Zephyr: Whispers Of The Wind

Chapter 6: Consequence

"Consequences are the echoes of our actions, reverberating through the corridors of time, shaping our destiny with every step we take."

You walk alongside Azria on a brown gravel path, you can see the lush green grass sway beneath the sunlight as the wind teaches it where to dance while you both walk towards the forest for your quest in collecting herbs.

"We should be able to to find some Stellarglows at the entrance of the forest"
Azria says as she reminds you of the quest

"Stellarglow" a type of herb used in medicine and also has the additional property of lighting up dark places Elyr said as you asked her for the the quest, she explained that to complete this quest you must retrieve twenty Stellarglow herbs before sunset. Elyr continues her speech by telling you that Stellarglow are commonly found anywhere inside the Nightshade Forest so it wont be much of a problem for you to find it. Because of this simplicity Azria decides to come with you as she was free that morning.

You arrived at the Nightshade Forest

Once more you're back at this forest with it's long and seemingly never ending trees almost blocking your path. You can hear birds sing their melody from the above as you and Azria search for the Stellarglows. Azria helps you pick up the herbs as you spot them, the herbs glow in a shade of yellow every time you pass through the shade from the trees and while touching them you see soft threads of light emanating from your hand.

"That's all the Stellarglows in this area, we should look for more in a different place."
Azria says to you

"How many more do we need?"
Azria asks you as she picks the final Stellarglow in the area

You count and tell her that you only need five more

After clearing out the Stellarglow herbs in the area you and Azria decide to go slightly deeper inside the forest, you hear faint howls in the distance yet you decide to ignore it. While looking you notice some near a cavern entrance but as you pick it up you decide to peek inside the entrance of the cavern, you can hear faint growling inside yet still it didn't change your decision. Not a moment passes before you realize it was a bad mistake as you see wolves eating inside, they seem to notice you and tries to attack you. Managing to dodge the initial attack, you grab Azria's hand and run away as the pack of wolves emerge and sprints at you both.

"Why are there White Crystal Wolves?!"
Azria asks in a panic

Unable to answer her question you desperately evade the wolves as you drag the Stellarglows and Azria. You weave through the boulders as you near the exit of the forest, though one of the wolves successfully jumps to Azria as she looks at the wolves with fear but you manage to push her out the way as it lands on you instead. You can feel the wolf's sharp claws as it draws it's fangs near you. You try to shake the wolf off but to no avail you fail. Desperate to survive you take a Stellarglow, it shines bright enough to blind the wolf for a moment try grabbing a rock and you manage to hit and knock the wolf unconscious.

*Pants*

*Heavy breathing*

The rest of the wolves circles around you and Azria after knocking one down. They look at you like their next meal, their mouth drooling, fangs dripping saliva on the ground as they move closer. They put their tongue out, even at a distance you can feel it ready to lick and eat you alive. Using a rock from the ground you throw it towards one of the wolves as the others pounce. You successfully manage to push Azria away from danger as you dodge their attacks. Though knowing it wont work, in the heat of the moment you try to punch one of the wolves as threads of light slowly appear and weave through the air from your fist. You feel uncertainty like from when you touched the crystal but as you continue your punch, you can feel a gentle breeze form on your hand as you punch the wolf with force.

"W-what was that!"
Azria says in shock as she watches you fight

You look at your fist not truly knowing what you did

Yet uncertain if you can do it again, with the new found hope and determination you manage to punch again but this time nothing happened. The wolves attack after seeing you unable to do your attack, they manage to injure and bite your arm as a part of you skin tears off. You try to punch them again but it was no use, you were unsuccessful in recreating the attack you did. But still you push through and punch them again and again until it happened again. You focus everything on your punch as you think of surviving and escaping. Finally after multiple failed attempts you see the threads of light form once more as the wind accompanies.

You try to remember the sensation of the threads forming and the wind condensing from your hand as you attack and kill each of your foes as they pounce. It takes you a while but you finally defeat the wolves, you can feel your heart slowing down to it's original pace once more, the excess blood leaving your brain. You're severely injured as your arm bleeds more and more, but feeling obligated to go back with something, you carry the dead bodies of the wolf as Azria frantically tries to treat your wounds.

*Heavy Breathing*

"Let's go back home."
Azria says with a tired smile as she helps you walk

Though hours had yet to pass, this day is already filled with action. While Azria is still processing everything that happened,  she manages to help you walk outside the forest while she carries the basket of Stellarglows, shaking quite a bit, as you hold on to the bodies of your fallen foes, you can feel a zephyr pass through like it was guiding you back home, the light lighting up the path. You see the grass dance along the wind once more as you and Azria go back to the village.

To Be Continued