After taking a break they move towards the light. Sera is determined to reach the light lies on there.
"That slug fills me. Is it okay for you not to eat? You might get hungry later?" She look at him and he shake his head immediately. He do not want to eat the suspicious looking thing either. It is disgusting and looks inedible.
"I thought you guys do eat weird stuff. I thought eating it will make me closer to you. Except that, it seem you become more distant" she said. She didn't look back at him. She focus on the path ahead. She is not sure of what she had said either.
Do the races in the demon continent do eat weird stuff?" she want to asked that but she aced first before asking.
"We eat the same thing as humans. We only had different delicacies" Forest replied to her.
"Ah…. My Bad." She smiled awkwardly.
The light is getting nearer after some several hours of walking in the unknown dark path. What lies ahead make Sera think of some possible things that they might encounter? She feel nervous and excited at the same time.
As they about to step a foot on the ground. The ground collapse and the two of them fell on it.
"Ahhhh" Sera scream as she fell. Forest grab sera quickly as they fell. Sera can't even see what the bottom of the pit was but she can see the wall that has several glowing mushroom sticking on it.
Sera hold her staff tightly as she trying to manipulate the air around them. She closed her eyes as she tried to concentrate she didn't done it before but she sometimes see her father do it but only with the water. Maybe she can do it too. That is what she always think. She have to do it faster they will be ending up like a ripe tomato splattered on the ground. Her healing might not work and a certain death will a wait for them below.
She tried to lighten the air around them and defying gravity as they float in the midair.
"I made it!" She scream in delight and there she lost control and they fell in the ground.
"Ah!" She scream again as she got startled as her feet touch the ground.
"I made it in time. What if I didn't made it and we ended up like splattered on the ground and our blood was all over the place." Sera keep on talking as she keep on imagining what will happen if she did not made it.
Forest look around and they are like in the deepest pit in the labyrinth.
"Where are we? Are we going to die here?" sera said as she look around.
"Ah. There this hole over here let go" sera said without thinking anything else but to leave the place immediately. Sera crawl on the hole that is too narrow and small to get in without crawling. This might be created by a mole kind of monster
As they crawling into another unknown way. They have no idea of where they will end up. But forest don't have no choice but to get along with her.
"What is that smell" Forest said as she linked to her.
"That is nothing try to cover your nose." She said as she crawl in faster and leaving him behind.
Forest tried to maintain his space with her but the smell become more terrible.
"Can't you smell that?" he asked.
"No." She said and kept on crawling away from him.
"Did you…" forest halted his question. He is not sure if he had to say it but. He stopped that might be rude was it?
Sera bit her lips as she just got in to a very embarrassing thing she never had in life. She never expect that, the slug will make her stomach feel weird.
She felt bad for forest who was behind her. But she tried to clear her mind of it making her mind wonder in something. "I can see the end of the tunnel." She said to him. Forest feel delighted to hear the news from her. He was suffocating from the unbearable smell. He felt that his soul is already out of his body. The smell was so bad that can kill you.
"Here we are" Sera said as she got out. Forest immediately get out and took a fresh air.
Sera eyes wondered. The sky is on their sight. Some tall tress leaves peeking on the side of the cliff where they are standing. There is a narrow path way leading to unknown path.
Sera immediately took out a map, map of the human continent where her father gave to her.
"This is where the labyrinth was right?" She said to Forest he nodded and they look at the map again studying it with their full attention.
"A kilometer from it a Mountain ranges? And we are on the mountain ranges. Maybe?" Sera scratched her head.
"The labyrinth was wide, unlike the map that is given to me by Hilda, As far as I remember, the labyrinth is not this wide. Is it because we step on a trap and we ended up here?" She asked without asking someone. Forest nodded in agreement.
"Well we can't go back there we can't climb up." she said and look at the map again.
"We are going to take this path." She said and she began walking on the part that leads them in the south.
The sky was clear and the sun is high. It is already noon, Sera is worried if they will ever make it on the town.
Sera sighs as she walks. She don't know where they are exactly. She is ignorant to the outside world.
Today, she realized that, she needs to strengthen herself more than what she is today.
Sera look again at the map and look at it carefully. Pointing the place she just marked earlier that she thinks they were.
"Ah. How could I know? I am not good at directions!" She folded the map and put it on her pouch.
Forest sighs with a hint of hopelessness. Where will they end up going? It seems that today is their unlucky day.
Inside the wagon, where the demi humans are being carried. They were being sent to the black market and to the place where they are being auction off. Euphora look around her all the girls younger than her is crying silently in their sit. The other boys is just silently accepting the fate they have to face. The future that is already imbedded on their life it seems that, they have nothing to do but to accept it and die in the arms of the filthy nobles.
As the cargo stop they got out. They are push down into the ground and take the glowing iron to take the mark that will soon change their life.
The demi human children scream in pain as they felt the excruciating pain.
"Shut your filthy mouth. Damned demi humans" the man putting the mark kick the child of the ground and another child if hold down. She squirmed like a maggot in to their arms trying to flee from their hold.
The place was filled with scream and crying. Euphora gulped down the saliva in her mouth as her scene the horrifying scene in front of her eyes. The horrifying scream from the mouth of the children.
The boy younger than her hold her hand. It was shanking in fear. She tightly hold his hands. She can't fight back those humans right now. The magic stone is making them weak.
Euphora is grab away from the horrified boy and throw down in the ground. Euphora weakly smiled to the boy as she felt the sting pain from the glowing iron. She had now the mark that is disgraceful to be seen.
She stood up and walk away. The boy who was horrified earlier had no choice but to lay down obediently. He bit his lips as he took the mark.
The man laugh at them afterward they took care of the markings.
"tell them it's done" the woman who was making a sort of chanting said as she put down her arms.
"They can be manipulated now. Ready for dispatch"
Euphora look at the boy and he walk beside her. They were playmates back in the village. He used to play with her deceased sister.
"Is this were we are going to die?" the boy said.
"I don't know" Euphora answered. The boy look down on the ground as they led to another room.
"I don't want to be separated to you" He cried. "I am scared"
"There is nothing we can do." she said "But if ever I got away I will find you no matter what. Will you wait for me?" she asked to him. He nodded to her.
"I will wait for you." He said Euphora smiled and ruffles his brown silky hair.
"Please promise me you will find me. I don't want to be enslave by humans" He said and she nodded...
Sera is humming as they manage to get on the base of the mountain ranges. It seems that they were now lost. She don't know where they are right now. The map didn't helped... no. she just read the map wrongly.
"It seems that we will going to stay in the forest for a night. Let make a camp. And let hunt some rabbits." She said as she started taking some twigs and dried leaves.
"Do you know where we are?" forest asked
"I don't know. Maybe we are close in the town. Let's see that tomorrow." She smiled to him and put the twigs and the dried leaves on the ground.
"Let's look for something to eat." Sera said.
"It will be dark later. Let's take a break" sera said as she stretches her body.
"Wait for me here. Okay?" Sera said and Forest nodded as he sat on under the tree.
"Okay I'm off." she smiled and went off.
As she look around in the place she stands she look for the trails of small animals that lives within the area. She walks as she look around trying to get for their supper. If she only knew that this would happened, she should've prepare something for them to eat.
As she look around and walk further away she hears a ruffles not too far away from her. The sun still out there, there is a possibility that what she hears is a small animal rummaging food. As she went nearer towards the sounds. Creaking sounds from something hard is become audible. The cold breeze that just passed through her made her skin crawl in chill.
"Something is not good. Or maybe I am just overthinking?" she said to herself as she grin.
Just behind the tree, she stare at. She gather her strength to peek through behind it.
She saw a silver fur tail and a furless back of a girl. She had barely no clothes and her back is facing Sera. Sera got taken aback from it. The Demi human Lycanthrope immediately turn her head to Sera and growled at her.
"Hello there mate. How was your day∼?" she smiled at her as her step back.
'This is bad!' she scream in her mind. She tried to calm down herself as she tried to breath.
The lycanthrope jumped to her as she tried to scratch sera face with her claws.
Sera immediately duck, evading her attack as she rolled over the ground. The lycanthrope face was distorted in anger.
She was not aware that the Human in front of her now doesn't smell like any other human she have killed so far.
She had this keen sense of smell. She already knew how humans smell, she can detect any humans in her parameter. How come she is able to let this girl come near at her? Her eyes went slit as she look closely at her. 'Is she capable of killing me? Concealing her smell and everything?' the lycanthrope asked herself.
'If it is she will kill me at this rate.' she said to herself. 'Fleeing is my only choice' she said. As she leap back. Sera immediately put herself in defense thinking she will counter attack. But she was wrong. She fled as she ran away from her.
"That was so close!" sera said as she hold her chest feeling the loud beats of her heart. Her eyes capture the half eaten Anteleer in the ground. [It looks like an antelope and a deer]
"Well, it seems that I had luck in my pocket." She said happily.
"Look what I had found in the middle of the forest. A half-eaten Anteleer." She exclaimed as she drop the corpse in front of Forest.
Sera immediately took her dagger in her waist and skinned the deer.
'That Demi human. So nice to let me have her prey" she said out of her mind.
"You met a Demi human?" Forest asked, sera nodded as she put fire on the twigs and dried woods she collected before.
"She did attack me but she fled after wards. She is a Lycanthrope. Silver fur lycanthrope." She said. Putting the meet in the stilettoes she had in her pouch.
"You should take of your cloak right now aren't you hot?" She asked to him.
The night is about to come. They took their time eating all the Ante leer they had. Sera even take part of it for tomorrow journey back to the town.
Sera lied down on the ground staring at the starless sky. The moon is covered by the clouds. The only thing they hear is the ruffling sound of the leaves as they rub each other from the cold wind. Sera look at forest who is not yet sleep and staring at the fire.
"Are you not going to sleep?" She asked.
"I am not require to sleep" he said back to her. "Oh okay then… good night" she said and doze off.