5 Chapter < 5 >

Now that they had a plan, the next step was to begin executing it. It wasn't going to be easy, after all, there were so many things that could go wrong.

The old had man asked Craig and the others to leave so he could focus on making medicines. Not only was he going to make incomplete rainbow medicine with the lotuses he had but he also decided try other means as well.

Craig, Maeli and Andre had walked over to a nicely designed bamboo stable. There were several horses inside the stalls chewing hay or gazing around idly. Andre entered to fetch two horses for Craig and Maeli to use for their journey.

"This doctor is quite skilled." Maeli said suddenly. "The antidote he gave me was so powerful it was miraculous. Even in the elf kingdom I doubt we have an antidote this effective against White Scorpion venom." She praised the old man's skills. "How did you get acquainted with such a talented doctor." She asked curiously.

"As a Troublemaker I'm always getting injured. One time he saved my life and he's been my go to doctor ever since." Craig replied.

"That was the quickest story I've ever heard." Maeli replied while rolling her eyes.

"I've got a question for you too." Craig said suddenly. "What happened to the rest of your people who came on this rescue mission? There were bound to be more of you, did they leave the two of you behind?"

Maeli's aloof expression became stern upon hearing the question. "In total there were fifteen of us when we stormed the orc camp. The mission was to rescue nine of our people who were captured by the orcs. Of the nine, four were killed and of the fifteen of us, six fell in battle. Apart from the princess and I the remaining seven along with the five we rescued alive fled toward our kingdoms border. They were being chased by an orc lieutenant under Morak's control along with ten henchmen." After reaching this point a guilty expression took over Maeli's face. "If it wasn't for me, milady wouldn't have separated from them. She stayed behind in order to rescue me and told the others to keep going." As she explained what happened, she clenched her fists tightly and her guilty expression grew even more pronounced. It was clear that she was blaming herself for what happened to the princess.

"I'm assuming that they didn't know they were abandoning one of their princesses?" Craig asked.

"They didn't." Maeli replied as she shook her head. "The princess and I actually knocked out two others and took their places. It was easy to blend in since we all had hooded cloaks and masks."

"I see." Craig muttered, gaining a clearer understanding of the situation. Looking at Maeli, he noticed her mood was rather depressing. He quickly changed the topic when he noticed Maeli's deteriorating mental state. "I hope you're a good rider. Andre's horses are a bit wild for anyone other than him."

At the same time Andre came walking out with two horses in tow. A black horse and a white horse. They were saddled up and ready to go.

"Black lotus is the perfect horse for this journey don't you think." Said Andre as he handed the lead rope of the black horse to Craig. "And for you miss Maeli, this sweetheart here is called snow. She is the tamest among all the horses so she won't give you a hard time."

Maeli walked over to Snow and ran her fingers through it's silky mane. In response Snow rubbed the side of its face against her and scratched the ground with one of it's front legs. It looked quite adorable.

"She is truly a sweetheart." Maeli said as she rubbed her hand across its head and face.

Craig climbed onto his horse and reminded Maeli of the situation. "Alright, we need to get going, we aren't certain of how much time we have and what will happen along the way. You'll have lots of time to make love to snow once we're done."

Maeli shot Craig a cold glance for his disgusting comment before also mounting her horse.

"Oh Craig, I've been meaning to ask, what happened to the sword I lent you the other day?" Andre asked with a criticising gaze.

Craig chuckled awkwardly and scratched the back of his head. "Long story short, the orcs captured me and I... lost it."

Andre let out a deep grudging sigh and tossed a scabbard with a short sword to him. "Here, use this. I don't understand why you never think of travelling with a weapon. Still, just because I'm a blacksmith doesn't mean I'll keep handing swords out like it's giving day. This is the last one you get for free. You have to pay for all the 'lost' ones if you want another in the future."

Craig smiled and strapped the scabbard to his back. "I promise I won't lost this one okay."

Then the two of them bid farewell to Andre and rode out of the bamboo forest.

Side by side, two horses mounted by two figures in black cloaks galloped out of the bamboo forest and rushed through the regular forest outside. After riding through the forest for a while they came to a wide open plain that spanned several kilometres. It was an expanse of hilly and rolling land that continued as far as the eyes could see.

"Hyah."

The duo continued forward through the boundless plain until they once again met another forest. After riding through the forest for a long time they had to come to a stop because the sun had already set and the final rays of daylight were being devoured by the horizon.

"I guess we'll have to camp here for the night. The horses are tired and it's too dangerous to move through this forest at night." Craig said as he dismounted and tied his horse to a nearby tree.

Before long a fire was lit and Craig and Maeli sat opposite each other, the fire being in the middle. Craig had a stick poking at the fire to keep the flames blazing under his control.

All kinds of nightlife could be heard in the surroundings, along with the crackling and popping noises of the fire and the dim forest ambiance, it was quite relaxing.

Through the patches in the canopy above, one could see several stars that flickered endlessly in the void. Craig looked up at the stars and eventually he became engrossed in his thoughts. 'Twenty five years have passed already huh. I still haven't found those responsible yet. Please don't worry, I swear I will avenge you... I will definitely—'

"You like gazing at the stars as well?" Maeli suddenly asked, interrupting Craig's train of thought. She was looking at him with such a gentle gaze, combined with the glow of the flames and night atmosphere Craig couldn't help but appreciate her beauty when he looked down at her.

"You too huh."

"Not really." She replied as she shook her head. "Milady's the one who always drags me outside to look at the sky. She loves stargazing and coming up with ridiculous stories about the stars. I'm sure she'd enjoy a night like this one." Her tone of voice contained hints of loneliness as she said those words.

"Oh? How wonderful, it seems she's destined to be my wife then." Craig joked as he tilted his head upwards again.

Maeli rolled her eyes and ignored his foolishness.

"Gazing at the stars gives me hope and strength to get through each and every day. Whenever I look at the stars I remember my purpose and I feel a surge of motivation to keep going forward." Craig explained as he raised his right hand and made a grabbing motion at the sky. "Though they're so far away, you can grab them for moment, only because they appear smaller than your hand. In that moment you feel as if you've reached out and touched the sky from way down here."

Maeli suddenly giggled and said. "Why do I keep running into such passionate star lovers. First my sister, then the princess and now you." She then looked up at the sky. "Is it really as amazing as you all make it out to be. All I see are lights flickering far, far away, unreachable and out of our understanding."

"Doesn't that amaze you? Something that is unreachable and out of our understanding? They—"

Awoooooo!

Suddenly a Loud howl echoed through the forest. It didn't come from too far away which put both Craig and Maeli on high alert. They both stood up and scanned their surroundings.

"Grrr"

"Rarr"

Soon after, growling and snarling sounds echoed from multiple directions around them. It was clear they were being surrounded.

"We've been surrounded. From the sounds I'd say they are a pack of dual-stripped wolves on the hunt." Craig said as he slowly pulled his sword from his back. It was a short sword with black hilt and silver blade. It was just a little over half a meter in length, about two feet. "I guess I have to thank Andre this time. Usually I just take my opponent's weapon." He muttered to himself.

"You could have just used one wolf to beat on the others I suppose." Maeli also used her magic to form two blue daggers in her hands and walked over till her back was against Craig's. "Why aren't they attacking yet. Was it an order from their pack leader?" She asked.

"Dual-stripped wolves travel in packs but they're similar to hyenas and don't usually have a pack leader. They attack aggressively and flee from danger if their prey turns out to be too much for them. Individually they're cowards which is why they travel in packs." Craig explained. He was rather knowledgeable about wolves and lots of other wild animals.

At a young age, one of the things he enjoyed the most was reading. He would read all kinds of books including the informative ones. Especially books about hunting and wild animals. Since he had aspired to be a hunter he was quite fond of learning about wildlife.

"How do you know so much about them?" Maeli asked in a surprised tone.

"I read a lot and listen a lot as well. I've also been through a lot, hehe." He replied with a chuckle. "Now keep your focus sharp, they must be up to something. Probably looking for a blind spot to attack."

Maeli stopped talking and with a pensive gaze she scanned her surroundings. She could vaguely make out the shapes and movement of four legged shadows amongst the trees.

Awooooo!

It was then another howl was heard from the same direction as before, however, it sounded much closer as well. Just after the howl, the several silhouettes of the wolves lurking in the shadows vanished without a trace. They seemed to have all withdrawn from the area.

"I guess you aren't as knowledge as you think. They do have a leader who seemed to have called them off." Maeli teased as she relaxed her stance and stood up straight.

Craig however, shook his head and remained alert, with his gaze in the direction the howl came from. "Something isn't right."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Maeli asked with furrowed brows.

"That howl just now was different from before. It wasn't from the same wolf." He stated confidently but ill at ease.

"You can differentiate between the howls of wolves? What kind of human are you? As far as I know since the era of dragons ended humans haven't been able to use magic. Is it an ability? Can you use magic?" She asked with a curious and expectant gaze.

"Shhh..." Craig placed the back of his finger to Maeli's lips, signalling her to keep quiet. Her face flushed red as she slapped away his hand, but she did remain silent.

The sounds of something slowly creeping through the forest could be heard intermittently. As it moved it circled around their camping area and together with it Craig also rotated himself. He followed the sounds of leaves rustling and twigs snapping, though the sounds were rather low.

"Do you know what it is?" Maeli whispered in a very low voice.

"This one sounded a lot more like..." As Craig spoke, a shadow of a four legged beast came Into view amongst the trees and as it  drew closer, the light from the flames illuminated its upper body. "A Red-fang Slaughter Wolf." Craig finished his sentence and simultaneously a dark grey wolf walked into the open, completely illuminated by the light of the flames.

It had green eyes and as it growled and salivated it exposed its deep red teeth. Its teeth weren't red due to blood but naturally the colour red, hence the name red-fang. As for the slaughter part...

"We're in a bit of trouble now." Craig said as he locked eyes with the wolf without daring to blink.