Dawn- An age of Darkness

I made a ball of light. It floated over my head. 

"You can use light magic? I thought you could only use water-"

Was being able to use more types more rare than holy? I didn't know but this girl probably didn't know how rare holy even was. Or maybe it was just a thing for the rest of the world but not the demi-humans. 

"Don't worry about it." I didn't have time to explain anything or hide my powers either. When it came to monsters in forests, there was no point in holding back. 

After all, I didn't need another tragedy now. 

Our surroundings got a bit brighter but this also meant the thing spying on us could see us better. 

And the thing didn't disappoint: there was a black shadow on the top of the tree in front of us. It jumped from the tree and directly went for the princess. She and the horse shrieked but I kind of slammed the holy ball on the monster and calmed the horse down. The whole thing lasted for three seconds. 

I made another ball, and then another. I made seven small balls and kept them afloat. As I thought, my mana control was a lot better. Maybe spending all that time in my dreams practicing wasn't so bad. 

"Wh-what is that?"

"A monkey? The trees?" 

It was a large monkey and unlike typical ones, this one had large fangs and red eyes. It wasn't an undead, but it wasn't quite alive either. Well, at least not anymore. After being hit by my attack it passed away. 

And there wasn't any rotting smell. Then again, Lianne and Jowy never smelled either, so this thing could have been a half-dead. 

'Am I missing something?' I knew for a fact that there were a lot of monsters in this world but- so far I hadn't seen anything that were like half deads but had fangs. It was absolutely possible that these things were born with fangs and red eyes in the first place though. 

But wait, if they could come at us from the tree without disappearing-

And I just got an idea. 

My face lit up.

The spatial warping happened roughly every twenty meters. But what if, it only applied to the ground? And even if that wasn't the case, these things were moving rather nicely, so I didn't see a reason not to study their movements. And since I didn't see my companions flying around, I didn't have any reason to not try everything either. 

After all, it was possible that they were also lost. 

"We'll camp here tonight." Besides, I got a bit excited for some reason. 

"Are you crazy, what if-"

"It's going to be very dark now. This is a forest. And trust me, when it comes to forests, I'm your best bet to survive."

After all, even though I had the worst luck with forests, I was still alive. 

And so far, everything in this forest was super weak. And I had a feeling my companions were going to show in the middle of the night. I had no way to back that claim, but I had a feeling. 

And even if we traveled all night, it was impossible to cross this forest in one night. 

So this wasn't a bad idea. I sure hope it wasn't. 

"Okay." And this girl trusted me way too much. 

"Don't worry. I'll protect you with my life." I always wanted to say that. 

And after saying it, I felt more than just embarrassed. Even the girl was embarrassed. And I was glad she didn't say a word. 

***

I had to dismiss the holy balls as nothing came to attack us anymore.

I tied the horse to a tree and made a small bonfire. 

The girl was really conflicted about what she wanted to do, but for the time being, she didn't create too much of a problem. 

The moment I tried using the meat from the monkey- it kind of evaporated. 'Then why the hell did I went through the trouble of skinning it?' I let out a large sigh and used the smoked meat I got from the maid. 

I grilled the stuff with a grumble. 

The girl kind of giggled seeing me like this, but I let it slide. Once, the meat was done, we both started eating. 

So far, no sign of monsters. 

The way this girl blew on her food with 'fu fu' sounds, was kind of cute. 

Meanwhile, I kept an eye out for monsters and also chomped on the meat. I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to sleep tonight but it was still better than getting more lost. 

I thought if we created a fire and maybe made us look like targets, the monsters could just come at us and attack, but so far I saw nothing. 

Could it have been a coincidence?

No, this was too specific to be a coincidence. These monsters were afraid of fire just like undeads, which made me want to believe they were just a different type of undead. It was hypothetical but very possible. My theory of them being half-deads was still kind of prominent. 'Wait, wasn't that demon last night also like this?'

Then wasn't stopping kind of pointless? No, the fact that we didn't know our way was still an issue. 

Damn. I banged my hand on the ground, my back against the tree, the fire right in front of me. 

"I'm sorry, because of me-" The girl was sitting right next to me and her head was down. I guess she thought I was frustrated because of her. 

"This isn't your fault, don't worry about it."

I was done. And the girl was done five minutes ago. 

"But it is." Her eyes shimmered and some tears leaked. "Because of me, so many died. And now we are even lost."

So, she was regretting?

"Then own it. It's not like sulking would make them come alive. Regret will only make you sadder. Instead, become strong in their honor and try your best so it doesn't repeat."

"People died because of you too?" I guess she wasn't as dumb as she looked. But I wished she was a bit more tactful. 

I smiled. "A lot."

And their deaths still haunted me. I wasn't over them. But I had to act strong, I had to act like I was getting stronger. But in reality, I was just running away from the truth. 

I knew that and yet, here I was giving advice to a pampered princess. Talk about hypocrisy. 

She leaned against my shoulder. 

I would have appreciated it if she showed a little more dignity. After all, wasn't she a princess? "Forgive me for being so selfish but please let me stay like this. My late brother used to let me-" She paused. 

I was apparently her replacement brother. But I guess that did make sense. If she thought of me as her brother, then her conduct did make sense, albeit very far fetchingly. 

I stayed quiet. 

She also stayed quiet for a minute and when I was about to talk- she was asleep. 

I sighed and just sat there, looking at the fire, while keeping my senses sharp. 

'Why did I have to take this damn job?'

From stopping a war to rescuing a princess, I wasn't paid enough for this. Wait, I wasn't paid at all!

Oh wait, that was also a lie. After all, I got the stuff the earl bought me and even that maid gave me a gem. 

I guess I was just complaining for the sake of complaining at this point. 

Sigh. 

I wasn't sleepy as it was rather early.

But so far, there weren't any signs of monsters here. 

The earlier monkey probably just got lucky. 

But then there was the question- how do we get out of this place?

***

The fire burned and wood crackled. 

Rustle!

A sound came from the bushes up ahead. 

I made some holy balls just in case and slowly laid down the girl on the ground. When I tried to move, I noticed the girl was actually holding down a bit of my robe. Just how scared was she?

I went closer to the bush to take a good look, probably not the best idea. 

I also kept an eye back in case some random monster just happened to attack the princess while I was occupied with the bush. 

Honestly, this was a drag.

I was totally prepared to slice off any monster that came out of the bush with my trusty knife- the one I (The earl) bought from the shop back in Saram.

But instead of a monster came out a brown bunny. 

A lovely fluffy goodness. 

Yeah, I kind of already knew where this was going.

She didn't transform and just got on my shoulder. 

"The others are here too?" I whispered. 

The bunny nodded, while purring cutely, I guess she couldn't talk in this form. 

Meaning, nothing stopped me from petting the hell out of her and feeling good about myself. 

"Is something the matter?"

Ahah! I almost freaked out, trying to hide the bunny but then calmed down. "Ah no, my spirit might have found a way out of this place." My voice got a bit high for some reason. 

I really had to work on my lying skills.. If only I could lie like I could taunt.