Prologue Arc: The Olden Days

Chapter Three

"Sickness"

SKRAAAARGH!

CLANG!

The sound of molten glass hitting metal screeched throughout the autumn forest. The battle howled intensely every second as both the Overgrown Knight and the monster in front of him clashed without mercy.

The man cladded in mossy cloak and vine-grown armour swung his onyx-bladed sword against every strike that the fox-creature gave him. The beast that could squash and melt a grown man's body to the bones was at the mercy of the Apostle Hunter. Its paw could not reach the Knight no matter how much it tried. Even while wearing his seemingly heavy armour, the Overgrown Knight was moving at a pace that was obviously inhuman. His greenish cloak was flying left and right, millions of tiny green leaves were flying in the air as he kept dodging the monster's attacks without breaking a sweat.

The fox-creature growled and barked in anger, the infernal abyss that circled beyond the darkness of its eyes were starting to glare in a red-hot colour. With every strike, every pounce, and every bite, all of which were unable to successfully land a hit on the Knight's body, the fox-creature grew more and more distressed. Dozens of steaming hot, acid-like spit landed on the fallen leaves on top of the woodland surface as it kept battling relentlessly; creating a series of black, charred spots that sunk to the dirt.

Then, it roared greatly into the air, jaw unhinged and spread wide open, revealing the creature's molten glass teeth. In just a second later, its movements started to change. The Overgrown Knight had seemingly noticed that his opponent had gotten more erratic, more unpredictable. He was almost unable to dodge some of its strikes.

The fox started to chase it no matter where the Knight dodged. It would strike when it thought that it was close enough, not giving the Overgrown Knight any chance of rest. Many of the trees around it had been brought down by force, all of them bearing the same burned claw marks at their trunks, a great part of their body scooped out very roughly. The arena started to grow wider, the leaf-filled surface was stained with charred dirt and fallen trees.

Without any warning, the fox-creature somersaulted, its massive weight quaked the surface of the earth as it landed with its burning tail hitting the ground into the direction of the Knight.

The tail itself did not hit him, but then several glowing coals suddenly shot forward.

"Ghh!" The Overgrown Knight bit his bottom lip, grazing a flaming rock that flew towards him in great speed. The hem of his mossy green cloak was not so lucky; one of the burning projectiles had just burned through the fabric, creating a steaming dark hole through the green fabric.

"Sir Knight!" Harmony's voice shouted from a clearing outside the battle.

The raven-haired girl was still lying on her rear after the Overgrown Knight had thrown her outside of the battlefield. When he started fighting the beast, Harmony could only watch in awe as her mentor was still standing his ground without being scratched.

But the Knight had no time to rest. The fox-creature started to spin, and with it, an uncountable amount of red coals exploded from its tail.

The air was filled with fire flowers, and the only thing that you could see when you looked up towards the sky was a rain of burning rocks that could pass through a human's body like a hot knife through butter. The fox-creature howled, snout pointed up towards the coal-filled sky, signalling its assured victory.

"HARMONY!" The Overgrown Knight shouted in distress. He knew he wouldn't be able to deflect every projectile, which meant that, if he didn't do something quick, there would be two more unwanted deaths on his hands.

But Harmony had already disappeared from his shadow. The raven-haired girl had jumped from where she lied, before throwing out her arms to envelop the other girl in a protective position. The strange girl—Lydia was her name—was slack-jawed in Harmony's embrace, possibly still out of breath from trying to escape from the beast.

"SIR KNIGHT! ABOVE US!" Harmony shrieked back. Both her eyes closed, and her arms tightening around the strange girl.

Pulling himself out of his trance, the Overgrown Knight looked up, and massive red rocks were already inches away from his face.

FWIP! FWIP! FWIP! The sound of the tiny burning meteors sizzled past their ears. The dead leaves around them didn't just steamed when the rocks landed, but they exploded. The projectiles scattered upon impact, creating a bright giant spark at the surface of the forest. Something sizzled against Harmony's sleeve; a fire flower from the explosion had burned away the fabric. She hissed at the sensation of hot particles sizzling against her skin.

It wasn't enough to deflect them; the Knight quickly shielded the two girls with his large cloak. The explosions started to become more frequent, until all they could hear was chaos and ear-splitting roars of fire. The fire sparks fell one by one on top of the Knight's robe, burning the mossy fabric through until they got to his armour. Harmony could feel the heat around her starting to get more and more intense. One glance up, and she saw the Overgrown Knight's agonised expression. He must be taking all the force of the explosions all to himself.

But then, the Knight raised his sword holding right hand, while his other hand held his cloak above the two girls. Through the smoke of burning fabric, the Overgrown Knight brought the dark blade up to his face, before uttering the words;

"Evocation Spell… Fifth Echelon… Destructive Wave!"

A second later, some sort of spatial started to envelop the lightless blade of the twisted sword, almost as if the space around it was moving on its own. His husky voice still ringing in Harmony's ear, seemingly having some sort of magic on their own. She recognized this action, even if it had been a long time ago, and there was no doubt that he was going to summon some sort of magical attack.

Her hand immediately flew towards the strange girl's hair and forced it down, "GET DOWN!"

With a spin, the Overgrown Knight arose from his crouching position. Without even a moment of hesitation, he struck the woodland floor behind him, facing the fox-creature in the eyes, before sinking his blade as deep as he could with all his strength.

What came after was not short of calamitous. A giant unseen force went off from where the blade of the sword had deeply penetrated. And—like a giant rock tossed into a shallow pond—the ground, the trees, and the air around them started exploded with a ripple. Even the light from the sun bended and waved like space itself had been splashed around. The fire and the smoke were blown back harder than any wind could.

SKRAARGH! The fox-creature was blown back by the unseen ripple. And its enlarged body rolled backwards hopelessly from the spell. What was odd was that neither Harmony nor the strange girl had been affected, almost as if it only worked on a certain distance from the centre of the spatial ripple. Nonetheless, they were no more at the mercy of the fire demon.

The Overgrown Knight pulled his sword from the dirt, its black blade glistening red from what was left of the burning leaves. The world around him was charred black; the trees had several rock shaped holes on their trunks, their roots still aflame and the surface of the forest was nothing more than a smoking mess. There were still the sound of crackling fire around him, risking to be spread to the rest of the mountain range. He waited for his opponent; the fox-creature was still stumbling back on its four feet.

It was in a daze, the Knight concluded, the spell must've knocked him quite hard. But he still cannot lower his defences. He felt at his armour; it was chipped in several different places, the moss and overgrowing roots that once serpentine across his torso had been mostly burned from the rocks, and his cape was in ashen tatters. But with only this much damage, the Knight knew he could still go on if the situation needed him to be. However, both Harmony and the girl that they had saved could be facing bigger risks than rains of burning rocks. If anything, this moment where the fox-creature had still yet to attack was the perfect escape route for the two girls.

"Get up," The Overgrown Knight commanded Harmony, his eyes still facing the fox-creature. "Take the girl somewhere far. I'll hold it off."

"But what will become of you, Sir Knight?" Harmony gasped, choking on the smoke around her. It would seem that she had been staring at the Knight's back for some time now, taking notes at the damage done to his armour, perhaps wondering in worry if it was wise for him to face the demon alone.

"I will be fine," The Knight reassured her, snapping sharply without even turning his head. "Now go!"

Harmony pursed her lips. She didn't waste another second to lift the smaller girl up by the hand. Lydia coughed in her arms, most likely from the smoke, to which Harmony reacted with a sigh of relief now that she was reassured that Lydia was still conscious, even if she was in a state of shock and distress. The apprentice quickly helped the girl to her feet, before fastening her legs towards the shortest, safest way towards the forest, hands still connecting to each other. Then, the two girls were gone.

The Knight was the only one left in that smoking field of burned leaves. The autumn wind blew across his face, but the stench of the smoke was still everywhere. His amber coloured eyes stared intently at the creature in front of him as it had finally gotten to its feet. The Overgrown Knight tightened the grip on his sword, preparing for another attack, before he saw the look the fox-creature had in its abysmal eyes.

As if time stood still, both the Knight and the fox-creature gazed back and forth at each other. And the Knight, what he saw in the look of the demon was nothing short of… tiredness.

The fox-creature was growling deeply, the charcoal-like fur on its snout furrowing in anger. But it did not attack the Knight no matter how long their stand-off lasted. The Overgrown Knight narrowed his eyes, unable to fully understand what the creature was thinking. The look in its eyes was as if it didn't want to fight, but was forced to. With a rather doubtful heart, the Knight sheathed back his twisted blade, wondering if the creature was going to attack him if he did.

Surprisingly, the Knight earned a rather odd reaction from it; when the fox-creature lifted its head, it was almost as if it felt rather relieved. There was a low purr, something between the sound of a fox screech and a cat. In hindsight, the beast was still a terrifying monster in the eyes of a mortal, but the Knight was no ordinary man; he noticed something from the creature that looked quite human.

Then, after a few seconds, it turned its head around before leaping towards the opposite side of the forest edge, disappearing into the darkness. The screeches of the monster mixed into the autumn wind. The Knight closed his eyes and listened; not at the wind, but to anonymity between it.

His suspicion was starting to grow, and it wasn't for the better. When he turned his head to look at the tiny footsteps etched across the burned leaves towards the untouched forest, he furrowed his shadowed brows. A look of militance stared full of antagonism.

In the deeper parts of the forest, where both the smoke and the fire hadn't reach, Harmony was still running for her life, while still burdening another.

"Must be… far enough…" She said in between breaths. Harmony knew just how dangerous it was to stay close to a monster, even more so when the Overgrown Knight has engaged in a fight with it. Her lungs were starting to burn, wondering how long had it been since she had run this much. But alas, she pushed back the thought of resting, she couldn't bear the thought of letting someone get put in harm's way.

The mountain terrain led her upwards, higher towards the top of the hills to a land she had never seen. Her movement were stammered, for she was still leading the stranger with one hand. For as long as she could be fearing how the fox-creature could still be on their trail, she did not care of where she ended up. But the question still stands: where could keep running? Where should she wait for the Knight? What should she do when he fails to return?

"Ugh…"

The raven-haired girl stopped in her tracks, feeling the grip on her palm loosen. Lydia suddenly stumbled down to the leafy terrain behind her, falling to her feet.

"Oh, dear… Hey, are you alright!?" Harmony immediately kneeled down next to the girl. She was taken aback as to how she could feel her trembling madly even when touched by the tip of her finger.

The first thought that crossed Harmony's mind was that she had forced her to run more than she could. But then she felt an odd sensation when her palm rubbed against Lydia's pale arm. There was a little bump, hidden by her sleeve, and it was awfully blue once Harmony had gotten a good look. In panic, it was safe to assume that it happened during one of the fights with the fox-creature.

But for some reason, Harmony had a feeling that it wasn't all there was.

The girl said nothing when the knight's apprentice started to feel her up and down, below her dress and through her collar, before she finally shrieked in confusion.

"W-what are you—?!" Lydia flushed in response to Harmony's recklessness, to which the latter suddenly shot her in the eye with a very serious look.

"You have bruises all over you!" The raven-haired girl snapped, inching closer and closer to the girl she just met, "A-are you hurt?! Did the fox-thing get you?! Erm… How can I help?!"

The smaller girl jumped at the sudden change of tone. But it made Lydia realize just how deep she had been drowning in her own trance; head filled with thoughts of dying, the smell of burning acid against flesh, until she even forgotten of the peril that she had just ran out of.

This girl was… Harmony, if she remembered correctly. "A-ah… No, it's… it's nothing…" She reassured her, rather not thinking about it.

But Harmony's look did not fade away, making Lydia nervous. Her heartbeat was still fastening, making her words coming out not as they are supposed to. The two had just met, and even in the circumstance of life and death, thus Lydia had no idea why she had that look in her eyes. Despite being as shaky and unsure as they were, the way it mirrored her own ember coloured irises reminded her of the eyes of someone she had once known. After the first few seconds, the emotions that bottled up in her chest started to spill out as tears.

The smaller girl started to sob uncontrollably, all the horrors, the pain, the fear of having to go through an agonizing pain like the three kids that had died in front of her. Without even wasting a second, Harmony went to embrace the smaller girl in an awkward hug. But knowing how Lydia started to violently grasp at her collar for control, it made her feel like she had done enough.

Harmony spoke, but somehow, she had sputtered upon her own voice. "E-erm… Do you know where I can take you to safe place? We can't stay here forever, and—"

She stopped midsentence; her throat clogged by the sound of Lydia's cries, guiltily trying to hide her own unsureness behind silence. The raven-haired girl was taught well enough to run away as far as she could from danger, there was nothing she could do to help the Overgrown Knight at her current state, but she hasn't been taught of what she should do when another life was also at stake. The smaller girl probably couldn't run as fast as Harmony could, so the safest solution was to find a shelter for the two to hide in and wait for the Knight to arrive.

But even then, Harmony wasn't even sure that the stranger before her came from anywhere. Why would a little girl be wandering around in the mountains alone? Something told her that there was an untold tale she had yet to know.

"What's your name?" She asked the girl that she held in her embrace.

When the crying started to fade, a small squeak was heard, "… Lydia…"

"Uh… I'm Harmony," The raven-haired girl introduced herself. In her head she kept thinking of what her Sister Julia would do in situations such as these. She then sighed, realizing that it was better to look at Lydia like she was one of her orphan sister's, "It's okay, I'll get you somewhere safe. Do you… do you have a home? I promise I'll take you there. Can you show me where it is?"

"It's… It's with mother," Lydia muttered under her breath, before her breath started to hitch louder and louder, "Mother is… M-mother…"

"W-what's wrong?" Harmony panicked when Lydia cried even louder.

"Please save mother!" The smaller girl cried. Her head shot up, almost hitting Harmony's chin, before the two locked eyes with each other once more, "She's—! I-I don't know what to do!"

"Y-your mother?" The Knight's apprentice's mind ran around in a state of disorder. Something must've happened before she had met Lydia, but did she had the time to think about it when they were still running from the beast? "Can… can you get up? I'll take you to your mother."

Lydia was silent for a couple of seconds, but she complied when Harmony lend out her two hands. She held them both tightly, slowly realizing just how dirty they were compared to hers. Just when she started to stand, she winced at the sudden stinging sensation at her ribs. It was the same place that she was kicked, where she was bruised.

The girl cursed to herself, she must've been tired, which was why the pain was twice more unbearable than before. How shameful she was, being a burden to Harmony by suddenly falling ill.

"Here, I'll carry you," Harmony insisted, quickly turning at her heel to expose her back and bending down, "Come on! We don't have time to lose!"

Those eyes again, Lydia thought to herself. She complied without talking back, slowly letting herself shift her weight against the older girl's body. It was oddly warm, despite that it was covered by a thickly sewn wool. She wrapped her arms around Harmony's neck, and not a second later, the world seemed to rush as she was lifted up.

She saw Harmony pursing her lips before she was carried off on her back, the uneven terrain made her body bob up and down violently.

Lydia could feel Harmony's hammering heart through every inch of her skin, it was madly agonizing, almost as if the girl on her back could feel it hammering inside her own ribcage. But the Knight's apprentice showed no sign of slowing down. She kept leaping over every root and rock that was met in their way, slowing her full speed only half of what it used to be, even with a baggage carried on her back. Truly, this was that overgrown knight's apprentice, Lydia thought when she stared at Harmony in awe. It was as if the raven-haired girl was someone 5 years of her age.

It calmed her down, her horrible thoughts slowly cleared up one by one. Without thinking, she held Harmony tighter, it was the warmest embrace that she had had in a longest time she could remember. All she wanted to do was to keep it to herself.

As they passed through the thick brambles of shrubbery and leaves, Harmony called out to Lydia as loud as she could, "Where do we go?! Is your home close by?!"

Lydia was like a fish out of water, "Y-yes! It's near!"

Harmony thought that it was good enough. Even if her speed was faltered, she knew she had made some great distance from where the Knight had fought the beast. If things went well, she could meet him at wherever Lydia's home was.

Then, just as she stopped thinking, something came to view on the grey horizon. Through the thicket of orange leaves she could see a small thin line of chimney-sized smoke rising up to the sky, and under it was a small, rectangular-shaped wooden house, surrounded by a great number of other wooden houses placed in entirely uneven levels. Harmony's face beamed with joy, just a little further and they would be at safe haven.

The two girls arrived at a clearing, just as they met a small cobblestone path that extended past them, towards a dirt track that disappeared to the other edge of the forest. At their right was a rising path of stone, still a bit further away from town.

Lydia was still in a distressed state, Harmony reminded herself. Was it the right choice to bring her back to her mother? She didn't even know where her home was. It would've been logical to find a medicine man first but… from the way Lydia had sounded earlier, it was as if, whoever her mother was, she was in greater danger.

What would the Overgrown Knight do? What would Sister Julia do?

Harmony took in a deep breath, trying to clear her head, then she observed their surroundings. "It seemed like the fox-creature didn't get here yet. We should bring you to a doctor, I'll gather the townsfolks and find your mother—"

"No!" Lydia snapped, almost choking Harmony when her arms suddenly tightened around her neck, "Mother is… Mother is in danger!"

The raven-haired girl only gulped in response, her brows furrowing with hesitancy. She could feel her arms almost at their limit, her calves burning from her run, and her lungs were starting to cramp from exhaustion. She had yet to see the Overgrown Knight return, and for once she was acting out of the request of someone else. Is this the right decision?

"Show me the way," Harmony ultimately decided, pushing away every last thought of giving up.

With Lydia's direction, the Knight's apprentice raced up the cobblestone path and they finally entered the uneven village of the mountains.

The smell of chimney smoke was everywhere, it was as if they had just finished their breakfast. The rocky cobblestone road underneath them were starting to fill up the spaces between them more tightly as they got deeper and deeper into the village. Wooden houses with stone-like foundations blurred past Harmony, her only thoughts were to follow where Lydia was leading her. But no matter how she tried to ignore it, she couldn't wipe away the thoughts of the village being oddly empty. She had been through small towns and villages before, all of which had their own general customs, and even if she had never been to one that lied deeply in the forested mountains, she knew that it wasn't supposed to be this quiet.

After a few glances here and there, towards the windowsills above her and the alleyways between the houses, her eyes met with a few of the town occupants, all of which were watching her from afar. Their expressions unreadable, as Harmony was still in a hurry, but there was no doubt that everyone that she had passed through had been watching her back; or perhaps, what she was carrying on it.

She stopped on a rather steep flight of stairs down the alleyway between two buildings. It seemed dangerous enough to walk by herself without caution, but even more so when she was carrying a person on her back.

Harmony braced herself and carefully, quickly walked down those flight of stairs. Lydia winced and groaned at every shake and bounce, making the raven-haired girl even more anxious by the second.

It was then that she finally arrived in front of a rundown wooden shack at another edge of the woods, where the flight of stairs had continued and led them to a clearing hidden by the village's uneven footing. It was in an arguably worse condition than the rest of the houses, and it was even more remote than the others, with a shadow from another building that darkened the shack from above.

"Here?" Harmony said to Lydia, just almost out of breath.

"… Here," The smaller girl answered back, Harmony could feel her strength slowly fading even when she was being carried.

She slowly dropped Lydia off of her back, before helping her walk towards her cottage. She limped through the dirt and grass, hastily trying to get to the door. Light seeped into the dark corners of the cottage, the smell of soot and dust overwhelmed Harmony. She was broken out of her trance when Lydia suddenly pushed away from her grip.

"L-Lydia?!" The raven-haired girl gasped, seeing the smaller girl rushing towards what seemed to be a rectangular frame leading a path to another room. She quickly followed suit just as the smaller girl disappeared into it.

There, she saw the light from the windowsill bask upon the sight of an elderly woman; pale, sickly, and unmoving. There was no doubt that it was Lydia's mother.

"No…!" The daughter cooed with tears in her eyes, falling to her knees just beside the bedside, "Please wake up…"

The Knight's apprentice stood under the frame, half-hidden behind the darkness of the living room, the smell of pungent sweat caused her to stop. Her eyes gazed still at the sight of the both of them. The mother didn't look like she had been well for quite some time, therefore the possibility of her being… No! There must still be a chance to save her!

She quickly rushed past Lydia, knees supporting her body on the creaky body as she tried to reach the mother's forehead, her hand flying up just as fast. When Harmony's palm made contact, it was hot, really hot. She started to reminisce; once, in the past summers, where the heat had out-opposed the residents of the clerical church, one of her orphan siblings came down with a heatstroke. Whatever illness Lydia's mother had, it felt just like that.

Harmony's thoughts stopped, remembering something important. She moved back her foot, hand reaching to the back pocket of her tunic pants. And from it, a small teardrop shaped phial.

Lydia eyed the Knight's apprentice through her red, tear-soaked eyes. The phial gleamed a brilliant ruby colour under the sunlight, a small silver chain connected the glass container with its lid, though the size itself could fit inside someone as small as Harmony.

"Dear gods, I hope this works," Said the raven-haired girl through her gritted teeth, leaning her body further towards the face of Lydia's mother, bending down just to reach her lips.

With a slight act of strength, the lid came off with a pop between Harmony's gloved hand. Lydia watched as the ruby liquid entered her mother's mouth, while her head was being held in support by Harmony's other hand. The concoction disappeared into the sickly woman's tongue, and the rest of the contents were violently shaken just to pour out every last drop.

There was only silence after, not even a trace of the smell of whatever that liquid was. Harmony lifted up her body and loomed on the woman's bedside, waiting.

A cough was heard.

"MOTHER!" Lydia squealed, unable to contain her shook. Her two bruised arms held her mother's frame tightly, observing every inch of her face with a hopeful expression.

The elderly woman relaxed, as seen from her face. And her breathing steadied, something Lydia knew had not been possible for the past few months. Yet, the mother was still unconscious, the smell of her sweat started to fade, but the sight of Lydia hiccupping in pure joy was enough for Harmony to breathe a sigh of relief.

She looked back at the empty phial between her palm and held it tight, "Oh, thank the gods… Thank you, Julia…"

If it weren't for her Sister's urging in packing a health potion—a signature recipe any clerical church could concoct in their holy altars—she wouldn't have been able to save this elderly woman's life. But it was without regret, for Harmony realized that she had just wasted the one thing that had reminded her of home.

It was what Julia would've wanted, Harmony told herself, gazing back at the sight of a crying Lydia, knowing that it wasn't in vain.

"I will go get someone to look after the two of you," Harmony told the smaller girl as she got up from the bedside, deciding that she had to go find the Overgrown Knight once she remembered she needed to make sure that they, as well as the rest of the mountain village residents, were safe from the fox-creature, "It won't be long, I promise you."

But before she could turn away and walk out of the room, her wrist was caught between two small hands, gripping weakly but not wanting to let go.

Harmony stared at the kneeling figure of Lydia, her face red and swollen like a tomato, crying as she begged, "Stay… Please…"

"Ah…" The raven-haired girl could feel her throat narrowing, and she made no movement.

Lydia held Harmony's hand closer to her head, as if praying, her body shaking uncontrollably in response, "T-thank you… Thank you…"

The little girl's cries could be heard from outside the cottage, squeaking into the silent morning. As if the world had not changed, the horrors of the fox-creature's attack had soon past, but not without worries. Harmony held the girl in another comforting embrace, mind still muddle in uncertainty of whether or not she should stay or go.

But what she was sure of was that it was her duty.

The woodland surface sat frozen in time as the leaves stopped moving altogether, the wind had not past for some time now. The only sound that could be heard in one part of the woods were from the figure of a cloaked man. His footsteps fade and appear rhythmically, the sound of his armour grazing upon one another by their joints echoed through the autumn forest, but everything stopped when suddenly, as the Knight raised his nose into the canopy, the air was filled with the stench of burnt flesh.

"As I thought," The Overgrown Knight muttered to himself, gazing sharply at empty space.

His head tilted and turned slightly, trying to find the source of the awful smell. He had been wandering around in the woods for quite the number of seconds, trying to track down the fox-creature that had almost bested him in a duel, hoping to put it down before it will try to kill anyone else. At first, he thought that it was all for nothing, but unfortunately, he had just stumbled upon something much more revolting.

There was a massacre just between the trees to the north from where he stood. He could smell sulphur and burning charcoal even from the distance of several dozen feet. Once he actually got closer, he could see it clearer; three bodies, all seemingly young children, mauled and burned to crisp but only at some parts of their bodies, creating a repulsive amalgam of death.

The armoured man stood still, thinking to himself right in the middle of what seemed to have been a feeding. One hand he held over his sheathed sword, for security, as his eyes travelled from one corpse to the other; one lied by the base of a tree, its gut spilled out and burned, the second was melted completely from the face down with only a mush was left of its organs, with the stench of sulphur oozing from it the most, and the other was just a torso split in half, its head an one of its arms still attached, also smelling of sulphur.

These children were not killed recently, perhaps some time before his fight with the demonic beast. None of them had rotted yet, but the fire had been put out. That in itself, made him realize another problem.

"Tch, so it did not go this way, then. I was too late," Said the Knight to himself, before grimacing, realizing a terrible fact, "None of these children were devoured whole, yet the creature obviously had the capability to do so. Is it not feral? If so, what other reason did it had to attack them?"

He needed to hurry his investigation, reminding himself of two little girls that were still wandering around in the woods, in risk of being killed by the still-loose fox-creature.

He continued to explore the clearing, noticing more and more things as he did. His boots had found footing in the middle of a four-toed footprint track, burned into the soil like charcoal, big enough to fit his entire sole. The dried leaves had whitened in some areas, and blackened in another. A sword lied idle by the ground next to the melted boy, untouched, shattered. He bent down on one knee, observing the broken weapon; it didn't seem like any of these kids had managed used it on the fox.

His eyes travelled upwards slowly, past the body of the melted boy, until he came across another set of footprints. Smaller, and much further away from the carnage, leading into the forest. At first, the Knight thought that it was just the footprint of one of the corpses, but then he saw how, just next to it, the burned tracks of the fox-creature were following suit.

"Someone got away," The Overgrown Knight said under his breath, "Was it the girl from earlier? Then this would mean…"

FWIP! The sound of something flying at him filled his ears.

The Overgrown Knight's hand jumped from his sheathed sword to beside his ear, his gloves just barely tightening around something speeding at him before the tip could penetrate his skull. Someone had fired an arrow at him, but he couldn't see whom. Then, somewhere from the forest, someone shouted.

"SOMEONE'S HERE!"

The Knight quickly got into a stance, not wasting any time to observe at the enemy. But just before he realized it, he had found himself surrounded.

There were at least 10 to 15 people just at the edge of the clearing, each armed with either a spear or a bow, and only some had a sword in their hands. When they moved closer, the Knight could finally see their faces, and who they seemed to be; simple villagers, all were men who wore tunic and with less to no armour. There were some who fashioned chainmail, and another, tubbier man, who wore protective plates with more the defence, possibly the leader.

"You've got ten seconds to explain who you are, or else we'll kill you!" Said one of the villagers, his spear pointing straight at him.

The Knight clicked his tongue; he knew from their perspective that he would seem like a dangerous individual, standing in the middle of a massacre of little children, "I come in peace! I did not kill these children!"

"Liar!" Screamed the man in metal plate armour, his face contorting in anger, "I know what you fucking are! You're one of those magic freaks, aren't you?! I'll kill you before you can terrorize any of us again!"

"Again?" The Overgrown Knight raised his eyebrow, before sharpening his gaze again, "You misunderstand! I am here to help! A feral beast did this, I have sparred with it but it got away, and I sought out to kill it before it could hurt anyone else!"

They were dangerously close now, almost all of them had closed away all paths of escape. The Knight was still in his stance, trying to intimidate those who got too close.

"You'll come with us!" Shouted another one of the villagers, "Then we'll see if that's true or not!"

"NO!" Another shouted at him, "He's too dangerous to keep alive! He's not human, I tell you! He's the one who fucking killed these boys!"

The one in metal plate armour dove straight at him, his sword raised above his head, trying to strike the Overgrown Knight at his nape. But the Overgrown Knight said nothing, with one swift motion, the blade was in his gloved hand. The metal plated man had no time to prepare himself as his entire arm was caught in the Overgrown Knight's grip, before being slammed downwards onto the leafy surface with a BANG! without even showing a single effort.

The entire group of armed villagers stared in awe as the Overgrown Knight now held the sword that was once belonged to their leader. But just as quickly as the metal plated man had fallen, the sword was suddenly broken into two, and the Knight did it with only his bare hands.

"Either we have a civil discussion," The Overgrown Knight raised his voice for each villager to hear, "Or we can battle!"

But none of them moved a muscle. They all exchanged glances, unable to comprehend what had just happened before them; there was a high chance that they had never seen an Apostle Hunter before, and their reaction to the Knight's strength explained it.

The two pieces of the sword fell to the woodland floor hopelessly, and the Overgrown Knight spoke again, "I wish to see your leader! Your actual leader! There is a beast roaming in these woods, and it more powerful than all of you combined? You all have families, do you not? We must warn them before it returns to kill more children!"

None of the villagers said a word, they didn't seem like they had trusted the Knight that much. Below him, the Knight heard a painful wheeze.

"Bastard…" Said the man in metal plated armour, still stumbling to get up. The Overgrown Knight observed him closer, and had found that the man was in tears, "I'll pay what you did to my little boy!"

The Knight didn't immediately react, he closed his eyes and let himself calm down, "I'm so sorry for what had happened, but please believe me, I will not ask for anything else. All I am asking you all is your cooperation. I know what did this, and I am here to help."

There were murmurs around the group of men that surrounded him, but it seemed like they were starting to ease. Some helped the metal plated man up and away from the Knight before they finally decided to put down their weapons and started discussing the matters at hand. The Overgrown Knight was still being surrounded by a few men, the others were starting to look around them in horror, still taken aback by the massacre, which are highly understandable. Some tried to cover all three bodies up with their cloaks to prevent their smell from oozing again.

"How do we know we can trust you?" One of the men that surrounded him snapped sharply; his spear held adjacent to the ground in front of him, "Who even are you, anyway?"

"I am an Apostle Hunter," The Overgrown Knight answered without hesitation, "My duty is to deal with those who do not obey the natural order of the gods. And in circumstances such as these, I find myself being within my duties."

"I heard o' yous," An elderly bowman gruffly said, "T'was a long time ago. A little babe I still am when I heard stories about yous. Thought you people work with friends."

The Knight didn't answer at once, "… Not me, this time I am alone."

"Never met one of you before," The spearman said. Then, his eyes landed upon the hilt of his twisted blade, "That's some odd sword you got there, What, do you just wander around looking for monsters to kill?"

"Like I said, my duty is to fix the natural order of things," The Overgrown Knight chastised as he leaned on one foot, his gloved hand landed upon his sheathe once more, "My blade is used as a last resort only, and also for opponent's that are more powerful than a mere mortal, as I have demonstrated on your friend over there."

The man in question was watching them from afar, his plated armour dirtied from his fall. He was sitting on his knees next to a body of a boy, the corpse's melted form covered by a large cloak, and the man itself had an expression that could only be described as hateful. The boy in front of him must have been his child, now what was left of it was a disrespectful mess, left behind to die by an unknown beast.

The metal plated man looked away and muttered something under his breath, "Sickness…"

The Overgrown Knight harrumphed to himself and decided that it was a waste of time to deal with the man's manners, and glanced back to the villagers around him, "That being said, may I ask how you all are so well-armed? I did not expect a rather developed village close-by."

But to his annoyance, they brushed him off, "That's not important right now. What can you tell us about this so-called beast of yours?"

"I'd prefer it if I know what I am risking other than my life," The Knight crossed his arm, "Call it professional courtesy; I will make sure not to let more harm come to your community, that is if I'm allowed to ask how I am supposed to do that."

"Fine, fine. Alright," The spearman grumbled in annoyance, "Our community doesn't have that many people, mind you. We're mostly rock sellers, sometimes we're hunters too, as you would already know that crops don't grow well on mountaintops."

He then pointed a thumb to himself, before he started introducing everyone one by one, starting from himself.

"I'm Laefy," The spearman told the Knight, "The old one with the bow here is Joergen, the one wearing chainmail here is Frederick, and that feller you just knocked out earlier was Iohannes."

There was a moment of silence, then the Knight pointed at the ground all over the clearing, "These are pawprints of the beast I just fought, the one that killed all these children. And the wound marks these bodies have are similar to those from foxes and canines, as you can see from the one over there with a claw mark."

The villagers were all observing said marks, including the ones left on the corpses, it was apparent that they were starting to see some sense in the Knight's words.

"But it's not just any foxes," The Overgrown Knight added, "It was some sort of magical beast, something not of this mortal plane. It is the first time I have seen it, too. I suspect it being an apostle, a new one native to this territory. But its actions when I fought it was no less to that of an animal."

He then waved his half-burned cape and ran his hand down his blackened armour. "The damage it has done is destructive. Quite possibly it has an affinity to fire; not unheard of, but not common to my knowledge either."

"You reckon these are caused by… magical beasts?" The young, chain-mailed man called Frederick, asked.

"Bollocks!" Joergen the old one shouted indignantly, "Our village'd not even seen a glimpse o' a wisp for fifteen damn years! The only thing tha's causin' this is black magic, and our community condemns it! Magic's a sickness!"

Laefy nodded his head, "Our community has been mostly peaceful, there's no reason why this had to happen to these boys."

"You said something about magic once terrorizing your community," The Knight asked them, trying to achieve as many information as he could get of the beast as possible, "Was it something related to a beast?"

"No, it's…" Laefy suddenly stopped talking, almost as if he was reminiscing a great hardship, "It was about a wizard who used to be part of our community."

"Was it how you got these weapons of yours?"

The spearman raised his eyebrow, seemingly surprised, "It was a long time ago, a gift from the feudal lord that used to run some part of the mountains."

The Overgrown Knight nodded his head, somewhat understanding their situation. However, there were still things that didn't add up. As far as he knew, it was the only village with a ruling lord for miles. Why were their community so remote?

His best deduction would be that these people had had a history with magic, and perhaps its consequences too. If he didn't know better, this feudal lord that they were talking about must have had a part in what was happening long ago, too. Their weapons were perhaps used to protect themselves from this so-called wizard, not to wage wars, as told by the mysterious incident that caused them to learn of the dangers of magic. What he needed to know was if it would bring him closer to killing the beast.

"And what did he do?" The Overgrown Knight asked them.

"He made a deal with the devil," Laefy continued, his face darkening, "Caused a lot of great troubles, it did. You don't think this and that could be connected, do you?"

"Depends, the consequences of magic are never always absolute," The Knight told them.

"But we don't know anything about magecraft."

"And if it was connected?"

The villagers in front of him all exchanged uneasy glances, as if they had just come to a terrible conclusion.

"Then…" One of them finally said, "We probably know who might be behind this."

"My mother used to tell me this story a lot."

In the edges of the forest, where the light started to dissipate between the branches of the autumn oak, two little girls could be seen hiding in the clearing, hidden by the thick trees that surrounded them.

"There was once a selfish man who lived his wife. He wished for happiness but was never satisfied, so he went to the mountains to bargain with a god for all sorts of things."

A splash of water was heard. From a rusty metal pail, a stream of clear liquid rushed down onto the thin grass, and one of the girl's naked body was drenched from shoulder to back, bathed completely in the coldness. Raven-coloured hair glistened brightly from the wetness, dangling down the girl's face as she hung her head low. The afternoon sunlight coloured Harmony's bare and wet body in a healthy tan, clear of dirt and filth as the water washed them down.

Behind her was a braid-haired Lydia, naked from her hair to her toes, save for a large piece of cloth that was tied around her waist, covering her from the crotch to her knees. She scrubbed the other girl's body gently with a piece of sponge, held tightly with her two hands. Her voice was soft as she spoke into the thin mountain air.

"The man bargained everything he used to have and he got himself a patch of land to grow wheats in. And from it, village also started to build in his land. But still he was unsatisfied. The man then bargained his crops for metal like silver and steel. And from it, he armed his village with tools, waging battles and winning against a noble lord. And even then, he was still unsatisfied."

Once she was done scrubbing, Lydia squeezed the dirty water to the ground, clearing the sponge before dipping it back into the metal pail that was laid next to her bare feet. A small volume of water was still left, and it was just enough to cleanse the rest of the filth off of Harmony's skin.

"The man kept bargaining and bargaining, but he couldn't see how the god tricked him into giving more than he earned," Lydia continued as she started scrubbing the apprentice's arms one by one, "One day, when his crops had all but left and his riches depleted to a single silver, he realized that he had been cheated. And, to a selfish man like him, all the things he had been bargaining for became nothing more than a burden."

A bird chirped in the distance, followed by the sound of water splashing onto the dirt. There was a moment of silence before Lydia cleared her throat.

"With nothing but suffering left, he decided to cheat the god back. He bargained all his pain into his firstborn child, including all of what was left of his dying village and its people. With this bargain, the god sent down an uncurable plague, and the villagers couldn't do anything to stop it," Her voice started to break, pausing in several words more than once, "His wife was also caught in its massacre."

"Then what happened?" Harmony suddenly asked, head turning past her shoulder to look at her smaller friend.

"Then…" Lydia pursed her lips, almost as if she was trying to remember the rest of the story, "The man decided to leave the village and his dying wife, thinking he was finally freed. But little did he knew that the god had still not gotten the end of their first bargain. And because of it, the god took the selfish man's life when his villagers declared mutiny. Only then that his bargain had all been paid."

Harmony slouched back on her two arms, exposing her small bare breasts to the autumn wind. Her eyes looked down onto the grass, an expression of musing etched across her half-wet face, "What happened to his child?"

"Now it carries all of its father's burden and pain for the rest of its life, unloved by no one and hated by everyone."

The raven-haired girl's silence was filled with a pregnant semblance, so did Lydia's after she had finished her tale.

When the smaller girl was done with her scrubbing, she proceeded to put away her sponge before lifting the metal pail and what was left of its contents and splashed it all down Harmony's body. The raven-haired girl shivered in response, still not used to the coldness of the mountainous river water.

"Ahh~ That feels good!" She squealed joyfully as she stood up from the tree trunk.

The raven-haired girl then observed herself; a dried scar left behind by the fox-creature's attack darkened the skin under her bicep, but the cold water that washed over it had made it numb, even when Harmony had caressed it with her own fingers. Everything else was dripping wet, the dried leaves and grass under her were starting to darken from the puddle that had built up from her own bath water. But she had not felt fresher from since she had started travelling with the Overgrown Knight.

"Yep! Everything's clean!" Harmony giggled in satisfaction, "So this how it feels like to take bath after not having one in weeks! I can't thank you enough for this!"

"Y-you're welcome," Lydia said, stammering against her words, "A-and, you can bathe as much as you wish… As thanks for saving me…"

"Don't sweat it!" Harmony reassured her, smiling proudly as she walked around the stump and towards a nearby tree. The girl's figure glistening under the afternoon sun, light bounced off of her wet curves as a lone ray of light shot down from above between the leaves. She reached for where the light fell, onto the nearest branch to the nearest tree that held a piece of towel, like the one Lydia had wrapped around her waist.

Meanwhile, Lydia was cleaning up her bathing equipment; the pail that she once used to carry clear river water was now filled with the filth and dirt that contaminated whatever liquid was left, perhaps from cleaning both her and Harmony's bodies, leaving brownish wet spots all over the insides of the pail. She squeezed her sponge again, making sure that it was completely dry, before using it to scrub the pail completely. She bent her body forward, the metal pail on its side, placed right on top of the lone tree trunk before her. The cloth that covered her crotch could only cover so much, leaving her buttocks exposed to the cold wind.

She sighed to herself, letting the wind pass and the sunlight warm her body once more. Her mind still filled with thoughts of awe, particularly at how shockingly dirty Harmony was. Had it not for the wounds on both their bodies that needed a proper wash, she could only imagine how uncomfortable it would have been for Harmony if she was let to stay uncleaned for heavens knows how many more months. Lydia shook her head, reassuring herself. She ran a hand against her braided hair, making sure that it was not loose, before she returned to cleaning the pail.

Once Harmony had finished drying her body, including her hair which was now an unruly rendition of what once was, she stared off into the depth of the woods, "Sir Knight sure is taking his time…"

Her expression was almost as if she was expecting the Overgrown Knight to pop out from the woods at any second, only to be sourly disappointed when he didn't.

"It would be dangerous if the fox returns," She mused, but her voice had a hint of worry, "I don't know how I will be able to save the village all by myself."

The smaller girl eavesdropped from afar, but she said nothing. To be more precise, she had nothing to say to Harmony, already knowing how, even after all her worry, she would still not lose hope that the Overgrown Knight was still alive out there, somewhere, tracking down and battling the beast without end.

He didn't look all that great, a voice in Lydia's head said. But her mind kept rewinding back to when the man had performed incredible feats in front of her eyes. All the doubts in her mind should've been cleared, the Knight would surely come victorious, much like how Harmony had envisioned him to be. But no matter what the reality was… Lydia felt like it was the worst possible outcome.

"Hey, Lydia," Harmony suddenly said, "How's your bruises? Does it still hurt somewhere?"

"Eh? Er… No, I'm fine…" The smaller girl answered her back in a hasty sort of way, almost as if she had just been shocked out of her mind.

"Good! I was worried that I was still clumsy in emergency aids," Said the Knight's apprentice, shaking her head as if remembering something, "Me and Sir Knight came to a small village some weeks ago, you see? There, a carriage rider tumbled down a ditch and his leg was stuck under the cart. Sir Knight made me wrap a cast by myself, and even though the carriage rider bid his thanks, I still don't think that I'm cut out for it."

Lydia glanced past her bare shoulder when a moment of silence passed, gazing onto Harmony's naked form, lifting her dress and shoes off of the ground as she did. Then, without saying anything, she threw away her face. Even if she looked like she had something that she finally wanted to tell.

After a while, Lydia finally opened her mouth, "… Umm…"

"Hm? What is it?" Harmony called back; her towel wrapped down her shoulders.

"Why… why are you travelling with that Knight?" Lydia hid her face, not being able to look the raven-haired girl's face when she asked that question.

But Harmony was ecstatic enough to respond to her, "Well, because I want to be the greatest knight ever!" she said while striking a rather confident pose.

When Lydia was done cleaning, she slowly walked towards Harmony while carrying the metal pail in her hands, "U-umm… I've never heard of a girl knight, before…"

"Huh?! You too?!" Harmony exclaimed, causing Lydia to feel rather taken aback, "Not only Sister Julia but everyone else too, huh?! Dangit… if only all the kingdom's knights are girls!"

Lydia placed down the metal pail and began undoing the knot on the cloth that covered her waist. Near the tree that they stood next to were two piles of clothes, each belonging to Harmony and Lydia. The fabrics were strewn about, but was dry enough for them to wear. Their naked bodies steamed the air around them, the waters that were stuck to their skin started to evaporate as their body temperature rose.

The smaller girl started to dry herself with the piece of cloth after untying it from her waist, "Sister Julia was… the one who made that health potion, wasn't she?"

"Yeah, she is the best! She's very smart and taught me everything I know," Harmony told her as she had already started dressing herself with her own clothes, "She's just like my own ma' but… Sister Patricia is also like my ma'… so does that mean I have two ma's? Hmmm…"

It was no mystery to Lydia that Harmony came from a clerical church and grew up with a number of children. The both of them had exchanged stories with each other about their lives when they bathed, but to know that the Overgrown Knight and Harmony were once strangers were shock to Lydia.

She herself had never seen a clergy, but from the stories that Harmony told gave her enough idea of what it was like. Even if Harmony did not dress like one.

When Harmony was still busy thinking, with only her tunic on and nothing to cover her from the crotch down, Lydia spoke once more, "Aren't you… sad that you left them?"

"Of course, I'm sad," Harmony answered her without looking, "But I made a promise to my family. And I haven't finished my knight training, after all."

Lydia started putting her dress on herself, her lips pursing impatiently, "Did… they really accepted that?"

"Well… they did want be to become a cleric at first," Harmony said, her voice turned sour.

"Then, why did you leave?"

"Because I don't want to become a cleric!" The raven-haired girl yelled out, but it faded just as quick as it appeared, "I wanted to become the greatest knight in history for as long as I can remember! I don't want to waste my life doing something I don't like!"

"But they'd hate you for it, wouldn't they?" Lydia suddenly pressed her, "What would your father say?"

Only when Harmony turned around to face her with a rather shocked look, did Lydia realize just how inappropriate she had acted when she asked that question while raising her tone. Her face flushed in embarrassment, before fully turning it away, not able to face Harmony once more.

When the raven-haired girl decided to speak, it struck a nerve on Lydia, "… I've never met my father. Sister said that she had found me long ago by their doorstep… I didn't even have a note on me, or a name. All I know is that I've been in the clergy for as long as I can remember."

Harmony was looking away again, perhaps still reminiscing over a painful memory that she had once buried, only to be unearthed once more.

"It's not like… you know… I don't want to become a cleric," She added, sighing a little, "I just can't. I'm not like my siblings, or my Sisters. And well… it's probably 'cause I also don't know who I came from, too. And I don't want to wait until I do."

The smaller girl fidgeted uncomfortably, realizing what she had done. "S-sorry…"

An awkward silence overwhelmed them, even the autumn breeze stopped passing by just to bathe them in the lukewarm ray of afternoon sunlight.

"But it's alright!" Harmony suddenly said aloud. Another smile was etched across her face, "I have Mister Knight now! And he's like a father to me, even if he never takes baths, always runs off and never tell me when he'll be back, and forces me to drink mushroom stew every morning."

Even if Lydia couldn't understand, she could see it from her face. Never once had she seen a smile as genuine as Harmony's. Even after telling her how she had once been abandoned, the knight's apprentice did not seem to show as if it was weighing her down.

It was admirable, to say the least. Even Lydia was still shaken after being chased by a monster, but Harmony had brushed it off an hour later almost as if it was nothing; just a pebble in her path.

"My Sister and my siblings all believe in me," Harmony said indignantly, facing Lydia completely, eyes staring into one another, "I have to make sure that what they believe in comes true!"

She then finished tying her own pants, hastily stretching her legs to let them fit perfectly into the leather. When Harmony finally started to fit into her own shoes, Lydia still had her eyes unmoving from the girl. A ghastly stare seemingly started to slowly imprint itself onto her ember eyes, but no sound managed to amass itself from her throat. It was as if her mind had stopped thinking completely, or rather, she was waiting.

Lydia wasn't completely sure what she was waiting for. Perhaps longing, for an emotion, similar to that Harmony had confidence enough to dream in. The stories she told, was nothing compared to what the girl beside her had promised to make, or at least that was what Lydia believed. It was so easy to see it; a ladylike Harmony in a suit of armour. But when Lydia pictured herself in the same spot… she couldn't. She waited, and waited, and waited, but she couldn't see it. She couldn't feel it.

The more that she tried, the more it felt like it was burning her chest. Almost as if a piece of ember was pulling down at her heartstrings. And what was worse, she knew exactly what was causing her this uncertain twang.

But she was sure of one thing; that if the Overgrown Knight did return, she would never see Harmony again. This moment with her was the happiest memory Lydia ever had. And that thought of being left alone was stronger than the confusion that mucked her mind. If only Harmony wouldn't leave. If only something forced her to stay. Then maybe… maybe she'd understand.

"Hey… Harmony…" Lydia suddenly spoke, her voice low, almost croaky, "I'm… I'm actually…"

She stopped talking, her hand pausing just as she was tying the ribbon around her waist. Then, her ears perked up at the sound of clamouring. From the path in the middle of the forest where they had once taken, towards the direction of the cottage where Lydia's mother was resting, a number of small indistinct chatters were heard; someone was coming.

Harmony and Lydia both exchanged wary glances. The two of them hurriedly clothed themselves, and a few seconds later, a group of men emerged from the woods.

"Eh?" A rather stern looking man, clad in light armour while sporting a spear spoke out when his eyes were laid upon the two little girls, "Who's the other one?"

"Looks like a thief," Another man—much older than the others—said as he appeared behind the one before him, a bow strapped around his shoulder, "We should bring 'er in, too."

The raven-haired girl knew that they were talking about her, and by the tone of how they spoke, they weren't planning on letting her explain herself. The other men that followed suit, all started marching out into the open field, and before the two girls knew it, they were already surrounded. The two girls had their faces flushed in alert, unknown if the men in front of her were of heinous intentions.

Both Harmony and Lydia were still had somewhat an unfixed appearance, with their belts loose and shirts untucked, but they didn't have time to do anything about it, nor did it seem like they had the opportunity to do so.

"No, this must be the companion that Knight feller was talking about," A man said to the others after he got a good look at the two girls.

"Can't be, that one's hasn't gotten a sword on her," Another answered him, "What kinda apprentice walks around armless?"

"It's a kid, Joergen," A man with a spear told him scoffingly, "Let's just get the redhair and be done with it."

"Oh, shut up, Laefy ye daft bastard," Joergen spat back, "After wha' happened today, and wha' happened six years ago, yer still gonna believe that some bint in a mossy armour ain't like the rest of 'em? We don't know what he damn well wants with us, and I know it ain't what he say it is!"

Harmony's heart sank just a little at the mention of the Overgrown Knight with such disrespect, and it troubled her more that, by how they spoke about him, it was almost as if it was because of the Overgrown Knight that these mysterious men were there at that moment, and he was unable to help his own apprentice.

The raven-haired girl took a defensive stance, brushing off every last bit of worried thought she currently had, her back pointed towards Lydia's still form. It was no mystery that these men knew of the smaller girl behind her, but it wasn't clear to Harmony if they were people she knew. She tried to recall all the lessons the Overgrown Knight had taught her, most of it having fleeing as the first resort. But it seemed like there was no way she could run out of this, not when there was the possibility of having to leave Lydia behind.

There must be someway she could escape with Lydia like she did before. But these people weren't beasts. People were unpredictable and smart. Running around piggybacking Lydia all over the forest would've been the worst possible idea she could come up with.

Her thoughts were cut short when she felt a hand grabbing at her shoulder from the side, "Hey, be careful, that girl behind you is—"

"NO!" She cried as loud as she could, surprising the man which the hand belonged to. The raven-haired girl then quickly retreated back, urging Lydia with her.

The other men just seemed shock, but Harmony did not lower her gaze. She kept eyeing each and every one of them, while forcefully pushing Lydia further back to protect her. The man who had touched her was the most agitated, he wore a chainmail armour and had the youngest complexion when compared with the others. Perhaps he didn't expect such reaction from a little girl.

"What the hell are you doing, Frederick?!" The spearman called Laefy shouted at him angrily.

"I was trying to warn her!" The man named Frederick exclaimed, his face burning red, "She's protecting the Sickness, doesn't she know that?!"

Harmony said nothing, she kept thinking about how these people seemingly didn't even know Lydia's name. They keep calling her as if she was something unnatural. It was worse that some of the men with them agreed with him.

She had no idea what to expect from the strangers. All she knew was that she couldn't trust them.

Just when Harmony was starting to question what they were talking about, she was reminded of the existence of the girl behind her. She took a slight glance at Lydia, who was still silent, but the moment Harmony noticed her blank, wide-eyed expression, she realized that perhaps Lydia had not been the most honest.

"Listen, listen, you two," Leafy said towards both the girls in exasperation. He managed to sigh aloud, cutting off the heated debate that was starting to rise, "Obviously, you don't understand what is going on here. You're the Knight's apprentice, aren't you?"

Harmony perked up at the mention of her name, "Where is he?"

"He's waiting. For you," Laefy told her, his spear placed in a standing position right before him, "Look, this is never about you… Miss…"

"Harmony."

Laefy nodded, his hands gesturing for her to ease herself, "Right. All we want is the girl. The Knight also wants the girl. We won't be bothering you again, I promise. Hell, you can come with us, if that's what you want. You're free to do anything so long you leave the girl alone."

"… I want to meet him now," Harmony said, her voice shaky, "I want to meet Sir Knight."

"He'll explain everything to you, after you hand us the girl."

"She's staying!" Harmony yelled, her thoughts starting to go back and forth on what she should do.

"That can't happen," Laefy's voice sounded even more grim, almost as if he was losing his patience, "Do you even know what that thing is? Three kids're dead, and the only hope we have to stop more from dying is that girl behind you."

A pause, only the sound of her heartbeat deafened Harmony's ear. They were trapped, and for the Knight's apprentice, it was between the choice of obediently following their command, or to flee. Both of which, she thought in her head, had as much uncertainty as the other. She kept hoping that perhaps the girl behind her would finally speak with her own voice, speak anything that could help them at that moment.

… But she didn't.

"Look at her," Laefy pressed once more, his tone rising, "She's not denying it, is she? Come here, dear. It will be easier for all of us if you do."

"You're lying!" Harmony shouted, "Lydia, she's—"

"I said, come here, Lydia!" The spearman immediately cut her off, his expression contorting in impatience. He was at his wits end.

"I want Sir Knight!" Harmony started to lose her voice, she could feel daggers staring at her from all around, "I'm not letting you take her anywhere until—Lydia?!"

It was then that she realized that she was not shielding anyone anymore. The braided girl was now in front of her, walking softly towards the group of men, almost as if she was in a trance. When she passed Harmony, the latter could only see an expression of hollowness, which struck deeply at her heart, as if a part of her was trying to say that her friend couldn't have betrayed her.

But Lydia didn't even glance at Harmony, not even once. Her pace fastened when she was already halfway between Harmony and Leafy, and as if time had stopped, the raven-haired girl could finally see the faces of their attackers one by one, smiling in satisfaction and relief.

It only took her just a split second to grab the metal pail behind her, before chucking it as strong as she could towards the spearman. With a loud bang, and a pained yell, Laefy stumbled backwards as the pail smashed against his face.

In front of him stood Lydia, almost thunder-struck at what she saw, but she had no time to process her shock when someone suddenly grabbed at her right wrist and pulled her forward, turning her into a running mess.

"HEY! GET THEM!" The sound of Joergen's furious bark echoed throughout her ears, but all Lydia could focus on was how Harmony had pulled them out of the corner, past Laefy's dazed form, and made the both of them disappear into the darkness of the autumn woods, saying nothing to Lydia even when they were already deep into their escape. The smaller girl's heartbeat felt like it just stopped, disappearing into the rush as she obediently followed the pace of the raven-haired girl's dash.

They quickly trailed the light dirt path, towards the direction back to the mountainous village. They could hear shouting behind them, but none were brave enough to look. All they had was just time, and one small chance to escape.

But to do that, Harmony needed to find the Overgrown Knight.

To be continued...