"You'll be fine Shiro," I reassured as I watched his body begin to shiver as if he were out in the cold.
A doubting look flickered in his eyes alongside nervousness. "I-I'm not worthy enough to go on an adventure with you Eos, p-please...let me stay here! Take Raiko!" He gulped, a nervous yelp leaving him as soon as his older brother nudged him forward a little.
"Don't be such a coward, go on and go, Shiro!" Raiko barked before the rest of the Sabre-Wolves began to bark and howl words of encouragement.
My grin only grew as I watched him slowly begin to walk as if he were a newborn just taking his first steps out into a big new world.
"Don't worry Shiro, you'll be just fine," I reassured as he walked up beside me, causing me to give him a quick pat on the head while he only sighed.
“I-I hope so...” He sighed before he continued to walk off, leaving me to follow after him.
Along with this little mission given by Ibis...I suppose I could afford to take on a side-quest of trying to build Shiro's confidence. After all, a wolf wasn't a wolf without a little confidence.
“Goodbye Lady Eos! Until we all see you again!” Called out the village before I gave them one final look back as I waved to them!
And...for a moment at least, I could’ve sworn I saw another flashback, where the village was at its poorest state before it was suddenly back at its prime...I helped this village, this was my family! And, I refused to be away from my family forever. One day, though I didn’t know when I would return to them.
“You’re bringing a Sabre-Wolf along Eos?” Ryzel asked curiously as his eyes turned to Shiro.
“I am, good news for you, right? You won’t have to be running alongside us.” I chuckled, Ares, lowering himself a little to allow me to get onto his back. Ryzel snickered. “Depends if he even lets me use him as a mount!” Shiro’s brow rose, his eyes darting to look at me before they went back to Ryzel.
“It’s fine I suppose...” He grumbled, Ryzel wasting no time to suddenly get on the wolf’s backside before my collar suddenly buzzed.
‘There is a port-town about a day away from here in the east. Go there and ask a man who goes by the name Aetius for transport to the Desert Continent, he will take you.’ Ibis quickly ordered, a sigh leaving me soon after my collar stopped buzzing.
This was really happening.
“There’s a port-town a day away from here in the east, let’s go!” I grinned before Ares suddenly took off running, the sound of Shiro’s dee howl renewing my sense of adventure.
Goodbye Sabre-Wolf village and goodbye Forest Continent! Like any other hero...their adventures one day take them elsewhere! And I? As a decent hero, myself wasn’t excused from that rule. No matter what type of fantasy I was in. As we all rushed across the open plains however, soon finding ourselves within the gorgeous forests that were the common checkpoint used to signal one was close to the village.
I was still ever enthralled by the forest’s beauty like the first moment I had traveled through it. Trees that had greener than green leaves that allowed the sun’s rays to pour through them like a painting while it sported small flowers here and there, the petals falling gracefully to the sound as we ran, rushing river streams that teamed with bountiful amounts of fish that ranged from salmon to bass, to even the animals within the forest! I could’ve sworn that I saw deer and elk running with us as we rushed through the forest!
Though, as soon as we emerged onto an open plain, I couldn’t help but begin to feel as if this place was growing more and more familiar.
‘Is it familiar to you Eos?’ Ibis suddenly asked, nearly making my heart jump out of my chest.
‘It is.’ I thought as I nearly broke my neck trying to look everywhere. To the forest not too far away, to a strange, grassless clearing! It made my head throb until-
"The old location of the village..." I gasped.
This is where it all began...my story in this new world, from a teenager who was just trying to figure out what to do in this life to a heroine who was setting off on a new adventure! Meeting new people, fighting new battles, learning new things about this world and the like! It was all open to me.
‘But...what happened to it?’
‘People tend to have a habit of burning things away that don’t look pretty to the eye.’ Ibis sighed, my brow cocking to her words a little before Ares suddenly skidded to a harsh stop. My head nearly slammed into his back for goodness’ sake!
“The heck Ares-”
“Hush.” He quickly shushed me, my brow raising a little before I leaned over a little to see what he was looking at.
My eyes widened at the field ahead of us, man or woman...I could recognize that familiar silver armor anywhere!
An army of Paladins...but, I didn’t fail to notice the enlarged animals by their sides. They ranged from lions, bulls, birds and even dogs it seemed! But they walked with no emotion, no true sense of where they were or life...they mindlessly followed their Paladin wherever they walked! Almost as if...they had no soul.
“What’s wrong with those animals?” I wondered aloud, Ares wasting no more time to gawk at the army before he quickly trotted off. A detour was a must.
“They aren’t animals, they are Beast Daemoniums in their true form,” Ryzel revealed, my eyes widening at the knowledge.
I thought the Beasts absolutely hated the Paladins! If that was true then why in the world were they hanging around Paladins?
“Then why are they-”
“I don’t know, Dogs and Cats I could understand. They are traitors to our kind but...other kinds? Never.” He interrupted with a sigh, Ares suddenly letting out a huff.
“Let us speak of this matter no more, this war is not our concern.” Ares said.
“It technically is our concern Ares, after all, we haveDaemoniums in our village!” I huffed, Ares letting out a heavy sigh while he shook his head. I could almost hear his brows furrowing.
“Allowing the Daemoniums to reside near the village was your idea, besides...you should have more confidence than that shouldn’t you? Seeing as you let them in three years ago. Why would the Paladin army ever decide to attack now? Well, despite their numbers only getting bigger by the day.” Ares said, my eyes narrowing a little at his words.
He thought he was such a jokester...I was being serious!
Going off Ryzel’s information and what I noticed, the entire situation left an unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach, Beast Daemoniums serving their enemies and the Paladin army only growing bigger? The entire situation was sketchy! I refused to let the Sun-Dancer tribe be killed for no reason just because a racist suddenly decided it was time for them to die.
And the fact that the Beast Daemoniums were serving their enemies so willingly...? That wasn’t some type of forbidden magic there, that type of emotionless response to a situation such as serving their kind’s arch-nemesis in a war? That was something seen in people after years and years of trauma! I swear, if I ever meet this person...I’ll give them a taste of their own medicine! Nonetheless however, as we resumed our journey, our travel slowly taking us to the middle of an open field while the sky above began to shift into a mixture of pink and purple while the clouds faded away to reveal the stars. It didn’t take long for me to suddenly slip off Ares’ back and begin to walk on my own.
A sore back...it wasn’t exactly the type of thing I wished to have should an enemy suddenly appear.
“What’s wrong? Sore?” Ares asked as I rubbed my backside. I nodded.
“Your back isn’t exactly comfy without a blanket...” I grumbled.
“Then you should’ve brought one.”
“Or...I can just ride Shiro and Ryzel rides you?”
A tense silence coiled around the atmosphere. Alright...bad joke there but that didn’t explain why it was so awkward! These two needed to get along.
“I’m not going to ride on the back of a centaur who probably has dreams of killing me in my sleep.” Ryzel suddenly said.
“And I won’t let a bastard who constantly worms his way into every woman’s bed get onto my back.” Ares snapped back.
My eyes widened, Jesus Christ, what in the world was wrong with these two!? They hated each other as much as I hated doing paperwork!
“Jesus! The heck is wrong with you two? It’s been years since you guys have met each other, y’all should at least be somewhat neutral around one another at this point!” I huffed as I crossed my arms.
“Letting one’s guard down around a Daemonium is exactly what leads up to being killed or tricked into their furs, I refuse for either to happen to you,” Ares grumbled as he crossed his arms, causing Ryzel to narrow his eyes dangerously before he crossed his own.
“I respect him because he protects you my beauty but, if it were up to me? I’d show him exactly what my kind are capable of doing to the mortals.” Ryzel threatened, his eyes glowing dangerously before I let out a sigh.
If I had to be on a boat with these two, this whole issue of them being hostile towards one another had to be squashed while we were still on land. No ifs, ands or buts about it.
“Why don’t you grab some things for a campfire Ares?” I suggested with a grin, Ares wasting no time to nod his head before he trotted off, leaving me alone with Ryzel and Shiro. I quickly let out a heavy sigh.
“You need to get along with him seriously.”
“What?! I’ve tried to be nice to him since the beginning, I’m merely returning his attitude to me.”
“Haven’t you ever heard the phrase if someone slaps you on the right cheek, you turn the other? Dude, just be nice to him! Don’t be mean to him, don’t do anything rude to him! Just be nice.” I said as I crossed my arms. Ryzel’s eyes narrowed, another sigh leaving me.
“Trust me, he used to be pretty rude to me as well but you know what I did? I simply ignored it and was nice to him, I talked to him and he talked to me and you know what happened? The whole issue of him being rude was gone in about two days of meeting one another almost! I’m telling you...just be nice.” I said before I put a hand on his shoulder encouragingly, the sight of Ryzel’s brow rising a little as that familiar flirtatious smirk began to creep onto his face making me narrow my eyes. Keep it under control...I was not about to blush in front of this idiot!
“Hm...I’ll try my best to make my lovely Lady happy but for a reward?” I chuckled; it wouldn’t hurt to amuse him a little.
“A reward? What type are we talking about?” I asked, causing him to tap his finger against his chin thoughtfully before he hummed.
“Hm...how about an encouraging kiss now and a date with me in the future?” He suggested, my cheeks immediately beginning to burn.
“I-I am not about to sit here and kiss you!”
“Not on the lips, on the cheek. We can save the lips for the moment you’re actually my mate hm?” He smirked, flashing me a wink that made my heart speed up a little.
My brain screamed at me to deny his wishes but my heart was strangely telling me to go ahead and go through with it! Funny...my heart remained opinion-less for all these years and was just now starting to give me advice on what to do.
And I hated the fact that my mind was beginning to go along with my heart's newfound opinions.
Comments (0)
See all