Pawn, volume 1 of Different Worlds

5. A new departure

POV Aisha:

The next morning, when the sun was just about to come up, I was already walking in the forest with Kalatril. Granny told me to find Sanna, the Minsk, she said that she could help me. But there was a problem: the Minsk species has been extinct for seventeen years. Emperor Blaze had made it happen and no one knew what pushed him to do so, so it remained as an unresolved mystery. The only thing Granny was able to tell me was that I needed to go to Wevern, the city with the biggest library in the country and possibly even the Continent. I was bound to find something among the thousands of books once there.
But to get there I need to go to the opposite side of the Maikril, go north and walk my way there. It was far too risky to take a horse since that kind of animals wasn't very discreet, and for our mission, discretion was the main key.

After a good twenty minutes of outmost silence, Kalatril finally brakes the ice.

-You should hide your ears, and your tail, and as a matter of fact your hair color too.

I sighed. Sure, if anyone saw then they would immediately report to the army who would report it to Emperor Blaze who would skin us alive if he found us. It was in this kind of situations that the divine arts would help me the most.
But divine energy wasn't just given, it took a toll on your own personal reserve. Not only that , but when I hide my ears and my tail, the abilities they bring go with them: dexterity, high senses...
But, even though I hate admitting it, he is right.
Of course, he could be the one performing the spell but I don't want someone else to be the one to have control over my shapeshifting.

-Sure, I answer, too lazy to formulate a proper phrase.

Next second, I focus my divine energy and imagine my tail disappearing as well as my ears that get replaced by human ones and my blue hair turning black. Perfect.

Then, a question occurs to me.

-Are you under your original appearance, right now?, I ask.

-No, and to answer your next question, no, I don't like my original appearance.

He then shrugs. That bad?

-If you want, I could show you later.

-Really? You wouldn't mind?, I ask, curiosity getting the better of me.

He shakes his head and I smile. Who knows, maybe I might become friends with him after all.

But there is this one strange feeling that I know too well, I have the impression that someone is looking at us.

*****

After hours of walking through the woods, a few pauses for food and rest, we finally find a spot where we could sleep for the night. The sky was of a dark blue and several stars were sparkling in the darkness as we settle down.
For lunch, we had eaten a few mushrooms and nuts found on the ground. As any good travel friend, I proposed a bit of more substantial food, a squirrel. Kalatril complexion swapped to the color of a dead body at the display of my hunting skills.
It was obviously a big no no, to my dismay.

I sniff the air and stop Kalatril from going into snoozing mode, since we have already eaten, with a sign of my hand.

-It's going to rain.

-How the hell do you know?, he asked.

-A magician never reveals its secrets, I answer smiling, But seriously, can you do something about it?