THE WATCHER'S;BEGINNING

CHAPTER ELEVEN;'THE STRANGER'

She was leading the way and I was quietly following behind. This stranger really amazed me being in this forest all alone at such hours and yet seemingly wanting to help me find Benid despite the demons and the dangers. If she was not brave then she must have been stupid, I thought. We walked in silence for quite some time but I got tired of it quite fast. 

 “Hey can I ask you something?” I said in hopes of begining a conversation after the silence started becoming awkward.

“Sure,what you wanna know farmboy?” she replied turning back to look at me. A smile was playing on her pretty face. 

The name again and I really hated it but she wasn’t gonna drop it, that I was sure of. At least she responded. 

“What is the difference between the Mermins and the creatures I fought in the forest, the hairy dog-looking ones?” I asked.

“So all those noises I heard were you?Well you see the Mermins are demons but the Packad wolves are half demons half animal. I guess that is why that necklace of yours didn’t work on them,” she smiled again slowing her pace down until we were walking side by side. 

“Half demon-half animal! Does that mean they were born by these two mating?” I asked incredulously.

“Exactly!” she confirmed.

“What a day I am having!” I exclaimed and  let out a deep sigh at the absurdity of such a happening. This was all too much for me to process at a go.

She looked at me and noticed my furrowed eyebrows. 

“Don’t worry farmboy, we will find your friend, but where are you from anyway? I have never seen you around these parts.”

I guess it was her turn to ask the questions. At first I hesitated giving her an answer but I figured it wouldn’t hurt if I shared something little about myself.

“I hail from a small farm on the outskirts of Terry town. What about you Lily?”  I kept my answer as short as possible.She must have noticed but it seemed she disregarded it. 

“Well to be honest we have been moving quite a lot but for now, we stay at Asken  just at the edge of this forest .”

“We?” I inquired.

“My father and I.”

“Oh I see.” I was about to ask more when she interrupted.

“What about you? Where are your parents?” Seeing as where the conversation was headed I should have anticipated her questions but it still struck a nerve. I took a breathe and tried not to show the whirlwind of emotions that had risen at the mention of my parents.

“I am an orphan actually, not that lucky.” I answered calming my voice as much as possible.

“I am sorry about that. You must really miss them huh?” She sympathised with me. 

“ Yeah, I do. Pretty much everyday. Anyway away from that, are you gonna tell me why you are in this forest at this hour?” I quickly changed the topic before she asked more. 

“Again with that! Okay let’s just say I wasn’t really feeling all cozy at home so I decided to clear my head.” She must have realised I was getting uncomfortable and just went with the flow. I smiled a little at that. 

“Okay, it just seemed like you are not the type to be walking around here all alone,” I brought out my true thoughts. She stayed quiet for some seconds.

“What type do I look like?” Her slight smirk was back on her face. 

 “The princess type you know.” I answered although a bit hesitantly. Why did her smirk get to me?