" Anyways, how did the woman and dragon not notice us?".
I turn my head to look back at her, hoping she has been successfully distracted.
I see the small red tint in the middle of her eyes disappear, and she puts her hand on her hips.
She lifts her head to the skies as she puts on a very smug expression.
" Heh, little boy, they would never see us if this mighty one doesn't want them too".
I raise my eyebrows as I put on a smile on my face.
" Oh".
I pluck a random feather from the bird and start waving it in front of her tiny body.
" Explain to me, master".
But I sneer inside my mind.
' Heh, what master'.
' She is only a little lass'.
The little lass's dress moves, and the bird shoots off in a flash of golden light.
" I won't explain to you!".
She points a finger at me when she reaches the end of her sentence.
" If you had just used your damn eyes properly, you would be able to see how I did it, no matter how much I would have tried to hide it from you!".
A smile comes on her face.
" How hard can it be to just use your eyes?".
" Like..."
She looks in my eyes with the smile still on her face.
" This are your eyes, aren't they?".
She turns away from me and faces the bird's head, making her back face me.
She then folds her arms behind her back.
She starts walking toward the bird's head.
I look at her.
' In all honesty, little lass, I would like you to try and stop acting cool'.
' It honestly just wants to make me laugh'.
She stands on top of the head of the bird and looks down.
Her dress flutters in the wind as the bird continues flying through the dark forest.
" For all the days you are training your eyes, we will be constantly looking at the battles of beasts, and occasionally humans".
I nod my head.
' She sounds very serious this time, so I guess I will just keep quiet until I can use my eyes in these few days'.
She lifts her head up and looks straight ahead.
" Here is something you should know".
" I am not going to waste time telling you why I put a very short time limit for you to learn how to use your eyes, but I will tell you the consequence you will face if you fail".
The smile on her face disappears.
" I will just forcefully make you use your eyes".
" Hahahahaha, why don't you just do it now? We can get this trip done just like that!".
I laugh boisterously.
' Why is she making it sound serious with that little voice of hers?'.
With her saying things in a voice that is supposed to sound cute, for some reason, it just sounds very painful even though she is saying it with a very vague and non-dscriptive way.
" Hahahahaha!".
She laughs while standing still.
And she laughs incredibly slowly.
" Do you know how painful it is?".
" It's like doing a surgery on someone's eyes to make them see again".
" And do you know that is just me being light with the description?".
" Hahaha".
She starts laughing slowly again.
" Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha...".
Her laughter suddenly stops.
" You know, I really have to teach you quickly".
" You have to be at least 50 percent away from what you were at your peak in 10 yeas".
' Why should I?'.
' I don't really care about my memories nor the power'.
I start saying things in my mind, but I keep my silence.
" You will eventually discover the reason".
She moves her hands from her back and just lets them sit at her sides.
" If you meet the requirements to know".
' Or if you feel like telling me, right?'.
She closes her eyes.
" You will know when the time comes".
She then just stands still as a statue even though the winds are blowing around her.
" Sigh".
I shake my head.
" Don't waste your time and just make us arrive immediately".
I then just sit in silence.
After just one minute, the lass opens her blue eyes.
" We are here".
The bird starts descending.
Its huge golden wings slowly fold as it lowers itself toward the ground.
It lands softly.
The little lass talks.
" Let's go to the battle site".
She then appears on my shoulder in a flash of golden light.
" But I don't know where it is".
She starts slapping me on the neck.
I grimace as my face twists slightly in pain.
" I'll show you the way".
' Can you stop slapping me first?'.
" No".
I just close my eyes.
" Sigh".
And sigh.
I then open them and get off the golden bird.
THUD!
I hear a body drop as my feet land on the ground.
I stop all the movement of my body.
I freeze and start sweating.
CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!
I glare at the little lass.
The sound of her hitting my neck echoes loudly through the silent forest.
The bird is glowing brightly in the darkness.
Its golden light illuminates the trees and bushes around us, making their shadows stretch across the ground.
And the mix of red, blue, and gold emanating from the little lass is making the environment even scarier.
The colours look like they are trying to blend together, but they swirl like hungry beasts devouring meat every second.
They stay equal.
For a moment.
Then the red suddenly devours some of the gold, making the balance shift.
The gold becomes lost in all of the red.
I look at the little lass on my shoulder, who has a raised hand ready to slap my neck.
And the hand is dyed red.
My eyes widen, and I show her a wry smile.
" Master, I am waiting for you to point the way".
I look at the colours swirling around her.
And I see the red get deeper.
Deeper.
And deeper.
It almost devours the other two colours completely.
Her left hand raises slowly.
My eyes, while shaking, follow the arm.
Her hand stops.
Her finger points straight ahead.
She looks at me with very scary eyes.
She then orders me in a very dark voice.
" Go in that direction".
" And you have to reach the destination in five minutes".
I nod.
And then I turn in that direction and start walking.
As I walk away from the area, the bird's golden glow disappears.
I turn my head slightly and look back.
The bird isn't there.
It has completely disappeared into the darkness.
I don't say anything or look at the area for long.
I simply continue walking toward where the little lass told me to go.
The forest becomes quieter the farther I walk.
I can hear the sounds of leaves moving in the wind and the occasional sounds of insects somewhere in the darkness.
My footsteps press against the grass and dirt beneath me.
The trees around me are tall and tightly packed together, with their branches blocking most of the sky above.
Then, unexpectedly, the little lass talks.
" We're almost there".
After she says that, the red light in the forest disappears.
At the same time, I stop feeling the danger coming from her hand.
I smile.
I nod my head.
' Good job, little lass'.
" Stop walking".
I stop.
I look at the area in front of me.
It is still a green forest with a lot of bushes, trees, and other plants covering the ground.
Nothing seems particularly strange at first.
But then I look farther ahead.
There is a mountain in front of me.
It rises high above the forest, its rocky surface partly hidden behind trees and thick vegetation.
It is not impossibly high.
It isn't some massive mountain that reaches the clouds.
But it is high enough to dominate the area around it.
" Little lass , what are we here for?".
" Shhhhhhhh!".
I look at the little lass who has a finger stretches at her mouth, telling me to keep quiet.
I stop looking at her.
I then here laughter.
" Hahahahahhaha".
The laughter stops after a bit of time.
Then the owner of the voice talks.
" Ryan, you just had not to listen".
I start walking in the direction of a voice.
" You thought you could escape just because you killed one guy?".
" Haha".
" You maybe the best, but you don't have backing".
I move slowly and carefully as I approach the area where the voice is.
But I stop.
' Come on damn voice, talk!'.
" Why have you come after me, that is all I need to know, and you will see how you will escapemy wrath!?".
A young voice sounds.
The owner of the voice looks to be at the end of his life.
" Hahahhaahaha!!".
Multiple voices laugh after the young voice echoes.
I move quickly but very cautiously..
I then reach a tree where I hide as I see multiple people standing over another person who is on the ground with broken legs that are twisted and bleeding.