The flames engulfed the whole surrounding. Both Otto and Mira were in the middle of the fire tornado that was going on. The heat kept on increasing. However, even in this situation, instead of feeling a burning pain, Otto felt that the fire that was being protruded had a nice feeling to it.
Unsure of what was going on, he slowly started to open up his eyes. His grip was still locked on Mira, as she was still scared that something might happen to the girl if he released his grip. He felt responsible for her and did not want to see her get hurt. Mira was the closest to a family that he currently had.
Eyes wide open, the bird's gaze was locked on him. The look that the bird was giving was that of a beast who knew that it had not much time left in the world. The eyes accepted its fate. As the bird slowly closed its eyes, the surrounding flames started to rage up in an instance. However, for some reason, the flames kept on ignoring the two of them.
As the flames started to even tower the surrounding trees, the eyes of the bird finally closed. The instance it closed, an explosion of fire occurred and instantly leaving the area. There was not spec of flame nor warmth left, as the bird started to crumble into ash.
Amazed of what just happened Otto was not able to move a single muscle. His gaze was locked on the pile of ash in front of him. 'What happened to the bird? Why aren't we burned?' Questions started to fill his mind.
Not sure how to react, Mira's actions brought him back to his senses. It was as if Mira felt the change in atmosphere as well as she spoke up, "Broter, wat happen?"
"I am not sure." With those words, he let loose of Mira. Walking towards the pile of ash in front of him, he looked into it, expecting to see the bird somewhere. Noticing that Mira was following close behind her, he warned her. "Be careful, we don't know what happened and what we might find." Only after getting a confirmation of Mira did he continue getting closer.
The pile of ash that was now just an arms length away, was taller compared to him. Not knowing where to start, Otto was about to walk around the pile. There was no way he could express what he had just witnessed. No one would believe that something like that happened in front of him. However he had not the luxury to figure out what was going on as the victorious beast made a loud roar and was making its way towards the location of the bird.
Grabbing Mira's arm, Otto started to run towards the shack, hoping not to draw any more unwanted attention.
Without looking back, he started to run. As they were getting further away from the location where the bird was, the ground started to shake. This was due to the impact of the beast, as it hit the ground.
Losing his balance for a split second, Otto almost fell down. Quickly regaining his balance he continued his path. Taking a quick glance back, the fierce beast was covered in a dark green cove. Many small scales covered its whole body. Its horns, white and sharp.
The moment that the beast regained its composure, it directly started to head towards the ash pile. It moved in such a way, as if it was searching for something.
Scared, Otto picked up his pace. As he moved quicker compared to Mira, it felt as if he was almost dragging Mira with him.
As the trees started to obscure his view, a loud cracking voice could be heard, from the clearing. It resembled glass shattering. This sound scared Otto even more, as fear started to creep up to him. Not daring to either stop, or look back, he continued his way towards the shack. Not sure from his surrounding, even the resistance of Mira being dragged was minuscule at this point.
Only after seeing the safety of the shack, could he finally slow down and catch his breath. Looking at Mira worried that something might have happened to her, he was relieved that the girl had nothing. There were only a few scuff marks on her from being constantly dragged by Otto. With a deep sigh, he finally let go of Mira, just to embrace her in his hug.
Quickly realizing what he done, he let go of Mira. 'Why am I so scared for the safety of this girl?' Before he could even answer the question he asked himself, Mira spoke up.
"Broter, look wat Mia find." The girl said as she took out a colored egg from beneath her cloths to show him.
"What is this…?" The words were fading as the words started to leave his mouth. It was as Otto had realized something major. The colors on the egg resembled that of bird that went up in flames. Therefore, Otto directly thought that it had to be part of the bird. Not sure how to react, his hand instinctively went to the egg to touched it.
As the points of his fingers made contact with the shell of the egg, he felt a faint warm feeling coming from the egg.
In bewilderment he asked slowly, "Where did you find this egg?"
"Mia find in gray dust." The girl said with a smile on her face.
Not sure what to do, he picked up the egg from Mira's hands. "I think that it is best that we keep it here for now. Tomorrow we can take a better look." Otto said as he was walking towards the shack, with the egg in his hands.
After having stored the egg in a save location within the shack, the two of them turned around to head back towards the village.
'Time is up…' the mysterious voice called out again. He did not know how to react to this.
Avoiding the previous clearing, they made a long turn towards the direction of the village. The sun had almost set at this point. The whole detour with the fighting beasts took longer than Otto had expected. Getting towards the outskirts of the forest, shouts could be heard.
"Mira! Where are you?" The shout was getting closer. The one that was shouting it had a torch in his hand as he was approaching the outskirts of the forest. Getting a better view, it was the village chief. But he was not the only one that was walking around with a torch in hand. There was a group of 10 older men who were searching in the same way.
As Otto and Mira got out of the forest, the village chief noticed them and rushed towards them. "How dare you! To kidnap my daughter for a whole day! You bastard!" Without even waiting for an explanation, the village chief threw out a punch towards Otto.
Hit bit the punch, Otto fell to the ground. Rubbing the sport that was hit, he was trying to get up. But before he could even do anything, he felt a kick to his stomach. Gasping for air, he heard the village chief again.
"No wonder that you mother decided to kill herself. She was probably scared to bring another bastard to this world. I would have done the same. Maybe even taken you with me. You lowly scum." With that, he spit on the body of Otto who was lying on the ground. Without even waiting for a reply, he took Mira by the arm and dragged her away from the location. "Do not even think about showing you dirty face again in my home!" With that, he left the location with Mira in his tow.
Even though Mira tried to struggle away from her father's grip, she was powerless. Tears build up on her eyes, as she started to cry in a loud voice. "W…. Wy...!?"
"Poor kid. He did not deserve this." The surrounding men said in a whispered voice. Yet no one decided to help Otto out and left him there, lying on the ground.
Being left alone in such a situation, Otto's eyes were just following the back of the village chief. There was anger burning in his eyes. If he had the possibility, he would have killed him in an instant. His hearth which was burning with anger dimmed down a little bit the moment he met the watery eyes of the girl.
Seeing Mira in such a state, his hatred towards the village chief grew even more. 'How dares he to hurt Mira! I will not spare him! I will definitely kill him.'
Regaining his strength a bit, Otto stood up and cleaned out the dirt from his cloths. Looking towards the village with angered eyes, he turned around and slowly limped towards the direction of the shack.
…
Weeks passed in exile. Otto was banished from the village by the village chief. Or at least that is what he thought, as he did not decide to return to that place anymore. Instead, he spent his time in the middle of the forest, in the shack. His only companion at this point was the strange egg which Mira had found.
Even Mira did not show herself after that day. She most likely was forbidden from leaving the village or even the house anymore.
Looking at the colorful egg, there was a faint tear that formed up in his eyes. 'Because of that stupid chief, I lost my only family. You are the only thing that I have left. Reminding me of life, of my family. Of Mira.' Sadness started to fill up in his heart. Grinding his teeth, he could not help himself from feeling angered.
Petting the egg, the surface started to cool down a little bit. "It seems like you are hungry again." Otto said calming his emotions. Forming a small flame in his hand, started to warm up the egg again. The instant the flames touched the eggshell, it seemed as if they were being sucked up by it.
Giving out a faint smile, his heart started to calm down a bit. "You sure have a large appetite little one." The faint smile started to grow slowly as the egg was enjoying the fire that Otto provided.
As the flames were devoured by the egg, Otto put the egg down and stood up. With a sad smile he spoke up, "Well, it is time for me to hunt again. You are not the only one that has to eat."
Leaving the shack, he picked up his bow and walked outside. Living in exile for some time, he started to hunt for his own food. Luckily there was an abundance of wild animals and small beasts, which he could easily hunt down. This also helped him with improving his archery skills. He was even able to improve his magical skills. It was easier to start a fire with his magic, rather than using conventional methods.
'If only I could leave this shit hole.' A though passed his mind. He had enough of living in such place. He hated the village, he wanted to get far away.
'As you wish… stored benefits will be used…' the mysterious voice called out again. Still clueless what was happening, he quickly scanned around himself. However there was no one around him. With a confused face, he shrugged it off and walked off to the distance.
Otto started to make his way to a hunting spot which he used for the last few days. There, the majority of the wildlife in the area is small animals. Because of this, hunting became easier. 'I still have difficulty with hitting a moving target in one go. Before doing that, I cannot start hunting bigger animals.' Otto thought to himself.
Approaching the hunting location, a loud shout echoed in the boundaries of the forest. It was the voice of a younger person. Most likely around the same age as him. "Help! Help me!"
Getting closer to the shout, the voice started to become louder. "Get away you foul beasts." There was a scared tone in the voice that was shouting. "How dare you! You lowly beast!" This time there was a sadness hidden in the voice which was shouting out into the open.
Quickly rushing towards the direction of the shouts, Otto tried to hide himself between the tree branches as he continued. There was a weird feeling in him as he approached the location.
Getting closer, the sound of growling could be heard from the location.
'Damn. I hate wolves.' Otto thought as he was finally able to see the scene in front of him. There was a dead body of a horse lying on the ground, surrounded by a few wolves. In a distant, two of the wolves were approaching a child, around the same age as Otto.
Grinding his teeth, Otto started to look around to see if he had missed something. 'The group around the horse is occupied. So I only have to take out the two that are focusing on the child. With that we might be able to get away from this location.'
Having made up his mid, Otto knocked an arrow and aimed at one of the two wolves. Taking a few deep breaths, he started to concentrate at the wolf. Convinced that he would hit, he loosed the arrow.
…