Wine Woods

5. Trainer

Five months later~

Following behind the wolf, she headed towards the mountains. The wendigo following behind her had carried her most of the way, but they advised that she should walk into the valley.

Her feet were chilled by the snow coating everything in sight, and she had to restrain herself from trying to warm her arms. She had a coat that dragged behind her, and she was wearing pants for probably the second time in her life, the first time being a few days ago. It was starting to make her uncomfortable, but the mythicals around her had said that women from here didn't wear skirts. They dressed like men, and they held the same power. It felt... sort of liberating.

By now they were at a tiny cut in the mountains, big enough to fit a covered wagon, but the trees behind it said otherwise.

The forest behind this part of the valley was grown thick, looking almost impenetrable. She realized it they didn't need to get out this way, they had dragons themselves. It defended them from people looking to their land, and gave them privacy.

"Follow," Warrock cooed to her, gently leading her to a path on the side. Maikoh's ears were flicked up, and her steps were timid. She was curious as to why, but asking questions was never her strong suit. She didn't like talking much.

She followed tentatively, watching the trees as they surrounded her. It got dark and cold winds started blowing, but still the trio continued.

She stumbled a few times, the kind creature behind her grabbing her before she could go into the snow like a father would their young child, still learning to walk. The girl continued after thanking him.

It took almost two hours before they broke through to the other side of a lake. On the opposite side, she could spy a mansion. It looked to be covered in snow, but terraces and some of the black tiles along the roof shone through. Really the only thing that did.

The house was probably painted white. If it wasn't, it looked white in the lighting.

There was roaring nearby. Fear pricked in her blood, her head turning to the side.

Birds scattered from the trees, but one was too slow. A blue and silver creature with bird wings shot from the trees, snapping the pigeon in its jaws.

A dragon. She wasn't expecting to see one so soon.

That was the thing she was supposed to work with? She could imagine those jaws snapping around her arm- or her neck.

"Let's carry on," Maikoh advised, her eyes glaring at the spot the dragon disappeared to, "we don't want to get in the way if they're hunting."

"As you wish Mother Wolf," the girl bowed her head slightly as she had been taught. It was respectful.

"Girl, you will be eaten alive if you keep that aura of 'politeness'. Not by dragons, by children-" she shook her head, growling slightly at the ground- "and that makes for unhappy personifications. Let us get going, I still wish for this to be a surprise."

"Uh- yes ma'am- um... okay," she said, looking over with a blush coating her cheeks.

The wolf looked to her, unamused, before carrying on, following in the echo of the lake. She could hear the crunching of snow behind her from Warrock's heavy steps.

It took close to another hour before the main property came into view.

There seemed to be a code. Animals and commercial buildings were painted grey with white accents, and human buildings were white with black accents. Every building seemed to follow this rule, and it made for a simplistic look besides the main house. Small black paintings resonated in random areas, looking like shadow animals. In the shadow of the barn, she noticed a mural of black, although she was too far away to see it.