"Hey, hey, hey, are you okay kid?" Some manly voice woke me up.
...I'm alive?
"Don't worry, kid. Relax, you're not bleeding out nor cut. That's just fear." The guy explained. He probably sees how anxious I am.
..Fear? What's that about? That can't be just fear? I've been cut. I saw it with my own two eyes! There's no way I'm just imagining things.
...I immediately search for the cut I saw earlier.
...Wait, they're gone.
...It's gone! Gone? What the heck is happening?
...I look at him with disbelief.
...He was there not too far from the beast's lying corpse.
...From where he stands he's a guy probably already in his twenties, cloth in an oversized tattered gray robe fluttering about.
...Skipping the part where I can describe his looks, my eyes were seized by his large weapon resting on his right shoulder.
...How is he doing that? It's twice or probably thrice the large of a normal sword and he's easily carrying it around like it's nothing and whistling even.
...He's not alone.
...He's accompanied by the other two who came later than him.
...They wore the same tattered gray robe and each armed with a weapon. One with a large scythe and the other has a bow. Three of them stood there arguing about something.
...For as what they are talking about, I couldn't care less about it. I was, no, we're about to die that moment and the relief from barely evading death is too unbearable.
...I couldn't even move a muscle let alone breathe.
...A tugging from my left shoulder made me glance at the girl I'm carrying. A faint smile of relief painted her face made me unknowingly reply a smile myself.
...I didn't know why I smiled but perhaps it was from the brief sign of relief. However, that relief hanging from my face easily broke down as that smile from her face faded as she gently loses consciousness.
"Heh! …Yuo! …W-Wha…t's wr…ong?" Broken words left my mouth as I tried to shake her awake but it was all for naught.
...There was no response. Anyways, what am I doing? What's wrong with my mouth? What's this? What am I, a baby who can't even speak properly?
...I can finally speak and yet this happens.
"Oh, what do we have here?"
"Ah, humans…"
"Eh? Hmm… You're right, humans and… and young ones at that."
...It seems like my voice reached the three arguing personages and now they're here surrounding me with great interest in their eyes.
"Heh…lp… Sh…e is. Herlp.. her…" Is this the best I can do? Why can't I speak well? I can properly understand what they're saying and yet why can't I speak just like them.
...What's wrong with me?
"Hey, red hair… What the heck are you saying, different language?" The man with his huge sword tugs his chin with his thumb while checking on us.
...Is he talking about me? Red hair… Who, me? Am I red hair?
"You're humans, right?" He further added.
...Looking at him closely while he's removing his hood he has a manly face of a warrior covered by his dark maroon hair which is tied at the back.
...His brown eyes are surprisingly earnest-looking even for a man who just killed someone. Uneven scars decorated his face and both of his hands which probably came from past battles.
"Roku, you're scaring the boy." The small lady with her huge scythe pushes away the man's face and brought herself down near my sight.
...She removed her hood as well revealing her shoulder-long raisin tinted hair covering the left part of her face shrouding her left eye.
"Are you okay?" She asked with a gentle smile on both his lavender-colored eyes and red lips which I found fascinating.
...I was already nodding before I know it. Aside from this small lady being a total knockout beauty, her scent is alluring.
"It's strange for humans to be this deep at this area and you two are too young to be here." The lady with her bow kneeled as well while eyeing us both from head to toe.
...She as well uncaps her hood only to unveil her basil-colored hair that is tied to a bun to her back which she later undid and goes straight down above the flowery ground.
...Describing her hair only long is an understatement. Each strand of it seems to glow. Just how much combing do you have to do to achieve that kind of shimmer?
...Anyway, unlike the small and pretty lady earlier, this beautiful woman instantly goes into the category of adult beauty.
...Her pale forehead is showing which emphasizes her refreshing lime-colored eyes. However, those innocent and pale-looking eyes took their real form turning into a wild beast drooling for information which was soon accompanied by one after another barrage of questions from her red lips.
"Are you two here alone? Where are your other companions? Perhaps you two might be exiles? Which kingdom are you two from? Hey, can't you understand what I'm saying? Well, at the very least you nodded. Strange clothes you have there… This girl, is she fine?" She continued scanning us for a while and suddenly…
"You two, move aside." He brought his huge sword pointing towards me and the girl I'm carrying.
...Tension in the air spiked in as my right hand immediately guards the girl against the man. I nearly forgot that this man just killed someone.
...He's dangerous.
"Oh? You have some nice eyes trying to glare, lad?" His sword turned towards me getting nearer between my eyes every second.
...A slit between his lips can be seen being evident that he is smiling.
"Hey! Roku! You're scaring him!" The small lady stood between us trying all she's got to cover us with her small figure from the man.
"Ah! Good thinking, Roku. They might be shapeshifters…" The lady with her bow agrees with a nod.
"Pancha? Hey! Are you two being serious?" The scythe lady again interrupted.
"That girl's suspicious. She's been sleeping soundly even after all this ruckus." The man pointed to the girl resting over my arms. "Hand over the girl, red hair!" He demanded.
...I didn't know why I did what I did back then.
...However, it was enough to let us live through that predicament.
...I still can't forget those memories even now.
....There must be something from that time that I must remember no matter what.
...That was five years ago.