The Devil's Cursed Witch

Ember was in a good mood. The breeze was cool and crisp, the sunshine warm, and the lovely scent of the grassland before them made her feel relaxed. Erlos told her that the vast meadows before them marked the boundary between two territories; they had just crossed the land of the witches and were about to enter the Forest of the Elves.

As they neared a river, she recognized this was the same river where Erlos had fished before.

"Erlos?"

"Yes, Miss?"

"If I remember correctly, from this river to Honeyharbor, didn't we take more than two hours? But it's only been roughly an hour since we left? Does this mean we already covered half the distance we need to travel?"

"Miss, it's all thanks to you. You can ride a horse really well now. Because of that, we could cross this distance faster than before," Erlos praised.

She offered him a pleasant smile. "No, it's thanks to you, Erlos. It's because you have taught me well."

"But it's also because you learned fast..."

As the two of them threw friendly praises at each other, Erlos spied a large tree with a nice shade by the riverbank.

"Shall we take a break under that tree? You must want to stretch your legs a little," Erlos suggested.

"Yes, please. And I am a little hungry as well."

He chuckled. "Even I feel the same. This time, I'll catch an even bigger fish and we can eat leisurely. We don't have to hurry back to the palace yet."

"Yes. I would love that. Let's spend some more time outside." Ember then glanced at the other side of the river and saw more trees clustered by the riverbank. "Why don't we cross the river? Is that possible? I think that spot near that large red tree beside that boulder is a nice place to camp..."

Erlos hesitated for a moment when he realized where she was pointing. "Do you really want to go to that side of the river, Miss?"

"Well, if it's too much trouble, then there's no need."

However, even as she said those words, her eyes held a look of curiosity at the dense green forest on the other side of the river.

"As you wish, Miss," he agreed, which caused Ember to show him a brilliant smile. Seeing her cheer for something so simple, he no longer doubted his choice. 'It should be fine, I think? Besides, we won't even go near them. Those people don't normally stray outside their villages. Even if they do, I can handle them.'

Ember tentatively looked around. "But is it possible for our horses to cross this river? Is there a shallow part?"

"There is a stone bridge ahead from here. Do you remember? We passed by it yesterday."

"Oh, yes, I remember now," she said. "Well, maybe it's because the impression of you fishing was too strong, I forgot it."

Both urged their horses to a gallop and soon reached the stone bridge. Ember happily crossed that bridge with Erlos in the lead.

As they crossed the body of water, her eyes could not help but widen in awe at the glittering surface of the river, the water crystal clear she could see the lively fishes and the swaying plants at the bottom. Erlos, being his usual chatterbox self, introduced the names of the fishes he could remember, among other things.

"...so the Aquatic Elf Clan love to eat these as delicacies."

"So does this mean the Aquatic Elves live nearby? Is their city among those trees?"

Ember was referring to the forest on the other side of the river. The Forest of the Elves covered a large region, dominating almost a third of the entire kingdom, and thus many kinds of trees and plants thrive depending on which elf clan lives in those parts.

The forest they were approaching happened to give off an ancient and mystical vibe, with large sturdy trees that had numerous branches. Under them, there were countless bushes, shrubs and tall grasses, all filled with vitality.

"Oh, no, Miss. They don't live in this area. Their city is further north, located upstream."

'Does that mean we can stroll around undisturbed?' Her green eyes shone. 'Maybe after we eat, I can ask Erlos to check out this forest before we return to the palace.'

"Miss, this place seems fine. We can stop here," Erlos said as he found an open space with a soft patch of grass and a tree to provide shade. This particular tree was almost at the shoreline, separated by quite a distance from the rest. His eyes glanced at the numerous trees and saw no movements within them. 'They won't come out of the forest around this time of the day as they don't like strong sunlight. It should be fine.'

Erlos stepped down the horse and helped Ember to get down as well. There was no need to tie the horses to the tree; he simply let them graze on the spot he chose. Given they were wild horses, their intuition was good and they also chose to feed on the grass without getting close to the ancient forest.

Ember found herself a dry spot on the grassy ground and sat down while stretching her limbs. 'I apologize, Albina, but sitting on the ground feels so much better.'

Erlos brought down the water and snacks given by the witches and laid them beside the human girl.

"Miss, have this while I go catch a fish." He wished to keep her busy and not wander here and there. "For the meantime, please don't move around without me. There might be poisonous plants or insects nearby."

Ember obediently listened to his warning. After the explosion accident inside the workroom, she promised herself she wouldn't recklessly approach things she didn't recognize or understand.  "I will. Thank you, Erlos."

Erlos removed his boots and rolled his pants so he could enter the river to catch a fish. The water on this side of the river was deeper compared to the other side, and surprisingly, it was not easy to spot a large fish here. There were schools of fishes the size of a finger, but this kind of fish wasn't something he could roast in an open fire.

While the elf was preoccupied in searching for prey, Ember nibbled on the sweet biscuits given by Cornelia's servants. Just as she took the second one from the basket, she sensed movement behind her.

She turned around and looked at the wall of trees, eyes wide with curiosity. 'What's there? A wild animal? Maybe a rabbit?'

Ember looked back at Erlos and saw he was still busy looking for fish. 'I think it got scared when it saw me and ran away.' She resumed eating the tasty snacks.

Meanwhile, Erlos wondered if there was a need to dive in the river or if he should tell Ember to return to the other side of the river. The largest fish he had seen so far were a third of a fist, and if he were to roast that, there would be no meat to eat. Seeing the young miss happily enjoying her snacks, he had no heart to ask her to cross the river again.

"Where are the big fishes? I am not even asking for a fat one. Did those people scared of them so they only gathered on the other side? Well, it's possible since those people are hunters.' he mumbled but didn't wish to give up. "Miss wants to eat roasted fish. I can't disappoint her."

As he walked a little farther from the shore, his sensitive ears caught some sounds, and the next moment, Ember saw Erlos jump out of the water. His nimble body was high up in the air, and when he twisted around, a bow and arrow appeared in his hands out of thin air.

Ember could only raise her head and stare at the young elf with a gaping mouth--

Swish! Swish!

She only heard two sounds, but dozens of arrows left his bow towards her direction. She opened her mouth to let out a scream, but she seemed to have lost her voice, not understanding what was going on. Just as the magic power inside her body was about to erupt, she realized that the aim of the arrows were not her, but something behind her.

Ember immediately turned head back and jumped to her feet when she saw a handful of scary-looking creatures seemingly approaching her. Erlos' arrows had hit the ground in front of those creatures' feet as if to draw a line for them to not come forward.

"W-What are these?"