Chapter 16: Man Of The Few

My ear became deaf and the only thing I could hear was my heart beating as I continued to watch Cainne tiptoed to the berry bushes. I wanted to come with him, but I'm too scared. Who knows what will come up. Dalary who has obviously no interest in his condition, also decided to stay in the wagon.

His slow and cautious steps were just bringing anxiety to my mind. After waiting, he finally made it. He tried to peek at the plant until all we can hear from him was a scream of pain.

"Ahh!!"

"Cainne!"

I shouted from the wagon as I stood up, about to jump off from the vehicle. At first, I hesitated, since I don't want to end up whatever happened to him, but I still continued to run towards the bushes.

"Meria, what are you doing?!"

I could hear Dalary's yell from a short distance, but it was slowly fading.

After a short while, I finally see his body lying on the ground, groaning as he tried to massage his head using his hands. A tear started to form from his eyes.

"Cainne…" I kneeled down and tried to support him in sitting down. I don't know but somehow, I was concerned once I got the feeling that Cainne is in danger. I found my actions weird ever since I met him. At least, I wanted to know about this extraordinary feeling that's surrounding us both.

Dalary also ran towards our location, leaving her wagon behind. She didn't say anything and just stood up, looking at our condition, or maybe, just my condition.

But when she lifted her head, she stopped and her eyes widened. I've never seen her look so shocked before, but if I was right, we may not be alone inside this undead forest.

Out of curiosity, I turned around in the direction she was staring. There, I saw something that's beyond normality and at the same time, not really that abnormal.

I was stunned at my position, couldn't help but to stare at the figure that was standing in front of us, holding a piece of wood in his slender and slim hands, wrapped in complete silk. And it's not just that, the silk continued from bottom to top, covering up his whole skinny and tall body.

He was completely faceless, but his brown hair remains intact. His shape was unlike humans or encantors. It has a smooth and liquefied figure and his arms almost reach the bottom rear from his shoulders, and her feet could even walk over a tall bush without even jumping.

"W-Who are you people?!" His slender body was trembling in fear, shielding us with the wood. I gulped as I, too, was also anxious. Both parties are scared. If only I could talk down to it, there will be no problem between us, but I'm a failure when it comes to those things.

I saw Dalary's face, filled with determination. She was scared, but still trying to have the courage to go near. She also knew that he was also worried about our actions against him too. All we have to do was to talk to him and let him trust us.

She approached the frightened man in a slow pace, while the other is just stepping backward.

"H-Hi." She greeted. She tried to make a sincere smile, but failed. "I'm Dalary, this is Meria, and this is Cainne. Nice to meet you."

"I think it would be better if…" She added, trying to make a step forward. "…you put that thing down on the ground…"

"D-Don't come near me…" As she was getting closer to him, he is stepping back, raised the wood he was carrying.

I continued to stare at the confused guy, then my eyes turned into slits. Come to think of it, I've had a feeling that I've seen those features before, but I don't know where. My mind started to wander around, trying to check my memory, until I finally found out. I widened my smile up to my ears.

"Wait!" I yelled at both of them as I stood up. I pointed out the man with my finger, filling my eyes with sparkle. "He's a scarnet!"

"I've never seen one for all of my childhood! They're the race with the least population!" I added with full of joy.

At last, I finally met them, the fourth race of Arcania, the creatures of peace, the scarnets. They were known to be few, declared to be the race with the least population, so it's very rare to meet them. Not to mention that their towns are really secretive and full of protection. If encantors can use magic, tendrins can talk to nature, and humans have intelligence, then the scarnets have anti-magic abilities. They can cancel magic from a distance.

Maybe that's why we couldn't use our magic earlier because he was the one that had been canceling it.

"H-How did you know that?" He stuttered, skeptical of my knowledge. Everyone knows about them, but no one really saw what they really look like. I have to spent weeks in the corner to find out about them.

"Wait. That means…" Dalary muttered, as she turned her head to me and back to the scarnet. "…were you the one who canceled their magic?"

"Uhh…" He couldn't be able to answer the question as he still shivered. He started to walk even further. I knew scarnets would be quiet and calm, so I didn't know what they are actually this untrusting in person.

"They have the ability to cancel someone's magic in a range. This is usually their defense mechanism." I answered her question instead.

After hearing my explanation, dismay is the only thing I can see in her face, staring at the scarnet, betrayed and disappointed. Then, she walked towards him, which caught him off guard. It looks like this will end up badly.

I also followed her in her steps. I've known Dalary since I was a kid, so I knew she couldn't help but to release all the rage she had been keeping the whole time. She may hide it for very long, but when she couldn't help, she will explode.

"Look, scarnet sir." She said as she put her hands to her waist while giving dead glares to the poor man. "I'll be honest. I'm done pretending. Because of you, we almost got killed by a boar! Can you even imagine that?"

"Dalary, calm down." I pulled her gently, then, turned around to see him."Can you at least turn it off?"

"B-But…"

A hint of concern can be seen in his face as he lowered his head, answering my question 'no'. It looks like he was hard to deal with, now that we have a problematic companion in our party.

"We all wanted to be alive in this forest, so please, let us use magic, and we'll protect you with it." I tried to convince him.

"I…" He didn't finish his sentence and just looked away.

"See?" My friend yelled, trying to put salt to the injury. "He doesn't want to!"

"Dalary." I decided to scold her because of what she was doing. I went back to the scarnet. "Please, I b–"

I was about to finish my statement when all of a sudden, someone cracked a twig from one of the trees that had been looking down on us the whole time.

"What was that?"

We all stayed in silence, trying to identify where the noise came from. My heart started to beat so fast, enough for me to reach for it. My mind, who was once filled with enthusiasm, now enveloped with worry.

Cainne stood up from lying, starting grabbing his sword from his sheath, trying to sense who made the sound. We all walked towards the center with careful pace, until our backs finally met, trying to keep away the unknown stalker.

I saw a glimpse of fear hiding in Cainne's eyes, staring at the dark mist of the woods. I looked at it, but I couldn't see any clues. All I know is that it was dangerous, and we're doomed.

"Oh no." He muttered, but because of the quiet atmosphere, all of us heard it, so we turned around to see him. "We have to move quickly."

"What?" Dalary complained, raising her eyebrow at him. I looked again at the direction, and there, I saw horror from a distance. A pair of glowing red eyes continued to stare in our direction, and it gets bigger every time. My heart skipped a beat, and my sweat started to drip.

"Run! Run!" He tried to push us away from the other direction. "There's no time!"

I can hear my friend and the scarnet getting annoyed by what he was doing, trying to save us from the terror of the eyes. But it was too late. I was already threatened by it, so threatened that I couldn't be able to move from my position. The eyes started to become bigger and bigger every time, and I was expecting something bad is gonna happen to me.

"Meria!"

Cainne's call brought me back to reality, so my adrenaline takes over my body and started working on my feet, running away from the eyes and towards my friends. I started breathing out of the air in just a short amount of time, and my heart started to beat so fast.

Until I realized that I was already doomed, as I felt pain in my neck.