Protector from Afar ✔️

Chapter 29 - Farewell to a friend

Chapter 29
Farewell to a friend

青山橫北郭

白水遶東城

此地一為別, 孤蓬萬里征

浮雲遊子意, 落日故人情

揮手自茲去, 蕭簫斑馬鳴

- 李白 (送友人)

With a quiet click, the parts joined seamlessly like magnets. The surroundings changed in no time at all, my brain had no chance to process the new impressions. My head buzzed. With eyes closed, I reached for Jeongin and held him tight until I felt safe enough.

I crouched on hard underground; Perfect-shaped stone tiles, all in the exact same size, between the cracks sun-yellow dandelion, extending its lush green leaves like open arms. I got up and slowly circled the oval table; rough corners and edges, it seemed like it had been chiseled out of a single block of stone. In the middle, a bulbous teapot steamed, in front of each of the three stools a cup was waiting to be filled.

My eyes wandered up a massive tree and high and higher until I overstretched my head. A roof made of light pink foliage, growing densely, it made a holey shadow in which the sunlight danced. The wind rustled through the branches and a few loose leaves sailed down, one of them landed in the cup in front of me.

"I feel like I've been here before... Where are we though?" Jeongin asked, but I could only shrug my shoulders.

I went around the table to Jeongin and prevented him from touching the cup in front of him.

"As long as we don't know where we are," I said urgently, "we shouldn't touch anything."

It seemed more than strange to me that we landed here. As if someone had expected us. Nevertheless, there was no reason for carelessness.

This tree stood on a hill; Behind me stretched a dense forest that reached to the horizon and a mountain chain formed the end. In front of me was a slope that went down into a meadow and ended on the banks of a lake.

"But I can sit down, right? Let's just wait until someone comes."

"Survival rule number two: If you are on unknown terrain, explore the surrounding area for a water source."

"What is number one?"

"Keep calm. And now come here, we're going down."

When I took a step towards the slope, I had the strong urge to stretch out my claws and soar through the air at a breathtaking speed. I looked at Jeongin and he looked exactly as I felt, surprised, bewildered, with a heart full of fire that screamed for freedom.

I took Jeongin by the hand and marched down with him step by step. It seemed as if we were walking for quite some time, but the sun was still up. I didn't even sweat which was strange, but the meadow was even stranger. Fragrant flowers in all shapes and colors, occasionally high specimens protruded between them. The area above the meadow seemed as if there was no gravity; Flowers and grasses floated lazily through the air.

"I'm not sure if we should go through that," Jeongin said and expressed exactly what I thought.

"The meadow runs around the whole lake and the only way leads back to the hill. I'm afraid we have no other choice."

Jeongin shuddered.

"Don't worry, little one, you're save with me."

He looked at me shocked and stood in front of me to his full size. My breath hitched when he got close. My eyes were at the level of his mouth. His lips formed into a mischievous grin while he patted my head.