"What the hell is that thing?!"
Selena almost shrieked. Any previous pain from her injury suddenly vanished. Her panicked push made Kaeviel groan a bit but he did not lose eye contact.
"Uhhmm…"
"A mythos? A water elemental?" he could feel hesitance emanating from the boy.
"It's uncle"
His head turned so fast it almost snapped.
"What's wrong?" Selena's voice brought him back.
'Did I imagine that?'
Unable to find anything unusual, he slowly shook his head. "Nothing"
His reaction from the voice seemed to be a bit too obvious as George weirdly looked at him. "So is it?"
"Uhmm… yeah"
"Oh, not a ghost?" The little purple haired girl sighed in relief.
"Where did it go?"
George shook his head "I don't know, I only met it by chance."
'By chance?'
Kaeviel's eyes narrowed impercetibly, that's not what he saw.
"Oh! Too bad! I wish I could play with it"
"Haha, silly girl. It's just a dumb living water. It probably got spooked when it heard your approach"
"Hmm?" She looked unimpressed.
"It's true though" George replied noncommittally.
"Anyway, let''s head back to the village"
"Ouch!"
George gently pushed her but failed to notice the huge puncture wounds on her leg.
"What happened to that?"
"She stepped on a trap," Kaeviel replied.
"You're just too airhead aren't youuuu" George pulled her cheeks making her shout in protest.
Kaeviel carried her towards the riverbank and washed off the blood on her leg.
"There were tons in the usual paths of the dark forest on the way here, she got caught on one when we were unaware."
"That's very dangerous!" George exclaimed "Have you learned who left the traps?"
He shook his head negative " But we have a hunch"
"Who?"
"It might not be one of the villagers."
"A-outsiders?"
"It's not yet certain but I already disabled the ones I saw along the road we took."
He stood just as he finished patching up Selena's wound and walked towards the forest leaving George bewildered.
"Hey wait!"
The sun set giving way to the moon and starry night.
A nice scene if they weren't walking in the middle of the dark forest.
"Hey Kaev, do you know why no outsiders ever enter the forest?"
He shrugged. "I once read that there's something like a barrier surrounding this forest, if it's true then it probably has something to do with that."
George nodded "My father said it's true"
"Oh yeah! I remember my mom used to tell me stories about a powerful villager who did it."
"That's a story from an old story book, Selena. I've never heard of a human that commands powers like the mythos, have you"
George shook his head, he could feel Selena doing the same from his back.
"Then why do you think we haven't seen anyone from outside the village?"
He paused, turning his head a bit to get a glimpse of Selena looking at him. "Did you already forget George here just encountered a water elemental"
He pointed out, "I doubt that mythos came from this forest."
They arrived on a clearing, it was obvious the night had gone deep making navigation through the forest difficult.
"We should probably pass the night here. There might be more traps along the path, it would be bad if one of us gets injured too." George suggested.
He gently lowered Selena "I'll go and get some dry wood."
George nodded "I'll stay with her."
"Phew!"
Kaeviel wiped the sweat on his forehead, he had to go a bit further than expected to gather the necessary firewoods. Fortunately, the moon lights his path enough he could at least retrace his footsteps.
"Ugh!" he heaved.
He probably carried a bit more than intended but he did not want to make a return trip just to gather enough wood to last until morning.
"Ah"
The heavy load made his knee buckle, dropping the woods he lifted. Fortunately he managed to lean on a tree.
'What's this?'
Something on the surface of the tree caught his attention, his finger traced the straight line etched on the tree.
"Knife cut?" his eyes narrowed, it reminded him of the hunters possibly still lurking in the forest.
He shook his head and started picking up the woods that fell, now isn't the time to think of it. He figured Gol, the village leader, already knew what happened.
As he lifted some woods, he paused, noticing some unusual foot trails on the ground.
"Goat trails?"
"Kaeviel!"
"Kaeviel!"
"George?" The boy looked winded as he approached him in a hurry.
"What's wrong?"
"We have to go!" George replied, still panting.
"Where?"
"The village. I think there's a fire"
They ran without another word retracing their way back to Selena.
By the time they reached her, thick smoke was already high up in the air, some of which reached their clearing. The fire is large enough that the light is still visible from their position.
Selena is already coughing but she could only cover her nose. The wound on her leg wouldn't allow her to move.
"We have to go now," George assessed.
"Lead the way" he replied, carrying Selena on his back.
Even when running towards the village, they still took some time avoiding the smoke where it's thickest while carefully checking for traps.
They were still a few distance away from the village but as they approached, there was a scent mixing with the smoke that made Kaeviel want to hurl.
"Uegh!"
Unlike him, George was unable to hold himself as he vomited forcing them to stop. Selena buried her face on his back, her hold firm as if trying to choke him.
"What is this strong smell?" He's the only one who could hear Selena's muffled voice.
"I… I'm not sure either." he replied, covering his face with a hand.
He forcefully ignored the disturbing image that flashed in his mind.
George looked at him, eyes filled with growing concern as he seemed to realize what the source of the foul burning smell.
"I-It can't be…"
The heat seems to be getting more unbearable as they get closer. The smoke, while they could somewhat avoid it, surrounds them with a slow suffocating environment.
In the distance, he could already see silhouettes of the villagers yet he still couldn't make out what they're doing.
'Don't go'
"SNAP!"
"Aaagh!"
"What the-"
He instinctively hid in the nearby bushes pulling George with him.
George's wide eyes looked at him, the boy freezing on the spot.
"They're captured!"
George tried to stand but he forcefully pulled him back down.
"Don't!"
"We have to help the villagers"
"Sshh! Shut up or they'll hear us" he hissed.
"Father" George turned to him "He'll know what to do, we have to help him!"
"I said shut up!" Irritation bleeds from his voice.
They were so near the village that he could see the silhouette of people, not enough to identify the people but it gives an idea of what is currently happening.
He could see a large group of people with knees on the ground, someone with a long whip approaches them one by one. Every time the whip wooshes, a new voice would scream in pain.
He gritted his teeth, with all the shouting from George they should have been discovered already. Only the loud roars of flames burning the village muffled their voices.
'This idiot'
"Tsk! We have to stay here unless you wanna get caught like a dog."
"You bastard!" he was surprised as the normally subdued George lunged at him.
"Stop it!" Selena hissed, inserting herself between him and George. She winced as the pain from her wound heightens. The bleeding seemed to have started again.
Amongst the silence between them, they could hear the loud crackling sounds of fire muffling the whipping sounds followed by shouts of pain coming from the village.
He could hear the sharp inhale from George as the boy tried to calm himself.
"Are we really not going to help?"
He groaned "I didn't say that."
George looked at him with obvious confusion in his eyes while Selena remained silent waiting for him to continue.
"Then why did you stop me?"
"Are you an idiot?" he couldn't keep the sarcasm "It's obvious isn't it? We need a plan."