Spending The Night In A Cave

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Slowly, Anwen started to open her eyes. She felt pain in several parts of her body.

"Brother… Rion." She muttered under her breath as she remembered the figure of Rion who had saved her in the forest.

"Thank goodness, you're awake."

Her purple eyes that were looking up at the ceiling shifted to look at the person speaking next to her.

"Trishy..." She said weakly, then got up quickly and Trish quickly held her back.

"What are you doing? You're still sick," Trish said, trying to make Anwen lie down again, but the girl shook her head.

"I'm fine. Where is my brother and Miss Ody?" Anwen asked, looking at Trish.

"They're not back yet."

"What?!" Anwen's eyes widened. Suddenly anxiety enveloped her and she immediately threw her blanket and wanted to get out of bed, because she wanted to catch up with Rion and Odette, but Trish held her back.

"Princess, you are currently seriously injured, so get some rest."

"No, Trishy, I'm fine, let's follow Rion and Odette." Anwen insisted.

The sound of footsteps on the wooden floor made Anwen and Trish turn their heads at the same time, and they saw an old woman walking from outside and entering the room.

"Oh, you're awake? Thankfully, the antidote is working really well," said the healer.

Trish got up from his seat, and let the healer sit next to Anwen, and placed a bowl filled with ointment made from crushed medicinal herbs.

Anwen was confused when she saw the old woman, and was even more confused when she realized that she was in a strange place. She looked up at Trish, who was standing next to her, with eyes that seemed to ask 'where is this?'

"We're in Verde Village, the closest village to Randle Forest, and she's the healer who saved and treated your wounds," Trish explained, understanding Anwen's stare.

Anwen looked back at the healer sitting nearby. She thanked the healer for helping her, and said that she was fine now and that she had to go.

The healer tried to prevent Anwen, who wanted to get out of bed, because Anwen was still recovering, but Anwen insisted.

"I'm fine. Please don't get in my way," Anwen said weakly, and staggered to her feet. "Tri-Trish let's go…"

Before she could finish her sentence, she fell onto Trish's broad chest. Her eyes felt heavy, and her breathing felt heavy, besides that, she also felt dizzy.

In the midst of her bad state, she remembered Odette. Odette went to Randle Forest on her suggestion. What if her brother hadn't found Odette yet? Or that chimera… no! Anwen didn't want to imagine that. By now, her brother must have found Odette and they were currently doing well together.

Trish helped Anwen to stand up and laid her down on the bed.

"You are still very weak, don't push yourself. I will look for them," he said then turned to look at the healer. "Please take care of her until my return."

After receiving the healer's nod, Trish was about to turn around to leave the room, but he stopped when Anwen suddenly grabbed him and gripped his hand tightly, and he spontaneously turned to look at the owner of the hand that held his.

"Promise me that you will find them and the three of you will return safely," Anwen said weakly with her eyes closed.

Trish smiled faintly and held Anwen's hand. "Don't worry, I'm the king's savage dog. Finding missing people is one of my skills. I'll be back with them," he said, then let go of Anwen's hand, and left the room.

"Be careful, Trishy..." Anwen said very quietly as soon as Trish walked through the door.

When he came out of the hut, Trish was quite surprised by the few men who greeted him. They were residents of Verde Village.

Trish arched an eyebrow at the many torches, oil, ropes, nets, arrows, and various weapons that the citizens were carrying.

"Knight Trish, would you like to go find His Majesty, the King?" asked one of them. The man had a burly body, stern eyes, and thin sideburns.

"Yes, what is all this?"

"We will help you," said another resident.

Trish was, again, quite surprised when he heard that statement.

"Aren't you afraid?" Trish asked, wanting to be sure, because the place they were going to look for the king was Randle Forest, and all the citizens responded by saying no!

* * *

Night had fallen, the dark forbidden forest was getting darker and the atmosphere that had been terrifying from the start was getting more and more terrifying. In a small cave, Odette and Rion were sitting facing a bonfire.

Anwen had really prepared all the necessities very well while in Vibes City. The young girl showed herself to be a true adventurer. Odette was so grateful she didn't throw the bag away while being chased by the chimera.

If she threw it away, who knew what would happen to her this time? She would be starving, thirsty, cold and dead.

Then besides the bag, there was one more thing she was grateful for. She looked at Rion, who was sitting across from the bonfire, quietly eating bread. The golden light from the bonfire made the man's handsome face shine even more.

'He eats very elegantly,' Odette mumbled in her heart as she watched Rion take a bite of a small piece of bread then chew it slowly and very quietly.

Rion, who realized he was being watched, asked, "What's wrong?"

His eyes looked straight at Odette.

"Huh?" Odette was a little surprised. She didn't realize when she started daydreaming while watching Rion. Did she just fall in love with the man?

"N-nothing." Odette smirked. For three seconds, they sat in silence again until Rion finally spoke.

"What you said earlier, is it true? Did Anwen really say that?" he asked. What Odette said a while ago about Anwen really made him think.

Meanwhile, Odette could see the side of a loving brother in Rion right now. Even though the guy was a little annoying, he didn't seem as bad as she thought. Maybe the incident on the slopes was unintentional because if he really was a jerk then Odette would have kissed her virginity goodbye a while ago. So, maybe from now on, she should stop calling him a jerk.

"Um." She nodded. "She looked like she was badly missing you, and I see that you miss her too. I think you two need to talk."

Rion closed his eyes for a moment then stood up.

"Where are you going?" asked Odette, as Rion turned around and looked like he wanted to leave.

"I'll keep watch outside, you just sleep." said Rion

Odette stood up. "Okay, I will sleep first, later when you're tired, I will replace you."

"No need," said Rion, turning around and stepping out. For a few seconds, Odette stared at the man's back. His figure came out of the cave and sat on the grass outside.

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From the author:

Good news! I have some chapters stockpiled and will publish them in a mass release later today. How many chapters do you think I should publish? XD