“Someone who seeks help,” the voice from bivalve shell murmured. 

Dushiel’s brows furrowed. “Help for what?”

 “I’m lost and stuck in a cave,” the frail voice sighed “This is all with remained power of enchantment that I speak you and it cannot alone carry me out of darkness. The swallow was my last hope to reach my brother, Silver Breeze”

 A stream of doubts flew on Dushiel’s mind but he was determined to bring out the most perplexed point “How do I know that you aren’t a vicious energy?”

“Take me to somewhere sacred. If that place contains an abundance of defensive spells against evil, it will denote my position,” the voice replied.

 Dushiel shook his head. He has already made a mistake by touching a charmed item without confirming its intention. Therefore, as a step of precaution first, he found a small empty box and then, dropped the bivalve shell into it. This might not prevent all potential negative impact on him, yet it would save him from direct physical contact of the object.

 Picking up the box, Dushiel decided to visit Everfire, a cenotaph in honor of an ancient hero of Yarrow Vale. There an inextinguishable torch was forged on the top, and that had been kindling since decades. Nevertheless, everyone from mount Yulis to Yarrow Vale had faith that no evil spirit could pass by the place in disguise.

 As soon as Dushiel approached the gold painted monument, he emptied the box at its foot. The shell fell on the ground and remained. Dushiel waited for about an hour at Everfire expecting some peculiar activity from either the kindling fire on the top of the stone, or the bivalve shell but for his great relief, both contributed to tranquility.

 Lightheartedly, Dushiel grabbed the shell “Does your brother live anywhere near here? I can deliver this to him, if so”

 “Erling! He lives in Erling forest now,” the voice said low. Dushiel stiffened. Erling? It was the other side of the mount Yulis and he had never ever stepped out of the Yarrow Vale. However, he could not count on the sallow to do the job as it was yet to be healed. Dushiel thought for a minute. What if he borrowed a messenger bird? But were not those well-trained birds a luxury item? Besides, what silk-stocking family would be that benevolent to hand over an expensive messenger to a mere farmer? He took a deep breath.

 Actually, Dushiel could not grasp whether it was his own excitement to expand beyond the boundaries or compassion that compelled him to accept an errand on behalf of a stranger, but he was ready to proceed. Dushiel immediately rushed home and scribbled down a note for his parents. Next, he took some rolled biscuits from a bottle from his almost empty larder and stuffed a pouch bag. He also weaponized himself with a stainless dagger from a drawer.

 After the consent of the enchanted voice, he drilled two holes on the shell and turned it into a pendant of a woven string around his neck. Shortly, Dushiel pushed his note under the gap on the door at his parent’s and hit the road. The voice from his new pendant directed him towards the destination. It took an entire day and night for him even to cross the Yarrow Vale amidst small intervals to drink some water from a spring on the way to Erling, and to help himself with food and a little nap.  Thankfully, the greenery enhanced as Dushiel advanced, and he never ran out of supplies as he could pick some wild apples or wild berries in any case of a food shortage. Anyway, for the downside of the journey, a few miles ahead Erling, he encountered a sudden drizzle, but Dushiel could handle it by providing a shelter of a leaf umbrella.

  When the Erling forest was looming ahead in third day, Dushiel noticed the scenery was becoming more blithesome than before. A peaceful stream ran by the outskirts of Erling, and gigantic stones covered in moss stood as its guardians on the bank.

 Dushiel, was instructed to walk around the stream to reach the other side, and by the evening of the following day he was finally in the Erling forest. He kept on going in until he caught the sight of a group of men caging a fawn. They shut the wooden door of the cage, and started making poles from branches of trees to lift the cage to be carried on shoulders. Behind a thick bark of a tree, Dushiel waited to seize the perfect opportunity. Once men’s attention was on their work than on the fawn, he slipped into the shadows and sneaked towards the cage’s door with the dagger on his hand. Dushiel was just a centimeter away from the door, and someone kicked his hand.  The dagger went flying and a man snatched him by the collar yelling “you, bastard!”

Dushiel sniffed. “I’m a bastard? Then, who are you, when you cannot even leave an innocent animal alone?”

“YOU!” the man clenched teeth and raised his hand to hit Dushiel, but one of his fellows interrupted.

“That not necessary. Just tie him up before he does something stupider”

 The man reluctantly let go Dushiel’s collar, and two men tied him to a tree nearby while Dushiel was struggling to break free from their grasp. “Saphead!  Hope you love it, when hungry animals are here at night,” the man who had grabbed Dushiel by the collar snorted and his friends let out a bray of laughter.

   Dushiel frowned, but soon despite his state, Dushiel detected something that the rest failed to realize. A white figure was drawing on from the depths of the forest towards where they were. The laughter faded away, when the gang turned around to see what made Dushiel gasp suddenly with his gaze on something in front of them.

   Under brilliant beams through the canopy, there stood an outstanding young man cladded in the color of snow. His ethereal face was unreadable and his long white hair was fluttering in the wind. When his tall lithesome body was moving, Dushiel could not discern whether he was floating or walking, and neither any of men there could remain unflinching, when he glance at each of them. Could a man divine like this be nothing less than at least the forest god? '

 The flawless looking man or spirit stepped forward and “forest sprit,” escaped from Dushiel’s mouth. Hideous men who tied Dushiel to a bark of a tree, stared at each other in terror and immediately, fled away. Now, it was just the mysterious young male and Dushiel.  

  Promptly, the artful one unsheathed his sword and waved it as Dushiel looked away. He waited for the lethal impact of a cold blade on his skin, and got to see sliced rope ends at his feet instead. Dushiel looked up. The white haired male was already leaving behind the animal’s cage which was also shattered into pieces releasing the fawn back home.

  Dushiel instantly picked up his dagger and ran after his savior. “Forest spirit!” The elegant figure halted for a moment without turning. “I’m not…nice pendant,” he said curtly before walking away. Dushiel stood dumbfounded until he heard the voice in the shell cried “That’s Silver Breeze”. Dushiel sprang back.  

“What? Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

Next, he hastened before the stranger disappeared.

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