Chapter 14
While i was meditating
"Ren?"Siofra head poked out of the tent.
"Is there something wrong?" I asked.
"W-well, you see… beasts will more likely appear if they notice you, because
they will see that you are a child. So, for our safety, it would be better for you
to come inside the tent." Siofra had covered her face with the tent's opening
flap, peeking out with one eye.
"Pfft." I chuckled. Then something occurred to me. "Siofra, are you scared to sleep by yourself in the tent?"
"A-absolutely not! I was just suggesting what the best choice would be for
both of us to be safe," she insisted. She nearly tumbled out of the tent.
"If that's the case, then I'll hide up in the tree and stay on the lookout. You
know… for our safety," I said with a wink.
"Um…" She hid herself back inside the tent for a moment before muttering
softly, "…I'm scared to sleep by myself in the tent."
Smiling to myself, I opened the flap and crawled inside.
Caught by surprise, Siofra let out a small yelp, then immediately lay down
with her back to me. Seeing how red her ears were, I thought about teasing
the poor elf girl a little more. I easily could see myself enjoying it.
After a few silent moments, she peeked over her shoulder. "Can I hold onto
your shirt?"
Then, seeing her trembling, I remembered that she was just a child. I couldn't
imagine how hard it must have been for her—getting kidnapped, being
separated from her family and carried off, not knowing if she would ever see
them again.
Scooting closer to her, I gave her head another soft pat as she turned her body
and clutched the edge of my tattered shirt. Her eyes closed in contentment
and, after a few minutes, her breathing became more rhythmic. I began
drifting off to sleep too, still sitting up.
My eyes fluttered open on their own and it took a few seconds to remember
where I was. I looked down to see Siofra's head on my lap, her body curled
up comfortably
Gently shaking her awake, I whispered, "Siofra, we should head out now."
She slowly stirred awake, but when she realized the position we were in, her
body shot up and she gave a surprised shriek. "I'm sorry—I didn't mean to!"
"Don't worry about it," I replied with a wry smile. "Let's fold up the tent."
With slightly pink cheeks, she nodded in response and we began packing
everything up to resume our journey.
The time passed by uneventfully until, out of nowhere, I was struck with deep
aches in my abdomen. The first pains occurred on the third day of the trip.
We were inside the tent, Siofra already fast asleep, when a sudden searing
ache spread out from my sternum. It disappeared soon enough, but even that
brief moment was painful enough to leave me in shivers. I worried that there
was something seriously wrong, but my concerns seemed unfounded when
the pain did not return.
The most exciting occurrence otherwise was when a couple of forest hounds
tried to get close, but I chased them away with a throw of my mana-
reinforced knife. Our pace wasn't impeded by any tree golems or stronger
mana beasts looking for children to snack on.
I continued sleeping in the tent with Siofra at night, and she grew more
comfortable around me—at least comfortable enough not to get embarrassed
every time she woke up. Our conversations became more natural and had
fewer awkward silences, and she began joking around with me, even teasing
me about the way I talked. In her words, I was "trying too hard to sound like
an adult."
"Can you tell how far we are from Elf kingdom now, Siofra?" I asked, one clear
morning. It was the fifth day of our journey.
Her elongated ears twitched as she began surveying our surroundings. Then
she darted to a particularly crooked tree and ran her fingers over the trunk. A
few moments went by in silence before she returned to me, visibly excited.
"That tree is one I used to come visit with my grandfather sometimes! I
remember carving my name into the trunk when he wasn't looking," she said,
pointing to the tree. "We're not too far away. I think if we quicken our pace a
little bit, we'll be able to make it by tonight."
"Sounds good," I answered, following behind her. As lovely as the journey
had been, I needed to make plans to somehow get back to my family, and that
wouldn't be possible until I got her home.
I had to admit, though, I'd probably miss her after our time together.
We continued to make haste toward our destination, with only a few quick
stops to rest and replenish our stomachs. Constant use of mana rotation had
kept my body from being over-strained, but it was obvious that Tess was
growing wearier.
After a quick rest on a soft patch of moss, we continued forward for the last
stretch. Siofra and I had gotten quite close on this journey; the once shy and
reserved elf girl now often wore a bright smile, which was contagious despite
our less than comfortable conditions
.
By dusk, the fog around us was getting thicker. My sense of direction was all
but useless in this blasted forest—enough so that, if I were to get separated
from Siofra , I could easily wind up traveling in circles without even realizing
it.
Then she turned to me, her face a mixture of happiness and trepidation, and
said, "We're here
Looking around, the only things visible to me were clusters of trees and fog.
Confused, I was about to ask where 'here' was, but I saw Siofra place both
palms on a tree. She began muttering a chant, and suddenly, the fog around
us was sucked into the same tree. What came into vision was a giant wooden
door, which seemed to be propped up by itself on the ground.
Siofra grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the door........
FABLOUS
That was the word that popped into my head as I gawked at the elven city. It
appeared we had directly teleported just beyond the gates.
[Ding]
[You are the first human that has come in elven kingdom as a reward 10system points is given to host]
[Ding]
[Hidden quest completed]
[Save the elf girl and help her to return where she belong]
[Reward- Eye of chronos]
...
Author notes
PLS GIVE RATING TO NOVEL.. if you have kike the novel also add in collections/reading list .
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