Her Sharp Gaze

“Who are the three girls that wander the lands? A blue haired half elf with powers that can be considered lethal. What’s her name?”

“Alice!”

“A cleric dressed similarly to a nun. What’s her name?”

“Estelle…!”

“The girl who looks like a normal civilian? What's her name? Himari… That’s me…”

“The heck are we doing?”

The girls finished packing their camping equipment and are on their way to the sealed grounds. Alice’s bag has a charm that expands its space and lightens the weight. This makes her carry all camping and survival equipment. On the normal path they can see the Horned Forest nearby. Himari decided to avoid it because the path they take can lead to the next town to give them a chance to bathe.

It has been a few days and Himari desperately wants to bathe. Doing their laundry isn’t enough to feel clean. By following the map they can reach the next town in under 4 hours. Just in time to grab lunch in town and find a place to sleep. She begins to skip a little.

“Hey Himari. Let’s go through the forest. With this shortcut we’ll reach the sealed grounds sooner.”

“No. We will continue forward.”

“Ehhhhh? Why not?”

“That is the Horned Forest! There are some intelligent monsters that have horns filled with magic. Others are made of a dense material that can cut down trees with ease! If we are not careful, we could be impaled by their horns!”

“Wow really!? How did you know this was filled with unique monsters~?”

“I read tons of books at the Adventurers Archive about our lands. Seeing it on the map reminded me of what I read- Oi! Alice!”

Alice runs towards the forest while cheering. Himari grabs Estelle’s hand and rushes after her. She is forcing a change of course which ruins Himari’s hopes in having a bath. Estelle chuckles as Himari yells at Alice. Soon they are surrounded by the forest.

Alice runs around with such glee while the others are getting tired. The deeper they go, the less of the sun can pierce through the branches.

“Alice…! Wait!”

“Wait right there!” Alice’s tone changes.

“Huh?”

Alice slowly approaches what looks like a sleeping monster. Step by step she circles around it, ready for an attack. The air is tense as they wait for her to make a move.

“Oh it’s already dead. Tee hee~!”

“Oh that’s a relief…”

“That is not a relief! A beast this size was killed by something more dangerous!” Himari rushes to Alice’s side to investigate.

“Hm? What are ya doing?”

“Small…claws?”

She assumed it was impaled by a horn but the claws tell a different story. There are claw marks all over it with a deep hole in its chest. This was not your normal monster. Slashing the legs repeatedly then carving out the insides is more strategic and Himari grew pale.

“What’s wrong?”

Her stomach tightened. "I-It's a Demon lord!" 

"Where?!"

“I think a Demon Lord did this!”

“Seriously?!”

“W-We need to leave!” Alice grabs Himari’s arm. Her breath became short shallow puffs of air.

“Oi! It's fine! You can kill Demon Lords. Just use your magic stuff.”

“W-Well yes but it’s hard to see around here! This has to have been a sneak attack! We need to leave!” Before she could run back, Estelle hugs Himari to calm her down.

“Relax Himari… Demon Lords do not kill like this. They turn monsters into their own pawns…” She breathes slowly as to guide Himari.

She’s right.

If a Demon Lord attacked this monster, then it should have corrupted it. Just like the gargoyles that attacked Ambertown. They left as soon as the Demon Lord disappeared.

“Regardless…We need to be extremely careful. We don’t know if they’re on our side.”

“Of course! Stay behind me and I will protect you.” Alice puffs her chest before going deeper into the forest. If all goes well, then they should reach the other side in an hour. However, Himari is not feeling optimistic.

The trees stretched high above the girls. The leaves from each tree mesh together the further they go in. Almost as if a ceiling is being formed. Birds calling out to each other echoes through branches. Smaller animals in small herds dash through. A beast roar can be heard in the opposite direction. Himari glances at Estelle who is the slowest of the group..

“I’m tired…” Estelle seems oblivious of the potential danger they are in.

“We need to keep moving. If we don’t, we could be surrounded by other monsters.”

“Heh! You’re too paranoid about this Himari.” Alice shrugged with a smug grin.

“Well excuse me! We were supposed to follow the path as usual and reach a town! I was going to have a nice bath too! Yet here we are in the middle of Horned Forest! I may be the hero but I can still die!” Her jaw tightened. 

Alice remained silent at her sudden outburst. She tried to speak but nothing seemed to come out. The only thing she could mutter was... 

“I’m sorry, Himari…”

“Ughh… I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have yelled at you. For now let’s stick together and get through this place safely.”

“Right…”

Himari grabs Estelle’s hand as Alice continues to look ahead. The three girls march ahead in silence.

As they continued into the forest, they hid behind trees when a large monster was approaching. Alice really wants to fight but she doesn’t want to stress Himari again. The forest is starting to lighten up, bringing their morale up. In the distance they can see an open field.

“That’s our way out!” Alice rushes ahead.

“Geez. Slow down!” The two try to catch up.

BOOOM

A large monster with a large curved horn lands in front of Alice. It's large size towers over them like a living building. A thunderous roar shook the trees making them feel smaller. Quick and heavy steps approaches Alice. She quickly jumps back and hurls some water magic. This forces Himari and Estelle to scatter behind a tree in a panic.

“Come on you big dirt bag! You ain’t that scary!” The monster roars and uses its horn to slice trees down. 

This was one of the more intelligent monsters of the forest. Himari looks around in case of others.

Why is this one so close to outside? Their territories are closer towards the center.

A large tree fell near the two forcing them to move. With swiftness, Alice readys a fire ball but pauses. “Damn it! This could burn the forest!” Switching back to water magic Alice continues her attacks.

There has to be a way to beat it quickly without damaging the entire forest. All seemed hopeless until something flashed in the corner of Himari’s eye. Looking closer an idea popped into her head.

“Alice! I have an idea! Focus on the horn!” Himari takes Estelle around the trees.

“Why?!”

“That’s a One Horned Armored Boar! You used enough water, now use something stronger!”

“Armored? Stronger? I got it!” The monster turns to Himari ready to charge at them until Alice whips it with water magic causing it to turn against her. With great swiftness Alice begins to chant.

“Oh great clouds above. Strike the sinner with your might. Thunder spear!”

Crackle! ZAAAP!

A flash of light strikes the horn, electrocuting the whole body.

BOOM.

The huge boar staggered as the armor on its face burned from all the water and electric magic. Its horn breaks off and it topples onto a tree.

“Wooo! Did ya see that!? I don’t really use Thunder magic but that was AWESOME!” Alice jumps around.

Estelle approaches Alice to see if she needs some healing. The smell of a charred corpse spread around. Disgusted, she quickly goes around it.

“How did you know it had armor...?” With Estelle's curious eyes Himari sighed.

“It seemed weird that you weren’t hurting it. It is difficult to physically harm something with water magic unless you are able to strike it like Alice. Then I saw its armor is actually covered in dirt thanks to the water attacks. The only answer was to send magic toward its-“

WHOOSH!

Suddenly Himari was pushed away, tumbling near the corpse of the beast. Her vision is shaky and her throat starts to tighten. She grows pale when she sees what is in front of her.

Her eyes met a sharp gaze and somehow the silence was more frightening. She was pinned down by someone. Her first thought was a demon based on the intensity of their eyes. There was fury burning through her eyes. Their grip on her neck is strong but it is not choking her. Alice and Estelle screams can be heard. They want to attack but Alice’s magic range is too dangerous at the moment. Nothing seems to be happening.

They’re all in a stalemate.

“D-Don’t move!” Estelle, who was much closer, froze upon hearing Himari’s command.

Himari lets out a gentle light with her hands. It revealed the face of a beastfolk. She seems to be a part of the feline tribes.

“We…are not your enemy…”

“…” The beast girl sighs and releases her. Estelle rushes to Himari to hold her, glaring at the beast girl.

“I heard a dangerous sound and I thought it was the Demon Lord.” She spoke clearly much to their surprise.

“You’re not going to harm our Himari?” Alice’s looks ready to kill.

“No. I’m searching for a Demon Lord that took the life of our chief.”

“Why should we believe you…?”

“We should.” Himari staggers back up. “First let’s get out of the forest, then we can talk.” They agree with the beast girl guiding them out of the forest.

***

Exhausted from going through the forest, they set up camp early knowing that they are at least a day and a half ahead from the expected path.

While the others sit in silence awkwardly as Himari prepares a quick meal using the meat of the boar carved by the beast girl. Throughout their journey she is the one that cooks for them. Now they have a stranger with them. The campfire burns strong as she sets a second campfire to boil some river water.

Even after going through the intense forest, her mood starts to improve. Her cute humming soothes the others a bit as they wait patiently.

“Heh… Himari is like our wife…” Estelle watches her with a gentle gaze.

“Yeah she is… Wait ours?!”
Dinner is served with the meat being a hit among them. The beast girl eats her food casually while Alice eats roughly as usual which made Estelle wonder who the real animal was.

“So what is your name?”

“I’m called Ruby by my people.”

“That’s a cute name.”

“Himari! Is my name cute?”

“Huh…? Uh yes it is.” She pets Alice.

“Me too…?”

“Yes yes. You both have cute names. Um this one is Alice and this one is Estelle. You can call me Himari.”

Estelle and Alice curl up to Himari like puppies. Ruby chuckles before finishing her meal. She explains that her village was attacked by a Demon Lord which ended the lives of several including her village chief. She swears to avenge them.

While Alice and Estelle have a skeptical look, Himari smiles since she can relate. If it wasn’t for the Gods choosing her, she would have died and possibly the whole town would be taken over. While she isn’t on a revenge quest, Ruby looks very strong.

“Then how about you join us Ruby? I may not look like it but I am the hero chosen by the 4 Gods of Origins.”

Her eyes widened. The second hero blessed by the Gods was a beastfolk which most tribes praise their legend.

WHOOOSH

Ruby quickly pounces on Himari. Alice prepares to attack but stops upon hearing her laughter.

“S-Stop~! That tickles! Ha ha ha~!” Ruby sniffs her neck.

Estelle laughs and joins in. Tears run down Himari’s cheeks as she is trying her hardest to stop laughing. She soon releases her and agrees to follow them in hopes to find that Demon Lord.

Himari then explains that the first monster they found was killed by Ruby. When she uses the light to see Ruby in the forest she notices her gauntlets that match the claw marks. Ruby goes on her knees and bows to them. Her tail sways back and forth in a circular motion.

“I swear to my people that I will assist you. Your scent proves you are blessed with divine powers. I will gladly slaughter all demons and monsters for you.”

“Y-You don’t have to go that far!”

“Well if Himari says so then you can join us. Nice to meet you, Panther girl.” Alice extends her hand to Ruby.

“Panther…? I thought she was a cat…” Estelle tilts her head.

“I’m a Jaguar of the Feline Tribe.”

“Oi What’s the difference?”

Their bickering goes on as Himari sits by the fire. She noticed that she hasn’t used her powers as intended by the Gods. When Ruby first attacked, she could’ve used the light to fight back but she refused to do so. Every monster they met on their journey was defeated with Himari guiding Alice’s destructive magic. If possible, she might not have to fight demons at all if she can just guide the others.

“You were supposed to fight that boar.” Poppy appears on her head.

“Eh?”

“This was a perfect opportunity to charge an attack while your elf companion distracts it. Your magic can annihilate it. So why did you not fight?”

“…Well. I’m scared of fighting. I never asked to fight.”

“The Demon Lords will be more dangerous to your companions if you refuse to fight. They can kill demons but some sacrifices must be exchanged. In spite of everything you do, eventually you will have to fight. If a Demon Lord is more strategic than the first one you killed, then you will lose someone.”

Poppy’s words were a little harsh but true. Her powers are strong enough to protect them however she also wants them to be able to fight back. Perhaps she should start fighting some monsters with them.

“Now that a beastfolk is in your group, keep her close. Grow together and you will see results.”

Poppy’s words are still vague but perhaps there is a reason she must fight with them. Her Divine Magic is still a mystery to everyone. The Holy Magic made by humans is their attempt of recreating the Hero’s powers. Perhaps learning the magic Estelle knows might help branch a path of knowledge toward her own. Alice is a prodigy who understands all the elemental magics so there is a chance that Alice can teach her how to understand her powers. Ruby is strong and can fight up close. Maybe Ruby can train her so she can defend herself.

“Oh…that’s right…” She has been training alone yet she has strong companions with her. They can work together and she can reach her full potential while also making sure they can be strong too.

Feeling guilty, she joins their random conversations so she can learn more about Ruby and enjoy the night with Alice and Estelle.