“You can never go over confident, especially if there is a smell of blood in the air. There are many more dangerous beasts than those simple kittens, sooner or later we will find them.”

He walks behind her who knew the terrain, but soon they would enter places unknown to both of them.

Ezer entertained himself watching the sparks produced by the fire dance in the air and lost himself in his thoughts, remembering what happened these two weeks. They continued to travel, day after day, covering the entire surface of known terrain that might have what they were looking for. Although not finding it, they had no choice but to walk away and start looking at sites without records by people who visited them before.

The semi-flat terrain gave way again to the mountains, but these were not as imposing as the previous ones and only some peaks were crowned with snow.

Now both of them were resting on a cliff while Ezer took the first watch. From time to time you could hear the roar of a beast or the twittering of some no less dangerous bird.

Ezer had already learned to recognize sounds that were truly close and threatening, than those that only seemed close. The forests and mountains reflected the noises creating echoes that made it difficult to tell, however, he is no longer fazed by this.

A sudden sound occurs next to him, but it's just Lyaria changing position while asleep. Ezer looks at her with a complicated look, a trip like this in which danger lurks every second and mutual trust is necessary, is destined to deepen a relationship with anyone.

However, there is a barrier between the two, Ezer feels this way. Something was weighing on Lyaria's mind and he had already tried to find out about it, only for her to divert the subject to the future.

The past is an important thing to truly get to know a person and Lyaria avoided it at all costs. Ezer resigns himself and waits for her to be ready to do it.

The hours pass and the night does nothing but settle. Ezer decides to let her sleep a few more hours, she needs them.

"It's not long before dawn, you should have woken me up earlier." She looks at the stars when she wakes up.

“I wasn't sleepy, I couldn't stop thinking.” Ezer watches her over his shoulder.

“And now?”

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"Now... now I'm sleepy." Reflecting, Ezer realizes that he is more tired than he thought.

“Sleep. I'll give you a few more hours, just like you did with me.” She smiles to herself.

Their roles are reversed, but unbeknownst to him, Lyaria is also lost in thoughts related to him until the sun rises above the horizon and is far enough away to prevent Ezer from sleeping.

“What do you think? Do we advance through the mountain or through the pass?” Lyaria points down the tree line as a possible path.

“It would take us longer to go through the mountain, it’s too steep, a mistake and we could end up at the bottom. And the pass is easier to cross.” Ezer knew the terrain there was easier, but that didn't mean it didn't have its dangers too.

"Then through the forest pass. I don't think I have to explain to you what's in there, right?” She inquires already knowing the answer

“I could listen to it all night, I already have an idea of everything that goes around in that place.” In these two weeks Ezer became familiar with many of the types of beasts that inhabited these places, the harmless ones and the ones that weren't.

"By the way, Lyaria, how's your hand?" She had hurt it when she fell due to the difficult terrain they traversed two days ago.

"Better, I hardly feel anything now but a little embarrassment. Of all the things that can hurt me, a simple fall does.” She moves her wrist freely without pain.

“It is strange that these trees still retain their leaves at this time of year. They seem to be isolated from the rest of the world.” Ezer is surprised by the sudden change in the flora.

“Yes, it is. Maybe these are other types of trees or in this area the cold comes later...” She tries to find an explanation feeling annoyed by something that was screaming to get out of the back of her mind.

With each step they take, they are more and more surrounded in a dense forest, they follow the path that crosses two mountains guided by the light that slipped through the treetops.

These move incessantly by a wind that never stops.

“Do you see them?” Lyaria asks with her muscles tense and ready to react.

"No, but I sense them. There is something between the branches, something that approaches.” Ezer had his hand on the hilt of his sword.

“There are several and they all stink in the same way. Thanks to this I know they are surrounding us.” She concentrates completely on her senses.

“Do they stink? I can't smell anything.” He tries several times and only distinguishes the smell of damp earth from the forest.

Suddenly the forest becomes silent and the movement of the leaves stops.

Ezer has a premonition that he must move because of a light wind that caresses the back of his neck and reacts instinctively following the advice of the air.

A blurry yellow stain falls where it was a few seconds ago. Already on the ground, Ezer makes out the blob with a humanoid shape roughly the size of his torso.

This beast focuses its pale yellowish eyes on Ezer and takes off from the ground, wasting no time, propelling itself on its strong hind legs. Before Ezer fully draws his sword, a spear strikes the monkey's ribs, breaking them as they slice through his flesh. It falls to the ground writhing as it generates shrieks that fade.

They both look into each other's eyes with heavy breathing due to the sudden event. As the shriek ends and she begins to return to a defensive stance, the tops of the trees move frantically again as if they were flogged by strong winds.

“Lyaria!” Ezer can only warn her before more yellow beasts pounce on both of them.