Spell; Melting Steel

Chapter 11: Spring

Birch Heights, Past 10:00 PM. England. 498.

Daniel's POV

After we have done eating some of the food which we carried along, Elias pulled out a carpet of lambswool for Lady Hazel to lie on. She slept on it comfortably. Complete peace covered her face. I wish she had stayed like this forever, silent and harmless...

Elias slept on the cold and hard ground.

I was left awake to guard them whilst sleeping. The silence of the night gave me tranquility. I climbed one of the birch trees and sat on the sturdiest branch.

Looking around, I noticed how high we were. The scene of a distant barren land gave me interest. Steep hills of red sand and huge rocks were greatly noticeable. I imagined that it is hard to pass through there with horses. I am just hoping we do not need to come across it. But I did have a hunch that we did, considering the direction of our travel.

Bowing my head, I prayed.

I prayed that we could make it alive. I prayed that the odd woman would tell me how I ended up in the 5th century. I prayed that I could get home.

Opening my eyes, I caught a glimpse of something white. I went off the branch and looked for it. It was very swift. My eyes traveled down the bushes.

"Meow." I heard a cat's s mew.

Parting some branches I found the critter hiding behind the bushes. It mewed several times more and looked up at me. It was white and had eyes of sunny yellow. Frightened by my occurrence it scurried away.

Gradually, I went back to the birch tree's branch.

Having nothing to do, I surveyed the sky. The moon was now partly hidden behind some clouds. The clusters of stars were swallowed by the darkness. The soft blow of the wind gave frosty chills across my skin. Crickets chirped, reducing the silence which once gave me peace.

Suddenly, I remembered Lady Hazel's face the moment she cried. Fear, I have always seen fear from all others that I've killed. But hers somehow made me draw back. Maybe it was because she was a girl, or because she was pitiful, or maybe because she was too innocent...

Thinking of the woman, she was murmuring things and her head was abruptly moving from the left and to the right. I jumped off the branch and hurried beside her.

"No... I didn't... I'm not a witch... I'm fantabulous."

I acquired a chance to study her profile. She had delicate brown hair. Her nose was like a perfectly summoned mountain on a face so perfectly chiseled. Her lips were extremely rosy and very velvety in sight. She had free earlobes right at the sides of her wonderfully shaped head. Her skin was beautifully bronzed by the sun. Her body was more than satisfactory. Lady Hazel of the land of promise was evidently lovely.

That moment when she asked if she looked beautiful, I did not dare to answer. It is as if she has no eyes of her own, and there was a mirror inside our room. But if I did answer, I would have given her a nod.

Even so, her beautiful appearance does not deny the possibility of her unexpectedly biting me and converting into a horrible demon. She is after all the minion of the wit—

"Arrr!" I suppressed my will to shout.

She pulled one of my ears and slapped me with the free hand. "I am not a witch! I'm not a minion!"

When I was out and free, I rapidly stood up. Panting, I looked at her.

I mumbled, "I will be careful, I shall not take my eyes off of you, incongruous woman."