All Shades of Magic

All Shades of Magic - Chapter 7

I felt Kimi's eyes on me and I snapped out of my little flashback.

"Why don't we keep moving?" I suggested.

So we trampled on. Through bushes and trees on overgrown ancient paths. It was honestly kind of peaceful at times when we couldn't hear the growling ravenous creatures nearby. The very few birds that dared to live in the woods chirped and the greenery of the plants felt welcoming when they weren't giant carnivorous ones that would gobble us up if they could.

We stopped midday for lunch, finally caving into our hunger from the previous day and our dry throats craved at least a sip of cool water.

So, we found a place to sit and eat. It was a miniscule clearing with a couple of rocks to sit on so we could eat and drink in comfort. Or, as much comfort as you can get out in the wild, in a cursed forest, on pointy rocks.

We decided to dig into the fruits first, seeing as they were already starting to spoil. Apples and chokeberries, mostly.

Chokeberries were a thing in the 2000s, years and years ago. But they were purely ornamental in old planting books. I guess they evolved because they were now a berry with a bitter tasting skin like coffee. But when you take a bite, a tang of sugary strawberry-like goodness floods your mouth. They were my favorite fruit.

We finished eating and even had the idea to leave a couple of brown apple slices behind to distract creatures from our scent, which was progressing through the woods on the path the moonstone was sending us on.

We hiked for hours that day. It was the most exercise I have ever gotten. Finally bypassing playing tag with my dad as a kid. It was exhausting. My throat would be dry if it wasn't for the forest's humid air. Sweat beaded my body, even in the cavernous shade. And my ankles were starting to become sore from tripping on vines.

Just as I thought I might collapse, Kimi decided we set up camp. Thank god for this girl. Even though she made me walk all day when I asked for a break. I still loved her. But, case and point, we set up camp.

This time we stayed up and talked for a while, about creatures and about the strange oddly fantastical forest. And Kimi joked about my exhaustion from earlier in the day. I teased her back for her insisting to keep moving even as she was panting for air herself. Eventually, I flipped to one side and Kimi cuddled close to me and we drifted off slowly into a perfect sleep. The forest faded and we just breathed in and out in... and out... on and on. And on... i wish i could stay like this forever.

                          -----------------------------------------------------

This time, it wasn't the light that woke me up, it was a sound.

The sound wasn't something I could describe; kind of like a whine, or a conch shell being blown. It was deep but also kind of like a squeal. It scared me. It was surely one of the creatures.

I was leaning up to see if it was near only to feel Kimis hand holding mine and wrapped around me. We actually were cuddling! Sparks flew up my arm and my heart pounded.

The sound erupted from the far off distance again and everything inside me disintegrated. Fear took happinesses place. We had to get moving. The creatures were on our trail.

Well... maybe we didn't have to move yet. I mean I can blast them into the sky with my magic if they even come close to us. And it's dark, so I really shouldn't wake Kimi. I felt myself start to smile. Those monsters couldn't hurt us, not with me here at least.

Still, I stayed up instead of trying to go back to sleep with Kimi. I wasn't all that tired anyway. I was even able to open up my spellbook, which was expertly concealed in my pack, and start to practice a bone-breaking spell. I thought it might be easy to get away from creatures that way. And there was a rat whose leg I could break and then heal with a charm I also needed practice with. Although I couldn't guarantee success in either charms, the side effects didn't seem to be too bad for the rat. Or for me on that note. Still, I couldn't see what was going on in the rat's body. I could've ruined its leg for good. Which seems unlikely when I healed it successfully from a finally decent break and it scurried up to me and rested on my hand. It was actually quite a cute rat, it didn't look wild like the other ones that I've caught in the kitchen for bodybuilding. This one looked more like a pet. Maybe I will keep it. As long as Kimi wasn't afraid of it. And maybe even then I'd hide it with my spellbook. It was a pleasant thing to keep me company while I waited for daylight. ,

No beasts emerged, as I thought none would. And at the first light of day Kimi awoke and sat up, seeing me facing sideways playing with the small rat.

"Good morning," I said to her.

"You too, and your little rodent friend," She replied gigglishly. As she said it the little rat scurried over to her and sat, as if awaiting to patted on the head. Kimi obliged with her pointer finger, still smiling and giggling at the small thing. "What did you name it?"

A long pause filled us as I thought about it. Finally I came to a close.

"Its name is Kari," I concluded, and Kimi nodded.

"I like that name," She said thoughtfully, then added in a more standard tone. "Should we start to get ready to keep searching? We can take Kari,"

"Yeah, let's start moving,'' I said, putting Kari on my shoulder happily.