3 Unconditional Devil’s Deal

A green, grassy plain; was spread as far as one's eyes could reach, while the distant snowy mountain ranges as its infinite fence clung on the horizon serving as seemingly the only grand boundary, while the sun warmed the breeze up to create quite a naturally dulcet melody for ears to relish, making those grasses waltzed in tune instinctively with the rhythm of the merest zephyr; even the distant trees couldn't help but not to resist its subliminal temptation.

A beautiful symphony in the ever-lasting performance under the canopy of the immense blue ceiling, while a meandering river as its devoted listener,

There was one in particular however; one an unexpected, uninvited guest among them, on a tree thriving near the river bank. An unknown figure cloaked in ragged rags was seen lying on one of its little branches… lying on its stomach while the concealed head faced the ground. The figure didn't seem lost its life yet, kicking still, likely to be sleeping however in the most uncomfortable position to take a nap regardless of the serene and fresh-windy atmosphere.

The nap seemed to be undisturbed, till one and two pebbles were seen being thrown as the cloaked figure being the target by one curious kid. Considering the height of that tree, however, and the height of a nine-year-old boy, hitting his target was near impossible.

Yet there was another kid with him, a little girl, one year younger than him... giving a vibe of more childlike innocent stature compared to her hyperactive friend, "S-stop throwing rocks at it. We don't know what that thing is." warning him was the only thing she could do, hoping that those pebbles wouldn't wake up that unknown figure.

"Nothin' to worry, Maya." her friend gave his calm answer to the worried little girl, Maya as he called her, "It's our 'childlike' way to help the village after all."

"B-but Chief Jovier said we mustn't––" Maya hadn't given up warning her stubborn friend, and yet hadn't too, finishing her words to do so,

"Quit listenin' to that stupid old man callin' himself a chief," her stubborn friend abruptly cut her off while grabbing plenty of river cobbles within his small palms served as instant ammunition, "We were trying to help back then. He shouldn't be that angry. Go play with other kids instead, he says… ha! Play my ass. Well, after all now, we happen to see that thing, so we'll just make sure if that thing on the tree is not breathing and won't do any harm to our village."

"That's why we should tell Chief Jovier about it. I-it looks dangerous… we don't even know if that figure is a person or something else." even a bit scared, Maya insisted to prevent anything he would do.

"No!" a snapped answer he then gave, ignoring what she suggested, the boy kept throwing the figure on a tree with pebbles, "If we told that old man, we'll just get yelled at… again… because he thinks we're just useless kids doing useless things."

An insidious intent somewhat played an active role in this exact situation… mostly emanating inside the boy's little heart. Throwing a bunch of rocks at the unknown being wasn't merely to protect the village as he claimed, but as well as his own way to satiate his anger and vexation. The naive little boy thought he could kill that being with those small rocks; however, it wasn't the case; instead because that unmoving, unconscious figure on top of a tree was an easy target for him – that unknown figure didn't seem twitching a single muscle… yet.

The boy grinned, "If we managed to push it down, we can drag it to that stupid old man to show him how useful we are."

"A-are you sure it's going to work? T-that thing… haven't done anything yet, a-and might be already dead. M-might as well if that's a bogey,"

"Then it'll be easy… if that really is a bogey, and a dead one… just tell the old man we found and killed a bogey who tried to steal our food supply."

Easy enough as that dark-haired boy had uttered, as the boy had been predicted; after trying many times and failing, at last one and two few pebbles somehow managed to hit that figure's concealed head, and would soon enough a low moan was heard from beneath its ragged cloak. A girl's moan to be exact that was… the fact that the figure was apparently a girl, instantly stunned the two kids, especially the little boy being the main culprit.

"Wha-?!" the boy gasped, didn't believe what he had just heard.

"Y-you heard that, right, Giza?" whispered Maya, as stunned as him, "T-that figure… s-seems like a lady, and she's still… b-breathing."

They both looked up intensively this time… anticipated, watching the figure on top of a tree who slowly raised her head as the zephyr of the green field slowly and leisurely stroked her smooth-looking white hair, resembling that of frosty snow, while carmine shade on its end amongst the glitter snow of the said hair, one pointed horn could also be seen coming out from her left temple. This deep-black horn stood in contrast to her hair shade. Frightened yet astonished they felt, when a pair of golden yellow eyes were eventually opened, and such a beautiful, tantalizing face staring at them. So alluring that they couldn't provide a quick reaction to what they had just witnessed. They simply stood down around the tree quietly in place before the beautiful creature who hid her body inside the shabby ragged rags under the dim shadow. 

They eventually knew that the figure on top of a tree was not an ordinary bogey as they had hoped for prior,

Such an agitating yet spectacular first impression of theirs, however, on that captivating figure might be tainted soon enough, as a little accident would inevitably be happened to break that sort of impression.

Might it be perhaps, since barely woke up from her slumber, the one-horned figure hadn't yet figured out where she was lying on all this time. The balance was broken as a result, and then did a free falling from a thirty feet tall tree, right to the hard land she was falling… luckily though, the mushy grassland was able to reduce the impact albeit not so much.

"Ouch~"

The one-horned girl groaned, for her head was the first part to receive the first impact while the kids simply still preserved the same expression yet coupled with a mixture of shock and confusion about what just happened to the beautiful figure they saw just now – her elegance, and all that was alluring, tantalizing aura… all of those suddenly crashed as she crashed to the ground.

She looked fine nonetheless, free from a scratch. She immediately fixed her position and eventually rested her bum on the grassy floor while removing some clay that was stuck on the tip of her horn.

Beyond question, she was now looking completely like a different girl from the girl on top of a tree before. Yet still, such had not altered the fact that she was still having that charming face and tantalizing eyes which now were staring at those two kids – only with an addition of clumsy first interaction.

"Did… did one of you just… throw pebbles at me?" the one-horned girl asked, straight to the topic issue, seemingly having no bother to say hi.

"Y-yes! T-that was me!" the little boy yelled all of a sudden, a bit stuttering after learning that the figure wasn't the typical person he could just nag and drag to the village and be blamed on. His body was shaking out of fear, and about to apologize to her… until once again… an unforeseen response happened that forced the two little kids to alter their suspicion and ill judgment towards that one-horned figure.

"Hee… is that so? For a small boy, wonder how your throwing can reach such a tall tree. Nah no matters, least I can now convey my gratitude—thanks."

Hearing such a surprising line surely became even more confusing for those kids… for it was much more easier to explain the gut feeling of fear out of her presence, because no matter where they looked at—white pale skin, golden yellow eyes, and particularly that one horn on her left temple; while the other one, the right temple, for some reason the horn was somehow crushed more than half of it. Undeniably, for an obvious reason, she wasn't a human at all, maybe a kind of a monster or something else beyond that – even kids like themselves could tell.

"You have no idea how painful it was to sleep in such a position." the one-horned girl continued, cracking her neck, and fingers joints and then stretching her spine, "Therefore I say thank you for waking me up." she then proceeded to give her sincere smile for the two kids who now became a little bit at ease before her presence.

"H-hehehe… d-did I? I mean… you are welcome," a little overconfidence of that boy came back, after knowing how helpful he was, even if that was merely a self-proclaimed nonetheless and just so happened, "You see, I did th––"

Not for long, however, for the still-nervous-looking little girl disregarded her friend's naive gratification line and decided to right away apologize, "Pl-please forgive us for our carelessness… w-we… we thought you were, u-uh… a bogey."

"Maya, she's thanking us you know. It's not that often happening to us," the little boy whispered irritatedly to his nervous friend, trying to calm her down.

Maya then stared at her stubborn friend sharply, "B-but still… because of you, she hurts her head."

"It's fine, Maya. Your little friend here is right, I was thanking you two… why wouldn't you accept my thanks?" the one-horned girl kneeled down, lowering her body so that her face could meet with Maya whose face still filled with anxious, and tense muscle face, "Besides, a tiny rock and mushy ground wouldn't hurt my head that bad." she then returned to her previous position, staring at the two kids again, "Ah right… I haven't told you my name, have I? Just call me Erynew."

"I'm Gizado." the little boy, Gizado, promptly followed what the one-horned girl did… introducing himself, "And she's Maya – though I guess you already know her. You just called her by her name,"

Maya slowly nodded to her new, and likely to be her first non-human acquaintance as a 'hi' response to her, since Gizado had told her name right away without asking her permission first. Either way though, the one-horned figure seemed already figuring it out her name, and soon or later she must introduce herself nonetheless.

"So, uh… Erynew… why did you sleep up there? You knew that's really not a snug place to sleep on." Gizado had been wondering since they first met, like how could she ended up there, thus asking he was later,

"Not by choice, sadly." Erynew answered, resentful of remembering what happened the day before, "Something… complicated happened."

'Yeah, complicated indeed… and also troublesome. Being attacked, cause unknown, zero-sense reason. I was somehow being blamed for something I did not do, and it cost me one of my precious horns. After a tiresome rendezvous with that self-proclaimed Holy Knight, I never expected the portal's exit would be on top of a tree,' the one-horned girl could only let out a deep breath within her mind which played her yesterday memories, 'But what makes me curious is another figure following that Holy Knight… the figure who was hiding within another Layer of Reality. I thought I had to fight both of them so preserving my energy was essential. Yet, he seemed unaware of his presence… maybe the figure only acted as an observer… an eyewitness or some sort. Also about the family… he slandered me as their murderer.'

Erynew's flashback was then broken instantly by Maya's voice yet again scolding her curious, over-energized friend, "G-Giza… quit asking stupid nonsense question. Y-you make Erynew remember something she doesn't want to remember."

One kind of response that occurred as a result of the change in Erynew's expression. Her face seemed being distracted once Gizado asked such a question. Maya quickly took it heed, and a scold was the full answer she gave to her boldly impolite friend.

"It's alright, Maya… I was just overthinking things. It's natural for anyone to ask someone who just slept on a top of a tree in a weird position, since it's not a common scene in everyday life after all." Erynew mediated her new two young friends who were about to break into an argument, "Well alright, here's the short summary…" cleared her throat, ready to explain – only the necessary one, "Something happened last night that forced me to escape through a portal, which unfortunately beyond my control and as a result I ended up on top of that tree. And yes… I lost my right horn, not because of the portal but because of what happened before it,"

"A-a portal, you say? T-that's… that's one of high-level spells which is so much difficult to cast, even for an experienced mage." Maya then surprisingly and boldly spoke up, looking full of intrigue at that one-horned girl once knowing what kind she might be, hence Maya looked a bit more interested to her rather than nervous right now,

"Oh… you know it? Seems like the world of arcane art making you got intrigued, eh Maya," Erynew amazed by her knowledge of arcane art despite her young age.

Maya nodded initiatively, "I read a lot of books describing all about sorceries and incantations. A-and there's a category for spatial arcane yes, but many books regard it mostly as a theory and some even straightly claim it's just a myth… a-and yet, you were… casually casting it."

Maya was indeed the type of a quiet kid becoming a little more spoke out when it came to something which drew her interest. Erynew noticed such a drastic change in her character obviously, and it made her glad there was a way to make herself closer or at least to be familiar to her... exactly knowing what to say, "Well, it's no longer a theory nor a myth apparently."

"Well… I don't really understand, but does that mean Erynew is a very powerful mage?!" Gizado then stared at the one-horned girl with his eyes widened, once listening to a brief explanation from his bibliophile friend, despite knowing a little what she meant,

"Very powerful, huh? B-but isn't that a bit… too much?" Erynew awkwardly chortled, yet later such a gleeful laugh was interrupted by another voice coming… a voice fuelled by an agitated and worried tone, being heard all of a sudden from the upstream direction of the river,

"Maya! Giza! Where are you?!"

From a distance, a voice slowly emerged, calling the name of the two kids… a cry of hoping to find out the condition and situation of the loved one, to such an extent capable of muffling the sound of the river leaping – a desperate cry. And sure enough; a young, brownish long hair girl wearing a brown long gown with long sleeves tunics, was later coming out before Erynew as fear slowly began to take control over her fragile and slender body, as well as trembled and frightened out of something which pushed her to increase the pace of her heavy footsteps when her deep-brown eyes eventually caught the silhouette of those two kids. 

"Maya! Giza! Oh thanks Gods you both are okay!"

The young girl dashed in a blink of an eye, even the two kids didn't realize when they were already inside her embrace – an embrace out of relief.

"Re-Reya… what is it?" both Giza and Maya looked and struggled to even speak from inside such tight arms, thus capable of sensing the fear and trembling all over the sweaty body of their older sister.

It was definitely a sign of a bad omen,

All of her aims were only to make sure the safety of her younger siblings to the point she was unable to realize another figure in such a situation… at least until it was too late for her to notice the said figure. Hardly feeling the comfort of knowing that her younger siblings were unharmed, her panic-stricken expression came back even more tense than before when her dark-brown eyes met a pair of golden yellow ones…

"Wh-who?! Who is she?!" the young girl cried out, looking up at Erynew's serious countenance full of tension,

"I-it's alright, Sis Reya… she's our new friend." Maya looked up at her sister's face, trying to ease up on her.

"Fr-friend?"

"Yes, she is…" Giza freed himself from Reya's embrace, staring at her questioningly, "What is it 'bout anyway? You came out of nowhere and suddenly hugged us so tightly with your body shaking. You're a bit scared us, y'know."

"Marauders, isn't it?" the claim that was said by Erynew shocked the young girl not because she was wrong but more of the opposite, "What's more, there are two and a half dozens of 'em that storm straight towards the village."

"S-so it's them?! They're comin' again?! It's not even a week since they rampaged our village," Gizado gritted his teeth, seemingly recognizing who these marauders were, "Damn it all! If only I was strong enough… to kick all their damn stinky butts."

"M-mom and dad… what about the others?" Maya asked her sister who was looking jittery as her, had no clue what to do except to let out all of her hopes for a handful of mere, unarmed and untrained villagers to best thirty savage marauders.

At first, Reya was reluctant to tell her little sister the truth, yet no matter what would happen, sooner or later, she would know it by herself, "They… they're still in the village with the rest. Those marauders came all of a sudden from behind the hill, and already surrounded the village. Most didn't make it to escape."

"What about the elders and the children?" Erynew suddenly interrupted,

Reya looked up, still a little bit uneasy as she was still not used to the extra attribute on Erynew's head, "T-they are too, still in the village. They are mostly unharmed for now. The chief's trying to beg for leniency from their leader so that he would let go of them."

'I see… the bad news is that they got hostages, while the good news is there are no victims yet… at least for now. Either way, the situation favors them.' while uttering to herself, Erynew was then surprised by the unforeseen request – one altruistic request from a selfless requestor.

"Erynew! Please, save mom and dad… and the others. Please, I beg you!"

Reya's mind was blown off at the moment when Maya independently and boldly dared herself to initiate a desperate plea. Even her little sister who was known as a shy and reserved little girl, now became so trusting in a complete stranger she just met – a complete non-human stranger per se.

It was also the first time for Erynew, to see humans who did not just run away when they saw her appearance, let alone to trust their burdens on her shoulder… perhaps that moonlight rendezvous, was not as bad as she thought it would be. Her magical portal that dragged her here with all of its messes… she was wondering whether or not it was all just a mere coincidence… of just so happened,

"Don't worry, Maya… even without being asked or begged for, I'll save them all… that's my promise,"

Erynew simply showed her caring little smile on her tender expression, and being displayed as well on her pale face filled with decisive determination,

"…because there are some stinky butts that need to be booted."