That night I slept well for once. Though it was cut short when I heard an annoying critter buzz into my ears. “Hey stupid! Get up!”

Who the hell-?

It was Zilra. The last brat I’d want to wake me up.

“Hurry up, snailtoads. We need to get some distance in if we don’t want your parents to catch us at once.”

Rheka jumped out of bed in one swoop, landing on the boarded floor with a hero pose. Did that girl even sleep?

I yawned. “You know a fair deal about running from home, don’t you?”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re excused, Zilra. Let’s go, alright.” I slapped her leg with my tail as I passed her. I couldn’t see the expression on her face as I did, but it must have been an unpleasant one.

When we left the house, it was still dark. It was one of those peculiar 4:30 AM mornings I experienced a lot of in my old life. When I had stayed up for way too long, wasting away in front of my PC. I sort of missed my PC. You don’t realize how great it is having all the information you need ready for you at the click of a mouse, until you don’t have it anymore. And I missed my games, to be honest. I’d begun missing them a long time before I woke up in this world. If only I had any actual hardware knowledge about computers, I could just invent one here. So simple!

But alas, I had no computer. And I would probably never lay my eyes upon one ever again, so what good did it do to pout? What I did have were three annoying children, following me into a forest in the darkness. Ha. Now imagine I was an adult human? Yeah, aint that funny?

“How much longer is it? I hate walking.” Zilra shouted, slouched over. She’d taken her practice spear with her. Its tip was made from some sort of black rock. Something volcanic I assumed. She let it dangle in front of her without care. You better not poke any of us with that. Even though she was just being annoying, the walking thing was finally something I could agree with her on.

“You’re such a princess.” Tavrin scoffed, bumping into Zilra as he passed her.

“Uhh, yes? I am, thanks?” She retaliated with a push towards Tavrin.

“I didn’t mean it as a compliment, dummy.” He caught her arm, before she snatched it away from his grip.

“It will be another twenty-something minutes, your highness.” I said with the most sarcastic tone I could muster.

Rheka let out the mother of all sneezes, startling all of us. It was obvious she was still sick. Despite that, she was the one leading our little marching band. Whenever that girl put something in her mind, hell could pour from the skies, and it wouldn’t be enough to stop her from achieving what she set out to do. Sometimes I admired this seven-year-old girl more than I admittedly should. In my old life I wasn’t that thick-skulled at her age. I had only turned stubborn more recently. Who knows where I could have ended up if I’d actually stuck to the goals I’d set in my life. Well, I suppose there weren’t many to begin with. Damn. What the hell was I doing with myself? Surely this time things would be different. I’ll master the arcane and use it to make the real big bucks. How? We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it, alright?

“There it is! We’re almost there!” Rheka announced as the sun began to rise. Shining light onto our destination. It had been a while since we were last here. A couple of years, actually. It wasn’t that far from the house, but not exactly around the corner either. You had to walk in the completely opposite direction from the place we’d usually hang out to train at.

And now we were back. Back to the place where we’d faced off with that enormous bird. Imagine if it was just there now. Waiting for us. Wouldn’t that be just great?

Not a chance in hell. There was no way the old man hadn’t dealt with it for good. Odd. I’d never thought to ask what exactly transpired after Rhea and I had made our escape.

As we approached the edge of the forest, I couldn’t help but chuckle at the fact that we’d almost gotten lost the last time we were in there. The woodwork was vastly different compared to back then. There were barely any leaves left on the trees. Instead, they’d turned the forest’s floor into a blanket of wet, brown goo. “Navigation should be much easier this time around.” I thought. Telling myself things that would probably come back to bite me in the arse later was one of my greatest strengths.

“Let’s go!” Rheka shouted, running headfirst into the forest.

What the-

“Last one in the forest is a dumb peasant!” Zilra followed Rheka’s lead.

“Wait!” Tavrin screamed, also running after the two.

Oh, you stupid children.

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An earthly smell filled my nostrils as I trampled over the endless carpet of leaves below me. It took all the focus I had to not slip with every step I took. These brats had way too much stamina for me to keep up with. I’d never been a big fan of running. Even before I acquired another two legs to feel sore with. Not only did I lack the stamina, I also had no will to run whatsoever. What was the bloody point? If you have no destination, why the hell are you running? We’ll get there in time, so slow down. Look at these goons, running after each other as if they’re racing with time itself. I’ll show you brats how to run with purpose.

I sped up. Shifting my focus from the slippery ground to flailing my legs about as fast as I could. I fell, once or twice. But I got up again. Locking onto Tavrin’s back before me. I could feel my heartbeat increase, my breathing hasten. A bit later I’ passed him. His dumbfounded expression made me chuckle.

Yeah, that’s right. Later, sucker.

Next up was Zilra. She was gaining on Rheka fast. There were merely a couple of meters in between the two. Which was surprising, as she still had that spear with her. How funny it would be if something were to happen.

My whole body was shaking. You know that feeling you get when you go up and downhill in your car? That feeling in your stomach. I felt that with my whole body.

“See ya, peasant princess!” I shouted while I passed her. Zilra almost tripped over in surprise as I did. One more to go.

Rheka was the final boss of running. She simply did not care. If she slipped, fell, broke her bones – nothing. Right now, that girl had one task – to run. Everything else didn’t matter. Keep in mind that not only did she have her own pain to deal with, she could also feel mine. And my feet were about to explode.

Then suddenly, she stopped.

Ah. A familiar sight. We’re here.

We’d made it to the forest clearing. I guess there wasn’t a clear winner of the race this time. I really let myself go this time. Bloody children.

All four of us plopped down to the floor in exhaustion. It took us a good five minutes to recover. Time. Sure as hell passed quicker when you were having a good time.

“So, where’s the bird?” Tavrin asked.

Zilra snorted. “Obviously it’s gone you baboon.”

To be honest, I wouldn’t have been so sure about that. Even years later, there must have still been remains of it scattered about somewhere. If the old man had actually done the deed. Yet, there was nothing. You could still see the signs of a fight, that much was true. Innumerous broken and burned trees, holes all over the forest floor. Those terrifying energy beams were a force to be reckoned with. I wondered what sort of spell that could have been. Imagine the levels of destruction you could achieve. My goodness. But no bird. Or any sign of it meeting its end here.

“I guess we really should have asked the old man about what happened.” I said.

Rheka just shrugged, before she began rummaging through the leaves on the floor. Oh yeah. We were here to look for the old man’s rings. Which was funny, since whenever I'd watched the old man fight, I was dead sure they would break more often than not. Looking for that was like searching for the needle in the haystack – pointless.

While the brats were busy with turning woodwork upside down, I began my investigation. Past the point where that bird attacked us from. There I would certainly find a clue to what happened. More burns, more holes. Nothing out of the ordinary. Though the further I went, the less damaged the area seemed to be.

Is that... a flame?

My mind must have been playing tricks on me. It was there for the fraction of a second. In the corner of my eye. I saw a purple flame. Flaring up as if it was mocking me. When I hurried over, there was nothing but a bunch of white flowers. For some reason, I couldn’t look away. From those small, star-shaped blooms, something quietly drew me in. Their silvery-white petals seemed to glow, delicate yet resolute, as if they were clinging to the ashen earth beneath them with a quiet determination. The more I stared, the more they seemed to speak to me. Of secrets hidden within their grace, of stories long forgotten.

What the hell... is going on?

I edged closer. Reaching out with my face to touch one. I could feel their soft, velvety texture in my face. I heard a voice echo through my mind. It was distant, coming and passing within seconds. A female voice. Even through sound alone, I could hear the annoyance in her tone.

“...there’s nothing here Tav, can we go now?”

It made my head spin. The pain was unbearable. I couldn’t remember ever having felt a migraine even close to this. But I did my best to push through. There was more. This time a man’s voice.

“...they’re here somewhere, I know they are! I’ve been here damn it!”

The voice’s anger echoed through my head over and over until suddenly – it was gone. As if it’d never been there in the first place. Everything was quiet.

"Argius? You okay?”

Jesus Ch-

I fell over my front legs, diving headfirst into the flowers before me. That scared the shit out of me.

Rheka snorted. “Are you alright?” I could tell she was holding in the laughter.

“I’m fine. Don’t do that, I beg you.”

“We found a ring!” She held out what I assumed to be a copper ring, twisted and turned – but a ring, nonetheless. The years had given it a blue-green coating.

“That’s indeed a ring. Can we go then?” I said, hoping for a enthusiastic yes.

“No! There’s more to find! Tav found one too!” Rheka said with much enthusiasm. I could see her eyes sparkling.

Tav? Right. That’s what that kid called himself. I had almost forgotten. Wait. Then. Was I listening in on their conversation? What did I just hear? No shot. Those weren’t their voices. Was my mind really playing tricks on me?

And then came another trick. In the distance I saw a silhouette. Right there on a tree behind Rheka’s head. It didn’t move. Alright then mind. I’m done with your silly pranks. Come at me!

“Rheka turn around. See that? On the tree there.” I spoke the words as fast as I could.

“Huh?” She turned around and paused. “Yep, what about him? He’s been there for a while.”

What.

“What? And you didn’t think to tell me!?” My voice cracked. “Also. Him?”

Rheka nodded. “Yes, it’s a boy. He waves back when you wave at him. Look!”

And then Rheka waved. And the silhouette replied with a wave of its own.

This is so stupid.