Chapter 9 Part 1
-Thence we moved on, together; two different views, two equal objectives-
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"Ugh..." My head hurts, my back hurts; in fact, all that I am aches and vibrates painfully; the comfort of the couch allowed me to get at least enough rest so my body healed in parts, so the moment I move to place my feet outside the train to meet Milesian, my body cracks like a snack bar. Outside, the sun attempts to warm me up, only to be overtaken when a cold gasp of wind passes me by, reminding me to close my coat, even more reminding myself of the cut at the side of my shirt; my thoughts, though, are interrupted as to my right I spot Milesian's figure approaching in steady steps, with a certain someone tailing right behind her like a shadow, hiding behind the stature of the figure, with her obvious pink hair and the face of someone who licked a lemon slice.
"Morning," Milesian approaches, not hesitant to place her gloved hand atop my shoulder as she eyes me down for something. "I was informed you and Barghest had a combat practice yesterday, so it's important to ask: are you in a condition to undertake the request today?"
"She's clearly in condition," Circe comments impatiently, making sure to add a grunt to the end of her words as she places herself beside Milesian, joining the witch in looking at me, making everything a little more awkward. "Besides, there isn't time to waste, so she either takes a quick rest or she follows and rests along the way."
As the silence takes over, signaling that Circe is done with her comments and Milesian is still waiting for an answer, I bring a smile to my lips to ease her worries. "I'm fine, just a little more crunchy than usual." My hands stop atop Milesian's as I guide them back to herself. "Circe is right; a living being is missing, so as soon as we resolve the situation, the better for everyone."
"Good, at least you know when someone is right." Circe remarks, something I ignore, instead turning my head to look around.
"What direction will we take?" My question hangs in the air, obviously directed at Milesian.
"Behind the hills to our left, the forest where our goal lies rests half the distance to the other side of the island." Her words alone make me project in my mind the distance till there, something that already hurts my legs. "I asked Circe to accompany you; you'll be able to mount one of her animals to get you there."
"You aren't coming with us?" I ask, partially confused about her words, as I was sure she would come and because I was sure Circe would be the one to do something like that considering she hates my existence.
"Part of Circe's request is for me to scout the place and make sure that the beast's location or general direction is discovered first; the timing of my actions should match your arrival at the forest." Milesian raises her cane half an inch from the ground before hitting the soil with a muffled thump. "I'll be waiting for you both there." As the words leave her mouth, her overcoat trembles and moves like something is trying to escape from them, and then ravens start to make their way out and fly away, and doing so, Milesian's figure disappears with each one. It is like watching someone turn into many ravens and fly away, which doesn't seem so far of an observation as even her clothes turn to birds too.
"Shake off your surprise, human, or I'll leave you behind." Circe comments while whistling for her lion. The animal replies with a roar as it bows its head down and lowers its body, staying at the perfect height for someone of Circe's height to get on its back, and as she does so, it passes on my mind that I'll have to do the same.
"Can you do that? I mean, you said you needed someone with my affinities, no?" My question comes more from skepticism than the will to anger her, but clearly, she takes it the wrong way as she frowns deeply.
"Shut up." Is all the woman replies as she gestures for one of her wolves to approach me and turns her back to me, losing no time in starting her journey without me—the creature rivals me in height, something that doesn't help one bit; I thought wolfs were more like huskies, but seeing one up close, I can tell why a human would want to tame one in primal times; this animal is a true beast.
My curiosity takes the best of me, fighting off my fear as my trembling hands travel to the wolf's head; my action at first brings a deep growl out of it as it opposes my action, something that makes me stop what I'm doing but not retrieving my hand; it sniffs my hand once, taking its time to study me deeply before, surprisingly, pushing its head forward and accepting my touch, yet holding some of its guard up—I use the rare opportunity to its fullest; first cupping its cheeks in my palm, using my fingers to massage its face, earning a growl that at first I thought was a bad sign, but soon find that it actually enjoys the caress. "You're a good boy, huh?" Then, to end it in the best way, I reach for behind its ears and scratch them good, seeing the big bad wolf melt like a big husky would, hanging its tongue out as it pants in satisfaction with the attention.
I stop as I notice Circe is already some distance away, so, not wanting to risk getting her angry at me or getting left behind, I move to the wolf's side. "Can I?" I ask permission to get on its back, watching as it turns its head to me and woofs once, something I take as a yes, and proceed. The feeling is strange; to get on a wolf's back doesn't feel like an everyday thing; its fur feels warm and fluffy; and the muscles the animal has—almost all that composes it—twitch as it adjusts its paws to sprint; sensing it gives me enough time to secure myself before it does so, avoiding falling out of its back.
So, we travel the path ahead.
Half-way point
To watch the hills extend themselves for kilometers, seeing how they are untouched by humans, is strange; I guess I've gotten so used to walking modern streets with their many shops, fast food restaurants, and fast-moving cars that my mind can't help but observe in awe the abundance of life that isn't human, having their own separated ecosystems, and growing without worry of any kind in harmony.
We long passed the first climb, the arduous ups and downs of the land, and finally start to get a single hint of the forest we need to go into, standing only a few more kilometers up ahead. The kind wolf who carries me on its back without even complaining starts to show signs of exhaustion every time it lets out an airy groan. No wonder, considering we are traveling for about an hour now without stopping as the cold air that surrounds us doesn't help one bit, drying our throats of their moisture as we take in each sharp breath in an unsuccessful attempt to feed our lungs oxygen.
My eyes scan the surroundings in search of a water source, one clean enough to be safe to immediately consume upon finding, and, without surprise considering how small rivers and rainwater ponds take over parts of the greeny fields, I'm able to find one easily. Gently, I pet the wolf's fur to steal its attention from the path it is so focused on. "You thirsty, buddy?" My question is met with a tired growl from the animal, a clear affirmation, and with it, I turn my attention instead to Circe, who sits atop her lion, just a few steps ahead of us. "Circe," I call for her, not succeeding at first to get a reaction out of her that tells me she's listening, so I finish my question. "Can we make a quick stop?"
As I talk, the wolf, seeing I'm having some problems, carries me forward slightly faster to put me side to side with the goddess—an action that grabs her attention, compelling her to look at my face. "Toughen up, human; the path ahead of us is almost at its end."
Her comment manages to extract a sigh out of me. "Two minutes maximum, please." Once more, I ask of her, tapping the side of the wolf to gesture that I'm about to climb out of its back.
As I hit my feet against the soft grass blades, Circe stops her lion and grunts like a child, throwing her hands up in the air exaggeratedly. "Fine, but only two minutes; that I grant you, so be thankful for my generosity."
"Thank you, my goddess," I reply, making a bad act of a servant as well as tying my words with a hint of sarcasm to avoid her understanding it wrongly, something she doesn't seem to get as a proud smile grows on her lips.
"You should have stated you can be a good little pig, girl; it would have saved me breath."
My ears lose their focus on her words as I reach the wolf's face with my fingers and soothingly caress its fur. "Follow me; there is water there."
This time the wolf doesn't even waste its remaining strength to reply, as it obediently follows right behind me, and Circe, without being able to do much more, does the same as the wolf and accompanies me to the water source. It only takes some steps before the sound of water moving delicately across a tight path sings to us; in meeting with our eyes, a small river runs across the field, reaching all the way to the other side where my eyes can see. I take a moment to observe the water so I can make sure it is potable; it gets easier to do so as I kneel down and take a closer look at the water—seeing that it is quite clean, enough to make me stare at my reflection for a moment—probably because at some point back it passed down some rocks that filtrate part of it; I won't risk drinking it, but I'm sure it will satisfy the wolf's thirst.
"Drink up; you'll feel better in no time," I tell the wolf and watch as it bends its head down, taking at first some licks to test the water before growing hungry and forcefully trying to get as much of the river's cold water as it can. To my left, the once-empty space becomes not so empty anymore as Circe's lion mimics the wolf's action, giving itself some time to drink water and replenish its energies.
"You have good eyes, human; perhaps I was not that right to assume of you as dead weight; not that I was wrong either, of course." Her words, even the unnecessarily last remark, are strange to hear coming from her, and surely I don't let them pass by.
"Thank you," I answer with a simple smile, spotting with my eyes her face grows less arrogant and more humane before she turns her face away upon noticing my gaze. "I'll take a moment to stretch my legs; is that alright?"
"Yes, you can take your walk, but no more than the minute that is left of your request."
I simply nod my head, taking the opportunity to walk a little up the river's stream, so I can get some more of the scenery in my head to later add to my sketchbook. Circe's figure grows distant as I keep on walking, keeping in mind the minute I have before having to go back to not risk upsetting her. I'm able to relax enough that I find myself humming as I look at my feet, taking one step after the other in a calm manner; unfortunately, the sound of something falling atop the grass near me steals my attention, interrupting my humming session with the scare.
My curiosity takes over and forces me to investigate. Looking at the grass, I try to locate where the sound came from, seeing that more or less in the direction I heard it lies a pile of moss and red mushrooms that I'm sure weren't there a moment ago. I do my best to not make much noise as I approach the pile, seeing it start moving the closer I get to it, already signaling to me that there's something underneath it. To my surprise, the moment I get to its side, the pile reveals itself to actually be a creature, more specifically a white and red cow, with moss growing on its body, leaves on its head almost like a hat, and mushrooms growing out of it; actually, it looks more like part of the creature.
The cow's eyes widen, and its body trembles in fear as it tries to stand up as quickly as it can, only to fail due to apparent weakness. Thin, the cow looks like it hasn't eaten anything in a while, and the bones on the side of the creature push against the shrinking skin as the fragile legs it possesses give up fully. At the moment, what to do becomes the question, one that my mind can't seem to give me, so I take a deep breath and decide to play on on the little understanding I have.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
In search of something that can help me in this situation, I'm taken back to Ayla's store in London, right when she looked at me with those hatred-fueled eyes, and what happened after. Her words have stuck with me since then: 'Crystals are filled to the brim with magical energy, and that makes them the perfect treat for any magical creature or spirit', and yeah, I'm pretty sure this cow can be seen as a magical creature considering the different aspects it possesses. The tough part comes now, as I need to recreate that magic, producing the crystals without even knowing much about what to do.
Plucking a flower resting near my feet, I lower myself and take a seat on the grass beside the frightened animal, allowing my mind to wander over the little details that made it possible for me to do the trick last time. One factor would be missing when I think of it, as I'm sure Theo had a foot in why I was able to do so the first time. Regardless, I either do this now or find another way to get this cow some food.
Tightly, I grasp the flower in the palm of my hand, directing my energies through my metacarpal bone and tendons, and then forming a continuous path where it loops on the surface of my skin. Of course, the process takes several seconds to even show signs that it is going to work, but when it does, it becomes surprisingly harder to manage. At first, the magical energy seeps into the flower and overfeeds it, with some of it being wasted on my poor management of the thing, but the second try goes smoothly in comparison, crystalizing the flower from its stem to the petals slowly. I keep in mind the process: 'Is it the great amount of magic that crystalizes the flower or something else?', and that question stays, for now, unanswered. One more thing to ask Ayla about has been added to the list.
"Here, eat this." I offer the creature the flower, watching as it wiggles its head in deep refusal as it stays somewhat afraid of my presence, not trusting my intentions, but the hunger it experiences seems to be stronger than the fear it has. As if knowing that it will die if it doesn't accept the treat, the cow eyes me carefully and reaches its long tongue to the flower, wrapping it like a lizard and stealing the crystalized flower toward its mouth, where it wastes no second devouring the thing. It is strange the sound it makes, like someone chewing glass, and yet, no blood, no wounds, nothing; it just enjoys the thing as if it were candy.
Immediately, the cow's body starts to become more mass and less bones, regaining its strength in a matter of moments; timely, many footsteps approach my direction without warning, something not only I notice, unfortunately. I don't even get the chance to analyze the cow further or even talk to it, as at the moment it processes the sound, it rises to its feet effortlessly and bolts away, jumping across the field and disappearing into the distance as if it had forgotten it was on death's door mere seconds before.
"What is taking you so long, huh, human?" Circe's voice rings in annoyance as she crosses her arms tightly over her small chest, switching her gaze from me to the running creature in the distance. "A forest cow? Care to explain, girl?"
Getting back to my feet, I nod my head and walk to the kind wolf beside Circe, waiting for us to resume travel. "I'll explain on the way."
We mounted our creatures and resumed travel. On the way, I took the time to explain the weird encounter to Circe, earning a strange expression from her, almost as if something had gone according to her desire. I let go instead of asking and risking angering her.
Indeed, what Circe had said before turns out to be true; the forest lay only fifteen minutes further.
Tall trees shadow what lies forward in the forest; big bushes don't help either, as where our view reaches is lessened by them. Wind reaches my face, and for a moment I thought it was coming from the forest, only to turn around and see many ravens landing on the grass and losing their shape, turning into a cloud of black smoke that grows taller, turning into Milesian.
"You two are here in time," Milesian comments, checking on her pocket watch before turning her eyes to me and Circe. "My investigation has revealed some important information; one I believe won't be to your liking."
"Then do tell already!" Circe, upset with Milesian's slowness, unmounts her lion, places her hands on her hips, and prompts herself forward with a pout adorning her face.
"I found footsteps leading north of the forest; the size and shape of them resemble human footwear," Milesian's words manage to change Circe's expression to pure hatred. "I was able to find three different types of footsteps on the trail."
Milesian's words don't make sense when I stop to think of what she said yesterday on the train. "Wait, you said the island was magically hidden, no?"
"Indeed," Milesian nods. "One more aspect to make me believe these supposed humans have contact with magic themselves and did not choose this place randomly."
"They aren't regular ones," Circe comments, biting her lips to contain herself. "My magic isn't one so easily remolded; but what group of humans would invade my territory knowingly?"
"Knowing that, what do we do?" I ask, managing to grab the attention of both. "Should we go after them to ask questions?"
"We continue on the plan; we are bound to find them if we progress with the request, of that I'm sure." Milesian states.
"And once we find these 'humans', I'll make sure to strip them of their false skin," Circe interjects angrily, summoning her staff to her hands and tightly gripping at its middle.
At the end of the conversation, I'm the one who starts walking first, so they follow. 'It is strange; what humans would enter this island, and most importantly, why?', I think to myself quietly as we progress into the forest, dodging the overgrown bushes that surround us and the tree roots that grow even out of the dirt, big enough to make traversing harder.
At least, it takes little to no time for us to start reaching a path in the middle of the forest, one made of dirt and mushrooms that glow, lighting the path ahead and making it easier for us to avoid the obstacles. More and more, the tight path in the forest expands until it all ends in one location. I push one bush apart so we can get through it, revealing an area with grass like a field, with treetops hiding the sun from reaching it; the sound of animals walking becomes more evident until we get close enough to really see them.
Cows just like the one I helped before circle our surroundings, all different in various aspects; some hold that same red mushroom coloration as others are yellow and smaller, with less plant growth in their bodies. To enhance my surprise, even some regular cows eat the grass or lay on it. Rocks form a circle around the area, seemingly blocking the other paths from reaching this place, with only ours not being blocked by one of them.
But all of that is little compared to what I should have expected remembering Milesian's words; a giant cow lays on the grass, with her body resting at the side of a very tall tree that, now looking closely, is the one responsible for the treetop covering us; it has glowing mushrooms for horns, a pale skin taken over by more of the mushroom that seems to move with each breath it takes. One last thing I'm about to compare is the size of the cow to the tree; it is half the size of it, or more or less five or six of me stacked atop one another; truly something to be mesmerized about.
Noticing our presence, the big cow turns her head to face us, giving us the attention she had been keeping previously on the smaller cows surrounding her body. One thing I notice when she does it is one smaller and more cautious cow behind the massive body it possesses, one very familiar cow by the way it stares at me from its hiding spot. It moos, making the ground vibrate slightly at the depth and loudness the attempt to talk carries. Circe, out of nowhere, takes a step forward and firms her foot on the ground.
"Don't act so surprised; I said I would find someone to help, didn't I?" Her words make me blink as I make sure to look around to see if anyone has talked, and I couldn't hear, but no, she not only talks but looks directly at the cow, who once again moos as a way to respond. "Yes, the human girl; the demon isn't of any use when it comes to delicate matters."
"Uhm..." I turn to Milesian, using the time Circe takes to talk with the queen cow to satisfy my curiosity. "How is she talking with her? Is there some kind of spell to talk with animals?"
"No," Milesian answers, and I notice how she holds herself two steps away from us, keeping in the background instead of standing beside me. "Circe as she is has a blessing that makes her capable of communicating with beasts, but not all kinds, only the ones who occupy a category of their own."
"I see." Not exactly, but for now, my thoughts wonder less about how it is possible; my real concern is with what's happening with Milesian. I mean, I'm sure it is because of what she said—that she isn't suited to deal with these matters because of how scary she looks to most—but still, it is kind of sad to see how she hides herself, reminding me so much about myself. My body moves on its own, seeking to stand beside her as she always does to me, but before I can even move much, a voice stops me mid-action.
"Girl, stop staring at nothing, and let us start the search."
"What?" Circe's sudden words make me realize that something already happened, and I was just standing in my spot and missing it. "Did you already talk with her?"
"Yeah, duh, that's what we came here to do." Circe rolls her eyes and appears annoyed.
"Okay, uhm, did she have any information to help us?"
"Of course, she doesn't; that is why she needs us to resolve things." She looks at me like I asked the dumbest thing there is, placing her hands on her hips and pouting. "Now we go; Milesian will take the left-north area," She points to the rocks that close the paths, and I watch as they slide to the side out of nowhere, clearly having something to do with Circe's magic by the way she moves her staff. "You'll take the right path, and I'll be on the middle one."
"I think separating ourselves is a bad idea; if we are to assume that humans are behind what is happening, then if Milesian suddenly appears to them or you, they'll probably do something bad."
"You don't think I know that? That is exactly why Milesian will turn herself into a raven once more; to be more precise with the search, I'll have my animals with me to help track the humans, and as for you, you'll go through the least probable path so if we find the cow, you can be called upon and reach the location. So be prepared to talk to the humans, or else we will risk the cow's safety and will have to make a blood festival with the captor's bodies."
Just like that, she throws the words at me without caring for the weight they carry and then moves herself to the middle path, followed by her two wolves and lion, soon disappearing into it without even looking back once. Milesian doesn't even grace me with the time to look at her before it is too late, spotting only the fading smoke left by her transformation at the spot she was standing before.
"Great." I exhale loudly, rubbing the bridge of my nose and moving my gaze towards the path that awaits me, only to once again be stopped by something, this time being the press of a forehead against my right arm. The cow from before in the fields nudges my arm, succeeding in stealing my attention. It gazes at me; at first, I mistakenly thought it to be expectant, perhaps for more of the crystal flower, but after a few seconds of us both just standing quietly, I see through, finally understanding that it only means to thank me. The situation only calls for one action, and I take the chance, reaching for the top of its head and placing my head atop it as I shine a small smile.
Nonetheless, even if my wish was to stay here and rest, I know when it is time to act, so I move one step closer to the big cow before bowing my head. "I know I'm not much, but I'll do my best to bring your daughter back."
The queen doesn't moo or anything else; she just stares at me for a moment before nodding its head slowly, giving me the reaction I needed to steel myself and finally go for the path standing to my right.
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