In a windy valley far from civilization, a group of nomads found themselves situated atop a cliff, giving them a full view of the sights before them. Beneath the cliff was a thick and dense forest full of flora and all sorts of creatures.

They had passed through it earlier, and thankfully, they didn't encounter anything strange.

Back up on the cliff, the group found a clearing. They agreed this would be a good spot to set up camp.

Nauna, a dark-skinned woman with long braided hair, sat down on the edge of the cliff. Setting her bag aside, she took in her surroundings before laying down on the rocky terrain.

The sky looked as free as a gentle breeze, and the forest below was as beautiful as the setting sun washing over them.

Stretching her arms out, she let the winds soothe her tired body.

"Where do ya guys think we're going next?" she asked.

The rest of the group simply shrugged in response. They didn't seem to have much of a plan, even though they were in the middle of nowhere.

Nauna rolled her eyes as the group showed their lack of foresight. Not that this was the first time she'd ever seen it.

Despite them being a group, they only were so out of necessity. Many of them didn't trust each other, a feeling that Nauna shared. How could someone trust a group that was exiled from their homelands, after all? Despite them being birds of a feather, they only flocked because it was needed to survive.

Standing up, she slung the bag over her shoulder and went to set up her tent.

=-=-=

With the moon now looming over them, the group of vagabonds settled in for the night. Their tents were nothing special, just roughly stitched together rags situated on the trees to act as a roof, and their tent walls were mostly the same. Meanwhile, the floor was just the ground. They agreed that having to use something for their floor would be a waste. Only thing on the floor was a long stretch of cloth that acted as a bed and a blanket.

"Not the prettiest bed in the world but it'll do."

Truth be told, Nauna was just begging for a good night's sleep at this point.

But she was thankful she was one of the few who even got the privilege of having a tent. Some were sleeping in the carriage that carried their things. Those people didn't even have a roof over them.

"Might as well get some rest for tonight." She then laid on her bed and hugged her bag.

She had a smile of contentment on her as she slept; not because she was happy to have been resting, but because she was appreciating her dream.

But as the group of nomads was resting, a beam of blue shone across the sky, landing in the forest just below them.

Inside that light was a man with snow-white hair and blue eyes. He had noble-looking clothes alongside a blade sheathed on his hip.

Clearing the dust clouds that formed because of his entrance, he looked around and noticed wolves and a more vicious-looking animal circling him.

He immediately pulled out his sword and prepared for a fight.

The first to attack was the wolves. They tried pouncing on him, but he swiftly dodged and responded with a sword swing, killing them immediately.

The wolves were easy enough, but now the unfamiliar creature was making its move.

While it also stood on its hind legs, it looked anything but a common creature. Its body was glowing purple, its eyes were bright red, its teeth were crooked, and its mane was spikey. It was also bigger than any wolf, being about four feet tall.

Fighting an unknown creature in the middle of a dense forest without much maneuverability was not ideal, but he didn't have any other choice.

Well, that's what he thought in the heat of the moment anyway. While he was engulfed with light earlier, he noticed a few settlers on the cliff. He was planning on going over there but the attack made it slip his mind.

But having remembered that, he was now rushing over there, with the creature in tow.

This creature didn't act like a normal animal at all, it wasn't even chasing him by running. No, it was chasing him by hurling itself at him using the trees as footholds. If the creature was the arrow, then the trees were the bow. And there were a lot of trees.

Time and time again, he'd barely dodge the creature launching itself at him. He could feel strands of his hair being cut off from every attack.

After a struggle that left him a bit winded, he was able to make it atop the cliff.

With strained breathing, he mustered up enugh energy to produce a shout.

This immediately caught the attention of a few of the travellers.

Snapping themselves up, they pulled out whatever weapons they had in their bags.

With a puff, the white-haired man introduced himself and asked for help.

"Excuse me...for the bother. I am Cyril, I need your assistance."

A man sleeping in the carriage was the first to respond. With an axe in hand, he shouted, "We don't want any trouble! Just get outta here!"

Scowling at the man, Cyril glanced back and realized there was no turning back.

He inched closer and closer to the carriage, ignoring the man's request.

Fed up, the man dropped down from the carriage and brandished his axe.

Dashing behind him, Cyril disarmed the man by holding their wrist and twisting it. He then kicked him down to the ground.

Retreating to the back of the carriage, Cyril observed as the unknown creature revealed itself.

Its glowing red eyes did nothing but frighten the man.

He could see the man's face contort into something more than simple fear. He was experiencing the fear of death.

Sitting on the ground helplessly, the man watched as the creature dug its claws into a tree and launched itself.

Taking that opportunity, Cyril once again drew his sword and interrupted the attack.

Rushing over to attack the monster mid-air, Cyril pushed it to the ground as he stabbed into its torso.

Desperately struggling, the creature was able to hit Cyril with its hind legs, making him stumble backwards.

Recovering from the attack, the creature got back on all fours.

With black liquid oozing from its mouth, the creature snarled at Cyrus, ready to attack once more.

However, th creature realized it no longer had any trees to cling onto. Since the camp was settled in a clearing, the only trees available were on the edges of the camp. The same edges Cyril pushed it away from.

Grabbing the axe that the man brandished earlier, Cyril carefully walked over to the creature.

Its savage nature seemingly all but vanished, the creature started slowly backing away. But all that remained was a tall drop all the way down to the forest.

It seemed to finally realize the predicament it was in. In what seemed like a last ditch effort, the creature attempted to pounce on Cyril.

Dropping the axe, Cyril evaded sideways and grabbed the sword lodged in the monster's torso. He then swung the blade, cleanly tearing the monster's body in half.

Clearing the blood off the blade, he slid it back into its scabbard.

Turning around, he observed the corpse of the monster.

It had no internal organs was his first thought. The second was, "Odd orb."

Said orb was glowing a vibrant purple. Its side was cut off, probably because of Cyril's sword.

The orb also pulsated a few times before stopping, its color then then faded.

He was unsure of what it was. If he had to guess, perhaps its heart? Maybe even the very essence of its being, the soul? He didn't know.

And he wasn't planning on dissecting a monster in front of a group of people.

Looking around, he noticed the nomads all staring at him. All of them with a dazed expression as their mouths were wide open.

Grabbing the axe from the ground, he walked back over to the man.

Kneeling down, he handed the man back his axe. "Apologies. I must have startled you."

The man just stared at him, he wasn't even human in their eyes.

Speaking of, his eyes; they always seemed to be looking to a far off universe. There was an air of emptiness to them.

Looking off into the distance, Cyril asked, in a loud voice, "Excuse me. Is anybody here aware of where I may find an archbishop?"

Looking back at the group, it seemed like he got the attention of one person.

A woman. One with dark skin and braided hair.

"Are you aware of where one might be?"

The woman looked scared for a moment.

"Y— Yeah. I do."

"May I know where they might be?"

"Sure... But I need you to help me."

He looked at her with a puzzled expression.

"... Let me hear your request."

Looking around, she noticed the others were gawking at them.

Wanting some privacy, she invited him inside her tent.

"Excuse me..." Cyril said as he entered the tent.

"Okay, so... I need you to bring me to that place."

"... Why?"

"Why do ya need to find an archbishop?"

"... Alright. Is that all?"

"I...think so?"

"Clearly we're going to have to talk about this in more detail."

And so they did.

The woman agreed to bring Cyril to an archbishop as long as she was able to tag along.

She mentioned the journey would be far too long on foot so they needed a carriage.

"The nearest place here with a ride is uh... Noelta? It's about two days off from here."

"I'm assuming that isn't free..."

"Yeah, of course not. But that won't be a problem. I'll find a way."

He wanted to ask why he was at all needed in this journey if she could "find a way". But he let the thought drift away.

"So how do you suppose we get there? That forest is less than stellar. Can you defend yourself?"

"... No, I can't..." she replied, "I do have about a day's-worth of food in my bag — just some dried meat. For water, I think I saw a few rivers when we crossed the forest ourselves."

"Okay. We'll discuss more details tomorrow. Get some rest."

He ended the discussion rather abruptly. Maybe he was bored? She didn't really know.

"Where're you going?"

"I'll scout out the forest a bit. For tomorrow."

"Uh... Okay? Goodnight, Cyril."

He turned around for a moment.

"... Goodnight."

"Ha ha!" She found his response rather endearing.

"The name's Nauna, by the way."

"Noted."

Cyril then walked off, disappearing from the group's sights.

The entire group looked at Nauna, a mix of confusion and terror written all over their faces. They probay wanted to ask what they talked about, but Nauna wasn't up for it.

She quickly retreated back into her tent and lied on her bed.

She was a bit pissed that she got woken up, but at least she got something out of it.

Drifting back into dreamland, her smile was even wider this time.