The School of Bermuda - Volume 1 - The hunter's daughter

-24-

"You can eat as much as you want," murmured a woman with blond hair and a spotted coat. "You need to regain your strength."

"Thank you," the child replied. "That's very kind of you."

The women laughed among themselves, while the centaur who had brought her approached again.

"So, tell me, my child, what are you doing here?"

Lili took a bite of an apple, then began to tell him everything, under the astonished eyes of the women.

Her discovery about Professor Butter, her encounter with the bubak, her misadventure in the marshes, and Ermite's kindness.

"But please, don't bother Mr. Hermit," Lili continued. "He is so kind."

"We had no intention of doing so," the centaur assured her. "You say that one of the professors is both a wizard and a hunter? That's absurd..."

"But it's the truth!"

"I believe you, I can recognize liars. I'm just having a little trouble getting used to it. My name is Chiron, I am the one who leads the centaurs. Listen, you will stay here tonight. The exit of the forest is only an hour's walk away, but you need to rest. Tomorrow, accompanied by two warriors, I will take you to the school."

Lili thanked him again, eating some fruits without wanting to take advantage of their kindness too much, and then she was shown one of the small huts where she could lie down on a pile of freshly cut grass, comfortable, falling asleep immediately.

She didn't notice that Chiron had lain down nearby in the hut to watch over her.

When it was about nine o'clock in the morning, Chiron got up and stretched, going to wake up the little human. Lili opened her eyes, remembering the events of the previous evening. Her hair was full of grass, which made the centaur laugh a little.

"You could be mistaken for a dryad," he joked.

He removed a few of them before leaving, returning with a small fruit tray that he shared with her. Then it was time to leave. A female centaur helped Lili to climb onto the back of their leader. Another male, younger, followed them through the woods. The two warriors just moved a chimera out of their way, but no other obstacles stood in their path.

In just one hour, they emerged from the undergrowth to find themselves near the farm. Kareth was outside, tending to the injured leg of a goat.

"Mr. Lalus!" Lili called.

"What?" The farmer straightened up, facing them, then saw Lili dismounting from the back of her new friend. Kareth opened his mouth to say something, but closed it several times. As he searched for his words, the black rooster hurriedly perched on the girl's shoulder.

"We need to see the headmistress," Lili explained very seriously.

"But... you're alive?"

"Of course!"

"Amos told us that he couldn't stop you from approaching the forest and that a chimera..."

"It's him, the problem! We need to see the headmistress! He has my wand, it's terrible!"

"Your wand, no, why would he have it?"

"He stole it from me! Mr. Lalus, please, it's important! Professor Butter is a hunter, I saw him talking to his parents through a mirror! He wants to use my wand to destroy the barrier!"

Kareth looked at Lili skeptically.

Annoyed, the girl headed towards the castle, followed by the centaurs. Finally, the farmer accompanied them.

A rather strong breeze shook them for a second. Lili would have recognized it anywhere. She turned her head to see the albino near a small dense thicket. He stooped down to retrieve something from it. The girl immediately recognized her wand and rushed in his direction, while the mysterious stranger disappeared.

Her wand had fallen into one of the bushes, which actually concealed a quantity of thorns, but she didn't hesitate to retrieve it after rolling up her sleeve.

"My wand!" she exclaimed, brandishing the small silver stick.

"You see," said Kareth. "It wasn't Amos who had it."

"But what I said is true, I saw it, he's the one who sent me into the forest."

"Lili, Amos has been in this school since he was eleven, he became a professor right after finishing his studies. I know him well, he formed a group of friends with Donatello Tant, Sara Harisson, and..."

The farmer fell silent, observing the girl in front of him.

"And who?" Lili asked.

"Your mother, Eloïsa Poussin."

"...Professor Butter was friends with my mother... and my father found out she was a witch, how?"

"No one knows that."

"I have a little idea. But in any case, I must see the headmistress!"

The bell rang as she headed towards the entrance. The students who didn't have classes at that hour and were heading towards the park stopped in their tracks when they saw their classmate, as if they had seen a ghost, but Lili didn't pay attention to them. She wanted to go up the stairs to get to the professor's classroom, but then remembered that her equine friends wouldn't be able to follow her. Feeling observed, she turned her head towards Axeqa Vargas. This young Mexican woman was the school's head chef. She was in charge of the korrigans. She was just as surprised as the others to see her alive.

"Mrs. Vargas," the girl called as she approached her, "please go get the headmistress, the centaurs can't come up!"

"But, you are..."

"Alive! And I need to talk to the headmistress right away, it's extremely urgent!"

A violent impact, accompanied by a cry of pain, made them jump. Turning towards the source of the complaint, they saw the female centaur violently thrown against a wall, one of her front legs forming an unusual angle.

In the middle of the steps stood Amos Butter, looking at the girl with contempt and determined not to let anyone pass.