The sunset peeked through the forest canopy as I walked out from the hidden city of Wildwood. Only the rushing waters of the river beside me and the gentle breeze accompanied my walk back to Beau and I's cave. As I wandered away from the city I began to think about this world and the way it worked, these people seemingly speak English but based on the Germanic buildings I can't be too certain that they are speaking my language, as I might be speaking theirs.
It is too bad that isekai novels never went into this type of thing. Plus, it seems that every answer I get seems to get leads to another question, like who is Edgar the 13th? What country am I currently in? Why do dragons look the way they do? Are there other people from my world here?
It is things like this that I want to know, but I can't really ask these questions to people, because for all I know otherworlders might be seen as a plight to this world, and I can't go to the nearest library to find this shit out, because I don't know if I can even read the language! Every little shop or hole in the wall down there was marked by a symbol of some sort, showing what service was provided, and when I ordered food, I just got what I saw it's not like someone gave me a menu.
I couldn't help but frown as an unpleasant thought shot through my head, "The shelters." I ended up muttering out loud. Before I could ponder anymore, I smelt something coming from up ahead it was... intoxicating. The bitter-sweet aroma drifted around me, and I started to feel woozy. As my mind began to get hazy, I could feel my body starting to lumber off the path to my cave and began to wander deeper into the woods, and as I ventured deeper, and my mind got hazier the scent got stronger and more intense.
I started to feel giddy as the trees seemed to get closer as the sunlight from above was barely a dim radiance now, even though I have only walked about fifty yards away from the path. All thoughts of doubt and paranoia started to disappear, and I was starting to forget and... I was okay with that. I didn't even care to think about the small petite creatures crawling out of the trees, the ones that were no higher than six inches tall and wore cloves woven out of plant life. With malformed little dragonfly wings and spindly limbs and androgynous crooked faces permanently twisted into exaggerated into a disgusting parody of excitement, and pale green pustules dotting their bodies, dyeing their skin a sickly gray color. I didn't even care that the three crooked trees I was walking to were literally moving, snaking their tendrils across the forest floor slowly approaching my legs, and the trunks of said trees began to warp and form cavernous mouths that contained the same garish smiles as the fairy-like creatures.
I was smiling as I drunkenly waltzed towards the tree monster as I were seeing an old friend, but before I could wander any farther, I began to feel it. The dull rise of panic in my very soul that only climbed as my mind became clear once more. I stopped dead in my tracks I could feel the tension rise near me as the fairy-like beings also began to get agitated by me not moving. Then I saw a shift in their garish appearance... worry. I could feel something building up around me, a tension so thick that it could be cut with a knife. Then before I could react a fiery sunset-colored comet came blazing by me. The tree monster couldn't even scream as it burst into a gory firework covering the ground in smoldering wooden flesh and black-green blood. One of the fairy-like creatures shook off the initial surprise and hurled themselves at me I quickly turned around stabbing the monster in its forehead. It felt like I was stabbing into a brick with how hard its skull was, it screamed out in pain and then proceeded to sink its jaws into my shoulder.
A sharp pain coursed through my shoulder, as I held back a pained cry. Rather than fear now a sense of anger bubbled inside of me, and like how the creature wouldn't let go I kept on stabbing it in the face, as I turned my head to confirm my suspicions, to find out that I was right, my dragon Beatitudine had come to help. My rage only grew as I watched her take on the onslaught of tree vines and fairy creatures, as they had deemed her to be the bigger threat. The fairy creature once latched onto my shoulder attempted to escape back into the forest after part of its face was no longer recognizable with all the deep stab wounds. I grabbed onto the monster's leg slamming it into the ground below me, stabbing it frantically, showering myself in its black-green blood as it screamed in agony. Once it stopped moving my body began to move on instinct blitzing the fairy creature stabbing and slashing them to let Beau take care of the remaining two tree monsters.
Each bite into my skin, each claw mark that landed on my unprotected legs and arms only infuriated me more. Then the rest of the fight was a bit of a blur, I lost my knife at one point after it got knocked out of my hands, so I ended up beating the monsters off with one of the other monster's dead bodies, using it as a makeshift club and my visioned blurred and darkened as I let my basic instincts of survival and violence to take charge.
When my consciousness came clear, truly clear, there was a pile of charred, broken, and mutilated dead fairy creatures as well as some tree monster bits scattered everywhere around. I was still covered in the monsters' blood and the smell of burnt meat and vegetation hung in the and it was perfectly illuminated under the cruel midday Sun. I was standing in the middle of this circle of carnage as I came out of my stupor, I realized that Beau wasn't around.
I started to shakily shuffle my way around to check the surrounding areas, I tried calling out to her but all that came out was faint, and hoarse mumbling. I started to worry about her whereabouts, then I had the strangest feeling in my gut, like it was giving me directions and I proceeded to follow it out of the area to a familiar spot. It was the river leading back to the cave where Beau and I have been living to find Beau lowering her middle head to drink from the river and the other two kept watch.
The left head faced towards me with her blue eyes shimmering with delight and the other two eyes shot towards my direction as Beau started to come towards me. I walked over to her and wrapped my arms around her middle neck burying my face in it. I choke as I try to get words to come out, any words, but all I can do is stand in silence holding her unable to say anything.
Beau nuzzled her heads around my body as if she knew how horrible I felt after being attacked and covered gore. I let go and started wash my arms and face in order to get the blood off of me, I watched as the blood dilute into a greyish color as it slowly trickled off my arms. As I cleansed myself, I felt another strange feeling in my gut, and I whipped around to see an individual running towards me. Beau went on guard and prepared herself to strike.
As the person got closer, I realized who it was, it was Johnathan and he had look of shock on his face as he saw me. "Y-your back! Where is Sophia!?" He exclaimed stepping forward in disbelief ignoring the fact I was still, for the most part, drenched in blood. Beau let out a throaty growl he approached, "It is okay Beau." I say petting her, "Johnathan, what do you mean your back, and what this about Sophia?"
He froze in place moving his lips silently until he decided to finally speak, "We tried to find you after you disappeared, because our Lord wished to speak to you, and we thought at first that you were still in that cave with your griffin. So, Sophia said she would go and find you and then she disappeared, and Marcus, Otis, and I decided to your cave to see if your griffin was still there, and she was gone. None of our tracking techniques could find you, or even any trace of you. I was like you vanished."
A pit like feeling rose deep inside me and I could only hope that I was wrong, "Johnathan what are you saying?"
"You have been gone for almost two weeks."
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