Bloody Raven in the Shadow

Straight into a trap

The days flew by, and the troops migrated north without any problems. Although autumn had already begun and the days were getting shorter and significantly cooler, the group was spared the rain. Snow White found Yokai's company very pleasant, also because she no longer had to face a danger alone that she neither knew nor knew how to defeat. The young wizard seemed to be a good person and the little hazelnut had grown incredibly fast on the girl's heart.

"Do you think we'll find a way to overcome the spells in the ruins? If what Robin says is true, then it should be really difficult," asked Snow White, the wizard's apprentice once more that day.

"I can't tell you until we know what we're dealing with," Yokai repeated patiently.

"Have faith in your abilities, you can do it and there are two of you now," Rin said confidently. The cursed seemed to have a lot of trust in the princess, who smiled, touched. "Unless you're afraid of getting your fingers dirty, little princess," the apple explained mockingly, the smile on Snow White's face widened. Rin could say what she wanted, the witch had proven often enough that she cared very much about the well-being of the girl. Whether it was about what she dreamed or compassionate words when she needed it.

"She's right, I'm sure you can do it. We can't help with our magic, but we'll make suggestions when it matters." Mary explained calmly.

Snow White paused, there was something between the trees. A building. No! A ruin.

"We found her!" she cheered and wanted to run, but Yokai grabbed her hand and roughly held it back.

"We should be even more careful now," the boy admonished. "Hazelnut, watch out for traps," he instructed the vixen, who immediately pricked up her ears and walked ahead.

"Isn't it dangerous for you to track down the traps?" asked the princess worried, but he just shook his head calmly.

"Wild animals are rarely affected by spells. If she were a magical animal she would be in danger, but she is a forest animal and she is perceived as one, but that doesn't mean she doesn't know where danger lurks."

They carefully followed the animal. The forest seemed calm. No wind moved the leaves, no bird chirped. It was like everything was holding its breath.

Suddenly Hazelnut stopped, her tail rang in the air, a growl came from her ladle. Without hesitation, Yokai grabbed Snow White's hand and ran.

"WHAT'S HAPPENING?" screamed the girl, startled.

"A guard!" Harvey answered before Yokai could answer.

"A what?" instead of getting an answer, there was a loud bang behind them. Startled, she looked back. Something was back there. It was a humanoid, tall figure, completely shrouded in light. Lightning flashed around the creature.

"It will protect the ruins to the death!" explained Yokai. The forest stopped, they entered the ruins. "We don't stand a chance between the trees!"

Hazelnut was nowhere to be seen, before Snow White could locate the animal the sky darkened. She looked up in a foreboding. Just in the last moment, she was able to jump away before the guard landed on the ground next to her. Lightning streamed across the ground. Without hesitation, the girl grabbed her bow, Yokai letting dark clouds pour out of his hands. The sky darkened again, and several shadow versions of the cub appeared.

Snow White shot one of her arrows at the creature, which simply dodged it. Lightning then rained down on the group from the sky. Without thinking about it, she ran, careful not to get hit, and kept firing at the guard.

"If the first doesn't score and the second doesn't either, the third has to." she motivated herself and let the arrows rain down incessantly. The Guardian threw lightning bolts at Yokai's illusions, which were so good that not even Snow White knew which of them were real. Lightning struck right next to her, startled, she jumped back and then ran on, she shouldn't be distracted.