It was five in the morning, and Kellian and the boys prepared to begin their journey. After driving for an hour, they arrived at the entrance of Lycan Exodus Forest. They had their bags packed and loaded onto a grey mule. Of which was led by dexter's palomino horse. Leo's stead was sorrel, reddish to be specific, in colour. Ryder's stallion was black, much like his hair. And Kellian's horse was a beautiful white mare with a white mane.
They borrowed the animals from Tyler, Ryder's father. Well, Ryder and Kellian were the exceptions. Ryder was given his stallion, Eclipse, as a foal when he was a child. And Kellian's mare, Angel, was supposed to be gifted the same way; unfortunately, it never happened. Tyler had wished for Ryder and Kellian to raise the foals and learn to ride horses together. However, Tyler cared for Kellian's horse himself as he had no way of reaching her or even knowing if she was alive.
As Kellian did not know how to ride a horse so, Tyson requested permission to stay out until they reached the destination so he may have her ride with him. He did not trust any of these pubescent boys to safely travel with his lady, much less when she is on the same horse as them.
They set off, travelling through Lycan Exodus Forest. It is an exit from the werewolf kingdom and only a shallow rivers separation from the Enchanted Forest. If you do not wish to travel to the Fairy Kingdom, you can follow the river, going against the flow, you will eventually happen upon a path that leads to the Centaur Kingdom. To reach this river from where they are now would take about 3-4 days if they slept at night.
Five hours passed, the only things visible were thick tall trees with a few mushrooms and flowers near their roots and the path ahead. An hour later, they arrived at a fork in the road. The travel path went in two directions. So everyone stopped and took a break while they tried to figure out which travel path to take.
"Look for allium flowers. They grow from bulbs and have a distinct onion or garlic odour or flavour. They produce green leaves that vary from straight or coiled to broad. They usually have several blossoms with globe-shaped or cascading blooms in shades of purple, blue, pink, yellow, and white. The travel path which has Allium is the incorrect path and leads to the Centaur Kingdom." Tyson explained.
And so the boys got to searching.
"How do you know it will lead to the Centaur Kingdom, Ty?" Kellian asked, walking over to a tree stump to sit.
"Alliums grow near mountains. Lady Lillian also cast a spell on the path to the Fairy Kingdom, so Alliums can't grow on it." Tyson explained directly to Kellian's mind as he ran to grab something to cover the tree stump with, so Kellian would not dirty her clothes, then placed it before she could sit down.
She sat down then asked in a small, almost nervous voice, "I see. Was my mother a witch?"
"Are you trying to guess what she was now?" Tyson smirked. He wanted to tease her.
"I suppose so." She let out a small laugh.
Tyson decided to answer her honestly, "She was not. Although she was capable of magic like the witch race."
"Is she anything similar to witches?" Kellian tilted her head.
"Not at all." He replied confidently, knelt beside her, then rested his head on her lap.
"I see." She acknowledged that she understood his words.
"Umm, M'lady?"
"Yes?"
Tyson's face began to flush, and he seemed nervous.
"We found the travel path with Alliums!" Leo called out as he ran back ahead of Ryder, who were casually walking, and Dexter, who followed Ryder.
"Okay!" Kellian yelled back. Leo tried causing him to stumble, but he did not fall. He scratched the back of his head and tried to laugh away the embarrassment. Kellian giggled as she thought it was cute. "What were you saying, Ty?" She asked as she turned to face him again.
"Nevermind." He frowned.
"What do you mean 'nevermind'? Tell me!" Kellian whined.
Tyson rubbed her head, "Come now, the others are waiting. I'll tell you later."
Kellian pouted but did as told. Tyson got on the stallion then helped her up.
It only took thirty minutes for the guys to find out which path to take. Everyone was off once again. They did not stop until nightfall. They had dinner then returned to their tents.
However, Kellian did not go to sleep immediately. She was too busy pestering Tyson to say what he wanted to say earlier.
Tyson finally gave in, "I want to do something special with you."
"Oh?"
"But first, I have to explain it, so you don't think it's weird."
Kellian replied in a questioning tone, "Okay?"
"So this is a unique act done between relic and owner. It creates a special bond between the two and is extremely special to us relics. We can only do this with one owner. However, if the previous owner has been dead for more than fifteen years without the influence of the relic, the relic may choose to perform the act with their new master. I wish to do it with you."
"Are you sure? It sounds important," Kellian wondered why he wanted to do something of such importance with her.
"I am most certain," Tyson replied with a confident smile.
"Okay, if you say so. What do we have to do?"
"First, promise me not to get judge the name or the thing we will have to do. Let me explain everything before making a decision."
"I promise."
"It is called blood bonding. To do it, I will have to pierce your skin and drink your blood. It will not hurt if I bite you. The reason why we do it is unclear, but I know it is almost as important to us, if not more, as marriage is to other races."
"Okay."
"But there are benefits for you! In fact, you are the one who will benefit the most."
"Oh?"
"Yes, while it is of great significance for us, it is most beneficial for our owner. By performing blood bonding, you will have creative freedom with your relic. For example, Lady Lillian took advantage of this and created many different weapons with me; bows, swords etc."
"Interesting."
"By bonding with me, you will be granted my ability to perform at will even without my presence, and you will have free will to use me as you please."
"Did I not already have free will to use you as I please?" Kellian asked as she recalled his words.
Tyson replied, "No, I would allow you to do anything you want, but you would be unable to do it without me. Besides, there are restrictions to what I can allow."
"I see. Are there any side effects?" Kellian wanted to be sure there were not any fine print left unread.
"One for both of us. For you, you will sleep roughly twenty-four hours afterwards. But for me, I will essentially become addicted to your blood ad if we don't perform blood bonding together in three months, I will lose my powers."
"That seems highly unfair," Kellian commented.
"I guess so," Tyson responded.
"I'll do it," Kellian agreed.
"Will you!?" Tyson wanted to be sure he heard right.
"I will."
"Alright. Right now or..." Tyson questioned.
"Why not? Let us do it right now."
"Alright," Tyson smiled, pleased.
Tyson moved Kellian's long, blue hair aside as he went behind her. After positioning himself, he bit into her neck. Kellian braced herself for pain, but it wasn't painful at all. Instead, it felt weird. She could feel the warm blood flowing out of her body, and as time went by, her face flushed, and her breath fastened. The feeling was strange, but she did not hate it. In fact, it was quite the opposite. It was more pleasant than she thought it would be. A feeling of warmth suddenly rushed into her. To her, the feeling was comparable to someone singing sweet lullabies to her heart or a warm hug wrapping around her heart. It was relaxing.
Soon her eyes felt heavy, and she fell asleep. Her sleep was calm and filled with warm dreams.