It was evening when we stopped to let the horses get a drink of water from a stream, likely coming from a river or small lake in the forest somewhere.
Beside me, Eveleen bent down to put some water from the stream into her water pouch, while I held onto the horse's reins.
We were both wearing standard writing clothes. Eveleen had her hair up in a ponytail and was wearing a simple button-up with fills and a corset belt, along with similar materials to jeans, but I was sure they were just trousers, and a black cloak similar to mine.
I was wearing a cream-colored tunic shirt underneath a dark red cardigan vest accesorized with a brown belt, a few pieces of jewelry, and my pouches. I was also wearing gray trousers and armored boots, gauntlets on my gloves, and my hair in a ponytail with a gray ribbon.
I kept my daggers and pistol on my side, in case of emergencies. Though Eveleen assured me nothing would happen, I was still on edge.
'Ugh, all of those R*bin Hood movies really got to me!'
As soon as Eveleen was finished filling up her jug, I gave her mine to fill next. The horses were still drinking, worn out from having to climb through the forest terrain.
"Who knew that the way to the village would be through a village, and such a large one at that," Eveleen commented, trying to start some small talk.
"Indeed," I replied, distracted by looking around the forest to make sure there weren't any onlookers. Or people sent by Llyr to spy on me and report back about my whereabouts.
"...You can relax, Lev. There isn't anybody else around for another few miles," Eveleen reassured, standing up to give me back my water.
"I know, it's just…I can't help but shake this feeling," I sighed, taking my water back and linking it back onto my belt, then handing her the reins to her horse.
"What feeling?" She asked, a worried expression crossing her face.
"It's just a feeling I get sometimes, usually right before a large battle, like something bad or unexpected might happen," I explained, shaking my head.
That feeling was something I had even before I was transmigrated, something I have always felt before something went wrong. I had even experienced it right before the events causing my transmigration, so I trusted it quite a bit.
"Well, I'm sure everything will be alright. Besides, even if something does go wrong, the both of us are pretty strong and we make a good team!" Eveleen reassured me, patting my shoulder before getting back onto her horse.
"Mmm, I suppose you are right," I mumbled, lying to her and myself, knowing that what my feelings were telling me was going to come true. Then I put my hood back on and mounted my horse again.
Taking out the map and learning where we were again, I started guiding us that way.
The sun was slowly starting to set, and I was getting worried that we wouldn't reach the village till midnight. I didn't want to risk having to deal with any hungry wolves or coyotes.
"Know the trail again?" Eveleen confirmed, and I nodded, starting the march on the rest of the way, "Next stop, Connery Village!"
"Mmmm," I groaned, tired from the long ride that was starting to make my ass hurt worse than sex ever had, not that it actually did, of course.
***
The sun was almost all the way down by the time we reached the edge of the forest, though we weren't out just yet.
"Haaa, almost there!" Eveleen nodded from behind me, stretching as she let her hands rest from holding the reins of her horse.
"If you would like, I can guide your horse for you while you let your hands take a break," I offered, looking back at her still yawning face covered by her hand.
"No, it's okay. Besides, I've noticed you've been holding on rather tightly to yours, so I'd feel bad passing on mine to you," She gracefully declined, smiling her signature gentle smile.
"Hm, if you say so," I replied, turning back. But I slowly came to a halt, my ears having picked up some not-so-distant noises.
"Huh, is something the matter?" Eveleen asked, stopping in front of me, tilting her head while her horse made a frustrated noise.
"Shh, I can hear something a little ways ahead," I whispered, closing my eyes to concentrate on the distant noises.
Soon, I was able to hear shouting and sounds of struggle. Alarmed, I immediately opened my eyes and started a gallop in the direction of the noises.
'Lev, right now, I am so grateful for your elvish ears and hearing!'
Without asking, Eveleen followed suit, knowing that whatever it was I heard was of great importance and alarm.
"A plan, Lev?" She asked, wanting to know what was going on.
"There seems to be some sort of struggle up ahead," I said, turning directions to continue into the forest instead of out, "it seems like someone needs help. If it's a villager, it's a darn good opportunity to get some sort of favor.
"And if it's an enemy in trouble, like a demon soldier?" Eveleen added, knowing that I wasn't fond of people on the demon king's side.
"Then we help the attacker," I replied coldly, "Our world is still at war, we can't take any chances of letting a demon of potential get away…Unless they are against the demon king."
"Hmmm~ That's a pretty unique view you have," Eveleen chimed, smiling at me, but then nodding in approval.
"Not all demon kind are our enemies," I exclaimed, looking back at her, then back in the direction we were going.
The conversation made me think of Chobi Sakamoto, Diarmaid, and Praxis, three people who have been associated with the demon realm and the demon king in the past, but are still innocent.
Miss Sakamoto, being his abused fiancée, Diarmaid, who had fled the demon kingdom, and Praxis, kidnapped and likely abused by humans, but still against the cold demon King.
I was quickly brought out of my thoughts once we reached the source of the struggle noises. It was a group of high-grade demonic spirits, seeming to be picking on what I assumed were two young-looking werewolves.
One of the werewolves was injured, standing in a defensive position over the younger one, who was crouched, clutching his bleeding arm. If one didn't know any better, one would think they were close, but neither's eyes were flicking in each other's direction.
A mannerism I often saw on the battlefield, and one I've done myself when fighting with brothers in arms, mostly Yasuo, Keiji, and Akihito.
When I was still alive, people in my division had their sort of 'clicks', kind of like high school. Some people stuck to each other, through thick and thin, and often were quite tight.
When one was in danger on the battlefield, they would only look at their friends or partners, worried for their safety, wanting the other to leave them as they were on their last leg.
A feeling I have seen with many of my comrades in arms. One I can never forget…not after those two…
Getting lost in the past, I was brought out of my frozen state by Eveleen, who had started chanting an incantation. I didn't know what it would do, but I guessed it was to either exercise them or scare the spirits off.
The spirits didn't notice her chanting; they were focused on attacking the two werewolves. Swooping in and out, hitting the older one too fast for him to react.
Having assessed the situation enough, I used my earth ability to summon a few skeleton soldiers. Then had them swing their swords towards the spirits, tho not exactly doing anything with their rusty weapons, but giving Eveleen enough time to finish her casting.
They seemed to be spirits of fear, since they didn't exactly have any elemental appearance. Just the standard green-black ghost-skeleton one you would see in movies about haunted houses, or other ghost movies.
Luckily, the skeletons were enough to distract the spirits' attention from the young werewolves, but the two were still frozen in their positions, the older checking on the younger.
"Exilium esse!" Eveleen shot out, finishing her incantation. Having the spirits turn to dust upon contact with the array that flashed under them, though it also sadly got rid of my skeletons, too.[1]
'Meh, those were the weakest of the bunch anyway…at least in terms of weapons I equipped them with.'
Guiding my horse over to the two of them, I looked them over to check how bad their wounds were. Luckily, it wasn't too bad, but they had both lost a lot of blood.
Luckily for them, the village wasn't too far. Luckily for us, they seemed to be villagers, so we would have an easy time getting past the gate by getting them a doctor as an excuse.
"Are both okay?... Metally, I mean, clearly you both need a doctor," I asked, joking a bit to ease the mood.
"...Please help us, he needs treatment quickly!" The older one said, ignoring my previous statement. Looking at me with worried eyes, I couldn't help but assist him, though I was going to anyway.
"Of course! Here, I'll take the guy with the gash on his arm; you can take the other," Eveleen smiled in reassurance, then looked at me with a serious expression.
"Alright. Can the both of you mount on your own, or do you need assistance?" I questioned, offering my hand.
"I can get on so long as I have someone to support me," The younger one said silently, standing up with the older's support.
"Good, the hope on up! Make sure to hold tightly when you get on," Eveleen directed, helping the former mount her horse.
Now that both of them were standing, I could finally get a good look at them. The younger one had medium-length, auburn hair that perfectly matched the color of his ears and tail, it was well kept in a miniature ponytail, yellow eyes exactly like a wolf's, and tanned skin. He wore a simple button-up with trousers, accessorized with minimal armor, perhaps something he wore every time he went into the forest. At his side was a bag that I could see herbs poking out of, and a sword at his hip. He seemed to be the same height as Lev. [2]
The older one was taller with a much larger and muscular build. He had jet black hair with some gray streaks in it, and wolf ears and a tail of the same color, except his ears seemed sharper than the younger ones at the tips. His eyes were a deep crimson red, almost like the color of Oryn's hair, but they almost seemed to glow in the dim lighting. Despite the color, the pupils still made them seem like the eyes of a wolf. [3]
He wore a gray turtle neck, pants, and combat boots underneath his obsidian black armor that had a red accent. He was also wearing fingerless gloves, a hooded cloak, and, oddly, kept a collar at his side. The armor almost blurred his figure, but he had a large chest and was pretty muscular on other parts of his body, though I can't lie, when I say I was mostly drawn to his chest.
'...God damn! He is just my type! I just hope that the personality matches; he seems like he'd be better than any of those other pinning bastards.
"Here, I'll help you up," I smiled, offering the older a hand, noticing the scratches and cuts everywhere, even on his handsome, youthful face.
'It would be a shame if it scarred…on his face at least. I know some men consider scars a thing of honor, especially on the battlefield.'
"A-Alright, I think I'm properly settled on now," He muttered shyly from behind me, awkwardly putting his arms around my waist to make sure he doesn't fall off.
And with that, the four of us rushed off in the direction of the village gates. I glanced over at Eveleen, seeing the younger wolf have one arm around her waist, the other dangling at his side, likely not using it from pain.
"Say, what are both of your guys' names?" I asked, wanting to know what to address them as.
"Oh, um, the guy with the pretty lady is Daelan Vukasin, and I'm Sephtis," Sephtis said shyly, his voice so quiet that I wouldn't have been able to hear him speak if it wasn't for Lev's hearing.
'Sephtis?...That name seems familiar somehow, but I can't quite put my finger on it…just where have I heard it?'
"Heh, nice to meet both of you! I'm Kallisto, and my beautiful companion over there is Eveleen," I replied, smiling at him.
"Aw, you always know how to make me blush!" Eveleen chuckled towards my introduction, causing both of us to laugh in unison, finding it funny since it made us sound like we were flirting, but we both knew each other liked the same gender as themself.
A moment later, the village wall and gate came into view. Guards were stationed right outside and stopped us at the gates, but then quickly let us in when they saw Daelan and Septhis with us.
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[1]! Latin for "be banished"
[2]! This is how Saito refers to "himself" - he doesn't see that he and Lev are the same individual, just that he is merely borrowing Lev's body(and yes, I did just realize that I haven't ever exactly explained this XD)