7 To The Town

Letting the bat creature slide off his blade, Burch looks down at the girl, who has her hand on her mouth in horror and tears in her eyes.

A dark puddle of liquid is slowly spreading out on the ground underneath her.

Cleaning his blade with a black cloth, Burch turns to look at the rest of us.

"That is a Gremlin. They run rampant in these woods and kill anything they think is a meal. Especially little fool girls that think smelling flowers is a better idea, than listening to the only person that can keep you fuckers alive!"

Everyone is silent.

No one goes to help the now crying girl, who is still sitting on the ground. Finally, someone hurriedly walks over to the weeping figure.

Pulling the girl to her feet, they walk back to the group.

As soon as they're surrounded by the group of girls, she's bombarded by hugs and concerned questions. Someone lends her a pair of pants that they had over some shorts.

Burch, seemingly giving no shits, starts walking again.

Scared that more Gremlins might show up, everyone quickly follows, staying closer than ever to him.

We continue walking for a couple of hours, occasionally stopping for water breaks at small, clear creeks running across the path.

Once in a while there's rustling in the trees, but Burch ignores it so we do as well.

After one of the water breaks, I finally make up my mind and approach Burch.

He throws me a sideways glance, but keeps walking. Taking that as permission to speak, I clear my throat.

"Why did you save me from those goblins?"

"The test was over so I had to save you."

He says this with a grunt.

"That's not true and we both know it."

His eyes, the only thing visible under his hood and behind his mask, lock onto me.

"What makes you say that?"

"The sun hadn't started rising yet. I know I couldn't see it from the forest, but it should have been brighter than it was at night. Also, the amount of time that had passed didn't line up with how long you said we had."

He turns away, a hint of annoyance in his tone.

"You're too smart for your own good."

"So?"

He rolls his eyes, probably at the fact that he needs to explain himself further.

"I saw potential in you. Very few people have done what you did during that test. In fact, I've never seen someone take on a goblin to protect someone else, much less two."

"So what? The rules were that if you couldn't stay alive then you deserved to die."

He rolls his eyes again.

(He's really making me think that the only thing he can do with his eyes is roll them.)

"I also seem to have taken a liking to you. I want to see you succeed in the future. Happy?"

I shrug, stepping over a tree root. A second later I hear someone curse as they tumble to the ground.

"Sure. What are we going to do in this town you're taking us to?"

He releases an exasperated sigh as I continue to pester him.

"You'll find out when we get there."

Seeing that I won't get anymore about that out of him, I decide to ask a different question.

"How are you so fast? I couldn't see you when you went to kill that Gremlin and you basically disappeared before the test."

"Training and leveling up. Also, the fact that you're really slow makes it seem like I'm fast."

(Ouch. Okay.)

"Eventually you'll be able to see me. Maybe even be as fast, or faster, than me. If you live up to your potential."

I couldn't hear the last part, for some reason he mumbled it.

"I know why you saved me, but how did you heal me? Stuff like that should never be able to fully heal."

"I used magic."

"Magic?"

"Yes magic! What did I just say?!"

I raise my hands apologetically, switching to walking next to him in silence. I wait for a bit, then tentatively ask another question.

"Soooo...how do you use magic?"

"You'll learn when we train you. Everyone gets the basics in most Classes."

I scratch my head in confusion.

"And classes are?"

"God you're annoying! You'll learn when we get to town!"

He calls for another break, stalking away from me as people go up to a stream to get some water.

Five minutes later, it's back to walking.

Only now thats is gone can I place the almost unconscious feeling of claustrophobia that I had.

Tall Elm trees are surrounding us, which are spaced out a lot more than the pine trees. It makes everything feel more open.

The brush has transformed from lots of pretty flowers to more bushes and tall grass, with a lot more critters scampering around the underbrush.

The cloudless blue sky is a lot more visible too and are now walking on a hard packed, dirt path. I can finally see all the birds and squirrels in the treetops.

Burch stops.

Turning back to us, he scans the crowd, most of his face still hidden by a mask. For a split second, I can feel his eyes stop on me, but his gaze keeps moving a moment later.

"We are close to our destination. It'll only be a few more minutes."

He turns back around and continues to walk.

There's a soft buzz of excited conversation as we approach the edge of the woods.

It's a lot brighter past the tree line, so I can't quite see what it looks like, but it looks like a lot of green.

We exit the woods and start climbing a hill covered in grass and flowers.

Bees are humming through the air, fighting the soft breeze flowing across the hillside.

Butterflies flutter around, one of them landing on Natalia's nose.

Again, I notice how cute she is, with her large brown eyes and long lashes.

She catches me looking and I immediately move my eyes away, my cheeks heating up a bit.

(Don't want her thinking I've got the hots for her.)

But when I look back, her cheeks are a bit flushed too and she looks a bit conflicted.

(Maybe I can take this as a good sign?)

As the people at the head of our group reach the top of the hill, they gasp and are left with their mouths hanging open.

This distracts me from my thoughts about Natalia for the time being.

I make my way to the top, Matt on my right and Natalia on my left, and am left gaping at the massive town spread out before us.

"Welcome to the border town, Differentia." Burch says in the most unwelcoming voice I've ever heard.