot for forgetting that I am a guard in training and understand these codes as well. Four guards to rush from the gates for every three guards supporting from afar with magic. Idiots. A minimum of eleven against one, but for some reason I’m confident I won’t lose.
As I ran through the white flowers, deliberately slowing down my pace ever so slightly, the guards ran around the flower field.

Reaching the field’s diameter in line with three guards on each side, I slid to a halt and sprinted back to where I came from at full speed. Looking behind me again, I saw the guards dumbfounded by my feint, trailing behind me once more.

Feeling lighter and faster than ever before, I could envision my escape. Through the backyard of the castle, over the many fences, but I couldn’t just be tunnel-visioned on a single route; I envisioned many more. Another turn-around, a feint, or even a straight-line sprint about a hundred strides to the Port Gate.

“Hugo, summon a weapon already!” one of the Royal Guards yelled out.

“I can’t, am too low on stamina.”

Huogoberth, an A-rank Royal Guard. Unlike most in his rank, he doesn’t possess a unique weapon, but rather the ability to summon any type of regular weapon. Hence why he’s called the ‘Jack of all trades’.

This is… kinda bad.

Any throwable weapon could take me out. I’ve seen him summon javelins, throwable axes, daggers… In this split second of thinking I realised that not only can he summon any throwable weapon, he could also use any weapon as a throwable one.

“We’re losing ground here, just do something already!”

“Argh… gotcha. Master of far-range hunting, come forth!”

With a single glance over my shoulder I saw his body getting in posture to summon. One of his hands reached out in front of him, whilst he pulled the other one behind his head. A bright flash of white light emerged before his eyes, and then it appeared—

—A bow… this is a bad-bad kind of bad.

Summoning regular weapons is not what would get you a rank so high; it’s his ability to effectively wield any weapon combined with his magic. He casted yet another spell.

“You ain’t escaping this one. Endurikr, grant me your strength, Quick Draw!”

A prayer to the God of stamina…

When he uses Quick Draw, for each passing second, ten arrows release from his bow. Over my head and to both sides I saw flashes of lightning-quick arrows soaring through the air. Five over my head, two to each side. Every second I counted, and every second an arrow was missing in action.

Somehow, not a single one seemed to have hit me as I reached the Port Gate.

“That’s…” his body collapsed on the ground, “…all I’ve got.”

Five against one now, me having a massive upper hand with the distance I’ve gained.

Through the Port Gate—a cobble walling, within the larger defensive walls, connecting big cities like the capital to the current main port—I managed to shake the guards off by running through the masses. Everyone I ran by turned their heads my way, which isn’t surprising since you don’t often see people sprinting here.

At the crossing to Fryzwald, I climbed over the wall towards the Rippleflow river. Once I managed to make it there, I was out of breath and hiding behind a bush. Somewhere in between puffing for breath, a complacent grin appeared on my face. I was never one of the fastest at the academy—perhaps the slowest even—and just now I managed to outrun six Royal Guards.

Look at me now, Odin! I’m sure I’d beat you in a race, too!

I instantly felt a sense of nostalgia surging through my veins. I haven’t seen him in a while, since I was locked away until now, but the two of us would always make a competition out of anything back at the academy.

He wanted to become our kingdom’s strongest champion and I always aimed to be an arch-grandmaster; the tactician in charge of all other tacticians and therefore in charge of the entire army.

I pulled back the sleeve of my button-up shirt, revealing my wrist and the black ink-engraved “001”. I let out a hefty, hopeless sigh. This boost in physicality is undoubtably thanks to the experiments they ran on me. I let out another one.

So much for my dream, huh…

From the moment I sat down, sweat had been dripping down my forehead. To cleanse my face, I leaned over the river, nearly tumbling in upon seeing my reflection.

An arrow— no, at least ten of them were stuck to my back. I tried plucking one out using my reflection as aid, but as soon as I locked eyes with myself—

—I noticed that I wasn’t looking at myself.

This person in the river… didn’t look like me at all. My fluffy brown hair had turned straight and pitch black—with a little hint of purple here and there. My eyes, too, turned purple. I leaned a little more forward, delighted at seeing that the scar on my neck was still there.
So this is me after all, huh…

I swung my arm over my neck and instinctively started plucking the arrows off my back. Only when I was done I questioned how they were even stuck on my back without me realising it.

A little scared, but equally curious, I ran my fingers over my back from the bottom up. I came to halt, my eyes heavily widening in surprise when I felt something sharp poke my finger. I traced the sharp parts by tapping on them—I don’t want to slice my finger open after all. It kind of felt like a blade. But I wasn’t done tracing, I felt another one.

Ah, dual blades… I thoughtfully nodded. …Huh?

I turned my back towards the river, trying to peek over my shoulder what exactly was attached to my back.

“…Purple—”

With a loud splash, I tumbled into the wide Rippleflow river. I was left with no choice but to swim to the other side.

It also started drizzling, so I’d be soaked either way, I thought, trying to be as optimistic as possible.
I’d best make a fire soon to warm up.

* * *

Sitting underneath a tree with my right arm wrapped around my knee, I stared out at the distant city lights as I was still sitting in the dark. The rain hadn’t let up and my sticks and leaves are wet, meaning I had to return to the forest once more to gather materials all over again.

It’s cold, I looked at the darkening clouds blocking the setting sun, dark and cold.

When the rain was finally over, I headed back into the forest.

“Dry leaves… dry leaves…” I whispered to myself as I was searching for them on dry spots beneath bigger trees.

“Grrrrrh.”

I heard a growling noise as soon as I crouched down to pick the leaves up. My hearing is perfectly fine, but catching the direction sounds come from is not particularly my strongest trait.

Very carefully, to not make any sound, I looked over my right shoulder; nothing there. With teensy steps, I continued rotating, looking behind me, but still not seeing anything. Which could only mean—

—“GRAAAAAAAAHHH!!!”

A monster from the wolf family was baring its teeth, towering high over my head as it jumped at me before I had any time to react. With my heartbeat pulsating all the way up in my throat, I felt time slowing down, as if my life’s final seconds had begun ticking away.

I tried to retreat, but panicked, slipped on the wet surface and fell on my back. As a last resort to protect myself, I crossed my arms in front of my face. I felt a heavy weight being lifted off my back as I saw two purple flashes fly past my face.

I saw it clearly. Translucent purple blades, somehow aerially mimicking my crossed arms, protecting me from the monster’s biting attempt.

I got up and ran off, the two blades floating on either side of my arms.

I shot a glance over my shoulder. The monster, closing the distance, let out another growl. I turned around, the blades spiralled around as well, facing the monster.

I swung my right arm in front of my face, the blade flew along as a safe guard. With my left hand, I churned the blade up, delivering an upper-cut blow with the flat side to its chin.

It worked!

After a single hit, the monster retreated.

Or so I thought, until I heard it howl. I turned left, right and behind me as well. With a single howl, a pack of its kind surrounded me.

If I run, they’ll surely catch up to me in no time. I could try to fight them one on one, but this isn’t a theatre play; the others won’t be idling until it’s their turn to act.

What do I do… what do I do…

As all were growling, the one from before took the initiative to run up to me.

Am I dicing with death, or is this my most clever plan yet…?

I took off towards the charging monster, screaming at the top of my lungs. Jumping– or rather hopping, a tiny bit above the ground and simultaneously throwing my right arm high into the air. The first step.

With my eyes closed, praying for the best, I stretched my left arm out, then tightly clenched my palm as I pulled my arm back in. The second step. I jumped up again, right in front of the monster, I ducked as I landed with a big slam of my right hand.

Upon hearing my blade slice through the dirt, I peeked with one eye. The monster’s paw successfully pierced into the ground. As a loud creaking of a tree silenced the entire pack, my left blade returned to me, right as the large tree trunk smashed open the monster’s skull: the final step.

One down…

I turned around, all its treacherous friends had fled the scene, giving me the opportunity to continue gathering everything.

I headed out of the forest after taking one last glance at the corpse from afar. With the stones I had gathered, I formed a circle. Somewhere along the process of making a fire, I started humming. “Hm-hm-hmm na-na-na na, everyone gather real close… tun-ta-ta-ta-tunn-tun dum…”
How did that song go again?

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

Full of shame, the six Royal Guards stood in front of the door to the king’s room. Quarrelling, unable to decide who would deliver the bad news.

“You do it, Hugo, you failed to snipe him down,” Ultan aggressively whispered.

“The heck you mean? I’m the only one who tried sniping him down!”

As their bickering continued, a man shining in his noble attire with his long brown hair swaying over his cape, walked through the hallway towards them.

“Be damned, you cognitively challenged buffoons. What do you think you’re doing in front of His Majesty’s room?”

“Aerion?!”

Without losing the intense glare in his eyes, he gave two heavy knocks on the door. In nearly the same tick of a second, the butler slid the peep hole up and down and opened the door.

“Please, do come in.”

The six guards looked at Aerion, who had his arms crossed and was still staring at them as if they were the very scum of the earth.

“You heard him,” he said.

A couple of glances were shared among them. Taking turns pointing at themselves and each other, until one of them said, “All six of us?”

He lost his cool, slammed his fist against the wall and yelled, “Get the hell in!”

The king, seated at his desk, turned around and calmly shot a glance at Aerion. He could read his eyes without the need of words and slightly bowed down in apology for being too loud.
With his right hand, the king lifted up his cup of tea. As he took a sip, he dipped his quill in ink and continued writing his letter to the ruler of Stormridge. Putting the tea down, he used his right hand to resume writing.

“I’m sure my ambidexterity on display is not what brought you here, is it,” the king remarked while he kept writing. “Out with it.”

The guards took turns pointing to each other all over again. This time, Aerion took a deep breath, picked Ultan up by the back of his collar and dropped him off next to the king.

“This one had something to say. Or so I am inclined to believe.” His deadly-dagger gaze gave Ultan the shivers.

“Well… You see… I– no, we lost him.”

Aerion placed his hand on Ultan’s shoulder and firmly clenched it. “How are we supposed to know who “him” is?”

The king put his quill down and pinched the top of his nose bridge. “For three years, that young man was under my supervision. I leave him in your care for two weeks, and you want to tell me he’s gone?”

He didn’t raise his voice, nor did he appear to be angry, but the guards knew that they screwed up big time.

“We… we regretfully report so.”

Without a single muscle in his face changing his expression, he stared at the letter in front of him. After some deep thinking, he lifted the sheet of paper off his desk, crumpled it in a single clasp of his hands and turning it into a palmtop houseplant using his magic.

“Place this wherever you like, Robin,” he said as he handed it to his butler.

He looked Aerion in the eyes, “You can all leave now.”

Everyone, but Aerion, walked out of the door. That single glance was enough for him to understand that the king wanted everyone but him to leave the room.

As cool and calm as ever, the king said, “We’re in real trouble.”

He raised his eyebrow in response, hardly able to grasp the severity of the situation. Well, he hadn’t set foot in the castle’s basement when that certain “him” was still around. Unusual for the king’s right handman, but he was left completely in the dark this once.

“There’s a young man on the loose.”

Aerion sat down on the chair against the wall across the desk and nodded. “That, I understood. Though I fail to understand what the big trouble is. I can summon my wyvern and track him down in no time.”

The king closed his eyes and shook his head, “You ought not to. If he realises our desperation, he’d understand what sort of monster he has become.” Aerion was carefully listening, but couldn’t quite follow his words. “If this ends up in a battle, you’d certainly die.”

Excessively offended, he jumped up with his fingers pressed against his chest, “Me? …Die? Your majesty, are you out of your mind?”

The king’s eyes said, “Sit down.”

“We need to capture him quick, but we can’t turn our glory-land a ruin. Speak to Cian and come up with a plan. There is no limit to your resources, but I won’t accept a single drop of blood spilt over this.”

“…Understood, Your Majesty.”

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

I felt an unpleasant, tingly itch on my face. Still half-asleep, I rubbed my hand over my cheek. Another one, then another. When I opened my eyes, I saw the grey heavens preparing for yet another downpour.

I turned around to the circle of stones; the fire had long stopped burning. High over my head, I stretched my arms out, realising that I slept quite well on the grass. After a big yawn, I got back on my feet—without the slightest inkling of where to go.

As soon as I faced the forest, I thought back to the monster I had beaten. I quickly shook off the thought of making that my route of escape and faced the city of Fryzwald again.

It’s still early in the morning, so I could probably sneak through unnoticed.

* * *

Or so I thought… The moment I climbed down the wall, I faced a poster hanging with my head on it.
It read: Missing – Leith. Finder to be rewarded by His Majesty.
What a vague reward, was the first thought that popped to mind. The second one was how inefficient this poster is. It was certainly drawn with magic based on the me depicted. The only thing that’s the same is my scar. Though I guess that none of the guards who had seen me could accurately draw me by hand.

I turned away from the poster and noticed many more spread all over my field of vision. Suddenly, I remembered a close friend from the administrative department at the academy who could summon an endless amount of drawings from memory.

I grabbed the one hanging on the wall and closely inspected it. Just as I thought, the image’s ink doesn’t match the rest of the poster. Which got me wondering, is the administrative department working on this?

For some reason, I felt relieved. These posters make it seem like the king lost his kitten, I’d be a lot more terrified had the Fenrir Brigade—consisting of this kingdom’s strongest knights—been on my heels.

At ease, but still in a hurry, I made my way through Fryzwald, en route towards Maganmur where the large walls of the kingdom end. It’s only build to protect the riches after all. Then, once I’m out of the walls… I have no clue. Though I suppose we’ll cross that bridge when we get there; first, making my way out of here.

* * *

Out of Fryzwald, passing the cities southward until I reached to the furthest protected point from the capital: Maganmur. Everywhere I went, I saw posters spread, and caught the glances of many. Though I guess that has more to do with how I was rushing through the streets and these blades still stuck on my back.

Once in Maganmur, I slowed down in pace, giving myself the chance to catch a breather and as a bonus, I stand out a little less.

Thus far, this is the city I’m the least familiar with. I know of a fountain, a big statue, but their location on the other hand, not a clue.

Just as I was thinking that, I saw a girl with fluffy golden hair hanging posters up outside an armour shop. She had a big pouch strapped around her waist with more posters in them. She turned her head all of a sudden.

Before I realised I was staring, I got lost in her bright forest-green eyes. When I snapped out of it, our eye contact startled me half to death. I turned away, though as soon as I did, I felt a hand spinning me around by my shoulder.

“Saw ya starin’, your eyes didn’t happen to catch this missin’ lad, did they?” She pointed at the image of me on one of her posters.

“Ah, uh… no. Haven’t seen him.”

What startled me even more was hearing such a thick accent coming from someone that lived in these parts of the kingdom and appeared to be my age.

“Argh, I’m beat ya know. Hangin’ up these posters all day long ain’t no fun,” she nagged as she reached for the posters in her pouch. “Three… four… five—”

“Seventy-eight posters,” I mindlessly interrupted.

She slowly turned her head, locking her eyes to my chest, neck and then my eyes—hers wide opened.

“Ya can tell by just looking… huh?”

I should’ve kept my mouth shut…

With her pinky, she split up about half the posters and shoved them in my hands. “How about we split ‘em in two ‘n’ I’ll hand ya sum of me coins. Deal?”

I really want to get out of here as quickly as possible, though letting this chance of racking up coins go by would be foolish.

“…Alright, you got a deal.”

A bright smile appeared on her face, “I knew ya’d say so! Let’s meet at the fountain when yer done, m’kay?” She handed me a bottle of tree sap.

I nodded and went off to hang these posters up. Nearing the end of the street, I realised I had no clue where to hang them up in the first place. I turned around again, she hadn’t budged an inch.
“Hey, um—” I was about to call out to her, but I didn’t know her name, and shouting out ‘poster-girl’ seemed a little rude.

“Hah, the name’s Anna,” she smiled.

“Right, Anna, where do I hang these up?”

She simply smiled again and said, “Hang ‘em in places where they’ll catch sum eyes.”

* * *

When I was about halfway done with hanging the posters up around town, I chuckled at the irony of hanging up posters of myself. That smile on my face quickly faded away once I started thinking about where to go next.

With my head in the clouds, I accidentally bumped into an older lady and dropped all the posters.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I apologised as I crouched down to pick the posters back up. “Are you alright?”
“Don’t sweat it, dear,” she said as she crouched down to pick them up as well.

“I was a little lost in thought,” I added, awkwardly scratching the back of my neck, “Wasn’t really looking at where I was going.”

She handed me the posters. “Thank you—” but she didn’t let go when I had placed my hand on them.

My eyes drifted upward from her hand to her face, as she intensely stared at me. I felt an uneasy chill roll down my spine… does she know…? But there’s no way… right?

I let go and pointed at the image on the poster. “Uh… your eyes didn’t happen to catch this missing lad, did they?” Why did I phrase it in an Anna kinda way?

She grabbed my hand and placed the posters in them as she broke down in laughter. “Good luck finding him!”

I let out a sigh of relief, old people sure know how to startle us youngsters for no reason at all. Just now I had picked the posters up in a hurry, so I rotated the ones flipped upside-down. When I had done that, I shot a glance to where the old lady went and saw her talking to a young lady. She had long, light blonde hair and wore an eye patch, sort of making her look like, “…a pirate?”
Our eyes locked from a distance, so I spun around and went off to hang these posters up.

* * *

At last, I hung up the final poster and followed the arrows pointing towards the city’s centre, where—if I guessed correctly—the fountain is that Anna was talking about.

Once there, before my eyes took note of the fountain, I was staring in awe at the statue of the legendary hero Leigong. About a dozen and a half artists were sat around it. Some making pencil drawings in their sketchbook, whilst others were painting on canvasses vastly varying in size.
I felt relieved seeing people work on their craft using nothing but tools and their talent. Not that there’s anything wrong with people that use magic to make art, but it’s refreshing seeing some honest work. It shows that people who’re born without the ability to use magic aren’t useless. It’s the vast majority of people anyway, so I wonder why such things are even said.

“Hm-hmm, you’ll do!”

I turned around, a young man pointed his pencil at me.

“…Pardon?”

“You’re from East-Twynne, aren’t you? Hm, not quite… You’re from the Far East,” he assumed. “You look the part,” he added in a quick breath as he nodded to himself.

“No, I’m—”

He put his hand in front of his face, “Dashing eyes, staring at the hero, your big inspiration I’m sure. No need to strike a pose, your natural stance gets the job done. Now, now, eyes on the statue again, please.”

He kept rambling on without giving me the chance to get a word in. And now he has begun drawing.

“Could you not, please,” I asked him, partially looking over my shoulder.

“Don’t move! Your irritated face is perfect. ‘I see, Leigong, you’ve slain a dragon. I’ll slay two!’”
That’s right. Heroes wouldn’t be crowned legendary in their lifetime unless they’ve accomplished something extraordinary like Leigong Lin and his wife Baochen Lin have. Most people didn’t believe in dragons, much less colossal ones, unless they were summoned by humans, but that changed when one destroyed everything bordering Stormridge and killed thousands of people. These two heroes, from the Far East, saved the day and rightfully are praised as legendary heroes. Both of them are honoured through the statues built for them. As I was lost in thought, thinking about the heroes, the young artist proudly yelled out, “All done!”

He turned his sketchbook my way, “This will be my best painting yet. I’ll see if I can hand you a copy for free, signed by the one and only Thiemo.”

Once again, before I could get a word in, he dashed off. Most likely he’s headed to an atelier to turn his sketch into a painting. For all I care, I finally got rid of his antics.

I walked past the statue, towards the fountain, and scanned around. She wasn’t here yet. I didn’t take her for the kind of person who’d betray me, so I didn’t feel worried quite yet. Though I could hardly judge one’s character based on a single interaction. I sat down on one of the benches behind the fountain, carefully looking around.

The sun wasn’t starting to set yet, so I wasn’t all too worried that she still hadn’t shown up. Although that is true, I would be a liar if I said I wasn’t getting more nervous by the second sitting still in place instead of being on the move. Just as I thought of making a run for it—

“Boo!”

Anna placed her hands on my shoulders, scaring me from behind. I’d rather forget about the way I shrieked.

“Heh, gotcha good, poster-help lad! I see that all yer posters ‘r gone?”

I nodded.

She sat down next to me and twisted her pouch onto her lap. “Here ya go,” she grabbed one of my hands and dropped some coins in them.

With a single glance, I realised just how many she gave me. “Twelve? Are you sure? I can’t just—”

Then I noticed they were golden ones. “This many?”

“Heh,” she smirked, “don’t sweat it boy! A mission from the capital is worth quite the penny, ya know!”

I put the coins away. “I don’t really know what to say.”

“Hey, we’re cool. Anyway, I gotta catch me a good seat at the tavern. Ya taggin’ along?”

“Hm, this early?” I kind of blurted it out without thinking.

“Yup. Else m’good seat’ll be swept away. But I suppose that means yer staying out for a bit.”

“Yes, I’ll be on my way again. I can’t thank you enough fer the coins.” I covered my mouth with my hand.

“Hah! I see that me accent is contagious! Well, see ya around, boy.”

Close to the walls, with an insane budget to boot, I set out again, finally on my way out. Before I reached the end of the street, Anna yelled out to me.

“Let’s meet again, partner!” Even from afar I could still see that big smile on her face.

“Let’s hope we do!” I yelled out.

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

Anna took a seat at the tavern. The wooden building has got a cozy vibe going on. The people present only add to it with their loose and friendly attitude. Even the folks that never really speak to one another, greet the ones giving the bell above the door a jingle with a nod and a smile.
Her usual spot is the one furthest away from the counter, but closest to the rear end window. Evidently, it’s close to the fireplace as well. Seated there, she played with the corner of a piece of paper. Bending it backwards until it popped back up from underneath her finger, then bending it the other way. Over and over again. She sighed after a while, moving her eyes away from her hands, through the window, where she saw her two usual buddies heading towards the tavern.
She stared at the piece of paper until the two arrived at her table.

“If it isn’t miss penny picker! How did you fare today?” One of them said.

She folded the image of Leith she had teared off a poster into her pocket. “Good day, good day.”

“Sure, dear,” the other friend said as she booped her nose, “that’s why you’re not cracking a smile.”

She let out a sigh, “Don’t worry ‘bout me, am doin’ fine, really.”

The two decided to not pry any further and join her for a good meal. After munching the food down with her pals, she left for the city hall—taking the longest route possible. Checking if the poster help lad was still around on the corner of every street.

Once she arrived, she talked to the capital herald to receive her reward.

“I hung up the posters,” she told them. “Under the name Anna.”

“Anna… Anna…” the herald was looking through the mission reports. “Anna Ferchias, found it.” She quickly scanned through the report and said, “Great! Here’s your reward.”

The reward was handed over in a small drawstring bag. On her way out she opened it and counted them. A total of sixteen silver coins.

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

Underneath the large tree’s crown, I stared at the starry night sky. It would be even more beautiful further away from the city, as the light it emits takes away the purpose of the stars.

A clear sky sure is beautiful to look at, though it means it’ll be colder when I wake up tomorrow morning. If I could, I would’ve kept walking until the sun rose again, but my legs have different plans, they’re knackered.

I stretched my body out, the good kinda stretch that relieves all the stress on your muscles and joints for a couple of seconds. When I placed my hands behind my head again, I saw a fly heading to my arm. I slapped it away, but it came back in no time, then another joined. The both of them persistently circled around me.

Do I… stink?

I clenched my flimsy excuse of clothes, brought it to my nose and sniffed. Then I sniffed both my arm pits, but didn’t feel like I was sweaty at all. I suppose a skunkerling wouldn’t say it smells either. Half convinced I smelled at least fine, another fly made its appearance.

I do stink, don’t I?

I jumped up and headed to the nearest lake. There I washed myself, my shoes and emptied my bladder in a nearby bush. Washing my clothes wouldn’t have been the best idea, since I have no convenient way of drying them.

Once all that was done, I headed back to the tree and stared out at the night sky again. It was still as beautiful, of course, but this time it reminded me of how far away from my bed I am, and how much further away from home I must go.

It’s cold tonight. Dark and cold. It wasn’t just the weather that made me feel uneasy… I couldn’t fall asleep at all. Though even these type of nights eventually come to an end.

The moment my eyelids feel too heavy to lift back up, when my thoughts get silenced out and my body gently thuds itself against the grass bed. That’s right, even nights like these come to an end.

* * *

“Oooi, wake up.” A very soft and gentle, yet cold voice danced its way against my eardrums.

I opened my eyes and saw a girl wearing an eye patch leaning over my face.
Only half awake—without thinking—I said, “A pirate?”
Her facial expression didn’t change in the slightest. “I am no pirate. However, I suppose I understand where the assumption came from,” she said as she touched the eye patch.
I rubbed my eyes, delighted my body with a divinely stretch, pushed myself up and took off running as fast as my body allowed me to go.

She’s no Royal Guard, I thought, I should be able to escape.

When I turned over my shoulder, she wasn’t there anymore.

“Why are we in such a hurry, if I may ask?”

I swung my head sideways and saw her keeping up with my pace. This speed was as much as I could give, but to her it seemed the conversational jog kind of pace. And only now did it click that she said “we”.

“We?” I asked her, desperately trying to win ground by extending my legs further with each stride.
“Mhm, they shall not catch us here any time soon.”

I unconsciously slowed down a little, “What do you mean they won’t catch us?”

Isn’t she one of “them” anyway?

“Mhm. Whatever brigade of the capital that is looking for you.”

I slowed down even more. How does she know they’re looking for me?

“Lest we calm down, we will not have the energy to make it southward, so let us take it easy,” she suggested.

“Yeah,” I agreed. “Wait, southward? And why are you following me?” I did a feint behind her and started running to her right.

“I am not following you. I am merely here to aid you southward.” She was quick to copy my steps. “Once I am told to return, I will head back to East-Twynne.”

So she’s from the East, huh…

“Then, whose orders are you following?”

“I am afraid that I am not allowed to give away that information.”

My sprint faded into a light jogging pace. “Why would the person that sent you think I’d trust you?”
The both of us came to halt, standing eye to eye. I, on guard and backing off. She, on the other hand, looked unfazed and kept closing in.

“I promise by Julia's grace that I will cordially, honest-to-goodness, aid you southward.” She held her hand to her heart as she bowed.

A promise by Julia, the goddess of veracity’s grace is the highest form of promise you could make here on either side of Twynne’s soil. Not only her words, but the way she spoke them convinced me that she, as she has been saying, has no ill intentions. Though that does not answer to why anyone would send aid in the first place. Especially a girl from the East.

“Alright,” I dropped my guard and stretched out my hand. “I will place my trust in you. Though may the day come you break it, I will not hesitate to call on Julia.”

She shook my hand. “Do not lower your guard so easily.”

“…Eh?”

“I will be wary of you as well. The only reason I trust you, is because I trust the person who sent me here.” She turned her head towards the walls of Maganmur. “Say, is it not time for us to have breakfast?”

Her freezingly cold hand slipped out of mine.

“Break… fast…” I suddenly felt my entire stomach turning over. Only now I realised I hadn’t eaten since the day I escaped. My throat felt as dry as a dessert as well. My vision darkened and I felt my feet losing touch with the ground.

* * *

“Oooi, wake up.” A soft and gentle, yet cold voice entered my ears.

When I opened my eyes and saw a girl with an eyepatch leaning over my face. It took everything I had to not let my impulsive thoughts get the better of me and say “a pirate?” out loud again.

The memories of just now quickly reformed in my brain as I remembered who she was and why I was currently laying down on the grass. Though this specific grass is not the same as before.
She was kneeling beside me, raised my upper body off the ground with one hand and pushed the other one in front of my face. “Please, open wide.”

“A-aaah?”

I saw droplets of the bluest water forming in front of the palm of her hand—this can’t be… She blasted water magic right through my throat.

I leaned forward as I heavily coughed. “Are you trying to kill me?” I said in between coughs. Once the coughing was done, I did feel refreshed. “I hate to admit, but that actually helped…”
Her being a water-based magic user meant more than likely that she is a master of mending. Whoever sent her must want me to stay alive then.

My stomach decided to play the sound of a horn on its own. The cramps were getting unbearable. “Let’s look for something to eat.”

“No need to look around. I have already gathered berries when you were passed out. Open wide,” she said again.

As she was feeding me, she mumbled “I hope these are not poisonous,” underneath her breath. In all honesty, I was too hungry to care.

When I was feeling high in spirits again, she got up and asked me to take a look. With a stick she was holding, she drew a circle in the sturdy dirt. “Capital.”

“Uh-huh,” I nodded.

She drew a cross a little below the circle. “The two of us.”

I nodded again.

Then she poked the stick into the dirt creating small dots all over the place, sometimes drawing small circles next to them. As she was doing that she said, “Forest, forest, town, forest.” Until she drew a big cross to all she had drawn. “Dangerous.”

“Uh…huh?”

“We ought to be careful not to leave too much traces. Therefore it is best not to visit any towns.”
She had a fair point, but I didn’t really feel like camping out in the wild forever. Let’s hope it doesn’t rain.

She drew a new, long line from our cross away from the capital; southward. “Mylne town. It is deserted, not far away from the South Port and it is unlikely that we will be caught staying there for the time being.”

I nodded again. “Alrighty then, off to Mylne it is.”

I’ve never been so far south in my life before. I can’t wait to see the towns and what the people there are like. With this sense of optimism, the two of us set out on a hike that lasted until the setting sun called all to rest.

“Let us set up a bonfire,” she suggested once we were deep into the forest—one with trees significantly taller than the ones in the Fryzwald forest.

Setting up a fire is indeed the best course of action. For one, it’ll keep us warm and as a bonus it scares away most monsters.

“Alright, I’ll gather the material,” I proudly proclaimed. It’s one of the few things that puts me to use.

“Materials? Why would you trouble yourself with finding materials if you could just cast a spell instead?”

I thought I was over this a long time ago, but I still felt somewhat ashamed to say it out loud. “I have no magic stamina, so I can’t cast spells.”

“Hm? Then what about your—”

Suddenly, a loud creaking noise silenced out any other sound.

“What was that just now?” I asked.

Through the shadows of the trees, through which I can’t see anything but darkness, anything but—

—red eyes. Red eyes that in this area can only belong to sleuth bears.