"Don't touch that."
The Owl said, flapping his wings, circling Veron.
"Why? It looks so colourful..."
Veron said, eyeing a colourful strawberry- shaped fruit held in his hand.
The Owl landed gracefully on top of a rock, the winds beckoning in his presence.
"Firstly, you will die if you consume that."
Veron dropped the fruit quickly, a profound expression forming in his face as he saw an ant crawling towards the fruit.
"Secondly, your death will be very horrific once it is digested."
Veron looked at the Owl first, who was on his right, then looked at the ant which was trying to nibble a piece away from the fruit.
"That Fruit is called Vareolyux." The Owl said while trying to clean his wings "It is a lethal fruit for Non-Illiovains."
Veron witnessed in shock as the ant turned upside-down, foaming in the maw and then dissolving in a green goo, smoke hissing as it melted on the snow.
"Just... What were you even thinking about bringing me here?!" Veron roared, backing away a few feet from the site of the goo.
"You will know when we reach my nest." The Owl clattered, still cleaning his wings. "Just don't touch or eat anything here."
"Yeah... You do not have to tell me that..." Veron said so with reluctance as he eyed the place where the now dead ant was there.
The ant had accidentally entered through the portal along with Veron, and was the only living thing that was left of the Material Realm.
'Rest in peace...'
Veron clapped his hands, praying towards the ant.
Just then the Owl flapped his wings, raising high, then circling Veron again.
Currently, Veron was inside Illiova, the Realm of the Supernatural. It was a parallel realm that existed along with the Material Realm, which was also the Real World.
If the phenomenons that happened inside the Material Realm were explainable, Illiova was the opposite of it.
Every magical thing that happened here was unexplainable, and to add more everything except plants here were aggressively hostile. The plants were... passively hostile, as most had incredibly poisonous fruits, or had laced thorns.
Nothing was truly safe inside Illiova.
"How much more are you going to make me wait?" The Owl bickered, gracefully swerving from tree to tree."The more you wait here, the more the chances a Beast might appear."
Veron looked up, seeing the night sky which was full of stars. Though there was no moon, the ground was lit enough to be compared to a night of a full moon.
Cool air brushed against Veron, his tunic moving subsequently.
Even though there was snow, the temperature was mildly cold, an effect by the Owl.
The stars twinkled in multiple colours, some pink, some blue, and some white.
'Truly fitting of the name "Land of the Supernatural" '
Everywhere Veron looked, it always felt mystical. Sometimes he even saw glowing dust moving here and there, but they quickly disappeared as he tried to concentrate on them.
Veron moved deeper into the woods, as the snow covered dead trees closed in more and more.
His feet pressed onto the snow, the Owl flying on top in pursuit.
"Step. Step."
"Step. Step."
Minutes passed, yet they still haven't reached their destination.
Veron looked up, wanting to complain about the distance.
But the Owl was not there.
Veron stopped in his tracks, looking around in search of the Owl.
He continued to moved towards, now in a frantic state.
"Sir Owl! Where are you?!" Veron screamed, expecting the Owl to respond.
Silence.
Veron was now brisk walking, his breaths in ragged sequences.
"Huff. Huff."
He felt fearful, scared of what was happening.
After all, the Owl never seemed like someone that would leave him in such a state, when it was himself that brought Veron to the Depths of Winter.
But something was wrong.
'The trees...! Why are they so close now!'
Veron felt like the Forest was closing in.
A chill ran through his spine, along with which the temperature sharply dropped.
'What... the hell!'
"CRRRRRCK!"
The trees behind Veron now started to break and drop, closing in on eachother in a terrifying speed.
Veron accelerated, his heart pounding in his chest. His feet were freezing, the snow beneath amplifying the cold.
"Huff! Huff!"
The wind picked up pace, as each breeze assaulted Veron's skin.
"Step! Step!"
His feet were now starting to show signs of frostbite, almost numb on the freezing snow.
The collapsing trees were now getting closer, along with which Veron was now getting exhausted.
"Huff! Huff!"
Just then, a blinding light broke away in front of Veron.
He covered his eyes with his hands in reflex, still sprinting on top of the snow.
"SCREEE—!"
Something screeched behind Veron, a monstrous screech that was felt deep into his bones.
"Boy!"
Veron looked in front, his eyes now adjusting to the light.
It was the Owl, whose eyes were now emitting the bright light, an aura surrounding his feathery body.
"Come to me!" The Owl roared as the winds picked up, brushing against Veron. "Now!"
Veron didn't waste a second, and jumped as hard as he could.
"Thud!"
Veron dropped hard, landing on the snow which cushioned the force.
"Wretched Beast!" The Owl hissed as he directed the winds, a strange blue-ish sharp energy carried with it. "Go back to your damned home!"
The Energy became sharper and faster, till they became so sharp and fast they started to cut the trees, felling down several of them.
"Screee!"
It was then when Veron saw it.
A black, swirling mass that screamed of chaos. It was there where skin was supposed to be present.
Red glowing eyes with a bloodlust that could kill anything by itself.
The beast was shaped like a wolf, yet it's size was astronomically far larger than any regular wolf.
Even though the beast bore no external features except it's eyes, Veron clearly understood that this beast meant no mercy.
It was too wrong, and Veron should have already died to it several times had he hesitated for even a fraction of a second.
"Begone!"
The Owl roared, the ground around him shaking as he released a surge of Mana.
The very ground beneath the Beast shaked as the Strange Energy pierced but passed through its body several times.
"Crk!"
Veron saw to his left that a tree near the Owl was going to fall.
"Crrrk!"
"Sir Owl!" Veron screamed, but his voice was drowned by the winds, and the clash of mana between the two entities.
The tree was going to fall down in any second.
"Sir Owl!" Veron screamed for the second time, but it was drowned again by the winds.
"CRRRRK!"
Then, it was too late.
"No!" Veron reached for the Owl, but he was thrown away by a log that came towards him.
"Thud!"
Veron landed a few metres away, the snow cushioning his fall.
Veron's head was spinning, along with which his whole body was sore from the hit.
He felt his blood trickle down from his head, but this wasn't his biggest concern for now.
'No...!'
Veron pushed his body up, his bones screaming to rest.
Veron pushed his feet which were now bleeding from a few splinters that hit them.
Yet, he still ran towards the Owl, or supposedly where the Owl was supposed to be at.
The whole zone was covered in dust, so dusty that it was difficult to see more than 3 metres.
The cold winds didn't help either, digging into his bones as Veron gripped his tunic in panic.
He kept on running, his breaths heavy and broken.
"Huff...! Huff...!"
His throat was as dry as sand, so dry that even gulping was painful.
But then, the dust suddenly swirled away, as if something was directing them away from Veron.
It was then when Veron had seen it.
It was an Owl, the same colours as the Owl that lead Veron.
But it was far larger, now dwarfing Veron.
His wings were enormously large, each flap creating pocket winds that cleared the dust.
Verom thought that he was witnessing an Angel's descent, dropping down to his knees on the cold snow.
But this Angelic Animal wasn't something new.
It was the same Owl that had lead Veron.
"Sir... Owl...?" Veron was now almost close to collapse, as the adrenaline in his bloodstream retreated.
The Giant Owl landed as graceful as possible, despite it's huge size.
"...You were alive...!"
Then, Veron collapsed on the snow, his eyes closed as he slipped into sleep.
The Owl just stood still, watching Veron, his shadow towering over Veron's body.
"...Well, at least a child thinks well of me."
The Owl picked Veron up with his beak, and gently put him on the Owl's back.
"Seriously, if it wasn't for that bastard's attempt, I didn't need to do so much work."
The Owl readied his wings, elongating them for launch.
"Swish!"
The Owl flapped his wings, covering a vast height in just one flap.
The Owl was now above the forest, overlooking the whole area.
The Owl started to fly towards a clearing, his whole body moving in unison.
Veron peacefully slept on top of his back.
"...You definitely have a long path ahead." The Owl bickered, but deep down felt bad for the little boy.
It was at that time when stars retreated as the light of dawn broke.
Veron had just survived his first night.