Chapter 3 - Like A Guardian

It was quiet, save for the chirping of the night insects hiding away in the trees that blended with the shadows. There was a white crescent moon accompanied by twinkling stars in the dark sky above.

The Earth Realm was just like she had read, the pictures she had seen, everything was the same, but still, it felt absolutely wonderful to actually be here. To smell the air of another realm, to feel the ground of another realm beneath her feet,

Oh, bliss.

Happiness surge through her, the wind blew pass her slowly and she smiled, then she started walking into the night.

She wasn't looking for anything in particular yet, she was just observing the natural beauty of the Earth Realm. The more she walked, the more beauty she saw. How could her mother have tried to deny her of this?

The only difference from her Realm so far was that it wasn't up in the clouds.

"I saw the rabbit first!" A being some distance away yelled.

Delice immediately placed her hand on the dagger by her side, alert and ready to attack.

"No, I did!" another yelled back.

Delice's ears perked and she immediately flew up the tree to hide herself.

She could hear them approaching, the fallen leaves rustling as them moved. Her eyes were vigilant. It would be a shame to be killed right on arrival. Not after everything she had to go through to be here.

The yelling beings were still brickering when they finally came in sight.

Beings without wings? Earth Realmers.

The books called them humans too.

But what type of Human were they?

According to the books she had read and pictures she had seen, they don't grown enough.

What was that word they called you g Earth Realmers?

Oh, teenagers!

The teenagers finally stopped under the tree she was hiding in.

Oh, no!

What if they noticed her?

What would she do?

Her wings were wrapped behind her and she was certain that it was big enough to be noticed.

She really hoped they wouldn't look up and just go away already.

"Wait until my brother gets here, you are screwed." The girl spat in anger while she dailed up something on a box that was emitting light.

Now where had Delice seen that before?

The girl brickered away on the box to someone and Delice couldn't help but think hard about it. She knew it was used to communicate, she had read about it but what was it?

Oh, a phone!

If only she had not been out of touch with her library for quiet a while, she wouldn't have forgotten so much.

Soon a guy that looked quite older than the two teenagers appeared.

Great! She just hoped their entire realm wouldn't be gathering under the tree soon.

She really didn't want to be seen and she was afraid that the consequences of that happening might have adverse effect on her... and the humans.

She certainly was more worried about the humans than herself.

Guardian qualities.

Oh, her Mother would be so mad.

What happened next mustn't have been what the teenage girl was expecting, because instead of the guy coming to defend her, he had come to reprimand them.

"I told you it was dangerous to wander off during camping. Do you know what the time it is?!" He said angrily, while he snatched the small cage that had a rabbit in it, away from the teenage girl.

"Mum is very angry and you," he pointed at the boy, "Thomas, you have some explaining to do to your military father." He held both their hands in his, while he set the frightened rabbit free.

They protested immediately, but he didn't listen to them. He looked around pensively like there could be danger lurking in the dark.

"I don't have time to protect a rabbit, my sole aim is to get you both safe back to the camp." He said harshly to them and they keep quiet.

Great, finally they were leaving.

At that moment, one of the branches Delice had been resting on snapped, it fell to the ground and she quickly lashed onto another to secure her balance.

Alas! She had been noticed.

They all looked up in a daze, quiet horrified.

Delice's heart raced.

They must have seen it, her wings! What was she supposed to do? Talk to them? Fly away? Zap them out?

or Kill them?

Her eyes widened at her last thought. Her mother would be horrified if she ever heard of her daughter thinking of killing the Earth Realmers, the very one her Kind was made to protect.

"How did you get up there?" The younger boy said and that snapped her out of her thoughts.

She furrowed her brows, confused at his question.

"Like, I mean..." The girl said with a nervous smile. "Did you fly or something? That tree is damn high."

Did she just say fly? Oh, no!

"Oh, shut up, Eve. She got no wings and she is not one of your imaginatery characters, okay. You've ever seen a person fly before?" The boy said back and that made Delice relax.

Just a little bit though, not too much, just a little bit.

So, they couldn't see her wings then. Whew!

"Do you need help?" The older one asked. "We are camping near by. If you are lost, I can help you call the police."

She shook her head and slowly climb down the tree, using her wings to her aid while trying to make it look like climbing down was a difficult task.

When she got down, she smiled to them, not knowing what to do.

"Hey, I'm John." He stretched his hand forward and she stared at it for an awkward moment, before she reached out and shook it.

Wow, so this was what Earth Realmers felt like, like them.

The older boy was fairly handsome,he had short curly hair and he seemed nice.

"Who are you? How did you get up there? Sleep walking or something?" The girl smiled up at her.

"Delice."

"Nice name," John complimented.

"Thank you," she replied although all she could think about was how she could get out of this without bringing any suspicion to herself.

Arrgh.

Her first time on the Earth Realm and was already experiencing challenges?

Not good, Delice, not good at all.

"So, were you sleep walking, how did you ge--" the girl's voice trailed off then she squealed.

Delice panicked, looking around for the source of the little Earth Realmer's fear.

"Your costome! It's fire! Where did you order this? I want one," she snapped her hands, a grin on her face. "It's giving bad bitch, bad warrior bitch, you know the vibes."

"Language, Eve," John cautioned.

"What?"

Delice didn't understand that was going one bit but she had caught on the part where the little Earth Realm--Eve had said something about her armour being bad.

Strange.

Her armour was made by one of the best armourers in the High Realm, even though her acquiring had been a secret.

"Bad?"

"Doh. Ba--"

"O-kay," John cut her off. "We have to get moving."

"Wait! I think I can't figure out where she is from. Cha--"

"Chal-E," the boy cut her off.

"Hey I was saying that first," Eve fired to the boy and turned back to her before the boy had a chance to respond. "It's their Costume night tonight."

"Yeeeeees, I'm from Chal-E," she said, playing along.

She suddenly wasn't feeling at ease, like as something was here.

Like as if something was wrong.

She was willing to do whatever it was that would make them leave her alone.

It this was what it was, then so be it.

John looked around, aware of his environment and it's possible dangers once again.

"This place is dangerous, I'll see you to your camp." He started leading the way when the other boy said.

"Don't start having feelings for him, he is just nice by nature. He has a girlfriend and she is my sister."

"Hush, Micheal." Eve said, rolling her eyes while John let out a frustrated sigh.

Delice didn't know what to say to all that, and while she smiled thinking about how oblivious the Earth Realmers were, she suddenly sensed something and her thoughts screeched to an halt.

It suddenly felt like the time had stopped.

She looked around quickly.

She knew it, that dark soffocating aura.

A Dark Soul was here.