“Ah! So, you grew maize before you went on this journey?” Mira asked as the two continued their way into the forest. “I heard about that. Mori couldn’t be able to get any because he thought it would be stealing.”
Ignei and Mira began talking about their boring and dull lives as they ventured into the forest. “You called the dragon Mori?” he asked her.
Mira nodded again. “Yeah. I didn’t want to keep calling him ‘the dragon’ so he allowed me to give him a name.”
Suddenly, vines began to wrap around the girl and she flung upwards. Mira screamed, yelling for help. Ignei gasped in surprise, his eyes widening at the sudden freak attack by nature. How in the world did this happen? He pulled out his dagger and began running towards the vines, cutting them and catching the girl. She fell into his arms, slightly yelping at the sudden change.
“Well, that could’ve gotten worse,” she laughed sheepishly.
Afterwards, more vines raced towards her, attempting to wrap around her body. She quickly ducked and swerved and watched in fear and awe as the forest came alive in front of them. “Ignei we got to run!” she yelled as she grabbed the boy’s hand and raced inside the jungle.
Well, it seemed as if Ignei couldn’t be able to catch a break for once. He at least deserved it, considering everything that happened over the past couple of days. After a couple of minutes, the vines no longer went awry. The two let out a long sigh of relief. “Well, at least we got away rather quickly. Let’s hope that we don’t have to worry about that anymore!”
No sooner than when Mira called out those words, they spotted a spotted catlike creature lurking about behind the leaves of the bushes. It turned towards the two and stared at them. Then, it lunged towards the two. “Look out!” Ignei yelled as it leaped up. It landed on Mira, and she fell to the floor.
“Um, hello there,” Mira said shyly. “Um, do you think you could help me up from this weird, cat thingy?” she asked him.
Ignei took a step forward towards the creature, only to have it growl at him as he tried to approach the girl. Mira tried getting herself up as well, only to have the creature push her back down. “Uhh…” the girl then began to squirm from underneath the creature. Ignei knew what she was doing and stepped towards the cat once again. It hissed at him, trying to get him to keep away.
The boy smirked, and he felt someone’s hand touch his shoulder. “Thanks for that,” Mira told him from behind, and he gripped her wrist as they journey further and further into the unknown.
“What just happened? Did that cat just…”
She laughed. “I’d rather not talk about the things that are unknown to us right now, if that’ okay with you,” she replied.
No sooner than later, they felt a bunch of eyes staring at them as they walked through the trees and bushes. Ignei stared at Mira, whom he suspected all of them were targeting.
“Mira,” he said softly. “Stay behind me.” He slightly tightened his grip around her wrist but kept it loose enough so it wouldn’t hurt her. There was something off about this. Something strange and foreign was at play here.
Suddenly, Ignei remembered the dragon’s words as they echoed through his mind. She’s a Cursed being. What did he mean by that? Cursed? He was sure that there weren’t any magic users that could inflict curses onto people.
Would that be the reason why the king was all for killing him, and why he was so paranoid? Could it be that the girl that tended to him also had magic powers?
The thought made him dizzy, and he didn’t have any time for it. He had to focus on protecting this poor girl that couldn’t be able to defend herself. She stared at him, asking him silently if there were any options. Her eyes, there was some spark in them that urged her to want to run away.
The stares were only intensifying. If this kept going on, then he knew that they would all strike at once. They all wanted her, and he had no explanation as to why.
All of sudden, at that moment, there was a spear with a rope. The two adolescents jumped away at the weapon that had been thrown towards them. Ignei looked up to see dark emerald eyes glaring at them. It belonged to a strange figure, a shadow that had sharp ears at its sides. It leapt from the trees before falling in front of them, and landed on its feet, down to the ground. The creature kneeled, its dark hair shining from the suns bare rays.
“Good evening, mister,” the figure said, its head down, and its face hidden. Ignei could see its hair flowing downwards like a waterfall. “And good evening miss,” he said.
Mira grasped Ignei’s shoulder with her free hand and listened carefully to the forest. Ignei turned and brought the girl into his arms. “Yes?” he answered.
The figure tilted its head upward and the two could easily its face. The emerald eyes glistened to the sparkling rays, as if a reflection like water. The nose was profound and rounded in such a beautiful way. The lips were pale, as the figure licked it slowly with its purple tongue. Ignei could see the ears, which were pointed and stretched out versions of his own.
Crap, Ignei thought, we came across elf territory. Elves were the natives and kings of the jungle, and they ruled with an iron fist. Any intruder that steps forth basically met the same fate as one would stepping into the city. The Royals allowed the elves to keep some of the land that was conquered in exchange for soldiers in the army. That was what his father told him when he was young.
“I’m sorry for passing by here, I was just wondering if it would be okay if we explore a bit? Then we would be on our way and—”
The elf stopped him with a hand raised. “We are actually here for the girl,” the elf said slowly. “Take her away.” One by one, out popped more elves, but paler in hair color as they lunged for Mira, who held on tightly to Ignei. The boy squeezed tighter, trying to keep her in his grasp.
“I am not letting you take my companion away from me!” he yelled as he turned the two around. “She agreed to travel with me, and not for any of your strange reasons!”
Of course, the elf tilted his head as if signaling its confusion. “Well, see, here’s the problem. You are on our territory. Anything on our territory especially belongs to me. She, your ‘travelling’ companion? She’s mine now. All because you decided to trespass on our property.”
The boy blinked in shock. What a very strange mindset!
“Now,” he said in a threatening tone as he snapped his fingers and a bunch of elves slowly grabbed at his arms. Mira widened her eyes and began to cling onto him even harder to him. “Darling, it’s better if you stop resisting. You will be a perfect gift for my son,” he practically purred as Mira lost her grip due to the elves pulling on her rather harshly.
Mira cried as she was helpless in the elves’ arms. The leader of them all perhaps, approached the young girl. Ignei tried to fight the elves that held him steady, but too late.
“Do not worry,” he heard him say, even though it was soft enough for only them to hear, “you will be taken care of, that I can assure you.” Ignei saw the girl immediately fall, closing her eyes and collapsing into the male’s arms.
He nodded at his men and they all began to jump into the trees. Mira, unconscious at the moment was held tightly.
“What do you want from her?” Ignei demanded.
The elf smirked. “It’s simple. I want her to be a part of my tribe,” he said simply before jumping up with him, leaving Ignei in the dust. Did he really get himself in such a situation that he had to save her? Again? The whole thing became a whole ruse to him, just saving her like she was some kind of damsel in distress and going around in circles. He’ll never be able to find the princess like he wanted.
Ignei groaned at the thought. Laughing at his mistake to let her tag a long, he followed the path where the shadows had taken her. He could only hope that she would be able to take care of herself for now until he came for her.
“Hey, what are you doing?” a voice shouted from the bushes. Ignei heard leaves rustling around him as the forest became almost unified as one. Was he seeing things? “You shouldn’t follow that trail.” The wind suddenly blew in the direction that Ignei was travelling in order to save his friend.
“None of your business,” he replied, not knowing if that voice was still there. “I have my reasons.”
Another one of those shadows jumped high in the air and landed gracefully on its feet. The figure looked up and locked its eyes with Ignei’s. Judging by the familiar hair color and hair length and similar eyes, he judged that the elf he saw earlier and this elf now are related.
“Son?” he asked. The elf flinched.
“Nephew, but it wouldn’t matter since my dad is that elf’s twin brother,” he explained, “besides, my family life is none of your business.” He twirled his head to both the left and right. “I’m here to warn you not to follow them.”
The boy scoffed. “And who gave you authority to tell me what to do?”
The elf shrugged in response. “Well, it is our territory you’re trespassing on. Human law doesn’t apply to the forest. Your friend is long gone, I’m sorry.”
“You make it sound like she’s dead,” said Ignei. The elf shrugged again, looking back on the trail.
“She will live. My uncle won’t harm her. She’s just going to marry one of his sons and…” he trailed off and turned to Ignei. “You aren’t lovers, are you?”
The boy glared at the elf impatiently and began to tap his feet lightly on the ground. “Anyway, I am going to find my friend, and then we’re going to get out of here. And— did you just say she’s going to get married?” What in the world was going on here?
His aid shrugged his shoulders for the third time, and Ignei became aggravated. “Stop shrugging and just lead me to them! Damn it, I got distracted. I have to go now! Thanks for nothing!” Ignei quickly attempted to run away when he felt something wrap around his ankle and sharply pulled him backwards, making him trip and fall to the rough floor.
Ignei turned around to see that his ankle was tangled in one of the vines. He heard a sigh and footsteps trudging forward to him. “I’m sorry, but I can’t allow you to keep going,” he said.
“Are you serious?” the boy snapped, “Let me go right now!”
“My uncle owns this territory. You heard what he said. She will become one with the forest, just like the rest of us. I wouldn’t mind that though, she’s a pretty girl…”
Ignei began kicking at the vine as he struggled to free himself from captivity. This only caused the other one to let out an even longer breath as he crouched down and faced the pathetic squirming boy. Ignei looked up at him and sneered, his eyes widening.
“You’re going to pay for this,” he said slowly before he felt something warm inside him bursting from his insides. He felt the vines growing weaker and weaker until there was nothing but a dusty substance. Ignei turned around and saw the vines burned to a crisp.
He turned back to the elf, eyes widened in shock. The elf grabbed a hold of the boy’s collar and immediately the boy was thrust upwards so that he could only see his emerald-aqua eyes. “You’re coming with me,” he said softly, more vines wrapping around Ignei’s wrists. The elf snapped the vines off and held the boy by his waist. “I need to investigate you further.”
Although the situation wasn’t what he had hoped for, a tiny hidden smile appeared on his face. “It was exactly what I had hoped for.”
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