WITCH - The Queen

Chapter 96

Julia

In the bright sunlight, their small group approached the border of the marshland. You could already see the first trees. Dark fir trees. The air smelled slightly damp. After wet soil and leaves.

Julia nervously grabbed Leopold's hand. He smiled at her reassuringly and kissed her fleetingly. "Ready for your next adventure?", he whispered in her ear. She replied with a nod.

"There's a border tent up there!", announced Fiete. "There's no getting around it."

"And now?", asked Peter, shivering slightly. A strong, ice-cold wind blew in their faces. He wrapped his woolen scarf, decorated with pink pearls, tighter around his neck. Fiete put his arm around him, smiling. Immediately, Peter snuggled up to him with a sigh.

"Fienchen? Can you fly over and see how many border guards are there? But be careful!" Julia asked her friend. She didn't want to separate Peter from his heat source. And the dragon girl was bobbing on her feet, which were protected only by an illusion of light sandals, slightly bored.

"Sure. One moment!" The dragon girl took the form of a tiny tit and flew off. Fascinated, Julia looked after the dragon. The dragons' transformations happened so quickly and fluently that she could hardly get used to them. It took some time for Josef to come back and take human form. "Five border guards. They're all asleep. They don't do their job very well. May I eat them?"

"Only if they notice us. We're sneaking past the tent!", replied Julia. "I'm hiding us with the spell Cleo showed me. But we have to be quiet!" Josefine agreed with this answer.

"I love sneaking!", Finn announced, who was back on Marko's back. Marko rolled his wolf eyes in amusement. "It's a pity we can't scare them. I'm sure Marko would like that!" Giggling, he stroked his boyfriend's soft fur. Marko nodded in agreement.

Julia shook her head in amusement. While the idea was funny, it was also a very bad one, considering that they wanted to sneak into the vampire land.

Cautiously, the group approached the border tent. Quietly, under the cover of a spell, they crept past the snoring vampires sitting in a half-open tent. They wore bracelets that Julia knew from her visions. Shocked, she sighed.

Then, something cracked. Julia grimaced.

Peter had stepped on a small branch. Frightened, they paused. One of the soldiers blinked briefly, but then he continued to sleep. "He heard us, right?", whispered Josefine hopefully. "I can eat him now, can't I?"

"No. Let's go on!", her uncle replied just as quietly. Only when they reached the dense forest behind the border tent and were far away from the tent, did they dare to speak louder again. There was no one to be seen here. Or to smell, as Finn assured them. Therefore, Julia dissolved the ward.

"It smells like a swamp", Fiete grumbled. "Be careful where you step. These forests are dangerous. Especially if you don't know your way around. We should see if we can find a firm path."

"A fixed path? Here?" Peter frowned. "And Finn? He can barely walk on this ground. The ground here is not only uneven it also gives way slightly!"

"It'll be fine," Finn muttered, slowly stepping off Marko's back. Bushes and branches protruding into the path made riding on Marko's back impossible. And with Finn riding on Marko, they weighed too much for the floor. Marko's feet sank slightly. The werewolf returned to human form and put on the clothes Leopold handed him. He had carried them with him in a bag. Each of them had a bag with them. In Finns, however, there was only very light luggage. A thick scarf and a soft pillow. Both weighed hardly anything.

"It smells particularly musty over here!", growled Marko, looking at his muddy feet.

Josefine nodded. "We'd better not go this way. We better follow our nose."