Chapter 5: The Immortal Forest

In times of crisis, many of the Kiri elites, along with anyone else of high importance, gather in the chief house to discuss the situation. Because of this custom, the chief’s house is 3 times larger than your average Kiri home. Joen, Hara, Niro, Adal, and Top all sit on small pillows inside the house. They are forming a circle with Joen at its head. Hara slams his hand on the table.

“She's a traitor, end of story!”

Top rushes to defend Emilia. “You can't honestly think that's true!”

“Face it, Tai, she left with him! She didn't even stay to see Riya…”

Although neither Niro nor Adal is too fond of Emilia, they do not let their personal feelings cloud their judgment. They are well trained.

“Emilia must have her reasons,” Niro says, analyzing the situation.

Adal follows up, asking Top more about the incident. “You said that boy was the king?”

“That's what the knight called him.” Top replies.

Niro, still with a level conscience, continues. “But why would the knights try to kill their king?”

“Must be a coup.” Adal states confidently.

Joen sits there in silence. Hara lashes out, unable to contain his anger. “Who cares what it is! The knights are not our problem! Emilia is!”

“Lia is not a problem!” Top yells back at his brother.

“Silence!” Joen breaks his silence, and the entire room quiets down. The Kiri chief talks to his people.

“The knights were after the king. Emilia knew that and took him away from the village to prevent further violence.”

Top smiles at his father, defending Emilia's actions.

Adal questions the situation further. “Why not just hand the king over?”

Joen replies confidently, as he has heard Emilia's thoughts several times before. “Because Emilia wants to work with Dresil, to form some kind of treaty.”

“I knew it.” Hara pouts to himself.

Joen continues. “Our primary goal is to protect the village. As long as the king is still in the forest, we are not safe. We will find Emilia and the king.”

Niro and Adal reply in unison. “Yes, sir!”

“Sounds good,” Hara says with a stone-cold expression.

With the meeting over, Niro, Adal, Hara, and Top exit. Top stops Hara on their way out.

“What is it?” Hara asks.

“What do you plan to do once we find Lia?”

More focused than he has ever been in his life, yet still filled with rage, Hara looks Top directly in the eye. “Kill the king.”

Now even deeper in the forest, Emilia and Isaac continue their journey. Emilia holds onto Isaac's ropes as Lira rests on her shoulder.

Isaac looks at Lira. “Can't we just ride that thing?”

“His name is Lira, and no.”

Silence fills the air. Unable to bear the silence, Isaac strikes up a conversation. “So...what's your story? Why so adamant about allying with Dresil?”

“Can't answer that.” Emilia sarcastically replies, mimicking Isaac’s famous line.

“Cold,” Isaac states, respecting the comeback.

Another moment of silence passes, and Isaac tries a different approach.

“So your name is Lia?”

Realizing that he only heard her name when Top called her, she tells him her full name for the first time. “Emilia.”

“Emilia, huh? A pretty name for a…”

Emilia turns around and glares at Isaac, stopping him from insulting her.

“Pretty girl. Yup…” Isaac whispers under his breath to himself. “…that's what I was going to say.”

“Shhh.” Emilia cuts him off and continues to walk.

At this point, Isaac starts to get annoyed. “You know, you're right. No need for us to get to know each other. We'll be strangers again in three days anyway.”

“Not that. Shut up before you attract the Chichihara.”

The what? Isaac replies, believing she had just either made something up or cursed him out in another language.

“The Chichihara.”Emilia looks at Isaac as if he's supposed to know what she's talking about. Isaac rolls his eyes in confusion. Emilia speaks in a lower register as she questions Isaac.

“Dresil doesn't know about the Chichihara?”

“Dresil doesn't have monsters.”

“What about Mari?”

“Mar...who?”

“The Silekin?”

“Why are they silky?”

“Yol Keeper of Memories?”

Isaac laughs a little. “I feel like you just made that one up.”

“Ugh. You're hopeless.”

“So what is this Chichi thing?”

Emilia starts to walk again, pulling Isaac along. “The Chichihara is a dangerous beast with multiple pupils.”

Isaac’s imagination starts to form something terrifying. “Multiple?” he says with fear in his voice.

“Yes, the majority of its senses are through its eyes. It sees, smells, and hears through its pupils.”

“That's odd…”

Emilia nods in agreement. “The only thing normal about it is its mouth. The Chichihara is one of the only beasts that Brahara couldn't tame.”

“Why?” Isaac responds like a child hearing ghost stories.

“Because we're its favorite meal.”

Isaac tightens his grip, trying his best to control his fear.

Emilia continues, “Worst part is that it's an immortal creature. Even if you cut its head off, the Chichihara would just stand back up in a couple of hours.”

“Sounds like a fun time,” Isaac replies now in a lower register, the same as Emilia. Indicating to her that he now understands the danger.

Taking note of this, Emilia finishes her explanation. “That's why we have to stay quiet, at least for now. The Chichihara's nest is known to be somewhere around here.”

“Understood.”

Suddenly, a giant eye with multiple pupils opens up beside them. The two stop and slowly look to the right. Lira meows. The pupils split into two groups; one looks at Emilia and the other at Isaac. Both of them stand there in fear.

Shaken up, Emilia instructs the group. “Run.”

“Okay,” Isaac replies in the same scared tone.

The two start running as a giant white and pointy-furred creature emerges from the trees. It has two large eyes, each with multiple pupils. It has a large mouth covering the entirety of its face, as if it is always grinning. This is the Chichihara.

The Chichihara starts chasing them, chomping away at the trees in its path.

“That thing is huge!” Isaac screams, trying his best to run without the use of his arms.

“Just keep running!” Emilia yells back, pulling him along.

Emilia and Isaac are now side by side. Emilia still holds on tightly to Isaac's ropes.

“Lira!” Lira meows in response to Emilia’s call. He turns into a cheetah, and the two hop on his back. The Chichihara inches closer, proving that it is even faster than Lira. Emilia looks back at the beast, seeing it grow even sharper teeth within its mouth.

“It's going to catch us.”

“Then what do we do?” Isaac replies urgently.

Emilia looks in front of them and sees a cliff. Isaac looks at the cliff and then at Emilia, knowing she is prone to recklessness; he pleads. “No.”

Time being of the essence, Emilia ignores him. “Let's go, Lira!”

Lira growls and begins to run faster. The three reach the cliff, and Lira jumps. As they are flying over the cliff, the Chichihara's back begins to bubble. Out of it burst giant wings, and the beast flies over them, landing on the other side first.

Emilia, Isaac, and Lira watch in awe as the Chichihara roars. Its roar is so powerful it pushes them back in the other direction. Lira lands on the side of the cliff. The group, now sideways, runs away. The Chichihara follows.

Now confused and scared, Isaac screams. “I didn't know that thing had wings!”

“Neither did I!” Emilia replies, just as shocked as him.

The Chichihara attacks them with its jaw, but Lira manages to barely dodge its giant mouth. This continues, over and over, and over again.

As the attacks keep coming, each one closer than the last, Isaac resolves himself. “We won't last long like this. We have to fight that thing!”

“Agreed!” Emilia says, coming to the same conclusion.

“Great, give me the sword.”

Emilia pulls out her twin blades and holds up Isaac's ropes. She cracks a mischievous smile.

“I got a better idea.”

Isaac shrugs back, knowing that he won't like this idea. Emilia takes Isaac's ropes and throws him at the Chichihara, using him as bait. The Chichihara opens its mouth to eat Isaac in midair.

“Ahhhhhh!!!” Isaac screams like a frightened child.

Before the beast reaches him, Emilia throws one of her swords in the same direction; she follows it like a magnet. Using the force of her descent, she stabs the Chichihara in the top part of its mouth, closing it before it can eat Isaac.

Lira catches Isaac before he falls to the ground, and then proceeds to run along the side of the cliff. Emilia is now riding the Chichihara. Isaac, reasonably angry, yells at her.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!”

Emilia brings her other sword back to her. She uses her blades to stand up straight. “Now we just steer this…”

The Chichihara cuts Emilia off by slamming its body into the side of the cliff. Emilia begins to lose her balance.

“Nice steering there!” Isaac says, mocking her plan, still upset that he was used as bait.

“It's not me! It's trying to shake me off!” Emilia replies, trying her best to control the beast.

Isaac looks ahead to see a small cave on the side of the cliff, finally a way out. “There!” He looks back at Emilia. “You gotta jump!”

Isaac points to the cave, notifying her of the exit. Emilia nods her head in agreement. The Chichihara, furious, begins to fly higher to knock Emilia off. Emilia takes out her sword and jumps. The Chichihara spins around and chases her down.

Lira catches Emilia with his teeth before she falls, and the three crash into the cave. The Chichihara tries to go after them but is too big to get through. The Chichihara roars as the three fall deeper into the cave.

Past the Kiri village but not as deep in the forest as Emilia’s group, Leo is walking through the forest, looking for signs of Isaac. This is the first time he has been in the forest. He is in awe of the different small creatures and magical energy flowing through the branches and leaves. Darius runs up, alerting Leo and interrupting the king's sightseeing.

“Sire, we found footprints.”

Darius shows him three sets of footprints: two people and a small animal. Leo puts his hands on the ground, examining the scene.

“They're not headed out of the forest.”

“Sire?”

“These tracks, they're headed south, but to exit the forest you need to go north.”

“Could they just be lost?”

“The Kiri know the forest better than anyone. They're headed somewhere.”

“Where?”

“I don't know. But this is getting interesting. Come, we must hurry.” Leo says, being overly entertained by the entire situation.

“Yes, sire.”

Hidden within the trees not too far from the Kiri village, but far enough not to be seen, an army of knights camps out. Alice whispers to Eric. “We wait here for the King's signal.”

“Understood.” Eric nods. The knights all stare in the direction of the village.