Into The Willows

"Why..are you so determined to get it? Haven't you heard my conversation with Luar? The snake in that forest is no joke. How about we just..wait till the king sends us a letter back. He'll be able to teleport his troops here in an instant." Mr Walton insisted. He refused to let Kai go alone.

Kai looked away and made eye contact with Claude who stood at a corner in the room, diligently bandaging Luar up. "I'm not asking for permission. I'm just letting you know."

"Kai.." Mr Walton made a disappointed face as he worriedly stared at the child. He seemed beyond convincing at this rate. 

"I won't die. So what are you so afraid about?" Kai said, getting a little irritated.

"How are you so sure?!" Mr Walton yelled, startling everyone in the room. Though he was a stern person, he wasn't the type to raise his voice out of anger.

"Why would I die for her?" Kai said as a matter of fact. This reply was his last resort. 

Mr Walton paused. He bit his tongue on his words and stared at Kai. This was when he recalled the conversation he had with Luar a few weeks ago. 

He'll never be able to align his viewpoint with Kai's. They were working on a completely different wavelength.

All this time Mr Walton had thought Kai was desperate to save Lithia Argenetia as she was his saviour. Maybe he saw her as someone precious and close to him?

But all he saw in her was a favour he had not yet returned.

"You can go." Mr Walton finally said. He had gotten a grasp of what Kai truly was like. These past few weeks he had completely forgotten about what Luar had been constantly reminding him about.

Mr Walton looked at Kai and smiled. "Promise me you won't leave immediately. At least wait until tomorrow. I'll pack everything for you, so don't.. go yet." 

"Thank you." Kai replied, finishing his 2 bottles up and looking at the dead border in the corner. He put his hands out and burnt it to ashes. Once it was done, he put out the fire and left.

Claude gulped as he watched the ashes fly around the room. He waited until Kai left and shut the door. "Will grandma be fine?" He asked, finally being able to talk.

"Yes. She will. We'll find the antidote and cure her of her disease. How is Luar doing?" Mr Walton squatted down to reach the level of Claude to present himself as a friendlier figure.

"Luar is.." Claude sniffed loudly as he held back tears. He was terrified of everything that was happening around him. The assassins and his grandmother's loss of consciousness along with Luar's.

"I may not be as good at using magic as your grandma but I've placed a border around the house to protect us. And if they manage to get in I'll defend all of you, alright?" Mr Walton reassured as he pulled the kid into his embrace and patted him on the back.

Soon, two mattresses were dragged into the room. Mr Walton laid on one while Luar and Claude slept on the other. 

Kai refused the invitation and preferred to stay outside instead. Feeling fatigued and exhausted after everything that had happened today, he fell asleep outside of the door. 

Though it didn't stay that way for long. He woke up with a jolt 2 hours later and found himself still as tired as before. He stood up and walked back to Mr Walton's shophouse.

He dragged his feet and walked back without thinking much about anything. He finally made it to the shophouse. He made his way through the window that had been broken before, pushing the crate in.

He rushed upstairs and up a ladder into the attic. Opening a cabinet and digging up everything he could. Until he found a particular box.

He opened it and was glad to see that the item was still kept safe inside. A silver ring with a blue jewel shaped like a cross sign. A void ring that allowed items to be placed inside, though limited but still useful.

This was the gift Lithia had given him on Christmas.

He slid the ring on his thumb and closed the box with a thud and threw it back in the cabinet.

By morning, Kai started walking back to Lithia's House.

Mr Walton was also wide awake by then, scouting around the house as he searched for Kai. Had he left without a word? He watched anxiously as the sun peeked out of the houses ahead.

He then spotted a familiar figure walking closer. They managed to cross the border he had created. White hair fluttering in the wind while their hands held a pair of swords.

"Thank god." Mr Walton murmured.

Kai walked up to Mr Walton and held out the pair of swords. "I'll be taking these along with the dagger from yesterday."

"Want some breakfast? I cooked some for us to eat." Mr Walton invited. He didn't care about the swords. They were all easily replaceable and a dime a dozen to him.

3 people gathered around the broken and worn out table that had obviously been wrecked by someone.

Kai sat on the opposite of Claude while Mr Walton set the plates. 

It was terribly awkward.

Claude was shivering underneath the table. He couldn't look up at all as he admired the scratches and cracks he had made. He couldn't remove the terrifying scene Kai had imprinted in his mind yesterday. And now he was acting all fine eating a meal.

It took Mr Waltona few minutes but he suddenly recalled Lithia telling him something about Claude hating Kai. He looked at the big mistake he had just made.

But Kai didn't seem to bother, he finished and kept fumbling with his ring.

"Why are you so eager to go?" Mr Walton asked, seeing how unusually hyperactive Kai was.

"The longer I stay. The shorter time I have." Kai replied in an instant.

Mr Walton could feel another sigh incoming. He pointed at a box. "Take the items inside with you in a bag. All of them." He strictly instructed.

Quickly, Kai picked up item by item from the box and checked them. The items were chosen with a lot of care and consideration. There was everything a person needed for a 2 week long camp.

Without a bag, Kai put back the items. He looked at his ring and rubbed the jewel unconsciously. The items in the box disappeared like mist along with the pair of swords he brought. But the dagger he had was still left behind. 

The void ring had run out of capacity simply like that.

With no choice, Kai tied the dagger onto his belt.

While Claude stared at Kai with anger and envy in his eyes. That was the ring his grandma promised to give him as a present. The design and everything was to his liking, so why was such an item with him? 

"You.." Claude started, letting his anger completely take over his actions. 

"You should properly think about what you're going to say." Kai threatened in an instant while he adjusted the ring. 

Mr Walton placed one hand over Claude protectively and nodded at him. "Stay here." He mouthed.

Mr Walton dragged Kai outside the house and gave him a disappointed look before laughing it off. "Please..take care. If you can't do it, you can come back. No one will blame you. And don't hate Claude too much, he's a good child." 

Nodding, Kai gripped onto the map in his hands tighter. He was nervous too. He walked away into a direction he had never gone to before. He looked back one last time and waved goodbye without a word to say.

Living deep in the cursed willow forest where bodies grow into trees was the snake. No one leaves there alive till they get rid of the monster that was as old as earth itself.