Ananiel

Pah*, I chugged down the bottle of water and felt my inflamed body slowly cooling down. The carriage came to a halt as I slowly recovered from exhaustion. Getting back in, I gave Lily a glare but noticed her worried expression.

“Are you alright?”

“...”

She tosses me another bottle of water and starts pondering, I sip a bit and slump back on the carriage chair,

“So what happens to the soul flame?”

Grasping my hands, I feel warm blood rushing to my fingertips. Lily pulls out her notebook and flips to a page

“Hmm, in theory, this should forcefully expand your blood vessels, but expends your mana in the process. Guess it’s a good time to test your mana recovery. So start breathing.”

I close my eyes, and start breathing the same technique once more. My heart starts to calm down and my forearms tighten. A sense of new-found energy pulses itself throughout my body. Letting out a steamy breath, I look out the window and start enjoying the chill winter wind.

“What a pleasant afternoon”

I smile and we continue riding further. Evening slowly set in and the sun hung low; signifying the day coming to an end. We hurriedly set up camp and ate a rather fulfilling meal. Gathering around the campfire, the Coachman tosses some firewood which slowly chars away.

“So…”

The Coachman looks up and quickly pulls his head down anxiously. Fumbling around, he pulls out a map and traces something with his finger. Lily shrugs and asks

“So, are we on the right track?”

The Coachman nervously nods and quickly looks around the forest line. Lily and I look at each other and we shake our heads, confused.

“I guess we’ll be fine, right?”

I look towards the Coachman as he scratches his head, his eyes still focused on the map. Soon, he quickly folds up the map and looks at the both of us.

“Let’s call it a night. Don’t worry, we are almost there. Just two days away!”

He gives us both an assuring smile and Lily crawls back into the carriage.

“Alright! Good night.”

She shouts and we both sat beside the campfire.

“So, lad. How about you sleep first? Ya know, rotating schedule and all”

The coachman pokes a stick into the campfire and starts drawing circles on the ground.

“Hmm, Sure, that’s only fair. Alright, Good night!”

I roll over and start focusing on the Coachman’s presence. The popping and crackling of the fire dulled the slight evening breeze. In and out, I kept myself awake by switching my attention on my breath and the nature around me. Soon, after a rather long amount of time, I hear the Coachman shuffle from his seat.

“Are you awake?”

He calls out quietly and I froze up. My breathing instantly tenses as I hear him slowly walking away. Rolling back towards the campfire, I strain my eyes as I see the Coachman’s silhouette in the distance.

“Where is he going?”

I got up from the campfire and started trailing his footprints in the miniscule layer of snow.

Time passes, as we both travel an indeterminable amount of distance away from the campfire. The coachman, noticeably frustrated and confused, unravels a map and starts going once more. Soon, I see the Coachman raise his palm in the air as a small flame erupts from his hand.

“He knows magic?”

I slowed my pace and followed him past the darkness of the forest foliage. His soul flame was noticeably more stable than mine, and did not strain him in the slightest.

“Alright, just up ahead…”

He glances around and starts sprinting.

“Wait up!”

I pleaded as I desperately pushed my sore legs off the hardened ground. Hearing my voice, the Coachman stops and turns around.

“Oh! I thought you were a wolf! Why are you trailing me? Shouldn’t you be asleep?”

I keep my head down and look off to the side

“Um… it seemed like you were searching for something urgent. So I wanted to follow you.”

The Coachman lets out a sigh and throws his arms into the air,

“Well, we are already this far away from camp. Can’t turn back now.”

He swiftly turns around and starts walking forward.

“Keep close now, or you will get lost.”

“Okay”

I walked closer to him as his eyes peeled onto the map.

“Let’s see, if we follow these trails and take a turn over there…”

The Coachman starts swiftly walking forward and we eventually encounter a hidden village deep within the forest.

“We made it. Finally, I can get the cure for my daughter..!”

He tries and contains his excitement as we both walk into this ominous village. A sickly sweet scent hung in the air as we passed by very odd looking statues.

“What happened here?”

I asked the Coachman who was staring off at a tiny hut in the distance.

“I wouldn’t know, and I wouldn’t care to know.”

We both continued forward as a low hum filled our ears. Besides that, it was a very quiet and odd abandoned village. Arriving at the front door of the hut, the Coachman knocks on the door as a jarring cackling could be heard from inside.

“Kekeke, Com'n!”

An old witch opens the creaky door as we both step into a very dusty hut. Many strange scents wafted in the air as we pushed past into the living room. One particular scent, a floral and sickly sweet smell assaulted our noses as the old witch pops open a glass bottle.

“Wel’ now. Whatcha’ want from ol’ me?”

She chugs down the liquid as the Coachman grips his knees,

“I need some bone golem’s honey”

The old witch gives a rather scorning look as she leans in front of his face.

“What for?”

“I-it’s for my daughter…”

Her frowned face brightens like a childs as she pulls out some cups out of the cabinet.

“Well’ now. Don’t be so stiff. Let ol’ me treat ya to a drink”

She pours out that intoxicatingly sweet liquid into some tea cups and glances towards me.

“How about you, Lad? Do you need honey as well?”

I shrug,

“Uh, sure why not”

I chuckle and scratch my head,

“That’s the spirit!”

The old witch lets out a hmph and pushes the cups towards us.

“Please, it’s on the house.”

The Coachman shrugs and shoots down the drink. Giving a look of hesitation, I raise the cup in the air and shoot it down as well.

Pah* “That’s some foul drink right there”

The Coachman’s face immediately reddens as he starts wobbling side to side. I feel the liquid burn down my throat and start burning away at my core.

“What did you offer us!?”

I feel anger quickly rising as I shout at the old witch.

“Hahaha, It’s some good wine isn’t it?”

The old witch prances around the living room as if she was chasing stars. I look over at The Coachman who was mumbling some nonsense.

“...Don’t worry, I will find the cure. I swear, I swear…”

He curls up into a ball and starts crying.

Fool

“What was that?”

I look around and start seeing the shadows moving erratically.

All this work, but for what?

I furrowed my brows as my eyes burned with tears.

Do you think you can reach the end with just that?

“Shut up, who are you?!”

Swinging my arms around, I see the world around me flicker and reality starts distorting itself.

Witness the truth of this world

The world starts disintegrating into letters and numbers which swarm the surrounding lights. My eyes stare off into the flowing darkness. Reaching out, I feel my mind writing words as a familiar cane falls into my hand.

“No this isn’t right. This doesn’t belong in this world”

My body snaps back into reality as my eyes wobble back and forth in the darkness. A sudden migraine pierces my head as I feel my breath thin away. Looking around, the Coachman and the Old witch were unconscious on the ground. The living room was pitch black, except for the moonlight piercing through the small window curtains. Instinctively, I grabbed beside me and felt the air flowing through my hand.

“Huh? It was just there a moment ago?”

Shrugging, I light the living room lamps and pull out a book to read.

“That’s odd, why are all the texts jumbled together?”

I flipped through each book and found the same outcome. A strange feeling starts overwhelming me as I look out the window. It was a still and quiet night, but nothing was unusual. Noticeably confused, I went back to the living room and attempted some magic.

“Draw a circle, and a soul flame will appear.”

I traced a circle in the air and felt my finger flaking away at something as ash trickled from the circle. Suddenly, an enormous flame erupts from the air and quickly vanishes.

“The heck was that!”

Sweat immediately covered my body as I laid there, unable to move. With each burdened breath, I felt weariness overcome me as I heard the Coachman and the old Witch stirring awake.

“Ugh…”

The Coachman taps his hand on his forehead and slowly raises up. The old Witch gets up from the ground,

“Wha-What did you do?”

She glares at me with her beady eyes as she hurriedly runs away. The Coachman chases after her as I sit here, under a lingering air of confusion. The old Witch stops at a kitchen cabinet and pulls down more wine, but realizes the Coachman was following her. She shakily pulls down two jars of honey and pushes it towards him.

“Take it, and never return!”

The Coachman nods and takes the honey as the old Witch chugs down an entire bottle of mead. Her old, and reddened face fills with an immense sadness,

“Please… Don’t leave me here alone…”

Tears wallop from her eyes as the Coachman freezes up,

“I’m sorry…”

He walks forward and gestures towards me.

“Come on, let’s go.”

I pick myself up and look back as the old Witch curls into a ball on the floor. Leaving out the door, we were met with odd statues standing outside, surrounding the house. A weird hum fills the silence as their freakish limbs start contorting and creaking.

“Let’s get out of here, now!”

The Coachman dashes past the encirclement as I follow suite.