Amber swiftly made her way towards the noise. Sai decided to accompany her from further behind.
"Domu! Domu!
"Da!"
"Dada!!"
"Sada!!"
"Nye! Nunu!"
It was clearly a hilichurl camp. Before he managed to see them, Amber came back and motioned to retreat. Once they were back on the road, she told him:
"Just a group of hilis. No need to bother, let's keep moving."
"Alright."
Eventually, the sparse trees gave way to a denser forest, in which a majority of the of the leaves were coloured dark green or brown. It gave Sai an eerie feeling, and reminded him of the path to the wolf boss.
As he looked around, he saw tons of Small Lamp Grass, Sweet Flowers, Mints, and those yellow berries. Not too long after, he sighted apples.
"Hey, I'm very hungry, can I take a few apples?" He pointed.
"Oh, yeah, sure. I'll get one too."
It tasted similar to the one he knew, so Sai thought it might exist somewhere in his own world, contrary to the sunsettia.
Finally sating a portion of his hunger, he felt more energetic to talk again, so he resumed a light conversation with Amber.
…
After two more rounds avoiding a hilichurl camp and two more for killing the blobs of goo that were the slimes, Amber said they were nearing the winery.
It had overall been a tranquil journey, though the faces the slimes made might appear in a nightmare or two. Amber was a veteran hunter, and she knew everything there was to know about the forest, the monsters and how to survive in the wild. At some point Sai asked for a few lessons on that subject, even.
They were passing through something that looked like a canyon, where a couple of caravan carcasses could be seen. They had just killed another group of slimes and avoided some hilichurls when Amber stopped. The bow and arrows materialised in her hands.
The air in front of them shook, contracted, and out of nowhere a being was in front of them. Its blue eyes shone in the same colour as the gem on top of its sceptre.
"Huuuuurl!" It screamed.
The abyss mage raised the short staff and a sphere of Cryo element surrounded it. Amber grabbed the shocked Sai and started running away. After some steps, he came out of his reverie and said:
"It's an abyss mage! What do we do?"
Amber looked behind for a split second, but it was enough to widen her eyes and make a dive to the ground, taking Sai with her. A big bolt of ice passed right over them.
She quickly materialised her weapon and charged elemental energy through it. She quickly released the burning arrow, which made a trail through the air and lodged itself on the mage's shield. Cracks spread, but it was otherwise fine.
"Ah huh huh hann!" The monster, if it could be called that, started dancing around in his shield, as if mocking the failed attempt.
Amber didn't wait to draw another arrow, which ended with the same result. But immediately after, she gathered elemental energy and built a doll of a bunny, throwing it close to the mage. After that, she took a look around her to search for other enemies.
It took some time for Sai to stand back up, and when he did, he saw several arrows lodged in an almost breaking Cryo shield. The creature shot another bolt, this time at the dancing doll.
"Booooom!" It exploded in fierce flames.
Amber didn't waste time, quickly putting a flaming arrow through the felled monster. No other sounds could be heard for a while.
After checking if it was really dead, aka putting another couple of arrows in it, Amber went to check on the surprised Sai. She didn't want to take any chances of a surprise attack, but the mage was dead with the first arrow.
"Are you okay?"
"Y–yeah, yeah! Just surprised, is all. Was it supposed to be that weak?"
"It was probably a rookie mage. If it wasn't, I might have ended with a few injuries here and there. But I'm strong! I told you! Hehe." She had a smug smile on her face.
"You really are. But shouldn't we be getting out of here?"
"Oh, yeah! Let's go, quick quick!" Amber collected a few of the undamaged arrows before going.
Passing through the dead abyss mage, Sai noticed a dark red liquid spreading through the ground. There was blood on its face as well. It wasn't a pretty death.
Resisting the urge to take another look, he jogged to the end of the canyon with Amber on his side.
About fifteen minutes later, the canyon ended. A mansion could be seen in the distance, together with open fields and grape trees. There was still a bunch of walking until their destination.
A sign that probably read 'Dawn Winery' appeared on the entrance of the terrain. A dark red-haired man dressed in gray was standing beside it.
"What is the purpose of your visit to Dawn Winery?" He politely asked.
"We came to deliver a letter." Sai answered.
"You can leave it with me."
"I'm afraid I can only deliver it to Mr. Diluc's hands. We are from the Knights of Favonius." He explained.
The guard frowned a little, then looked at them up and down. Noticing the Vision on Amber's waist, he compromised:
"I'm not allowed to leave my post, just go to that mansion." He pointed. "Knock on the door if you don't see anyone in the front yard."
"Thank you."
"Thanks."
The pair walked towards the mansion, feeling the particular aroma of a winery, and the light wind blowing on their face. The sun was starting to set, painting the world in a yellowish hue.
"I'm a bit tired, but once we deliver the letter, we will immediately return, okay?" Sai said.
He noticed she had been quiet for some time, so he turned around to check on her. Frantically looking around him, Sai couldn't find a single trace of the young girl. Amber disappeared.