I look around in confusion. Why do they stop out of a sudden?
Sean walks beside Ian. "You think what I'm thinking?"
"Yes."
"What should we do? Don't tell me you still want to use that path?" Blaze frowns.
"We don't have any other path. That's all we have." Gerald speaks.
"Gerald is right. Like it or not, we have to." Ian sighs.
"Make sure you guys stay alert, understand!?" he demands.
"Yes, Duke!!"
We continue moving. The forest we get into is thick and dark. I gulp. I don't like this kind of atmosphere.
Somehow, it makes me goosebumps. Why did they hesitate to get into this forest?
"Maya, you are tense up," Ian whispers.
I don't even realize about it.
"It's okay. We just need to get through this for a moment." he continues.
"O--Okay."
"You know, my lady. There's someone who is even afraid of this kind of place." Blaze grins.
"W--Who?"
He pulls smirks. "Don't act so tough, Sean. It is not like we don't know how shaking you are right now."
Sean? He looks like a tough guy to me though.
When Blaze mentions him, there's a flush on his cheeks.
"S--Shut up!! Everyone has their fear." he rolls his eyes.
"But yours is funny." Blaze tease him.
"Don't make me swing my sword to you." Sean glares at him.
I feel like I could see an electric through them as me and Ian between them.
"Both of you stop. Don't make me kick you off."
Ian firmly said.
They quickly stop. Ian is holding power over them. Including me. No one dared to talk the opposite of him.
CRACK CRACK
They halt. The sounds were around us.
"Okay, this is not good." Gerald pulls out his arrow.
"Definitely. " Blaze agreed.
"Ruth. Anything?" Ian asks.
I looked behind and saw a guy named Ruth looking around. His blue eyes shone.
"Werewolves is coming right towards us," he speaks.
Werewolves!?
"Damn!! I'm hungry for action!!!" Sean grins as he pulls out a sword.
Ian groans. "Ruth, come here."
The guy named Ruth came. Then, Ian held me and put me on Ruth's horse.
"Take care of my wife," I demand.
"Yes, Duke." he nods.
"And don't even let a single scratch on her." he gave a sharp look to Ruth.
Ruth doesn't even flinch. I think everyone here is used to it already.
Wait.
Ian pulls out his sword.
Ruth is about to bring me away but I grab Ian's cloak causing him to halt.
Ian looks at me with shock. Then, he gives me a soft look.
"Just stay with Ruth. I will be back," he said.
By that, we are apart. Ruth makes a little bit far from them and there's a magic barrier around us.
"M--Magic?"
"Yes. I'm a sorcerer." he nods. "I'm Ruth. Nice to meet you, my lady." Ruth bowed his head.
"Nice to m--meet you too." I look at Ian.
"Is Ian a sorcerer too?"
"What makes you think like that, my lady?" Ruth tilted his head.
"Because h--he said p--people might w--want to u--use him because of h--his m--magic." I fiddle with my fingers.
"Well, he's not a sorcerer but he was gifted with magic when he was born," Ruth explains.
"What m--magic?"
Ruth didn't answer. Instead, he clears his throat. "I don't think I can answer that, my lady."
Oh right.
I shouldn't have asked too much. I'm just the wife of Croford. I should have known my place.
What's wrong with you, Maya?
Suddenly, a loud growl makes me flinch. Some werewolves came out of the bushes attacking them.
Ian swings his sword with one smooth move and the werewolves split in half.
Blood gets on his face a bit.
"How many, Ruth?" he wiped the blood away.
"Five or six like that," Ruth answered.
They fight the werewolves while I'm watching. Blood here and there. My whole body trembling.
I want to vomit but there's nothing to vomit. I feel nauseous seeing the scene.
The werewolves look so scary and huge. How can they fight them? How can Ian kill them with one move?
Ian pulls away his sword and makes eye contact with me. He frowns.
"Ruth!! Cover Maya's eyes!!" he yells.
"On it, Duke!!" Ruth nods. "Forgive me, my lady."
Ruth put a spell on my eyes making me couldn't see anything. I feel glad not to see it but at the same time, I feel anxious.
I want to see what happened to Ian.
"R--Ruth?"
"I'm here, my lady. Don't worry." he confronts me.
It has been a while. I couldn't help but pick on my finger.
After a while, I feel like hours. I felt someone hold my waist and pick me up.
"Thank you, Ruth." Ian's voice was just beside my ears.
"It was nothing, Duke. it was my duty to protect my lady." Ruth smiles.
"Open your eyes, Maya," he whispers.
I try to open my eyes and looks like Ruth already got rid of the spell. I looked around but Ian didn't let me.
He pushes my face to his neck as he bends down a bit.
"Let's move," he demands.
"Okay, Duke."
We continue our journey. I look at Ian's hands. There's full of blood. I couldn't stop myself from being nauseous.
"We almost arrive. Can you get hold of it? Or do you want to stop for a while?" he asks.
"I--I'm fine."
"You look not. You look pale." Ian frowns.
"I--I---" I closed my eyes as I felt something wanted to come out.
Ian's eyes widen a bit. He quickly stops the horse. Without saying anything or giving any orders, he picks me up.
I could see the confusion in the others.
He puts me down and that's when I throw up everything. The image of blood still appeared in my head causing me to throw up even more.
Ian holds my hair, rubbing my back. "Take it easy."
Tears dripping from my face. It hurts to throw up. I hate it.
"Duke, I think my lady is not a fond of blood and the kind of scene before. You know what I'm trying to say right?" Ruth spokes.
"I think Ruth was right." Blaze agreed.
Ian sighs.
I should have held it up. Why I'm such a burden to everyone? They might look at me with disgust and annoyance.
My hands tremble as I think that. Why did I put hope that my life would be different?
"Are you done?" Ian asks.
"Y--Yes."
"Here. Drink the water." he gives me a bottle.
As I drink it, he takes off his armor. I frown at his action.
As he took off his armor, all he left was his black tight turtle neck clothes. "Blaze, take this."
Blaze gets off his horse and picks up his armor.
"Let's go. Soon we arrive at the palace, I will call a doctor for you." Ian picked me up and put me on the horse.
He gets behind me.
"W--Why did you t--take off your armor?"
"My armor is full of blood. I don't have any choice but to take it off," he answers.
I look down.