chapter 4:CHAINED

Timothy, hands raised, approached the wounded girl, endeavoring to convey reassurance. "Hey, it's okay. I'm here to help," he softly assured her. The girl, with her penetrating blue eyes, nodded in acknowledgment. Kneeling down beside her, Timothy carefully inspected the depth of her wound, his concern growing as he observed the severity.

As he scrutinized the wound, a silent question echoed in his mind. "Um, so you really bleed blue blood, huh? What are you? I mean, it's my first time seeing a person bleed blue blood," he pondered inwardly. Regardless of the mystery, his compassion prevailed, and he offered assistance, proposing to take her to his home where his mother's knowledge of medicine could be of aid.

However, as Timothy leaned in with the intention of helping, the atmosphere shifted abruptly. Without warning, the little girl launched at him, sinking her teeth into his neck. Panic set in as Timothy struggled to push her away, but her grip was unyielding. Slowly losing consciousness, he felt the vitality draining from him.

In a disoriented state, he regained awareness sometime later. The first sight that met his gaze was the little girl, transformed and staring at him with a complicated expression. The memory of the sudden attack rushed back, and Timothy recoiled in fear. Weak and disoriented, he cautiously backed away, his eyes never leaving the enigmatic girl.

"You—you bit me," he stammered, his hand instinctively reaching for the spot where she had bitten him. To his astonishment, he felt no wound. The confusion escalated as he retrieved a dagger from his boot and examined the reflection of his neck. Strange symbols, forming a chain, glowed faintly and emitted a purple light.

"What is this? What did you do to me?!" Timothy exclaimed, his voice filled with a mix of fear and bewilderment. The girl, seemingly amused, cautioned him to keep quiet to avoid attracting predators. However, instead of hostility, she approached him, prompting him to defensively raise his dagger.

Contrary to expectations, the little girl knelt down, placing her neck on the tip of the dagger, locking eyes with Timothy in a silent and mysterious exchange. As the tension lingered, Timothy grappled with the unfolding enigma, his fear and curiosity entwined in the presence of this extraordinary being.

Little boy don't you think that if I truly wanted to kill you, I would have done it while you were unconscious?" She said while revealing her fangs.

"Wha-what are you? A monster, a ritualist?" he asked with a shaken voice.

Timothy, a smart child but still a child, lost his composure facing the unknown. He kept thinking of ways to escape, but his hopes were crushed as he heard a sigh. Where did it come from? He looked at this little monster in front of him, and she hadn't made a sound 

-Do you really think you can escape from me ?- A look of horror appeared on his face . The voice he heard just now was in his head the little girl had a smug look on her face as if she was taunting him , he instantly gripped the dagger tighter as he slashed at the girl , but his hand couldn't move no matter how hard he tried his hand didn't budge.

"You fool, you can't kill me. We are now bound to each other," she spoke

Timothy's thoughts raced; he didn't know what to do. The monster in front of him could read his thoughts, and he had nowhere to run. As he was still thinking, she interrupted his thoughts.

"You wanted to know what I am?" She said, turning around with her back facing him.

She slowly lowered the bands of the chemise she was wearing, exposing her small back. Strange markings that looked like floating chains adorned her back, with two cuff-like symbols emitting a purple light, just like the mark on his neck. After the demonstration, she quickly covered her back and looked at him with an expectant expression, as if he knew what she was.

"You're a 'CHAINED'? But those are legends used by parents to scare their children. How can they be real?" he spoke in a whisper.

"Mmh, is that so?" she scoffed. "You humans are much more naive than I initially thought. In every legend, there's a tiny bit of truth," she said.

Timothy's mind was a mess; he couldn't believe her words, even if she was the actual proof of what she was saying. His denial came from the innate human fear of the unknown. A few hours ago, he was on his way to get water, then...

"Damnit, you're an idiot, Mí'tûr. Mother's probably worried sick," he said with a pained expression as realization dawned upon him. Mustering the courage to stand, he spoke.

"I have chores that need to be done, so if you're not going to kill me, I'll be on my way." He picked up his sword and walked to the entrance.

One thing about the 'CHAINED' the stories emphasized was their ruthlessness. But this little 'CHAINED' before him had no killing intent directed towards him, so he took his chances and decided to leave this place. After all, he had nothing to lose. He simply walked out of the colossal tree, following the trail of dried-up blue blood back to where he had left his buckets.

On the way back, he kept trying to forget about what happened, but deep down, he knew that his perception of the world was going to change. He found his buckets and took the path that led to the river, planning on going home quickly afterward. The river was on the side of the outer city wall, or to be precise, the magnificent city wall was built on a river bank. How was that possible? No one knows. He quickly approached the river and filled his two buckets with water. As he was about to leave, a cheery voice called out.

"Oii, you Mesa bastard! How dare you leave without greeting your river pal?" A skinny yellow-skinned boy with long curly ebony-black hair called out as he approached with a huge smile.

"Oh, I didn't see you there, Jake. How come you are still here this late?" Timothy responded with a smile of his own.

The boy named Jake took one bucket from Timothy, and they started walking back towards his house.

"Well, have you forgotten that it's your birthday today, and I wanted to wish you a happy birthday in person? Ver was also here, but she left. So, I have been sitting here since dawn, and you showed up midday. Mind you, you've never been late before, and here you are late and distracted. What is going on with you?" He asked, noticing Timothy's unfocused gaze.

"It's nothing. I'm just thinking about the knight exams," he responded with a shake of his head. As the two boys were talking, they didn't know that they were not alone on this narrow path. A pair of blue eyes were fixed on a dark-skinned youth with grey hair as he walked with his river pal to his house.