They spent a night in Veldarah before sailing to Western Isle, where rumour said that a daeva resided there. During the voyage, Dameon and Elini watched as Rhen and Lars were training their skills on each other. Having a fight with Lars was a dream come true ever since she's studying in Shadwood Academy.
"Boot Slappin Mara!" Rhen threw her sword into midair. It disappeared and appeared behind Lars' back. But Lars managed to counter the sword screaming after him in the nick of time with his Wind Whip Spell.
"You can't finish me off that easily with those lousy skills learnt from Shadwood," snorted Lars. Rhen scowled at him. "Let's see if you can dodge this."
He raised his right arm and waved in circles. Gust appeared and soon a tiny tornado emerged in from him. He motioned his arm to Rhen's direction and the tornado moved in speed.
"Woodland Dance!" she danced gracefully with the humming rhythm of her sword. She twisted and turned swiftly, successfully dodging the upcoming tornado and ran towards Lars. Before he could react, Rhen landed a punch on his stomach. He lost his balance and fell into a pile of rotten anchovies.
"It's not finished yet," Lars got to his feet. He wiped Rhen's smirk with a counter spell.
"Moteramo Zechas Hexo!" Magic bolt shot from the tip of his staff and hit squarely onto Rhen's chest. Seconds passed and Rhen remained unchanged.
"What's the matter, Lars? Is this the best you can do?" Rhen laughed.
"You'll see..." Lars checked the time. "The effect should be start right...now."
Just as he finished the last word, Rhen started to shrink as tiny as a dwarf. Her legs became thinner and wings replaced her arms. Her mouth transformed into a yellow beak. The party couldn't help themselves but laughing at her new form.
"Too bad I promised not to eat you guys," Te'ijal chuckled. "Or else, you're gonna be a tasty roasted chicken as my main dish."
They laughed louder when Rhen-the-chicken walking around the ship, flapping her wings and clucking non-stop.
"Okay, that's enough," said Dameon, who stopped laughing. He reversed the Chicken Curse and soon Rhen was back to her human self.
"You're gonna pay for this Lars!" Rhen stomped over the deck towards her opponent, who was rolling on the deck laughing his head off. Before Rhen could gave him a strike, and before Lars could hex her again, Dameon ceased the fire.
"Silence Extora!" Dameon shook his head. "That's all for today, we'll continue next time." Rhen crossed her arms and scowled while Lars stuck out his tongue to her. He poked Rhen with his staff and both of them were running around the ship like the scene when Tom the cat is chasing Jerry the mouse.
"Children," Te'ijal muttered under her breath.
They stopped chasing as a wyvern emerged from the cloud sea above and perched on Elini's arm. She fed it and patted its head. The wyvern squarked and she nodded.
"We're almost reach the shore," announced the summoner."The land is a mile away."
"Oh finally, I'm sick of the rancid smell here," Te'ijal mumbled while examining a empty soul pendant which she bought in Veldarah. "I must find a soul worth enslaving."
~~~
They walked across a golden-yellow landscape. Grass struggled to survive in the unfavorable climate, falling leaves paved along the dirt path as they threaded along. The weather was so dry that even the wind refused to blow some cool breeze over this stuffy land.
It was minutes before they reached at a crossroad. Rhen studied the road sign and took the west road to a nearby village as she thought the party must be tired from the long trip they had. They passed open cut fields that are probably full of corn and paddy, then a dilapidated barn which can be assumed that it's been a while since the farmer left the place.
Up ahead, a housewife was sweeping fallen leaves in front of her house. She almost dropped her broom when she saw five strangers stepped into their village.
"Outsiders! I'm sorry," she astonished when Rhen asked for direction. "I don't mean to get excited. No one ever comes here."
They splitted up at the village square to take an hour's break. Te'ijal went to hunt at the outskirt of the village, while Elini and Lars went to the marketplace to get supplies, leaving Rhen and Dameon who were heading to the village inn and have a drink. As everyone knows, inn, tavern, and bar are the places where people can scoop up some gossips, rumours and news around the world.
They picked a table at a corner facing the window. Like a gentleman, Dameon helped with the chair as Rhen sat down, then he tooked the seat in front of her.
"Good day. May I take your order?" An elegant-looking waitress addressed them with her biggest smile that Rhen had ever seen.
"Barley tea for two, thank you," Dameon smiled back to the waitress and she looked as if she had won the lottery. She barely stood on her feet when she was attracted by his handsome-ness. Rhen rolled her eyes, but the waitress ignored her.
"Looks like someone got himself a secret admirer," Rhen teased him in a silly tone while drumming the table after the waitress left.
"Nah, too bad she's not my type," he denied, Rhen furrowed her eyebrows. "I like girls with swords. It looks fit and man."
"Ha! So you're saying that I'm a tomboy?" snapped Rhen, who acted insulted and looked outside the window.
"Oh, I'm sorry! I'm n-not referring to you!" Dameon panicked. He never handle a girl properly before, especially the one that he liked. Before Dameon could open his mouth, the waitress came back with a tray of drinks. She put them on the table and put a cup of chocolate sundae in front of Dameon.
"Err, I think you've mistaken, miss. I remembered that I didn't --"
"Oh, no worry. It's especially free for you," she winked her eyes. "Anything else that can I help you with?"
Dameon waved his hand while pushed the sundae to Rhen. The waitress walked away with an expression as if being slapped on the face by someone. Rhen scowled at her back.
"Someone's jealous," said the sun priest in a sing-sang tone.
"I'm not," she protested. "I just...can't stand with her behavior. It makes me...sick."
She stuck out her tongue in disgust, and Dameon chuckled. A table behind them sat a few villagers, who were having a meeting. Words of complaint started to buzz out from them.
"Someone has been stealing corn from us! I wish I knew who the thieves were!"
"Locusts are destroying my crops! I'm not a superstitious man, but even I know a bad omen when I see one."
"Droughts and famine had struck our village for weeks and it seems there's no ending of it!"
"Something's wrong from the Highlands. We never have these disaster under the protection of Aruhani. Something's wrong with the deity."
"All right folks," said a deep voice, which can be assumed to be the head of the meeting. "I'll report these matters to the Town Hall. Maybe they can find initiatives to solve the problems." Soon, the meeting dismissed and the villagers exited the inn.
"Do you know who's Aruhani?" asked Rhen, who eavesdropped on their conversations just now.
"Aruhani is the nickname for Armaiti, the druid of agriculture," explained Dameon. "Looks like he's in grave danger."
"I think I know where we're going afterwards," Rhen pumped her fist to her hand. Silence came afterwards. Rhen continued to look outside while Dameon fidgeting, battling with his mind.
I have to do something, he thought, I want to let her know that how I feel for her. He took a breath, mustered his shyness and nudged her by kicking her shoes.
"What's the matter? Mind if you share with me?"
"It's nothing," she sighed. "It's just...I'm homesick. I missed my family. I just want to finish this task and go back to Clearwater." Out of her knowing, Dameon touched her hand and squeezed it.
"No worry. You'll be home once this is over," he reassured her with a friendly smile. Rhen blushed as red as roses. He saw her expression and let go of her hand quickly, then turned his head towards the window, covering his blushes.
After another moment of awkward silence, Rhen decided to leave. They stood up, paid for the tea, and left the inn.
~~~
The predator was crouching behind the bushes, aiming her target attentively without looking away as if she's afraid that she would lose her prey. The prey was freshening itself by the river. It stopped and looked around, getting alert when it heard leave rustling behind. The predator took out an arrow from her quiver and attached firmly on the bow string. She pulled the bow string to its limit and released when the deer started to run. Unfortunately, the deer barely dodged the incoming arrow and limped on the ground, died.
"Gotcha!" said Te'ijal. She walked towards her prize and pulled out the arrow from its body.
"Mmm..." the hungry vampire licked her mouth. "Bon appetit."
~~~
After buying some useful supplies like cassia leaves, marsh tea and elixirs, Lars and Elini decided to stroll around the outskirt of the village. After heading north for a few feet, they found a cave hidden behind the overgrown vegetation. The cave mouth was so small that they have to crawl over. Lars lightened up fire as they were crawling in the dark tunnel to avoid hitting their head. Sounds can be heard at a distance. They reached the end of the tunnel and stepped to a wide space.
A troupe of militant squirrels jumping around the cave with glee, as if they've got a life-time of never-ending acorns. Elini snooped around to check what's with the commotion and called Lars afterwards.
"Sorcerer, would you like to see what's inside here?" she pointed to the baskets placed at a corner.
Instead of acorns, piles of full-grown corns could be seen. Lars blew a low whistle and walked towards the baskets. A squirrel noticed Lars and blocked his way.
"Stop! No ta-ching!" said the militant squirrel. "Ze corn is ours! Ze corn is ours!"
"That's a lot of corn. Where did it come from?"
"We stole it from ze foolish human farmers down south! You can't take away from us! Stay away!" More militant squirrels ran towards Lars and started an assault.
"Hey! Watch it! Stop!" Lars shook his legs frantically as the squirrels started crawling on him.
"Go away, humans!" the squirrels started to throw corns at both of them, who ran away and hid behind a tree nearby when they reached outside.
"Okay...That was...interesting," Lars panted from the tiring running and the crawling.
"Maybe we should head back to the meeting place. The others must have been waiting for us," suggested Elini after they had a few minutes' rest.
"It's getting late now," Lars nodded and stood up.
~~~
Honestly, I don't know what's the term for the deer's "Running" (Gallop?), and the sound of the squirrels. I'll apologise for the grammar nazi. Anyway, enjoy reading! =D