“We can see them now,” Laen said, a cheerful smile on his face. The boy walked to the edge, a hand shielding his eyes from the evening sun as the golden light cast long shadows across the valley.

Cecillia followed the boy as Blackie paddled after him. She comfortably nestled into the wolf’s fur as its tongue lolled out of its jaws. Then, a susurration of the wind blew past, rustling through Cecillia’s hair as she left the shadows of the forest and entered the sun’s warm embrace.

“—It’s pretty…”

Leaning forward slightly, she stared down at the sprawling valley below. Flowers delicately swayed along with the tall grass, their colors dancing in the mellow breeze. Her eyes flitted over the scenic-scape as specks of vibrantness motioned about. Some were evidently larger than others as they mingled around the flickering flame of the center fire. The sight was unlike anything on earth’s barren wasteland, and Cecillia wished she had her phone to capture the moment forever. Even more so her winged exoskeleton which could grant her boundless freedom.

“Yeah, yeah,” Laen said, “It’ll get old soon. Now come on, father’s already halfway down there.”

Reluctantly, she commanded Blackie to pull away from the scene and followed the boy who was already starting down a rocky trail. She contemplated walking on her own as she didn’t trust the massive wolf to keep her steady, but after only a few moments, she was able to ease into its gait and continue enjoying the scenery.

Before long, the winding trail led them down and the once distant structures gradually sharpened into the shapes of a numerous number of tents. It was strange for a merchant caravan to be this large, but Cecillia wrote it away as something unique to this world called Elysia.

They approached the gap in the perimeter that made up the encampment and Doran was already there, conversing with a thin, red-haired man who looked to be in his early-twenties.

[Warrior]

He had warm, hazel eyes, and a sharp chin that supported a narrow nose. A broadsword was strapped to his waist and his muscles were certainly visible, except that he didn’t nearly compare to the hunter in strength.

"—Are you serious? You can’t be expecting me to let you bring that wolf inside! Layla’s gonna kill me!”

Hearing the outburst, Cecillia felt the warrior’s gaze fall onto her and she returned a curious stare. Their eyes locked and her head tilted to the side, though she wondered what she did wrong as the man shook his head.

"Damnit old man, where'd you find a girl like that. A mage at that too," he grumbled, a shade of red appearing on his cheeks.

“My son found her,” Doran replied as a matter of factly. He looked at the boy next to Cecillia, his eyes as unreadable as ever before turning back to the man. “Don’t worry about the dog. The girl is a tamer.”

“Ah… Okay well that makes sense,” The young man sighed in relief. “But if anything happens, no one can blame me. You hear me gramps?”

Doran only shrugged in response.

“Hey Arthur!” Laen called out, waving a hand.

The young man’s face lit up as he heard the boy’s words and a wide smile spread onto his face.

“Oh hey Laen, I didn’t even notice you were there,” Arthur said. “How did the hunt go?”

The boy groaned. “Not great, I almost got a deer. But as you can see, we brought nothing back.”

“You sure you brought nothing back?” Arthur smirked.

“What do you mean?” Laen asked, his eyes round in confusion. “Do you see any deers lying around somewhere?”

“A-ha…” Arthur chuckled. “Forget I said anything. You’ll understand when you’re older. Anyways, what happened out there, you guys are later than usual.”

“Nothing much, we just ran into a bunch of slavers,” Laen said casually.

Arthur’s face froze, his expression contorting into one of confusion and shock. “Eh?! Slavers? Are you serious, really? All the way out here?”

Laen nodded, “Yeah! And the even kn—”

“Arthur,” Doran cut in with a gravelly voice. “You are not to tell anyone of this.”

The young man’s eyes widened slightly, but he quickly nodded, understanding the reasoning behind the hunter’s words.

“Yeah for sure… You got it, I won’t tell anyone,” he said, “But damn, why would they be in this forest.”

“Beats me, but we got a couple of them so they shouldn’t mess with us,” Laen said with a grin.

“Hopefully you’re right,” Arthur let out a sigh. “Well, anyways. You guys should go inside, the food’s almost ready.”

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

As if on cue, Laen’s stomach rumbled and a sheepish expression filtered onto his face. Arthur released a barely restrained huff of laughter and clutched at his stomach, taking a second to recover.

“Looks like someone’s eager,” The young man grinned. He flashed a thumbs-up and stepped to the side, gesturing for them to enter. “Bring me back a bowl would ya, I’m stuck on guard duty for the next three days.”

Laen nodded, a cheeky smile spreading across his face. “You got it. See you in a bit.”

Doran headed inside first and the other two followed, but as they were about to pass Arthur, he suddenly stopped them. Blackie growled softly while Cecillia stared at him in confusion. She knew that she didn’t talk earlier and didn’t understand the reason for the stoppage, unless…

“Sorry,” he said and glanced at Laen with a lopsided grin.. “Just one more thing. You mind introducing me to her?”

‘So that’s what it was,’ Cecillia thought. There was a twinkle of amusement that sparked to life within her eyes and she smiled softly.

“Sure,” The boy replied. “Arthur, meet Cecillia. Cecillia, meet Arthur.”

“Cecillia…” Arthur muttered slowly. He tasted the name on his tongue before a wide smile appeared on his face. “Odd name, but I'm very glad to have met you Cecillia.”

As he spoke, the warrior held out an arm in hopes of a handshake. By now, his cheeks were burning and he hoped to god that the girl wouldn’t notice.

“I get that alot. It’s nice to meet you too,” she replied.

Her voice was like a bell to Arthur’s ears, and her smile could only be described as radiant. Although as she reached her arm out, his expression stiffened.

“What the hell? Are you okay?” Arthur said worriedly. He hastily withdrew his hand and instead held out his left arm. Cecillia raised a brow, but quickly remembered that her arm went through the wringer earlier. Though, the pain was barely noticeable at this point.

“I’m fine,” Cecillia shrugged and the man’s mouth went agape. Ignoring him, she reached out with her left and shook his hand.

To her, pain only served as a reminder or warning of an injury. And after ten years, her tolerance had grown to the point where if she didn’t feel pain then there was something wrong. So now, she actively welcomed the feeling.

“Well shit, if you’re fine then that’s great, but you should definitely get that looked at,” he said and glanced back at the encampment. “See that big tent over there?”

He waited to confirm that the girl was looking at what he was pointed at before continuing. “You’re going to ask for Layla okay, she can help you with your arm. But please don’t say anything about me. She really hates my guts, you know.”

“Okay,” Cecillia said with a grateful smile. “Thank you for the help.”

Arthur grinned, “No problem, and if you ever want to ha—”

His words were soon interrupted as Blackie snorted, the red hair on his head blowing back. And a second later, the wolf swept past him, not even giving him a chance to sneak in another word.

“Damnit, man. She was so cute too…” Arthur mumbled under his breath, watching as the wolf trotted away. With a resigned sigh, the young warrior returned to his post, back straight and sword at the ready as he resumed his position as the steadfast guard.

Without a glance backwards, Cecillia and Laen headed into the encampment and as they went further in, they started to attract the attention of the camp’s residents. Eyes turned their way, mostly drawn to the massive black pelted wolf, while some looked curiously at the girl riding atop.

Whispers and murmurings of conversation grew louder as they passed, and they were even able to catch a couple words.

“—kidding me? That’s a Twin-Tailed Wolf. Is she some kind of a tamer or—”

“—want to bet on what kind of mage she is? I’m putting my money on fire—”

“—wow… She's beautiful, do you think she’ll notice me?”

“—*Slap* Alan, I’m right here, are you fcking stupid??”

Cecillia glanced around quickly as she felt their gazes run over herself. There were so many people around and just further ahead in the near distance she was able to spot even more. However, she spotted a group of children who were watching them from nearby.

“I’ll leave you with them,” Laen said and quickly slipped away.

Cecillia’s puzzled gaze lingered on his figure before returning to the group of kids. They were obviously curious—probably never having seen such a large animal before—and she gave them a small wave. Several waved back, but one of the braver children, a small girl with wide, fascinated eyes ran up in front of the wolf.

Immediately, Blackie stopped moving and lowered her snout before taking a quick sniff. The Twin-Tailed Wolf’s large eyes examined the little human child as the girl raised a hand and placed it on its nose.

Cecillia smiled while Blackie recoiled in a bemused manner. She was sure the wolf didn’t quite know what to do in this kind of situation with all the attention and swarm of curious eyes. But she continued to pet the wolf, trying to keep it calm as she stared down at the child.

“It’s okay, Blackie,” Cecillia whispered. “They’re just kids.”

Her companion’s ears twitched at her words, and Cecillia felt the wolf slightly relax. Although, there was still a certain stiffness in its spine that caused her a mild discomfort.

Just then, the small girl seemed to have finally found the courage to speak, and her wide eyes gazed up at Cecillia.

“Are you a tamer?” the girl asked as her tiny hands balled into excited fists.

Cecillia’s smile softened. “Yes, I’m a tamer. This is Blackie, I found her in the forest.”

She patted the wolf on the side of its nape as the girl’s eyes lit up. The child bounced on her toes, her small frame barely containing her excitement.

“Wow! She’s so big! Can I touch her?”

Cecillia glanced down at Blackie who seemed to be a little unnerved by the situation at hand. “Maybe next time,” she said. “She’s a little shy.”

The girl's head drooped. “Aw ok—”

Before she could finish, a woman hurried over and gently, but firmly pulled the child away.

“Ella! What do you think you’re doing?” The woman scolded. “That is a dangerous wolf. Didn’t I tell you to remember to be careful.”

‘So this kid’s Ella,’ Cecillia thought, ‘And that must be the mom.’

“But moooooom,” Ella whined, her voice stretching out in protest. “I just wanted to pet the wolfy.”

“Don’t give me none of that,” The mother chided. “First, you didn’t even tell me, and second you can’t just run up to a stranger like that.”

Ella pouted and the woman sighed, squeezing the child’s cheeks before glancing up at Cecillia with a tight, but apologetic smile.

“I’m so sorry about that dear, she gets carried away sometimes…”

Cecillia shook her head. “It’s fine, she’s just a kid.”

Her words seemed to ease the woman and the tenseness in her body started to relax. She flashed another apologetic smile and began to lead Ella away.

“Come on Ella, let’s not bother them anymore.”

The woman nodded deeply for a final time as the girl waved enthusiastically. Cecillia returned the wav back while Blackie only released an indignant snort.

“Oh come on Blackie,” she murmured, “It wasn’t even that bad.”

The wolf huffed again, and Cecillia chuckled softly. The large tent that Arthur had talked about was just up ahead, and as she wasn’t feeling too hungry, she steered the wolf and came to a stop right before its entrance.