I awoke to the sight of crimson in my eyes. Although my vision was blurry, it was enough to scare me and make me jump. Strangely, the crimson moved back as well. Confused, I wiped my eyes. It took a second for my eyes to adjust, but once they did I realized I was staring at a rather indifferent Mary, although that wasn't particularly new.

"Young Master, it's time to get up. We have to start moving soon."

I yawned. "Oh, okay, I'll be out in a second then." I said, still wiping my eyes.

She looked at me for a moment. Then she bowed and left the tent.

Am I missing something? It looked like she wanted to say something. Maybe I'm just overthinking it.

I looked around my tent. Everything was as it was when I went to sleep. My bag, which housed all my clothes and snacks, were in the corner, with yesterday's clothes scrunched up next to it. To my surprise, I'm amazed I remembered to turn the lamp off. Usually at home I always fall asleep with the lights on due to exhaustion.

I stuffed everything, including the lamp, into my bag and grabbed Essentia. Then I exited the tent.

Outside, the sky was as beautiful if not more beautiful than it was yesterday. The sun radiated warmth but the cool breeze made sure I wasn't getting burnt to a crisp. Birds chirping could be heard around me and I even saw a few bunnies hopping through the grass.

"Yo Arthur!" Tucker yelled.

I looked over to him with his tent already deflated and folded up in his hands.

I waved. "Good morning" I said.

He walked over to me. "I see you're sleepin' in like always."

"Yeah I was pretty tired," I admitted.

"Same. Hearing Ol' man Regi's story put me on an emotional rollercoaster."

I looked around. "Speaking of Mr. Reginald, where is he?"

"Get this, he said he wanted to go for a jog." Tucker laughed. "As if us walking all day isn't already enough of a work out."

"Sounds like him. What about Mary?"

"Uh, I think she said she was looking for something. Although I don't know what she could be trying to find out here in the wild."

She must really want to find that flower, I thought. Just shows how much she loves her mother.

Tucker dropped the deflated tent and put his hands behind his head and started stretching. "Anyways, they said we'd leave when they get back so I guess we just wait."

"Huh, I guess I can eat then."

"Ah, yea, thanks for reminding me. I kinda forgot ta' do that too. It would suck to run out of steam in like an hour and half to take a break."

"What about Mary and Mr. Reginald? Did they eat?"

"Mmmm," Tucker said, shrugging while already stuffing his face with a handful of potato chip.

"Do they even need to eat? Pretty sure they're both just machines anyway."

"Don't say that. They're both pretty normal to me." I said.

"Seriously? Mr. Reginald destroyed your door with a punch! One freakin punch!"

"...Ahh yeah, that did kind of happen."

Please Tucker, I'm trying to forget that happened.

He threw the empty bag of potato chips back in his backpack and grabbed my shoulders. "And then there's Mary."

"What about her?"

"She solo'd an army. "An army!"

Huh, Tucker may be onto something. Maybe everyone in the house is just superhuman or something. When I think about it, my father is extremely intelligent, Ms. Cecilia fighting capabilities are on par with Mr. Reginald, and Sophia can read me almost as well as Ms. Mya. Maybe we are the only normal two in the house.

"Why are you talking about me Tucker?" a voice suddenly broke my train of thought.

It was Mary, who came from who knows where. It was so startling that Tucker jumped back.

"What the? Where did you come from? And how could you even hear us. We weren't even loud!"

"You're always loud." She shot at him.

"What, you wanna go!?" Tucker roared.

But Mary ignored him and looked at me. She seemed to study me for a good minute before speaking.

"How do you feel, Young Master?"

"Hmm? Surprisingly, I have a lot of energy."

Despite feeling so tired a few minutes ago.

"I see. That's good. I just wanted to make sure you got enough rest for trip."

"I'm fine, don't even worry about it."

"What, you're not gonna worry about my health?" Tucker asked.

"Clearly you have a lot of energy."

Tucker made a face of irritation and I laughed.

"It's good to see you're all ready," Mr. Reginald said.

Mr. Reginald jogged to us and then stopped. Surprisingly, he wasn't sweating even a little.

Just like Mary, it was quite strange to see how out of butler attire. He was wearing a long plain black t-shirt with khaki shorts and generic sneakers.

"I see you all are energetic this morning."

"Yeah," Tucker started, I'm ready to meet some Amazons!"

"It would be in your best interest not to hit on any of them though," I chimed in.

"What!? Why not?"

I sighed. Of course that was his plan.

"The myths surrounding the Amazon women portray them as dominators that look down on men." Mr. Reginald explained. "To them at least, trying to swoon their sisters would be laughable at best. "And at worst, it would be an insult that would create unnecessary drama."

"Ack. Pfft fine, I wasn't interested in them anyway."

Mary glared at Tucker.

"I'm surprised you know so much about them Mr. Reginald."

"But of course Arthur. I grew up hearing tales about them from my mother. Not that I ever thought there was a chance they could actually be real."

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"We need to go soon," Mary reminded us. "Staying in one place too long can't be safe."

"Huh? Why, did you see something dangerous?" I asked.

"No, just a precaution."

"Well regardless, Mary is right," Mr. Reginald said. "We won't get to the Amazons by standing here."

"Yeah, just lemme take care of Arthur's tent real quick." Tucker looked at me. "You got everything out, right?"

"Hmm, yea. I packed everything already."

Tucker didn't respond. Instead, he started working on the tent.

"Arthur, do you still have the compass?"

I pulled it out from my right pocket.

"Yeah."

"That's good. Without it, who knows where we'd end up."

"And done!"

I looked over to see Tucker stuffing the tent into it's container.

"Let's get a move on folks! There's adventure to be had!"

Mr. Reginald laughed. "Energetic as always Tucker."

"But of course. We're in the wild. What's not to be excited about?"

"The snakes, wild dogs, bears, and poisonous insects," Mary replied.

Can't argue with that. But I'm sure Tucker will find a rebuttal, sensible or not.

"That's where the adventure comes from. Can't spell adventure without danger."

Mary looked like she was going to reply but she stopped herself. She snatched the compressed tent from Tucker, stuffed it in her bag and started walking.

"W-wait up!" Tucker said. Tucker started running after Mary.

Mr. Reginald and I looked at each other for a second, shrugged, and started following Mary's lead.

As we were leaving the area, Mr. Reginald looked bag to the grassy area and muttered something under his breath. Then he turned around and starting walking again.

"You okay, Mr. Reginald?"

"I'm fine. Just promising my parents my return in the future."

I can't tell you how many hours we walked, but it felt like an endless journey. There were subtle changes in the flora and fauna but nothing drastic enough to let us know we were in a different area. Surprisingly, I wasn't getting as tired as I thought I would be. I barely drank any of my water, although considering I have five bottles, I should probably be drinking more so I don't get dehydrated. It was pretty hot after all.

Unsurprisingly Mary appeared to be unaffected by the heat, despite having the heaviest load. Even after hours of walking, she showed no signs of sweating.

I can't say the same for Tucker, though. He wasn't slowing down, probably due to pride, but he was sweating profusely. So when he told us he saw a white tiger in the corner of his eye, it was quite difficult to believe.

"I'm telling you I saw it! It was on the right behind a few trees observing us."

"But Tucker, white tigers are incredibly rare. The odds of seeing one are rather low, don't you think?"

Tucker wiped sweat off his forehead. "As low as encountering a mind controlling knife or a mythical race of women that live in the forest?"

You gotta admit, he had a point. Mr. Reginald didn't even have a response.

"Well regardless, Tucker is right that there might be predators lurking about. We should be more alert."

"That we should Sir Arthur." Reginald spoke.

With that we kept on walking.

I was thinking of how to introduce ourselves to the Amazons without them killing us when Mya interrupted me.

Arthur.

Yes?

Tell me something, what do you remember about yesterday?

Umm, we started the journey, Tucker almost died a few times, Reginald led us to his old village, and told us the story of his tragic childhood.

Is that all that comes to mind?

Hmm, maybe except for hanging out with Mary. I can't think of anything else. Why?

No, it's nothing. Carry on with your walking.

And with that she stopped speaking.

I felt like she was hiding something from me, but I had no evidence of her doing so and I was ignorant as to what she was hiding, so it's not like I could call her out on it. Not that she'd tell me even if I did.

Our peaceful walk lasted around twenty minutes before I started feeling uneasy. I felt someone or something's gaze on me. I shuddered and immediately stopped walking.

"Arthur, you good?" Tucker said.

"Is everything all right, Sir Arthur?"

"I feel it," I managed to let out.

"Huh, feel what man?" Tucker asked.

"Something watching us. Very near."

All three of them looked around.

"I can't see anything." Mr. Reginald said. "Maybe Tucker's paranoia got to you."

"Hey!"

"Shh." Mary directed at all of us.

I closed my eyes once again. As dumb as it might sound, it worked last time so hopefully I can hear what is stalking us. I heard a low growl barely audible with all the noise nature makes. I couldn't tell where it came from though.

Just as I identified it, the growl stopped completely.

None of us moved. We looked around but still couldn't see anything.

Then out of nowhere, something leaped from out of some nearby bushes aimed at me with blinding speed. Luckily, both Mary and Mr. Reginald have good reaction timing. Mr. Reginald punched it with all his strength in it's face while Mary kicked it in the stomach. The beast landed on all fours a few feet back, unfazed.

On second glance, the beast was enormous. It was at least six foot tall and by the look of it was probably over five hundred pounds. It was looked like a a mix between a lion, with snowy white fur, and a tiger, with faded stripes on various areas of its body. It had a semblance of a mane like lion, but nowhere near as fleshed out as lion mane would be. But to me it's most chilling feature were it's golden eyes that gazed at all of us. Or eye, should I say, as one of it's eyes were scarred shut.

"A liger..." I said.

"Snap out of if Arthur." Tucker said. "You can't afford to lose focus here."

We all watched and waited for the beast's next move.

Without hesitation, it ran towards us, but before it was even halfway to us it darted to the right. I could still hear it rustling through bushes as it ran around the trees.

Using the forest as camouflage, Miss Mya said. What a smart creature we have on our hands.

How do we beat it? As strong as Tucker, Mary and Mr. Reginald are, I don't think they're capable of beating that.

Don't worry over the small stuff, she said. I'll take care of it. Just worry about not dying.

I tried to focus on where it would attack from. And the more I thought about it, the more obvious it became.

"...Behind me..." I muttered under my breath. Without a second thought, I jumped to the right just as the beast attacked. As soon as it touched the ground it pounced for Tucker, revealing its menacingly sharp jaws.

It raised its front leg up, ready to tear Tucker's face into oblivion but Mr. Reginald came from the side of the animal and charged into it like a football player. As soon as the beast landed, both of its front paws were pierced with small daggers.

I looked over to see Mary digging into her bag. In seconds, she took out two more knives.

I wanted to run over and help but my legs felt like cement.

No you don't. You're staying put and away from that monster. How am I supposed to study you if you get eaten? She lectured me.

But they need help. They can't beat that thing!

And you can?

...

Calm down and wait. I said I'd handle it, didn't I?

Mr. Reginald ran up and was charging up an uppercut but it jumped back and dodged, only to get knee'd in the jaw by Tucker. Predictably, it tried to retaliate by clawing him but Mary was doing Mary things and somehow closed the distance between her and the beast in seconds. She stabbed it's enormous paw but unexpectedly instead of flinching it tried to bite off her neck.

Mary jumped back but the liger switched focus from Mary to Mr. Reginald and rammed into him, just as he had done to it minutes before. It ran up and stood over Mr. Reginald with its massive body. Mr. Reginald tried kicking the beast but his attacks seemed to have no effect.

"Mr. Reginald!" I yelled.

Mary tried to help but the beast flicked it's large tail at her, which must've been pretty strong, considering Mary had to block and was still pushed back.

The liger raised its claw up to maul Mr. Reginald's face, when something coiled around its paw, stopping it in its tracks.

Looking closely, it looked like it was the same snake that attacked me yesterday. The snake continued to coil around and constrict the Liger, and Mr. Reginald used this chance to roll away. He ran back towards me, and Mary and Tucker followed suit.

That snake...

See, not even an issue. I told you not to worry, she gloated.

Could've done that a little earlier though...

So hard to please the masses.

Mr. Reginald came over and was gasping for air. Sweat was beating from his forehead and his shirt was all dirty.

"You good Regi?"

Mr. Reginald panted heavily and wiped sweat off his face. "I'm fine Tucker. What about you Mary?"

"I'm fine. It's tail isn't nearly as powerful and it's claws or teeth."

I looked back over at the Liger to see the anaconda continuing to coil around the beast. It didn't seem like the Liger accounted for a ten foot snake.

The creature roared in agony as it's body was being crushed. It was loud enough that you could probably hear it at the mansion. At the very least it was loud enough to pierce my ears to where all I could hear was static. It continued roaring as the snake constructed it's body tighter and tighter.

But just before the Liger lost all its strength, a rain of arrows from all angles managed to pierced only the snake and miss the Liger entirely.

Tch. Stupid little girls, Miss Mya said.

"What? Someone is helping the beast?" Reginald asked.

It took around thirty seconds for the snake to lose all its strength and fall off the Liger. And once it did, the Liger instantly crushed the head of the snake. It now stood tall like a majestic beast out of a heroic novel. Then it turned it's attention torwards us.

Mr. Reginald took a step backwards but an arrow shot right in front of him. However, the second this arrow hit the ground, it blew up, blasting Mr. Reginald onto the ground.

Mr. Reginald groaned as Mary helped him up.

I ran over and assisted Mary in helping him up. "Mr. Reginald, are you okay?"

"Yes I'm fine." Mr. Reginald stood up and dusted himself off, although it didn't change how battered his clothes looked.

"It would seem they found us before we found them." Mr. Reginald said.

"They?" Tucker questioned.

But before Reginald could answer, a tall brown skinned woman with long black hair landed on the ground and went running to Liger.

"Baihu!"

She took the knives out of its paws and it roared in pain.

"Shh," she ordered. "Mcla ndwo daya trse." She spoke to the liger in a soothing tone. The liger, who was apparently acting strong, succumbed to its injuries and laid on its side. The woman looked at it for a second to make sure it was okay before turning back at us four, her eyes seething with hatred.

She raised her hands up. "Asrrounu mteh!" She screamed.

Almost instantly, dozens of Women dropped from the trees and boxed us in. All of them had a weapon, be it bows and arrows, swords, knives, axes, or spears.

They circled around us, cutting off any chance of escape. Every archer had their bows drawn and ready to fire.

The first woman that was speaking to the liger walked closer to us and pulled out a knife from a sheath on her side and walked up to Tucker and put the knife right on his neck.

She looked deep in his eyes. "Who are you!?"