"GET AWAY!!!"
The beast swiveled its head towards me, and—in that instant—Winston released his arrow, piercing it straight through its eye.
It jolted its head back with a yowl but instead of being deterred, it became even more determined to close the distance between it and Winston.
Winston seemed as calm as ever as he released arrow after arrow into the frenzied beast hurdling towards him.
Jerking in pain yet never slowing down, the beast made a final lunge just as Winston released his final arrow, piercing the beast square in the chest.
The beast crashed down with an ear-thundering screech, and Winston rolled out of the way, using that opportunity to scramble towards me.
The next few moments happened in a bloody blur.
My body was still sprinting towards them.
Yet—before I could reach them—the beast twisted upright with unfathomable speed and snapped towards Winston.
It hooked its claws into his back, eliciting a scream from him, and crushed him down into the earth.
Engulfing his entire neck into the pits of its carnivorous mouth, it snapped its jaws shut.
The sound of cracking bones split the air—and something within me broke as well.
…
This was the beginning to how it all unraveled.
║║║║║║║║║║
Four weeks ago, our Cassandrian entourage set out for the Midlands.
Dressed plainly, we consisted of five knights, six horses, and two researchers, as well as me, Winston, and the squire called Shire.
Two knights rode ahead—one of them being the captain of the Cassandra knights himself, Sir Ruloc—and another two rode at the rear. The fifth knight headed the wagon while the rest of us sat in the back.
As this was our first trip outside of Dorono, Winston and I were extremely excited, much so to the point the air buzzed with our constant chatter.
"OI! PAY ATTENTION YOU IDIOTS!!!" Shire shouted when he had to yank us back from almost toppling over the wagon's edge.
"Sorry," we apologized sheepishly after he flicked our foreheads as punishment.
"As if you didn't fall off on your first trip," the assistant researcher, Fin, retorted.
"That's…that's exactly why they should be more careful!" Shire growled, flushing as he glared at Fin.
Fin smirked, turning his nose up into the air.
"You're quite smug for someone who threw up your first time," the lead researcher, Mr. Sparrow, reminded Fin.
Fin flushed, shooting me a horrified look before diving into the straw corner, hollering, "The lady didn't need to know that!"
"Hah! HAH HAH!!" Shire roared with triumph.
After Sir Ruloc circled back to berate all of us, silence fell over the wagon.
Vaguely listening to the sound of hooves pounding on the dirt road and the rush of the wind as our wagon rolled along, I watched as the landscape stretched by.
We were travelling northwards and would travel along the northern ridges of the Midlands.
Our plan was to rest at cities and towns along the way, staving off curious thieves and bandits before arriving at our destination in a month's time.
At that destination, we had two goals.
The first—fulfilling the researchers' objectives—was to gather and study unidentified and undiscovered plants and minerals native to our destination.
And the second—our main purpose—was to hunt!
Stags, boars, bears, rabbits, fowls—hybrids of beasts fiercer than those found in Dorono, galore!
This was a golden opportunity for Winston and me to showcase and improve our hunting. And though I was eager to do exactly that, Winston was a thousand times more.
Speaking of which…
I turned my head to the side, catching him brushing his fingers along the length of my now-cropped hair.
"…It's growing longer," he observed unusually quietly.
"I'll cut it once we return home," I said.
"Will you ever grow it out again?"
"Hm…maybe," I answered, blinking when his hand grazed too close to my eye. "Not now, though. For now, having short hair is easier."
"It suits you better than expected," Shire interjected from across us. "Though now you look like any other rascal, heh."
"Ha, ha. Thanks…" I responded half-heartedly, unsure whether I should feel offended.
"Coming from me, that's a compliment!" Shire chuckled, leaning over to ruffle my hair.
[…]
I glanced up at the seventeen-year-old.
Having an unrelenting attitude and laidback yet brusque nature, Shire was the youngest of the squires under the Cassandra House. And though he joined just eight years ago, he had high ambitions on being knighted.
…
When I first arrived at the Cassandra residence, I was reluctant to connect with anybody aside from Lady Cassandra and Winston. Yet, as the months passed…Shire, along with Sir Ruloc and many others, gradually crumbled that resolve…
I smiled to myself, my chest warming as I recalled the past three years.
Before I could reminisce long however, there was a sudden tug on my sleeve. I turned to Winston questioningly, who in return gave me an upset look.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
He looked away, staring forward as he said, "Look, we're almost to the city."
He was right.
A city gate stood in the distance ahead of us, the sight of it melting away any further questions I had for Winston.
This wouldn't be the first city we would pass through, yet the sight of it was a reminder of the soil I was treading on: the Midlands.
The Midlands was the land wedged between the kingdoms of Dorono and Meeria. And though its vastness was fraught with unlawfulness, it boasted of flourishing, self-governing cities and communes.
…
Such a land was ripe for conquest, yet…due to a treaty between Dorono and Meeria, the Midlands remained unclaimed by either.
For now, that is…
║║║║║║║║║║
We replenished our supplies before exiting the city, travelling until nightfall. Then we slept in a clearing away from the road before continuing onwards in the morning.
We then traveled nonstop for the next few days, passing through villages and towns before Sir Ruloc finally agreed to spend our night at the next city.
Thus—after a month of travelling just like that—we approached our final town, and what was once outlines on the horizon now loomed clearer and closer in the sky. We had finally reached our destination: Claymore's Peak, the highest mountain among the range of mountains expanding across the northernmost part of the Midlands!
Passing through the tall stakes surrounding our final town, silence bored into us, our anticipation left hanging thick and heavy in the air…