"Zai—my name is zairis" he said right after he closed his eyes again as if he lost consciousness
Swan : let's go…
Lana : but.. we can't just leave him here..
Swan tileted her head and did an expression of raising an eyebrow
"where is this coming from?
You know you always put your safety first not worry about some stranger
you did what you can .. we should go now"
Lana sulked like a child convincing its mom it want to take a stray cat home she stood up and sat down beside swan
"Did you ask yourself that when you saved me?"
Look.. when I woke up unconscious after being separated from everyone and everything I knew
You were there .. I pushed you away but I really wanted someone by my side
Someone to trust someone to help me through that hard time …
I didn't want to accept your help because I had built all these walls around me
But then you melted them slowly
And showed me love , care and trust
You chose to do the right thing
So let me do the right thing too..
"And hey I'm doing this for my benefit too" she added
Swan squinted her eyes contemplating
Then her gaze slowly started to show hints of guilt and compassion"
Swan: Sigh "Fine."
Lana: "YESSS!!"
She clenched her palms in joy of convincing her
Swan: "Shush! … I'm going to fly around and see where we should settle for the night."
After a short while, Swan came back and told Lana she had found a small, safe cave.
They dragged Zai all the way there while he was unconscious— surprisingly, he wasn't very heavy.
The cave was cozy, with faint moonlight entering and casting a soft glow on the floor.
Swan: "Oki! You said night watch is on you today."
She tucked her head under her wing to sleep.
Lana sat down for hours, thinking about some things from the past and the recent events.
Sigh She turned her head to look at Zai —He was staring at her.
Her heart skipped a beat, startled. She flinched and instinctively reached for her fire dagger, gripping it tightly.
She stared back with a threatening look.
His eyes were beautiful — yet intimidating.
He lifted his upper body slowly
"I'm not going to hurt you."
He turned his head, glanced at Swan, looked around, then looked at Lana staring at her again as if he is observing her
"Thank you… " he said with gratitude.
Lana was too caught up in her thoughts to hear him clearly.
"What are you?" she asked, meaning what kind of creature he was, still holding her dagger.
He stood up, moonlight shining behind him.
"I'm a swan from the Eclipse Forest."
He came closer and knelt down before her. slowly raising his hands towards her
"And How may I repay the favor to my saviors?"
She slowly lowered her dagger and replied without hesitation this was the benefit she wanted :
"Help us get to the Eclipse Forest."
"That won't be a problem. I'm heading there myself. But I must warn you — it's not going to be easy or safe," he said, almost as if he knew what she was going to ask.
Lana thought to herself:
What… he agreed that easily? Here I thought I'd have to resort to force… No. That's not right. I shouldn't be thinking of doing that.
Zai walked toward Swan, then knelt beside her, reaching his hands toward her as if he wanted to stoke her.
Lana quickly drew her dagger and emitted fire.
"HEY! Don't get any closer to her!" she said in a threatening tone.
Zai: "And why is your lovely friend pretending to sleep?"
(He was referring to the fact that Swan was secretly listening.)
Swan flinched and poked his eye.
Zai: "Ow! My eye — my beautiful eye!!"
He recoiled, covering it with one hand.
Swan: "Hehehe. Now I'm satisfied," she said in a condescending tone.
Swan sat beside Lana as if nothing had happened and said,
"You should get some sleep. I'll keep watch for the rest of the night."
Lana was flabbergasted.
She looked at Zai — his eye was bleeding, the colors a swirl of blue and purple.
As Zai covered his eye, his palm began to glow faintly, and the bleeding stopped.
Swan: "Tch. Don't worry — since he's a swan, he has healing powers like me."
Lana: "…I thought your kind doesn't have humanoid forms?"
📖 Creatures in this world vary.
Some have the ability to embody two forms, including a humanoid version.
Some have only one form and can't take on a humanoid shape.
Some can even embody three forms.
The more forms a creature can embody, the more dangerous they are considered.
Here, Lana was saying she thought Swan's kind couldn't take on a humanoid form — since Swan herself didn't have one.
Zai: "Where I come from, we call your little friend — a pet."
(He said it to Lana with a grin, clearly trying to get on Swan's nerves.)
Swan: "You want me to poke your other eye too?!" she shouted.
Lana: "Alright, alright! Both of you, stop. Swan, I'm going to get some sleep…"
The night passed, and morning came.
Lana woke up. She sat up slightly stretched her arms and rubbed her eyes.
Then she looked around — Swan and Zai weren't in the cave.
"Ughh, I hope they didn't kill each other," she muttered to herself.
She stood up, and as she was about to exit the cave, she saw them returning, holding a bunch of consumabilia.
Lana: "Impressive."
Zai: "What can I say… I'm a good hunter."
(He said it with a smug look.)
Swan: "He didn't hunt shit. He just used his glowy powers to attract them.
I did the hunting."
They sat down, ate, and then asked Zai to elaborate on their journey.
Zai: "First we have to cross the Forest of Illusions, then the Silent Kingdom,
then the Shapeless Forest.
Finally, we must defeat the Eclipse Shadow to enter the Eclipse Forest."
Lana: "Okay then, there's no time to lose.
Let's get going. Lead the way."