Daries smelt something wrong. While he was trying to catch the scent of wild rabbits, his nose smelt something rotten.
Worse than rotten, dead bodies didn't smell like that. It was like a giant festering would. He whipped his head around and his fears were confirmed.
Another zombie wolf.
What was with those things?
It wasn't as big as the others. It must have been a child. It wasn't close enough to see Daries but it was still too close.
It was walking in the direction of the stream.
Lira!
Daries shifted back into his human form and brought out the dagger from under his shirt. His body was lighter so he was much quicker as a human.
He kept his eyes on the zombie wolf. It looked disoriented but locked in on the stream. He twirled the dagger in his hand and tightened his grip.
In an instant Daries had crossed the path of the zombie wolf. He heard the thud as he turned back to look at it. Its head fell first then its body followed.
A white crackly light sputtered in the eyes of the decapitated wolf head for an instant then it flickered out.
Daries looked at his hand holding the dagger and sighed. He couldn't use it on what they were going to eat anymore.
He shook the sticky blood off of the knife and walked back to the stream.
"Hey Red! Are you decent?" Daries called out while covering his eyes with his right hand.
"You can open your eyes." Lira giggled.
When Daries brought his hand down, his breath hitched as soon as he saw her.
He already knew that she was beautiful. But seeing her red tinted alabaster skin against her ivory dress was something else.
The morning sun casted a warm glow on her pink cheeks. She must have been cold; her nose and her ears also had a pink tint. Her moss green eyes seemed to sparkle brighter than the river behind her.
"It would be gross to wear the same thing after taking a bath so I changed. You did too." Lira said pointing at his t-shirt.
Daries nodded but he didn't hear a thing she said.
All he could focus on was the delicate curve of her shoulders which peeked out from the top of her dress which draped over her frame without clinging to it.
'A priestess fetish?' He thought to himself and laughed.
"You know, I was going to tell you to change into this today. We're getting close to Silverstone." Daries said and walked closer.
"Not like there was anything else to change to since someone burned my other clothes." Lira raised a brow and crossed her arms.
Daries raised his hands in a mock surrender and said, "It was for the greater good
There was nothing else to start a reasonable fire with."
"Greater good my ass." Lira scoffed and turned to the water. She stared at her reflection as she adjusted the metal brooch on her collarbone which had Ironwood's sigil on it.
Daries held his hand to stop himself from reaching out to touch her damp russet curls. "I don't remember you bringing a hairbrush," he started.
Lira turned and brought a hand to her hair. "Yeah that's true." Her hair had been in a low ponytail ever since she left Ironwood.
"You should put it in a braid until we get to Silverstone." Daries suggested.
Lira frowned but said, "Sure, let me just air dry it first."
Daries nodded and carried both backpacks.
"Wait, what are you doing?" Lira asked.
"My part." Daries replied. "Besides, you're too beautiful for menial labour."
"So I was ugly before?" Lira asked as she walked away from the bank of the stream. "I've been carrying that bag for days."
"Hideous actually." Daries corrected with a shit-eating grin. "Let me carry it until we get past the border.
Lira nodded and they set off. Daries considered telling him about the zombie wolf he encountered this morning but changed his mind. No good would come from scaring Lira. As they walked deeper into the thick forest, Lira's stomach rumbled, loudly.
Her face turned beet-red and she kept her eyes glued to the floor.
"Sorry Red. I wasn't able to get breakfast today because -" Daries started.
"Because there are no animals in the forest." Lira cut him off. "I know. I didn't sense anything around here. Something must have scared them away."
Daries peered at her curiously and finally said, "Yeah, a zombie wolf."
"They eat animals?" Lira asked.
"No. Only werewolves." Daries replied flatly. "Speaking of eating, have some rations until we get to Silverstone."
"When would that be?"
"Dusk probably." Daries said.
Lira internally cursed herself for not eating more the previous night. But her conversation with Daries completely annihilated her appetite.
She wondered what the people of the world thought of her. She hadn't used her powers in a long time. Lira looked at her palms and sighed. She hoped that the next time she had to, there would be no collateral damage.
The journey to Silverstone was uneventful and slightly meandering, until they saw a caravan stuck in a ditch.
Daries stretched out his hand so Lira wouldn't walk forward and she nodded as she watched him slowly walk forward. He opened the caravan and found an injured man alone. There weren't any goods in the caravan.
"I think he's a merchant. He must have gotten attacked." Daries said.
When Lira heard that she rushed forward to look at him. He had bruises on his face and his side was bleeding. He seemed to be unconscious.
"The blood is still warm." Daries noted. He was already in the caravan, kneeling over the man to see if he was alive.
"We have to save him then." Lira said."Can we carry him to Silverstone?"
Suddenly, his eyes flew open and he gaped at Lira and Daries with wide eyes. "Help me." He croaked. "Please…I was attacked by rogues. They took everything. Please don't leave."
He turned to Lira. "Sister please." He begged. "I'm going to Silverstone. Please take me." He raised his hand to show them his permissive seal.
Daries then took it from his hand and walked out of the caravan.