Are you kidding me?
"You horny ass crow, if you wanted me that bad you could have just asked," I smirked a wide grin and winked, but then I realized that the crow couldn't see my face.
The crow looked disgusted as if it understood what I said. I coughed and picked up my precious bread, feeling my ears go red. Am I seriously getting flustered from talking to a damn crow?
After recovering myself from the awkward silence, I picked up my bread and told the crow to go away.
"Shoo birdie! Go home," I waved at it and turned to leave when I heard the flutter of wing beats sounding from behind me.
"Oy, what do you want huh," I was getting kinda irritated.
My precious bread fell on the ground and this freakin' bird had the audacity to fly after me.
"Craw - craw - craw," the crow squawked as if I was the one annoying it.
I looked at the bread in my hand and decided to be generous. Trying to buy myself time, I threw the bread at the crow's head and made a run for it. I dashed as I saw a few buildings from my town appear ahead. Victory! Just as I was going to step into the town, the stupid ass crow started beating around my head.
"Ouch! Bro, I gave you my bread you piece of shi-," before I can even finish the crow gets a hold of my cloak and starts tearing at it.
I needed to keep my face hidden no matter what. Damn, if people see that I'm out here alone, they'll start to get hella suspicious. I took my palm branch that had miraculously managed to stay in place after the hassle and waved it at the bird. I felt my mana flow through my veins as I added fuel to the tiny but bright flame, though it was tempting to burn the damned thing I kept my cool and instead tried to momentarily blind the bird's sight. The crow started to squawk louder as the light burned brighter than before.
"MUWAHAHA stupid crow! Take that!," I enjoyed the moment more than what was necessary as I laughed loudly and brandished the stick in the air as if it was the "Sword Of Thakaros."
The crow started to fly away shakily and I smirked as I made a run for it, towards my town. I had a long day and the weariness of working a full day was making me more tired than usual. I quickly scaled down a sand dune and started to walk into the city. It was dark and there were a few lamps that were lit on the front doors of the small shacks. I had to walk up some steps and took the usual detour through the small dinky alleyways. The people who inhabited the town were mostly old-aged or retired folks so risks of big crimes occurring were uncommon. There were some old and creepy dingies who walked around at night, but other than that my fears were absolutely minimal. I crept through the shadows and noticed the small and familiar restaurant coming into my view.
It was an old shack where a kind elderly couple sold many sweets and delicacies. It was well-known around the town and it was also probably the most ideal place to live. I happened to find that they were renting out their basement in a desperate attempt to hide myself during the hunt-down of the fourteen fallen princesses. No one suspected my intentions and the couple let me stay only if I helped in the making of pastries and sweets. I truly cherished the couple and worked extra hard to continuously remind them of my gratitude. After all, they saved me from my first encounter with death.
I took out the keys that I used to unlock my door. It is an extra step like I can obviously use magic, but in towns like these, the presence of magic never goes unnoticed and can bring unwanted attention. Especially since the Crown Prince personally deals with magic-related affairs and I am probably on his "Most-Wanted Criminals" list.
I shiver at the thought of ever having to deal with him and swing my door wide open. I enter the small space and a small ball jumps out at me from the corner.
"Leela! My coochie-coochie coo! " I coo at my small Trishka dragon.
My small bundle of joy looks up at me as she unfolds her wings. She is still the size of a small kitten but she already is gaining the strength of a majestic lioness. Her pale green and pink scales shift as if sensing my traces of mana. Her snout crinkles as she tries to figure out what spell I used. She looks at me from her big green eyes as she tries hard to concentrate on my mana. I rub my cheek against her small head as I plop on the old rickety chair with her, now sitting on my lap.
I found her abandoned and injured in a ruined part of the castle and decided to take her with me as I was escaping. It was useful because she was accustomed to the castle magic and her scales reflected the spell that was being used. This helped me release counterspells to hide my identity and help me escape faster, hiding my traces all at the same time as well.
The Trishka dragons are very hard to find, and they grow up to be magnificent creatures. They are originally from the Vladimir empire, but they are still very hard to find and keep in possession. Having a Trishka dragon can prove to be very beneficial if you want to store or absorb magic divinities. They also sense mana and malicious spells which are reflected in the color of their scales. They shift their tones and scale patterns to code with the magical affinities. These dragons are mainly used in court where they rule out which malicious spells were used and are more accurate at detection, than any magician. Not only this, but the dragons also have one more undiscovered secret.
Master Thelowar possesses the secrets and information of these dragons and a variety of creatures with high divinity capabilities. Since he does not how to piece all the info and research together, if he allowed me access to his journals for a few months, I might be able to restore my mana and complete my research about these creatures as well! But, knowledge of these mystical beings is very uncommon to find. He might start to suspect me if I start to get too greedy and spout everything I know all at once.
I sigh as Leela finally changes the color of her scale to a light bronze tone that matches the color code of the spell I used.
"Bravo! My Leela did it!" I clap happily for my small dragon and she cuddles against my arms.
I put her aside and go wash up from the journey. I walk into the bathroom and take off my ragged cloak as I put it in my hamper. I take out my hair tie from my hair and shake out sand bits that found shelter in my hair from the snowstorm. I turn on the water and start washing my hands and my face. I cringe at the dry skin on my face and continue to take out a herbal face mask to put over my skin. Just as I raise my face up to the mirror, a cloaked figure in black and brown clothes stands unmoving behind me breathing unevenly in my ear,
"sufian...sufian...herghhh...sufian....."