"this way nova" indigo said brightly as she led me through grass so tall that I could barely see where I was going. Luckily Indigo knew where she was going as she led me by my hand. Eventually I came face to face with mushrooms of all shapes, sizes and colours.
"Isn't it wonderful" she said with an excited smile "only one other person knows about it so you must keep it a secret"
"Definitely" I held up my pinky finger "we'll even make a pinky promise.
She giggled softly before linking pinkies with me "by the way nova, What's with all the gear on your back?" She pointed to my rucksack filled with sharp objects.
"Oh well I thought I would need it in case a wild animal attacked" I quickly thought up a lie.
"Oh nova there's no wild animals here silly" she laughed "the mushroom's here are so potent with magic that no animal would dare enter here" suddenly she took my hand "now come on. I'm going to teach you about each mushroom and what they do"
We hunkered down and inspected the mushrooms. Indigo picked up one mushroom at a time, explaining their names and abilities in great detail. I listened ernestly. I'm going to be an expert in potion making by the end of this!
"Oh goodness it's gotten late" indigo muttered to herself "come on nova. Let's get home before it gets too dark"
"Kay" I should up wearily. Those guys haven't shown up yet. Have I misremembered the series of events?
"Ah crap" I froze at the sound of an adult man speaking "there's two brats here" we turned around slowly. The men had tanned skin and Arabian styled clothing. They're clearly not from around here and from my memory of the original story the kingdom doesn't allow outsiders in without permits. I guess that explains why they killed indigo.
"Don't worry about it Khalil" the second one pulled out a knife with a sadistic smile "we'll just get rid of them and carry on with our work"
I quickly pulled the trembling girl behind me, pulling out my own weapon. The first man known as Khalil laughed.
"How cute, you think you can protect the little lady" he pulled out a blade with a smirk "well if you're so eager kid I'll be happy to kill you first-"
"Wait" the other man caught him by the arm with a weary look "look at that kids eyes. Blood red, he's a demon"
"Just like her" he eyed me fearfully "crap what do we do? We can't let them live after they seen us but we don't know what that kid's capable of"
The two were hesitant. This was my chance. I quickly grabbed the girls hand and bolted. At one point I could no longer feel the weight of the girls body. My fears were soon confirmed as indigo let out a high pitched scream.
"That's right brat" Khalil held a knife close to the trembling girl throat, her body trapped by a thick arm holding her close "don't move on the girl gets it"
"Don't do it nova they'll hurt you-" she stopped as the knife became close enough to cut her tender neck. A trinkle of blood ran down her neck.
"Curse my rotten luck" I cursed as I dropped my weapon.
"Kill him" he ordered. He charged at me, sharp blade in hand. I shut my eyes, anticipating the blow when.
"Ow!" The man holding indigo had a rock thrown at his head, causing him to drop her. She quickly scurried away. I quickly dodged out of the way before the blade hit me.
"Oh sele you came for me" indigo ran into the pink haired girls arms.
"Nice to see you left me to my own devices" I gave her a side eye.
"That's only cause I knew you could handle yourself" she gave me another one of her unreadable smiles.
"I find that hard to believe" I gave her a wry smile.
"Damn these brats are coming out like cockroaches" Khalil cursed "come on Amir. Let's deal with these brats quickly-"
"I won't allow it" Ingrid appeared in front of him. I blinked. It was like she appeared in thin air "drop your weapons immediately"
They dropped their weapons.
"Good" she nodded "sneaking into our kingdom, attacking helpless children. The ramil kingdom will have to awnser for this betrayal"
The two men backed up nervously. To our disbelief their fallen weapons started to float. At incredible speed they plunged deep into their previous owners chests. Indigo screamed before burying her face in Selene's chest.
"There" we looked up to see a girl around our age with red hair and yellow eyes stepped out of the shadows. Her voice was calm and monotoned. As if murdering two men in cold blood didn't faze her "I've dealt with them. May we put this to rest?"
"What gave you the right to kill those two?" Ingrid gritted her teeth.
"I'm the adopted daughter of lord Ali. That makes them my people so their mistakes are my mistakes. It's only right I take care of my subordinate's mess. Letting their actions affect my kingdom is unacceptable" she turned her back to us "I apologise for their actions. Let's not let this ruin the kingdom's alliance"
She glared at the girl before slowly seething her sword. The girl nodded before walking away.
I growled. Seems the online theories were correct. Layla Badawi, the girl who five years from now will launch an attack on the woodland kingdom was involved in Indigos murder. Should I try and kill her now before she can launch her attack later? I reached to grab an nearby weapon when Ingrid grabbed me by the wrist, silently shaking her head.
I watched as she disappeared. I roughly pulled my hand away before storming off. I ignored the girls pleas to come back. Damnit all. Why do I have to be so weak!