Tales of Lost Souls | Mia's Journey

CHAPTER 4 - no time to rest

Nodachi introduced me to his white mare Aoibhe. The horse had a beautiful long mane and in comparison to Atlas' horse was very clean and seemed well cared for. Aoibhe was a beautiful mare and pretty calm.

The white-haired man said he wanted to buy a few things for the long way and ask me to wait here with his companion. I nodded and waited while he bought bread and a few other Items. A silver blade was given to be by him. "It is an old sword of a Marshall Knight. Please be careful with it."

"I will. Thank you"

After everything was stored on the horse, we began our travel to the capital. Nodachi was a nice comrade. He spoke in a calm voice and it seemed that he always had something on his mind to talk about. Not to speak badly of Atlas, but I thought I made the right choice by exchanging the rusty sword for a guided journey to my destination.

The landscape we passed was stunning. Wide fields with wild animals running through them and friendly People walking past us. Nodachi seemed as someone respected. All kinds of people shortly bowed to and addressed him as "Sir Nodachi".

"Wow, the people here really seem to like you, don't they?" I wondered.

Nodachi nodded and started to smile. "It appears they do.", he started but I wasn't really satisfied with that answer. I wished he would go into more detail but to no avail.

Traveling with Nodachi was still uncomfortable at that point.

He noticed a group of wild horses in the distance and came to a stop. Nodachi suggested catching a horse for me, as it was a lot cheaper than buying one. My new comrade also offered to break it in for me as I had little to no experience in riding.

Aoibhe and I waited patiently for Nodachi to return with a horse. Watching him with the wild horses was somewhat amazing... None of them was afraid of him somehow, which seemed strange. I had no idea about horses, so I thought that some people just have an aura that attracted wild animals.

But I suddenly heard fast steps behind me. After turning around, I saw the animal-eared man from earlier rushing toward me holding a lance. My heart began to race and I couldn't move my body out of the way... The scream I let out after the lance scratched my leg attracted Nodachi. He screamed my name and ran to my side with his sword already drawn. What I didn't understand was why Bermott would attack me suddenly, he was so kind before...

A very large human-sized fairy came our way. "Idiot! I want her unharmed! First, you just let her go and now you hurt my precious baby!", she screamed at the man holding the lance. "I will handle her, you go take down that useless companion of hers."

Never in my life, I had felt as much fear as I did on that day. Nodachi shoved me behind his back and was ready to fight both of them. A knight against a fairy and a... animal man. It was terrifying to watch honestly. The blood, the noises, the stress... I just closed my eyes and squatted on the ground before huddling together. I wished for all of it to just stop and once I opened my eyes everything would be back to normal.

Nodachi screamed by name shortly after something violently picked me up by the hair. I opened my eyes only to look directly into the fairy's stare. She held me above the ground and smirked. Nodachi was prevented to get closer by the constant attacks of our opponent...

Just as before, a burning arrow struck the enemy threatening my life. Unfortunately, the battle was not over just yet. The sound of clashing weapons was still loud to hear and the fairy had my hair tightly grabbed with no intention of letting go.

"Atlas! Please help me!", I pleaded after he stopped his horse in the distance.

While parts of Nodachis Armor were being destroyed by the animal-eared man, I tried to escape the fairy. Atlas took his time to react further, much to my and Nodachi's displease. Just when I thought that my life was ending, Atlas charged at my enemy with about five burning arrows before jumping off his horse. He drew his sword attacking the fairy and cut her hand off, causing me to fall down with a scream.

Why did he decide to help us? I wondered why running away from the battlefield. Accompanied by a bright light, the fairy screamed in pain. As I looked back, she turned to dust and revealed the animal man, who stabbed her through the heart with his spear.

"He was possessed by her," Atlas calmly said. "and thanks to the power of my prince, he is free again.". The man introduced himself as Bermott again and thanked Atlas for his gift.

Bermott walked away as fast as he could and I returned to Nodachi and our savior. "Did you follow me?", suspicious of Atlas I walked to Nodachis' side. Both looked at me for a while without saying a word. Atlas got on his horse and seemed wary of my companion.

"Mia. You have no idea alongside what you decided to travel together.", Atlas caused Nodachi to turn mad with this statement.

Nodachi drew his sword but Atlas had no intention of crossing blades with him. "That may be right, but she has no idea who you are as well! The Celestial Envoy of the prince of darkness... I knew I was right with my guess when I first saw you. That means you are as untrustworthy as I, Atlas." The small man on his horse just smirked in response.

After a few minutes of silence, Atlas returned to the village, leaving me and Nodachi alone.

As the sun began to disappear, Nodachi made us take a long rest. He build a tent at the edge of the forest and allowed me to sleep in it, while he guards our little resting place. It was nice of him and I finally got some much-needed rest. I had no idea why I put so much trust in that stranger, especially after what Atlas said, but maybe it was just my tiredness and need for help.