Elin didn't like the pace Kim was setting. Not only were they moving twice as fast as they had been, according to Kim, but they had to keep an eye out for any place that Jonas or Elmo might have washed up along the river.
While she didn't have any objections to moving quicker, she was barely able to keep up. She didn't have the energy to look herself. If she did, she seriously doubted that she'd be able to recognize anything or anyone.
She wanted to rest, but it was clear that Kim wasn't as interested in doing that. A couple days had passed since Elmo and Jonas had been thrown into the river, and there still wasn't any sign of them. Not even a whisper of a rumor of them having been anywhere. Not that they encountered anyone to hear any such rumors from.
Elin was starting to doubt that they'd find Elmo or Jonas by the river. Or at least all the places that Kim seemed to be thinking of in relation to where they might have washed up on the banks of the river. Even if they had come out of the river, Elin didn't think that they'd necessarily have remained by the river. Otherwise she suspected that they'd have already met up with them.
Saying anything about that to Kim seemed to fall on deaf ears. It was almost like Kim was pushing herself to find something that she'd already given up on finding.
Elin couldn't explain the changes in Kim she had noticed properly. Just that she almost seemed like a different person altogether suddenly. Elin wasn't sure what to make of it, but worried what it might mean about Kim. She certainly didn't want Kim to wear herself out over this. Not when they couldn't be sure that both Elmo and Jonas hadn't ended up somewhere that they just hadn't noticed or had went somewhere else. Elin wouldn't have been surprised if they had become a little disoriented by what had happened.
Elin wasn't sure if she'd be able to deal with Kim for much longer while she was like this. Not only was it stressful with how hard Kim was pushing them to move each day, but it was also making Elin feel like Kim was pulling away emotionally from her. She didn't know the reason, but suspected it was something of Kim's past that she really didn't want to talk about. Or maybe didn't even remember.
Elin wasn't sure if she'd leave Kim altogether if this kept up much longer, she could only be certain that she wouldn't last much longer if this grueling pace kept up. While she had to acknowledge that she might last longer than she thought she would, she recognized that she was near her own limits, regardless.
As the sun started to fall behind the canyon wall over them, Elin started to wonder if she should just start moving a little slower and let Kim leave her behind. She didn't think that Kim would notice, but she couldn't be certain. If Kim did notice, then she suspected that Kim wouldn't be happy with her. Yet on the other hand, it wasn't like she was going to really have that option much longer. She could feel her own energy reserves starting to fail. If Kim would be upset at her becoming incapable of keeping up with Kim , then Elin doubted she'd wait for Kim to just leave her. She would find a time in which to leave Kim. Where she'd be on her own and looking after herself in this dangerous world.
Elin didn't want to, but right then, she was starting to see that she might not really have much of a choice in the matter for much longer. She could only hope that Kim would recognize what the problems with the Elin was when she reached her ultimate limit. Somehow she doubted that Kim would pick up on it, but she wasn't going to assume anything about Kim right then. As there might be other surprises waiting for them for a while they continued to search for Elmo and Jonas.
A screeching sound startled Elin out of her thoughts. She wasn't familiar with the sudden sound. She didn't think that it was a bird that had made that sound, but she hoped that's all it was.
While she had recovered all of her MP, she didn't want to encounter another fight where she'd have to use any of her spells. If the sound was from something injured and all she'd have to do was heal them, then she'd be fine with that. However, she really wasn't sure she'd be able to handle anything more than that. She really didn't have the energy to worry about anything more than what she had on her plate right then.
"If you're tired, then stay back," Kim said, startling Elin. "I think I should be able to handle this on my own."
Elin looked around, feeling like she was missing anything. She rubbed her eyes when she realized that everything past a certain point had become blurry to her. When she was able to get her vision cleared, she felt her heart sink as she saw what was approaching them. In a way the sound did come from a bird.
They were birds in a sense. The creatures looked mostly human from the chest upwards, but the lower part were birds. The 'arms' of the creatures were also just wings of birds. The plumage didn't indicate any particular bird or even type of bird. Some looked like they had feathers of a sparrow while others had the feathers that looked like they should be on an eagle.
One thing she could tell was that they weren't really as graceful as birds, but that could just be her opinion about them. Regardless of that, they were still rather fast.
Elin glanced at Kim and wasn't really surprised to see her with her sword drawn, ready to meet their attack. Her face looked set and determined to see the battle through. Not that Elin thought she'd be able to convince Kim to try and flee.
Elin was about to return her gaze to the bird-creatures when she realized that Kim had drawn her short sword rather than her bastard sword. While it was a weapon itself, it's length was much shorter, so she couldn't help but wonder what made Kim pull out that sword. She was certain that Kim was aware about the fact she'd pulled out the shorter of her swords, so she couldn't say why she'd drawn the sword that wouldn't have the same reach.
However, while she was worn out, she couldn't let Kim face these bird-creatures by herself. There were too many to take count of them, but Elin didn't plan on backing down. This situation wasn't what she would have liked, but that didn't mean she was going to let Kim fight them by herself. She wasn't going to abandon Kim. Not when she was present.
Even if Kim wasn't someone she would be able to hold on to as the changes occurring around her made it clear that they might not be as meant for each other as her heart said they were.
Elin steadied her stance, ensuring that she would be balanced well enough in the event she had to move quickly. She knew that Kim wouldn't abandon her if the birds attacked her and she was in trouble, which would only increase the danger to Kim herself. Something Elin wouldn't allow to happen if it was because of her.
"Sacred Flare!" Elin cried out, the act of doing so somehow making her forget about the fatigue she'd been feeing only moments before.
As the bird-creatures were still well over the river, a column of flames erupted among them, startling them and sending many down to the river, their feathers engulfed in fire while others were making a hasty retreat. It was clear that they hadn't expected anything like that to happen. Elin certainly hadn't expected to have had such a spectacular result. If she had to calculate the damage she'd done, she'd estimate that she stopped about half of them from attacking.
If the ones who'd had their feathers on fire died, then that would be a small handful of the flock that had been attacking. Maybe around ten in total.
"Not bad," Kim commented without turning to Elin. "That's at least half of them gone. Maybe try another of those before buffing me up."
Elin nodded, happy to be of assistance, though she didn't expect this to change the way things had been between them. The way that Kim was now, didn't seem like it'd end just because of a single positive interaction between them.
"Sacred Flare!" Elin cried again before immediately shifting her focus to Kim. "Minor Protection! Physical Resistance Enhancement! Stat Enhancement!"
Elin could feel the MP draining out of her as her spells took effect. She wasn't sure if she should pay more attention now to the birds again, but in a way, she found that she didn't care. If the birds tore her to shreds, she'd be fine with that. Her life had been good enough up to this point, so it wasn't like she should really be hoping for more.
It wasn't until she felt the stone ground against her cheek that she even realized something else might be going on. The cool stone helped bring her back to her senses and wonder why she had even thought about not resisting the bird-creatures' attack. She knew she didn't really feel that way, but as darkness began to swallow her, she wondered if that would really matter at this point.