"I'm not a master" Rululan spoke "Then an apprentice" Vallier responded, "I'm neither" Rululan spoke once more, It's impossible for him to be an apprentice tracker let alone be a master tracker, most of the Màchite that lived in the town let go of their tracking skills and pursued hunting and business since tracking isn't much of a famous class and it is also hard to train in such aspect. "Perhaps you were gifted greatly by the heavens" Vallier said as he walked towards the entrance, "Where are you goin?" Mymyrr asked, Vallier stopped and looked behind him "to check your friend's theory" after saying those words Vallier walked away from their sight leaving the two dumbfounded on the ward.
It took them time to process the situation, "He's going?" Rululan asked, "yeah, to where though?" Mymyrr added, "To check my theory?..." Rululan wondered. Mymyrr jumped off of bed, took Rululan by his wrist and dashed out of the ward "whoa what the--" Rululan was shocked and looked at Mymyrr who was frantically running "He's going to the forest to check!" Mymyrr shouted.
Rululan finally understood and he ran beside Mymyrr, they were about to exit the palace gates when they were suddenly stopped by the guards. "What's the rush?" a cold voice asked behind them, both boys looked behind and saw Vallier riding a Faerie dragon, "Take us with you!" Mymyrr exclaimed, "please!" Rululan added, Vallier sighed and stared at the two, "I can only bring one" he said in a stern voice, both boys looked at each other, "don't worry the other one will ride with me" a familiar voice spoke, it was General Rudlert.
"I heard that you were able to get a good theory out of what happened, Good job kid" General Rudlert smiled as he spoke to Rululan, Rululan bowed in response, "well then, Mymyrr lets go!" General Rudlert spoke as he extended his arm to Mymyrr, "Wait why do I need to sit with you and not Rululan? you just praised him" Mymyrr asked, the General just chuckled and swooped Mymyrr off the ground "Templar Vallier's Faerie dragon is faster and much more nimbler than my Griffin, they will take the front line, along with Rululan who can track the demon" General Rudlert explained, Mymyrr let out a loud 'aahhh' in response and looked at Rululan, "You better track that demon once more" he said, Rululan chuckled nervously, "Let's go" Vallier spoke as he motioned his mount to kneel down for Rululan to reach his hand and prop him up and place him infront, Rululan was shocked "wait, why am I at the front?"
"Navigators are the eyes, and eyes are never placed behind" Vallier spoke, he then motioned his dragon to fly and off they went, Mymyrr's shouts of fear and agony resonated as they flew out of the palace, "he doesn't like heights?" Vallier asked, "Yes, he's not fond of it" Rululan apologetically answered, Vallier remained silent afterwards. Rululan focused more as he kept looking down, "Were not there yet, relax" Vallier spoke, Rululan nodded in response. Actually, I'm looking down to ease this wierd feeling, Rululan thought for himself. Vallier's faerie dragon was swift and it wasnt bumpy riding it at all. Meanwhile Mymyrr's agony could be heard from behind "Why is he so bumpy?? I think I might throw up... AAAAAAHHHH too high too high, stop!!" he kept on ranting and shouting again and again as he held tightly on General Rudlert as if his dear life was in grave danger, General Rudlert coudn't help but chuckle at the nervous boy behind him.
Vallier sighed with a pained expression in his eyes, "You.. don't like loud voices?" Rululan asked, he wasn't looking directly at his face but he felt his dissapointment in his sigh, Vallier just let out a small 'mn' in response, "Although not a taboo in the Vanguard Empire, It's not accepted in the Templars quarters to talk in high voice" Vallier explained, Rululan responded with 'oh..' and both became silent again, listening once more to Mymyrr's shouts of agony.
After an hour and a half they finally arrived at the silent forest, just distance away was the ashen town, the fire was gone and the only thing left for the eyes to see was the barren, burnt town, without any signs of life inside it. "Any signs?" Vallier asked, Rululan shook his head, "I don't see any black fog or a huge demon" he replied, "keep looking" Vallier ordered, Rululan nodded once again and he focused more on looking for black fogs.
"By any chance, can we land on the forest?" Rululan asked, "Whats the point?" Vallier asked in return, Rululan was silent, he didn't know ho to respond, he did say that it can be seen only on air and not on land, but this time, he had an eerie feeling once more. "Do you sense something?" Vallier asked, "I'm not sure untill I get down" Rululan replied, Vallier looked at General Rudlert and the other knights that follwed them "Stay here, patrol the skies" they all nodded and started to patrol with General Rudlert as the lead patroller, while Vallier and Rululan went down to the forest.
Just as they landed, Rululan felt something more different than before, The whole forest's spiritual aura vanished completely. "The forest... its spiritual aura is gone" Rululan whispered "Mn, Stay silent" Vallier responded, Rululan continued and knelt on the ground placing his right palm towards the soil, Valier and his Faerie dragon formed a small circle around Rululan protecting him. Rululan couldn't find any clues at all, defeated he let go and stood up, "Well?" Vallier asked, He simply shook his head "No spiritual energy, no beasts, no adveturers, nothing" he spoke, "is there a chance it left this place?" Rululan asked, "No, It's here" Vallier replied "But--" before even continuing his words he was cut off by a familiar voice "Rululan!" Rululan looked at the direction the voice came from "Mymyrr?" he shouted in response, "Rululan!" Mymyrr's voice continued, Rululan was about to shout and tell him where they are when Vallier silenced him by placing his hand on Rululan's mouth while placing his free hand's index finger on his lips, "shh" he whispered, Vallier's faerie dragon returned to a smaller one and hid on its owner's armor.
Seeing the reaction of the dragon, Rululan nodded and Vallier stopped silencing him, "RULULAN!" the voice was louder now, and it was shouting with seething agony, Rululan clenched his fists. 'It's not Mymyrr' he thought again and again fighting the urge to run towards the voice.
Back at the sky patrol, they finally finished one round when Mymyrr noticed something, "Hey General Rudlert" General Rudlert looked at him in response "Where did they land again?" he asked, General Rudlert was about to point the direction they landed when he noticed that there was no trace of anything at all,not even the faerie dragon. "General!" Mymyrr exclaimed, everyone who heard Mymyrr's voice looked at the place where he was pointing and within just seconds, their faces was painted with fear.
There was a black fog slowly getting bigger and bigger, and in the middle, was a huge demon. Making things worse, they saw Rululan and Vallier's silhouettes enter the black fog. "Will they be safe?" Mymyrr asked, "Trust in them child, Vallier will have a high likability of escaping, but Rululan..." General Rudlert trailed off, Mymyrr stared at the black fog, face mixed with fear and worry, 'you better survive that, Rululan' he thought as he continued to stare at the black fog slowly getting bigger and eveloping a huge part of the forest.