3 The Woods

Edwin and I journeyed into the deep green woods. Edwin was riding on his horse Aris. She was the colour of pure white, her hair a dark grey-ish colour and her eyes a deep purple. I on the other hand was on Risto's back. It was a little uncomfortable riding on him but once you get used to the fact that he kept hopping around, it was a breeze. We were following the path between the trees that led to the small village named Etana. It was a day's walk away so we would be there in no time.

Jym and Seta were flying like crazy around us, their lime green and deep purple scales shining in the sun. Exploring the parts of the woods they have never seen before and of course catching tiny insects on the way. Atleast I knew the path to Etana. Edwin as well as my dragons never ventured further then the river we passed a few miles back. They would only go further if they really had to.

I was riding with a smile on my face. I had finally figured out what I was going to give Tsavia for her birthday. She has been dying to have a dragon of her own since she saw Jym and Seta, so I thought I'd try to find her one. I climbed off of Risto's back when we decided to have a five minute break. Risto immediately ran to the small pool of water to have a drink. I didn't know what his problem was. He just drank water ten minutes ago from the river we had passed. I shook my head at his silliness and decided to go pick some herbs that we would need along the journey.

While I was concentrating on finding a dragon egg and picking some herbs,Edwin seemed to be submerged in himself again. He's been jabbering about how skilled he was for atleast an hour. "You know Leetu, you might be the luckiest girl in the world to have such a handsome and skilled boyfriend like me."Said Edwin with a stupid grin on his face. I just laughed and shook my head. My loose blond hear bouncing around me as I do so.

Suddenly a few human bandits came crashing down upon us. Surrounding us in a few seconds. "Lets test that theory, shall we?" Said one of the bandits with an ugly smirk on his face. He was missing a few teeth so his words made a strange whistling sound. His disheveled clothes were rotten and dirty, his brown hair stood al over the place and his dull brown eyes were full of menace. I only assumed that he was the leader of the group that was currently surrounding us.

I looked back at Edwin to see his eyes had turned black as the darkest night. The nails on his fingers grew into ugly black tallons. He let out a menacing growl that echoed through the woods. His demon was out. "It's time to play." He said while licking his lips. Before I could warn him about the trap they had set up for us, he sprung of Aris and charged at them. Just when he was inches away from tearing of the bandits face, a net came up from the ground. Making Edwin trapped in mid air. "Oh great." I said under my breath. "Now I have to go save his butt."

I forced a smile at the ugly bandit leader that was grinning victoriously at me. He thought he had won. "Excuse me sir," I said a little uncertainly."But could you maybe let go of my boyfriend? You know before you run away screaming..." I wasn't planning on killing them. I would never kill anyone or anything, but I was going to let them run. The leader began to laugh at my statement. Which then caused the rest of the bandits to laugh with him. I quickly glanced back at Risto, who was currently hiding behind some bushes. The leader of the bandits then shushed them with a wave of his hands. "Enough!" He screamed before the last laugh died down.

"C'mon pretty lady." He said with a lick of his lips. "Lets not make this hard, oky?" The leader and the bandits took slow but precise steps toward me. Some of them laughed evilly. Other had menacing smiles on their dirty faces. They thought they had me trapped.

The bandits were only a few feet away from me. I only shrugged my shoulders and sighed. I did warn them. "Risto, come here boy!" I yelled. The bandits look confused for a second before they saw a 6'2 foot grey wolf running down towards them. Before I could ask Risto to chase after them, the bandits dropped everything and ran away screaming at the top of their lungs. I only laughed at them and turned around towards Risto, who's tongue was sticking out of his mouth. "Good boy Risto!Good boy." I said while scratching him behind his ear.

"If your done baby-ing that huge dog of yours, could you maybe help me down?" Edwin sat in the net with his arms crossed. A cute little frown on his now normally handsome face. He looked like a child that was going to have I temper tantrum. I giggled at the thought and walked right up to him. "Was it really necessary to go all demon on them?" I asked with my hands on my hips. The only response I got was him grumbling under his breath.

I smiled at his grumpiness and took out my bow and arrow. I aimed at the rope that was keeping the net in midair. Taking a deep breath, I let the arrow loose that I was holding between my fingers.  I watched as the arrow flew through the the air like a Peregrine valkon and sliced the rope in half. Before Edwin could realize what was happening, the rope snapped and the net fell down, making Edwin fall on his butt.

"You could've warned me about that." Said Edwin grumpily as he stood up and started to rub his sore butt with his hand. Oh Edwin.

***

A few hours had passed and we were still following the path to Etana. The sun was slowly setting on the horizon, giving the woods and unearthly glow. Jym and Seta were dragging their feet on the ground, their wings to tired to fly. Risto wasn't hopping round anymore but rather walking a slow and steady pace. Everybody was exhausted from the day's events. Edwin and I decided we were going to set camp near the Ngissim river and would continue the journey tomorrow.

While I was making a fire for the meat Edwin would be bringing, I felt a strange feeling. I frowned as I tried to figure out what this feeling was. It felt wrong... very wrong. Like something bad was going to happen. I pushed the feeling away as I realised how silly it sounded. I was only a little stressed out because of the events that happened today. Nothing else. After setting camp and making our beds, Edwin came back with the deer he had hunted. Edwin gave three quarters of the deer to Risto and the rest he had left for himself. I didn't eat meat so I plucked a few berries from the nearest bush and began eagerly chomping down on it. When we were done eating and drinking water, we decided to go to bed.