“Change, beast! May your appearance reflect the wickedness of your heart,”
“How did you do that?”
“Under my spell, you shall remain!”
“Oh, I shall not, undo it at once!”
“Reversing the spell requires what you have not-”
“Reverse it, you stupid little girl!”
“Silence! Hear my instructions, listen carefully-”
“Undo what you did, it’s that easy!”
“Enough! You know what, damn you, figure it out, if you’re so smart, see how it goes!”
“Stay here! Wait!”
It was too late, she had left.
…
Horus wonders how a creature so large could be so hard to find, starting to believe he might not be as sharp a tracker as he is a fighter.
Nonsense, he can be great at anything he sets his mind to, it is no fault of his that the creature he seeks has wings and he does not.
He’d find it so easily if he had wings…
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It isn’t fair. And usually, when something isn’t fair, his enemies were the one to face injustice, because he had a mighty sword, and they did not.
But he doesn’t have a mighty sword anymore. Just two small, poorly forged daggers, their weight unbalanced…
Not only is he lacking a mighty sword, his target has wings, and he does not.
He has walked for miles through the dense forest already, with no paved road, nor tracks to follow.
But he smiles through it, of course. He always does.
His smile grows as does his frustration. There is not a soul around to witness if he were to lose his temper, at least none that he knows of, but his smile is a habit he couldn’t lose, if only he had tried.
“Hey, you.” Horus turns to the bush from which the high-pitched voice came. He stops to stare idly at the little girl. Who leaves their child alone in the forest, like that? He wonders… “Stop kicking nature, it doesn’t like it.”
“Nature doesn’t have feelings, little girl. Where are your parents?”
“It does. You don’t… Are all men heartless, like you?” She asks, twiddling with the soft leaves of the bushes.
“I’m n-” He briefly loses his smile, “Well, I do have a heart, I’m a hero. I’m Horus.”
“Well, Horus,” She responds, as if his name meant nothing to her. “If you don’t care for nature as much as you do for people, you are no hero.”
“Listen, are you in distress? Or may I-”
“Are you?” She asks, tilting her head.
“No, I’m not. I’m on a quest, you see, so if you don’t need my assistance, I’ll be on my way.” The little girl shrugs, ominously stepping back in hiding, behind the bush.
“Be on your way, then, but I better not catch you kicking nature again…”
Horus resumes his endless walk, refrains from kicking anything, this time. He finds himself looking back a few times, expecting to see the little girl, taking wider steps, as to avoid inadvertently pushing a fallen leaf out of place.
Eventually, the hero strays from his path, in an unconscious effort to make sure the little girl wouldn’t follow him. His new trajectory brings him to a tower in the middle of a prairie. He approaches the edifice, perplexed. It doesn’t seem inhabited. If it is, then, its owner clearly doesn’t care to maintain it; Around it are scattered broken tiles from the rooftop, the wooden balconies are crumbling down, cracks run around its walls along with vines crawling their way up…
Horus takes one last glance over his shoulder, just in case the brat has followed him, then turns to enter the abandoned tower, cutting the overgrown weed on his way.
The sun had set hours ago now, it isn’t as ideal as resting in the comfort of his bedroom, at the castle, but this strange tower will have to suffice for the night…