Do You Trust Me?

The wolf bolted forward. Overtaking the carriage and out of Lycster's view. It stopped in the path of the horse carriage and let out a shuddering howl. The horses panicked and the kidnapper lost his grip on the reins. Everything was chaotic as the carriage came to a sudden halt.

Vy remained in her wolf form and bared her teeth to the kidnappers who quaked in fear, uncertain of how to react. The horses broke the reins that held them and galloped separately pass the wolf and into the night.

Mustering what courage they had left, the kidnappers unsheathed their swords and waved it at the wolf. Seeing the fear in them brought Vy no pleasure. Hence, she took her human form instead and pulled out her dagger.

"It's …. it's just an illusion. We can take her," one of the kidnappers said.

He rushed forward with his sword in hand.

The moment he came close to Vy, he realised he had made a fatal mistake. Their eyes met and Vy's glare for a murderous one. Within seconds, she disarmed him and stabbed him in the chest. Her dagger plunged deep into his heart. She did not remove it until he ceased breathing.

The second guy dropped his sword and fell onto his knees.

"Please… I won't tell anyone what happened here today, plea… please let me go!"

Vy looked down at him and asked, "Who sent you?"

"Wh..wh..what?"

"Who sent you," she yelled.

The guy swallowed hard. But before he could say anything, he clenched his throat in agony. The pattern of a black snake coiled around his neck. As soon as the snake bit its tail, the man dropped dead onto the ground. White foamed formed and dribbled out of his open mouth.

-Dotty, what is going on?-

<Assessing the cause of death>

<Assessment complete. Cause of death: Poison Curse>

Vy knelt down and searched for the man, hoping to find anything useful. But other than a pouch containing a few silvers, she could not find much else. Not wanting to give up, she looked through the other man's belonging.

She recovered a folded map made of animal hide and noticed that both men had a strange symbol tattooed on their palm. Vy immediately recorded the symbol into her memory and turned her attention to the carriage. She opened up the back door of the carriage and a boy leapt out at her, ready to fight.

It was Lycster!

As soon as he realized it was Vy, he hugged her tightly.

Under the moonlight, Vy realised that there were a few other children in the carriage. They were bound and gagged, all shivering in fear. She could hear their heartbeats, and Lycster's too. She held onto him tightly, calming him down.

"I'm so sorry Miss Vyrena! I … I … I…" Lycster cried, choking on his tears.

"It's alright Lycster, it's alright. I'm sorry too, I said things I shouldn't have."

Lycster shook his head, wiping away the tears that were streaming down his face, "No, it's just I thought you were going to abandon me. I'm so stupid."

Vy hugged the boy even tighter, "I won't. I won't leave you."

After Lycster calmed down a little, she put him down and untied all the children. There were six of them in total, including Lycster. Both of them convinced the children it was alright to come out of the cart. As they came out one by one, Vy noticed that they all looked malnourished, covered in dirt and grime. Some of them even had whip wounds all over their body.

As she looked around, there wasn't a way for them to get back to the town at a quicker pace. The night had begun to set in, the silence of the forest was only accompanied by the echoing crickets chirping.

Staying in the forest this late did not seem like a good idea, and Vy was worried that the others would come looking for them. Vy could sense that the forest was not kind to strangers in the night. The best course of action was for them to make their way back.

-If I used my wolf form, I might be able to get us back to the town swiftly. But…-

Vy looked at the carriage, it did not seem to be too heavily damaged but the harnesses for the horses snapped when the horses ran away. She did not have anything on her that could fix that either

-No, there's no time to think about that, their safety is my utmost priority.-

Vy turned to Lycster and knelt down beside him.

"Lycster."

"Yes, Miss Vyrena?"

"Do you trust me?"

Without the slightest hesitation, he nodded his head.