Riox as the dark, Ayla as the light, became a pair of an unimaginable existence the world didn't even know.
Both of them smiled at each other as they only saw themselves.
- Ayla. We should leave this place. - Riox's gentle and kind voice that nobody heard before felt to the ear as a light breeze.
- I know, the beasts will smell the blood and will come here. - Ayla finished Riox's sentence with a calm expression in her eyes.
They still sat in the middle of the room, hugging each other tightly as they heard the other's heartbeat.
After an hour, they decided to leave. They took Lok's two big backpacks he usually used when he went to the city.
- Where should we go? - Ayla asked Riox about his plans.
- I can't tell, but one thing is for sure. We won't go to Carnag! - his decision was clear about this matter.
- Why? - Ayla questioned Riox's second part of the answer.
- Because Carnag would pay no attention to the incidence happened here. You remember what Lok said every time. "They only interested in gold and slaves ...", he repeatedly said this.
- You have a point, but then ... what should be our target?
- We will move to the southwest - he said with confidence.
- Southwest? - she wondered.
- I don't know ... Whatever, gather the food we find and leave! - Riox answered casually.
Ayla nodded as a yes and they went through the whole village.
They filled with water bottles the one Riox put on his back, while Ayla brought the food they found, some fruits, vegetables, 2 loaves of bread and some dried meat.
They heard some howling near to them, so the time for leaving has come. For the last time they looked back at the village and they said their goodbye to their home with a deep bow, putting their right fist into their left palm.
- THANK YOU! FOR EVERYTHING! - they said together not just to Mira and Lok, but for the whole village.
- What should we do now? - Ayla turned her gaze to Riox.
The eyes of Riox reflected something unnatural, the gaze of him emitted a huge amount of hatred that manifested into a fearful killing intent. The desire to shed the blood of those who did this.
Even the aura that surrounded Riox had no effect on Ayla, because her feelings were the same.
They left the village. The time was late afternoon, the lights of the sunset made the sky flaunt in a reddish-yellowish veil. The cold breezes of the night slowly appeared as the moon rose on the other side of the horizont.
But the kids didn't stop, they moved forward without a break. When a wild animal or a magical beast appeared near them, if they could handle it, they hunted it down. With this speed, they left the area of Carnag and entered the north west region of the kingdom.
The trees changed, in the beginning were mostly spruce woods, and now it turned to be a completely different forest filled with trees of dark, black-like colored trunks and brown leaves like at autumn times.
It was a new area which was nearly never touched by humans before, but Riox and Ayla didn't know this. As they walked, Riox involuntarily asked Ayla if he was curious.
- Ayla ... khm. Why did you ... kiss me at ... that time? - he asked in embarrassment.
- Ugh, that ... - Ayla blushed and walked with her head down.
An awkward silence occured between them.
- I-I ... um ... I felt that this is what I could do to help you ... - she answered.
- Why is that? - Riox lifted his eyebrow.
- You seemed to be lost at that time ... - she said with clasped fingers.
Riox slowed down their tempo as Ayla answered.
- You were always so mysterious. You have never shown what you thought or what you felt ... and when I saw you in tears, kneeled on the ground as a broken, hopeless person ... it felt like you had nothing anymore, and it made me sad ... - she continued her explanation.
- You were not yourself, and as a gambling, I ... ki-... ki-... kissed ... you ... BUT I DID BECAUSE I WANTED TO REMIND YOU ... YOU ... you, to ... I will always be by your side. You gave me a name and a chance to live! To feel the air in my lungs, the warmth of the sunlight, the soft caress of the breezes ... If you will disappear, then ... who should I rely on ... - Ayla said everything she had in her mind.
She made an honest confession to Riox.
*So you are not so different from the current me. I understand now what you want to say ... I am for you, and you are for me. It's a pleasure to think about it.*
- I understand. Don't worry, we will walk beside each other until the end. - he embraced Ayla between his arms, hugged her tightly and kissed her forehead.
Their bond with their heart and soul was strengthened. They felt each other's feelings without telling them. Riox was angry yet happy too because of Ayla.
The beasts and monsters saw them as their prey, and died. Giving more experience to the couple.
The tour took about 11 days with little breaks they took for cook the hunted beasts and short rests.
An unexpected storm appeared above them, a sudden wind swept through the forest, breaking the smaller branches in an instant. Cracking noise was heard around them. The wind made them nearly deaf.
Riox grabbed Ayla's hand and dragged her towards a cave he noticed.
When they finally arrived there, they coughed and caught their breath.
- Huh ... hug ... cough ... where did this storm come from? - Ayla coughed up her words with difficulty.
- I ... I don't ... know ... huh ... huh ... - Riox answered without any clue.
- Let's take a rest here ... we won't be able to move while this storm is raging. - Ayla gave an idea.
Riox just nodded as an accept to this recommendation. They took off the backpacks, stretched their bodies.
The wind was hasty, seemingly it could cut the trees in half, sounds of thunderstorm were heard in the far, the rain had not arrived yet.
Riox made a fast run around the entrance of the cave to collect some woods and branches to make a campfire. Even if the cave protected them from the cold, almost frosty winds, the temperature still dropped under the pleasing one at night.
The light and warmth of the smoldering fire covered the space of the cave.
Riox and Ayla prepared their dinner in a smaller steel pot they brought.
- So what do we have at this moment? - Riox asked.
- Um, we have ... 2 knives ... no, there is a third one, the bigger one Mira used for cut the meat ... aaaand ... that pickaxe you brought from the village. That's all of our tools and equipment.
- So that's how we are equipped ... What about the food? - took another question.
- The food is a bit low, but thanks to that we hunted something on the way, still left a little. Some onions and potatoes, one pepper and a little fat for cooking. We ate the others or threw the rotten ones ... - Ayla answered with a sad facial expression.
- Then it can't be helped, we must hunt to eat. Even if we could find some fruits in this forest, it won't fill our stomach. - he replied while he stood up and looked out from the cave.
- Oh, I almost forgot!
Ayla picked up her face and quickly started to search in her backpack.
- Ah, I found it! We have another tool! - and raised a hammer before Riox's chest.
He took the hammer. It was that one Dreng gave him, that very special one. Riox looked up to the sky with a heavy sigh. The clouds hid the silver lights of the moon.
*So ... this is how we ended up? The happy things are never meant to be forever.*
Riox blinked at Ayla, she was already asleep in the place where she sat down, not too far from the campfire. They brought 2 hooded cloaks with them that were made from a strong, black toned leather. Riox took off his one and put on Ayla's chest and legs, covering her with it like with a blanket.
He kissed her forehead, and Ayla smiled. Riox walked to the entrance of the cave where he felt a little coldness of the rampaging wind. It was a surprise for him the noise of the bending and cracking woods can't be heard in the cave. His eyes looked around at the sky. The thunders did a ritual dance under the clouds, it was truly mystical for him to see blue thunders.
*This should be our very start then? But where should we go ... I don't want to live in a city, also I don't want to bring trouble to Ayla. She's an elf, a dark elf more precisely ... it would be a disaster to walk with her in a human city ... so complicated ...*
He sighed a heavy one as he touched his forehead.
*That would be too crazy an idea, but ... let's give it a try!*
He raised his head and watched the sleeping Ayla.
*Lok told us the cities, especially the bigger ones, have some guilds. The Adventurer's Guild and the Mercenary Guild ... yup, that should be work! It will be a gamble, but if we succeed, we can remain hidden and search for those who did that ...*
His hands turned into fists as his anger ran through his body, but it disappeared a moment later, and his mood changed to more enthusiastic.
- We will visit that city and do commissions, but we will live here, in this cave!