Chapter 5 | Right In Front of Us

A chill went through Rowan's body. The fox is right in front of us, he thought. Rowan and the others directed their attention to the main road. They all gasped when they saw the fox. Just like Rowan and the other two, the black fox stood there, not moving a muscle.

Suddenly, the fox slowly stalked to Rowan, Yui, and Hiromi. It was careful, as if each step would determine its fate. As the fox got closer, Rowan noticed that the fur on the fox wasn't actual fur; it was needles. Pitch black and sharp, the 'fur' on the fox was glittering in the sunset. It suddenly stopped right in front of them, about a meter away.

A trickle of sweat slid by Rowan's face. He was still standing still. Why am I standing still? he thought. I should do something about this! I can't just rely on Yui and Hiromi all the time!

Something surprised the three even more. "I have eaten many imps along the way, but my stomach is still not full." The voice was from the black fox. It was a quiet, but crispy voice, and it spoke calmly, too.

"What is your purpose with us?" asked Yui.

The fox replied in a smooth voice, "To test your strength."

Yui stepped forward and put her hand in front of Rowan and Hiromi to halt them. "I'll deal with this," she said. Yui's right hand started glowing in a reddish-orange color. She then raised her hand in the air and a ball of fire started to grow in her hand. The fireball was about the size of a large ball. The black fox carefully stepped backward. Once the ball stopped expanding, Yui threw the ball towards the black fox.

The fireball exploded and the heat from it made Rowan and Hiromi flinch. Rowan could feel the heat from the explosion. Yui could make such a powerful spell without her grimoire, thought Rowan. One more reason for me to get stronger.

"Hmm... as expected from his..." the fox muttered.

Rowan looked beside him and saw the fox on a branch of a tree. No one heard the fox move or dodge Yui's attack. Even the leaves and the branches on the tree didn't make a sound.

"How?" Rowan asked himself.

Yui made her next move. Her grimoire rose up from her pouch and opened to the beginning of the book. "This is one of my first spells. To think my first time using a spell would be on an enemy," she said.

"Fire Creation: Feather of Flames," chanted Yui, with her hands in the air.

Like Yui's first fireball, a small ball of fire appeared out of thin air and started expanding. More appeared around Yui and changed into what looked like feathers. Yui directed her hands to the fox and the 'feathers' started going towards the black fox.

It missed again.

"Now it's my turn," finally said the fox. A few needles started to grow longer from his body. Each of them was about a foot long and started to float in the air, facing Rowan and the others.

The needles started flying towards Rowan at a tremendous speed but stopped just an inch away from his body.

"Lukira, it's time to go," said a voice.

Rowan saw a black figure behind the fox. Rowan couldn't figure out what it was because it looked like a silhouette. He then saw the needles fall down to the ground. Rowan had no idea what was going on.

"It was nice to play with you guys. We'll be seeing each other very soon," said the fox. He then disappeared behind the tree with his ally.

"What the hell was that?" asked Rowan. He was filled with confusion. Why did the mysterious fox attack them? And who was the other guy?

Yui replied with a sigh. "We should probably head to Swanford right now. It's getting dark. We'll talk about it in the morning. Let's go."