The Phoenix's Prophecy

*Chapter Ten*

*Chapter Ten*

The water was a beautiful shade of turquoise. I was wondering how we can possibly reach the actual village we were required to investigate when Ray suddenly stepped on the water. I was gobsmacked when instead of sinking, he was literally standing on the surface of the water. There were only small ripples beneath him, and I could only gawk.

“What are you staring at? Hurry up, we don't have all day.”

I carefully placed my right foot on the water, and to my utter surprise, instead of passig right through, the water was actually able to hold my weight. It made me wonder if he has some sort of water related ability.

It took us quite a long time to reach the village. Even from some distance away, I saw the closely-packed tall trees. Melody has asked us to investigate the cause of a few disappearance case nearby.

As soon as we stepped onto the floor covered with crunchy dead leaves, I noticed the tall gloomy trees loomed above us and seemed to envelope the whole place in a dark, evil presence. There wasn't a single sound of around us, and it was dim because of the many branches above us.

“It's ironic how the most sacred tree in Holsina would be found in such an isolated place near a haunted lake.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The legendary tree that only blooms when the three moons of Holsina aligns,” Ray continued not giving me time to ask for more details, “Anyways, our assignment has nothing to do with that.”

“How are you so sure that it has nothing - ?”

“Not one single living being would dare to mess with the sacred tree. It's just,” Ray paused as he searched for a word to describe it, “a presence or aura the tree gives. I'm going to check things out, stay here.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but he was already gone. I couldn't help but feel disappointed. I stared at my half raised hand. What was the point in assigning me a mission when I was just a mere human fighting against the supernatural. I wouldn't even be able to defend myself against a monster let alone fight.

No wonder Ray doesn't want to be paired with me. My eyes lingered to the direction where he went. I couldn't help him at all when any beings  attack us. We were attacked by that monster because it was aiming for me, yet he was the one who ended up saving me.

Now he's the one going ahead to detect dangers while I'm the liability he has to protect. I laughed without humour. How ironic that I have to depend on someone I absolutely abhor?

I walked a little when I had a sudden feeling that I was being watched. I stealthily kept my left hand on the sheath and continued walking. Suddenly, I heard a shuffle of the bush and a yell. I whirled around and unsheathed my sword. I blocked the attack just in time.

My eyes widened a bit when I saw it was a small boy no more than ten-years-old. His hair was a strange shade of green, and he had a strange fin growing out form his back and arm. He didn't have ears, but a strange fan-shaped fin, and there were strange lines and looked surprisingly like fish gills. Instead of a normal hand, his arm seemed to merge into a sharp fin-like sword that he had attacked me with. There were fish scales covering his arm and leg. His feet was long and webbed like a duck. He was wearing a thin, worn out piece of cloth that was covered in mud.

“Who are you?” I questioned just as he jumped back. I noticed that his movements weren't really fast. He stared at me with big, round eyes just like a fish.

He opened his mouth, and I saw a row of sharp teeth with two extremely long canines. For a minute, nothing happened. That was until...a column of highly pressured water suddenly shot out towards me. I was sure it was going to hit me when my vision was suddenly blocked by Ray's back. He raised his hand in front of him and easily altered the water's direction and sent going past us.