LACRIMA

CHAPTER 4

''Yes of course it is ,you barmy.''
"It can't be real"
"It can never be"
"Well why not?"
"How can it?"
"It's official now ,Gideon you have had too much to drink. You're  hearing freaking voices."
"Well then again I've started to daydream about my favorite memories of my childhood"
"Did it really happen?"
"How are they real?"
'"How much of a fool would I be to believe this"
He kept thinking out loud, as his horse and himself roamed the thick forest.
"did you see how big they were?" he asked as he got off from his horse.

"Those feathers, so light yet thick, so dark yet breathtaking, so.... humongous, yet simply... " he got lost with words explaining to his horse.

He looked up gazing at his surroundings. His previous sense of alertness and apprehension was gone now, but the disappointment and frustration of not finding witches and the confusion from his visions had taken over. If he doesn't find any witches going back, it wasn't just a night long alcohol binge that he would lose. It might very well also be his ribs, canines and ears. Banner was not the merciful type. although the old wolf was just a civilian now, he has near a millennium's worth of military experience. That means he knows how to torture even the toughest of wolves if they're unfortunate enough to displease him. His goons, while weak on their own, both of them together can decapitate a bear twice their size. People in that village are extremely lucky that their pack isn't the criminal type.

When he started to feel overwhelmed, he tried to do the breathing technique he used earlier in the morning but just as he was reaching a perfect calm, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a shadow moving behind a tree. Immediately alert, he stopped the horse, making it look like he wants to take something out of the saddle bag. This gave him a better view backwards. Subtly scouting the forest, he saw nothing, which made him doubt himself for a second and think that maybe he'd gone mad. Voices in his head, illusions of wings, and now he's seeing things. But just as he was about to turn away, he saw the end of a dress behind one of the trees.

He wasn't crazy Afterall. Knowing he was being followed, bizarrely, gave him a sense of thrill. It meant there were witches here indeed.

He must've been right and the witches just scattered before he could enter their nest. But how would they know he was coming? sone kind of protection spell? The plateau was eerily devoid of smells and sounds...it must have been a side effect. Or maybe it was all a trap?

With all of these questions in his mind, he realized he was being distracted. So he decided to push away any thought that attempted to intervene with his focus.

He paid close attention to the aggravating steps behind him, his follower was shifting between trees as fast as they could but they weren't as fast as they wished, nor as silent. Whoever was following him is not good at it. the shuffling of feet became more hesitant the longer Gideon stayed silent. They were growing suspicious. Realizing this, Gideon decided it was best to not let them know that they've been spotted, so he kept his talk to the ground, the trees and the poor horse.
"I got it, I understand everything" he said with a wide proud grin. He stopped in his tracks "wait I got it right? I mostly got it. that means I understand most of it but not all of it." his grin turned into a small twisted one, They're back to their rhythm. left tree, middle, right, left, right, middle, left and repeat.
"yes of course" he said laughing at his horse, "I slightly get it now" as if the horse understood what he just said.
"I'm still a little bit confused though" he said narrowing his brows. He could still hear his follower's footsteps. Judging by the amount of time they've been following him, it was evident they weren't a witch. Or any attacker for that matter. Attackers are hasty, impatient. They would've attacked by now after seeing that he was alone. This realization came with its own sense of disappointment. 1 witch wouldn't have sufficed to pay for his debt, but it was still something.

"I have no idea at all, that's it" he said with his hand falling helplessly.

"I'm going to-" he stopped walking, deciding to call them out finally. His follower obviously doesn't pose a threat, so concealing the fact that he had spotted them would serve no purpose.

"Would you please move faster or stop in total. I know when I'm being followed" he yelled to his mysterious follower.
But no voice was heard as he spoke nor after that. Annoyed and furious, he turned around to look at them and why they won't respond. No sight of anyone.

He yelled again, "show your face at once, we both know you can't harm me, so whatever it is you want, demand it upfront."
No response came.

He gave them a few additional minutes to change their mind and then he continued, "Then don't come in my way."

Just when he thought his follower was scared off, he heard a noise in the bushes at his near west. Gideon simply slipped it out of his mind as some loose deer and resumed his journey. If acknowledging them doesn't work, ignoring them should do just fine.

"You know, people in Virea view talking to yourself as one side effect of a curse or some mad devil's leftover. You should keep your thoughts to yourself" a silky female voice echoed through the forest not so far from him.

"Glad you've decided to put on your big girl pants and come out of hiding." he said, with a bit of annoyance in his deep voice. He didn't bother to look at them. Ignorance was still his policy.

"Well I have decided to say how annoying your voice sounds let alone your foolish rambling about how far your stupidity goes." she said, with a proud laugh.

Deciding to ignore the insult, he kept moving along.

"What did you see anyway, that got you rambling to this poor horse?" she asked. For someone who has kept themselves hidden this whole time, she seems too interested in his ramblings.
"Do you stay quiet every time you're around other people? Is your horse the only one you talk to?" she asked.

No answer again. She was proving to be more annoying than he thought. Why is she following him?

"so as you said-" she began, but he cut her off.

"Would you please stop that persistent, annoying flow of noise that comes out of your mouth!"

"How dare you? Its not just annoyance that flows from my mouth but rather a diversity of things. I could teach you-"

"This" suddenly turning and unmounting his horse, he stood right Infront of her in a single blur of motion. If ignorance wont hold her back, maybe a little supernatural speed will. "Will be my last warning" he said to her, eyes shooting daggers at her.

The woman was young. Not much older than 2 centuries if she was a werewolf. She had unusually dark eyes, set under thick eyebrows. Her slightly darker skin smooth as as a baby's cheek. She was wearing a white dress with red floral patterns. While her face satisfyingly shaken, he could hear her heart was perfectly calm. unsettling.

A well trained werewolf would have still had their heart beating like a horse after witnessing his speed, but she was perfectly fine.....another soldier wolf then?