Subaru

Chapter VII.

The thick canopy above head didn't allow much sunshine to penetrate the forest.

The deeper I got into the trees, the darker it became; the air continuing to humidify.

It was complete silence everywhere; there were no birds chirping and cawing and there was an absolute absence of movement through the shrubs and leaves.

Everything seemed to be at a standstill and the only noises I could hear were the sounds of my footfalls on the damp ground added to my own heartbeats.

All this made me uneasy and the patches of mist here and there, specially, made my flesh creep.

I used a thin broken branch as walking stick and switched on the lamp I had brought with me in order to move more efficiently; remaining on my guards all the time. I had no real plan and was basing everything on improvisation. And neither did I have an itinerary.

I walked for a whole while, scouring the forest, until nightfall. That's when I decided to camp down, finding a tiny clearing. I made a bonfire to keep myself warm and after having sustained myself with food, I gazed up at the dark moonless sky, shivering, but not from cold.

This place reminded me of my prison cell a lot; it lacked warmth, brightness, and was disturbingly quiet.

I shook my head at that moment, refusing to be distracted by my thoughts.

The night went by uneventful.

The scariest moment was the first few minutes after I had woken up from a sleep attack. Sleeping meant not being alert. But fortunately, nothing bad happened.

I would have believed that I was completely alone in this forest, if not for the constant impression that I had, of being watched; that sense of a lingering presence in the woods.

When light filtered through the chinks of the canopy of trees, I knew that it was dawn again. I packed up and resumed my journey on the search of the dragon prowling those lands.

I was sure that more time was slipping by than I was conscious of.

At some point, I arrived at a spot where the trees ended, the land forming a small cliff that gave off onto a lake, or rather, marshes.

As I drew closer to the edge of the cliff, in all of a sudden, the unstable ground gave off under my feet and I fell head first down the cliff, crashing on the shore of lake.

I held my head with my hand, moaning, seeing stars for a minute. I shook my arms and my legs then. Apart from a big bump on the head and a bleeding bruise at my right knee, I was perfectly fine, luckily.

Suddenly, I heard a swoosh in the water of the lake and my head snapped up instantly.

What greeted my sight was a long, large, wingless, serpentine, four-legged creature with clawed feet that had emerged out of the lake, its scales golden in color.

I stared at the divine creature there, awe-struck.

'Damn human! I've given you a whole night to get lost from my sanctuary but I conclude that you've got a death wish!'

It- It can talk?!

I was completely taken aback.

I just heard the dragon's voice, loud and growling, as if it was male human being who was speaking!

Without any warning, it surged at me in an attack.

I hadn't realized that my Godai Shakujō had activated on itself- in reaction to the fright- until it hit the dragon at the face.