Currently, she sat at the dining table, glancing out the large window nearby where breakfast had been laid out for her. It was true—just yesterday, she had vanished into that forest, driven by her curiosity and foolish bravado. She had wandered into that wilderness thinking it was just like the forests of the Sanctuary of the Radiant Dawn. A massive beast had pursued her, intent on making her its meal. She shook her head at the memory.
Looking at the bandages wrapped around her arms and ankles, she noted that the swelling and pain from her injuries were subsiding. Thanks to the mysterious man who lived in this secluded forest, she had been saved. Since he entered that room, the enigmatic man hadn’t stepped outside. She decided to head back to the room where she had woken up. She lay down but found it impossible to sleep, as there was an unsettling aura enveloping the entire house.
Despite the danger, she wasn’t entirely trusting of the man who had helped her. Everything about him was shrouded in mystery. Who in their right mind would build a wooden house in the middle of such a remote forest? The part of the forest she was in was certainly not a place anyone would casually wander into. Wherever she looked, there were no signs of human paths or trails.
She was startled by mysterious man who had just entered the dining room. He carried a cup, which he placed on the table before looking her straight in the eye.
“Why aren’t you eating? Don’t you like the food?”
There was no hint of emotion in his voice. It was as if he had a body but lacked anything inside. It felt strange every time he spoke.
“Oh, no. To be honest, everything laid out looks delicious.”
She smiled at him, but she felt it came out more like a grimace than a genuine smile.
He simply nodded.
“Okay. Eat up so you can go back to wherever you came from and don’t come back here.”
With that, he casually took a sip from the cup he was holding.
She responded with just a nod. He had told her several times not to return to that place because it was far too dangerous. Could anything be worse than the massive beast that had tried to eat her alive? Could it get any worse than that?
After they finished eating, they trudged along the rough path. She glanced around at her surroundings, clearly noticing that no one ever came this way, as the trail looked unused.
“Are there any snakes here?”
There was no response from the man ahead of her. She suspected that even the snakes in this place would be huge.
It had been almost an hour, by her estimation, that they had been walking non-stop. She hadn’t heard him speak a single word; despite her repeated questions, he hadn’t answered any of them. He walked quickly, as if his strides were twice as long as hers. If he sensed that she was falling behind, he would slightly slow his pace. But the moment he felt she was catching up; he would speed up again.
“Is there no shortcut here?”
She asked him, but she received no answer. He continued walking straight ahead. Suddenly, she thought of her father, whom she imagined must be looking for her somewhere since she had been missing for a day. Even though he had just returned home, she knew someone must have told him she hadn't come back since last night. She was sure someone had peeked into their house to check on her, as their neighbors often did when her father was away.
While walking, something caught her attention—a rainbow-like skin lying on the ground. She stopped for a moment to stare at it.
“Hey, you silent one. This place doesn’t seem safe.”
She noticed that he had stopped walking, but he didn't look back. However, she could see him nod. He confirmed her suspicion about whatever that skin was scattered around where they passed. She swallowed hard, wanting a clearer look to see how large that skin truly was.
“Uhm… what should I do?”
She couldn’t move her feet; they seemed to lock in place when she realized where that skin was coming from. The last thing she wanted to see...
Snakes...
She swallowed hard several times.
“Uhm. I can’t move my feet.”
She said to him, managing a smile. She noticed him shake his head. He took a deep breath before looking back at her and stepped closer. A few paces away from her, he stopped.
“It’s merely a snake meant to silence you.”
Her eyebrows shot up at his words.
He grabbed her by the elbow and guided her toward their destination. She found her feet moving on their own to follow him, as the fear that had engulfed her slowly began to dissipate.
“Am I going to see my father again?”
“Don’t make noise and be careful with all your movements. Don’t do anything too loud that could attract the attention of what you’re afraid of.”
That was probably the longest thing he had said in a while. But after hearing this, she immediately closed her mouth and walked carefully. Even though she wanted to step quickly to get out of that place, she couldn’t do it. She made sure that every step she took was silent; all her movements were slow. Because she was so focused on what she was doing, she didn’t notice that the young man walking in front of her had stopped, his face showing no emotion as he looked at her.
“Can you walk a little faster?”
She glanced at him. His voice was soft, but she heard him clearly from where she was standing; the surroundings were quiet except for the gentle breeze and the occasional chirp from a few birds. Aside from that, she had always had sharp hearing since she was a child, thanks to her father, who said it would help her.
“Shhhhh.”
She pressed her finger to her lips as a sign for him to be quiet. She spoke without using her voice.
“Please don’t make any noise. We might be heard.”
It seemed he understood what she had just said because he responded in the same way she had.
“We need to get out of this place quickly because the owner of the skin you saw might be nearby.”
As much as she wanted to stomp her foot in frustration, she couldn’t. She felt irritated because of the danger they might face. Why did it have to be the very thing she feared the most among so many sights around them?
She mouthed, “Wait a moment.”
She noticed him shaking his head. In an instant, she saw him standing beside her. Without any warning, he lifted her as if she were a sack of rice. She gasped at his actions. Before she could get angry and start ranting, he spoke in a very soft voice.
“Be quiet if you don’t want to become the food for what you just saw.”
She clung to his back and closed her eyes as she felt him leap and jump from branch to branch. She slightly opened her eyes to close them again when she saw how high the branches were from which he was jumping. This wasn't new to her, as she had seen such agility before ever since they settled in the Sanctuary of the Radiant Dawn. Everyone living there was able to use and wield Magic, except for her and her father. The first time she witnessed Magic, she was so amazed and sometimes even felt envious of those who could do it.
When she slowly opened her eyes again, she was astonished that it took only a few minutes for this man to get far from where they had been standing just moments ago. All along, she had been the reason for their slow progress, while this man could move so quickly.
After a few moments, they stopped at a very large tree with lush leaves. He gently set her down from his shoulder, as if nothing had happened, and quietly scanned the entire surroundings, just as she did. The size of the trees in that place was astonishing. She began to wonder which part of the Sanctuary of the Radiant Dawn they were in. She had already been to many forests, but this place was truly different. It seemed to be full of mysteries. How did she know? The area was somewhat dark even though it was morning; it seemed that sunlight barely penetrated there. Secondly, she couldn't understand why it was always foggy, with a cold breeze that seeped into her bones. Thirdly, the animals there were significantly larger than those in other forests she had visited.
A gentle tap brought her back to her senses from her deep thoughts. She looked up at her companion, who was pointing to his lips and signaling for her to be quiet, then gestured for her to crouch down. Although confused by his behavior, she followed his cue.
She followed his gaze only to turn pale at what she saw.
A gigantic rainbow-colored snake appeared before her.
It was slithering along the ground, seemingly searching for something to eat, flicking its tongue to taste the air for any signs of life. Without realizing it, she clutched tightly to the arm of the person next to her. She felt her whole body tremble. Even though she wanted to turn and hide behind him—because that was what she wanted to do at that moment due to the fear she was feeling—she couldn’t. She felt as if, the snake would hear her if she turned to look.
She noticed that the snake had two horns on its head. Even though its colors were strikingly beautiful, the fierceness and danger it exuded were evident, ready to strike at any moment.
With every movement of the snake, she tightened her grip on the mysterious man’s arm beside her.
She saw it moving in the direction where they were both located. Its movements were very smooth as if it was already accustomed to the ground beneath it. It stopped beneath the large tree where they had taken refuge and remained still for several minutes. During that time, it felt as if time was moving incredibly slowly; a second felt like an entire year. She could also feel the trembling of her muscles and the pounding of her heart due to fear. Even though she wanted to observe its every move, the fear she felt at that moment held her back. She tightly closed her eyes and fervently prayed to God to help them escape from the enormous snake.
The mysterious man glanced at the girl beside him and noticed how tightly she was gripping his arm. He was shaking his head in disbelief. Then he took something from his pocket and carelessly flicked it, causing it to light up blue and scatter into the distance. It struck the thick grass, creating a noise that caught the snake's attention, and it immediately moved to investigate the source of the sound.
The snake slithered into the area where there was movement, and for some reason, it vanished like a bubble, leaving no trace of the enormous creature.
He removed the girl’s grip from his arm.
“The snake is gone.”
Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked down at the spot where she had just seen the snake.
“Lower your voice; the snake might hear us. What are you doing?”
Then, feeling bold, she playfully hit him on the arm, which made him furrow his brow in confusion. She winced as she realized what she had just done.
“Sorry.”
She heard no response from him. He stood up from his crouched position, brushed off his clothes, and shook his arm where she had held him, which she noticed.
“Where did the snake go?”
Yumi asked in a very soft voice.
He answered without looking at her.
“I thought you were afraid of the snake. Why are you looking for it now? You humans, are so chaotic.”
She stood up and faced him.
“It’s not like that. I’m just asking you, sir, where the snake is because I want to know if we’re safe and if we can leave this place.”
In response, he placed his hands on her waist and, without warning, jumped down. He let go of her as she stood up properly and walked again as if there had never been a snake slithering through their path.
She followed his quick pace, still glancing around nervously, paranoid that the snake might suddenly appear at any moment.
“Hey! Are you sure it’s safe for us to walk here? That snake could come back at any time.”
She looked left and right, glancing behind her to check for any movement or signs of the snake. Her companion was walking so quickly that when she looked, he was already a bit far from her.
She decided to run to catch up with him.
They walked for quite a while, with the man accompanying her only stopping when she said she was tired. Aside from the massive snake they saw, they didn't encounter anything else. Even so, she remained cautious with her movements and observant of her surroundings.
Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t notice that the man she was with had stopped walking, which caused her to bump into something hard. She looked up and realized with a grimace that it was his back.
“Do you have a problem with your eyes? I'm big enough for you to notice me stopping," he said without even turning around.
"What?! Hey, I have eyes, you know? I can see—" She stopped mid-sentence as she remembered that the last time he stopped, it was because danger suddenly appeared in front of them.
"Oh, why did you suddenly stop talking?" the man teased.
"Don't tell me you stopped again because there's another danger?" she whispered, lowering her voice slightly. She then grabbed onto his shirt from behind, feeling like that was the safest thing to do at the moment. The man must have noticed because he said:
"Let go of my shirt." But he didn't make any move to remove her hand.
"I won’t," she firmly replied.
"You seem to trust me too soon with your life, human." Though she couldn't see his face, she could almost imagine his emotionless expression. The thought made her chuckle.
"What's funny about what I said?" he asked.
"Nothing. Also, if you were a bad person, I don't think I'd still be alive at this point, with the day almost ending," she replied. She didn’t hear any response from him.
He took a small step forward, prompting her to follow closely behind him, still holding onto his shirt. A few minutes later, he stopped again.
"We're here," he said, causing her to frown in confusion.
"Huh?" He suddenly turned around, forcing her to let go of his shirt.
"Not only do you have eye problems, but your ears seem to have issues as well," he said without emotion.
He was teasing her again. She looked up at him, only to take a step back, realizing how close they were. She could smell how good he smelled. Her cheeks instantly heated up at her thoughts, adding to the fact of how handsome this man was. So handsome. She shook her head and avoided looking at him, then cleared her throat.
"You know what? You should speak more clearly. Your sentences are always cut short." She peeked at the path ahead, which was partially blocked by him. When she saw what he was referring to, she understood. A wide smile appeared on her face, and without a word, she ran down the path, which she believed was the way back to her place.
She turned to the man.
"I can finally go home. Thank you so much for your help." He responded with just a nod before turning his back on her.
"Return to where you came from and don’t wander into this place again, human," he said. Whatever she intended to say to the young man was drowned out by the growing volume of voices calling her name, including her father’s. She turned towards the source of the voices.
“Father, I’m here!” the young woman shouted. Suddenly, she felt weak and drowsy.
Before her body could collapse to the ground, a pair of strong arms caught her and gently laid her down on the grass.
He used magic to put her to sleep. As the voices approached them, a faint blue light was released by the young man and directed towards her.
“Human, from this moment on, you will remember nothing of what happened here or of meeting me.” With those words, the young man vanished, seemingly blending into the thickening mist of the forest.
From a distance, someone shouted: “I found your daughter, Yumi, Sir Timyas!”
A few seconds later, several men holding lights approached the unconscious young woman.
As the man called Timyas drew nearer to his daughter, a cold breeze swept past, and then, suddenly, it was gone.