The Author's Will

79 | Time Limit

　　 Thick forestry stretched over the landscape ahead as the thunderous movement of horses pressed forward with urgency. A heavy grey storm cloud loomed overhead as the first few drops of rain began to pelt towards the earth like liquid glass.

"The forest ahead has a difficult terrain to ride through." Daniel's placid voice was quickly drowned out by a sudden roar of thunder - as though delivering an ominous warning to the flock of soldiers and their horses. They leapt swiftly inside the forestry and meandered past the endless shrubbery and trunks like feather-weight dancers. Even so - every knight kept their eyes wide open with high alertness.

"Keep riding ahead! If you follow my voice, you won't get lost!" Snow flew over the towering tree tops, to which a certain red-haired knight among the men furrowed her brows as she reined her horse onwards.

"How the heck are we supposed to hear him if he flies up that high?!" Her bewildered comment was followed by an almost immediate answer.

"LA LA LA LA LA LA!~ CAN YOU GUYS HEAR ME? KEEP FOLLOWING MY VOICE!!"

"...Nevermind."

All the knights were thrown off by Snow's sudden screeching attempt to sing out loud. Though his voice was very effective in keeping the group from separating, they half wished they could go deaf in that moment.

Rayvis chuckled heartily, amused. "I thought birds were supposed to be great singers."

Mikael, who rode closely behind him, only sighed. "Well he's definitely no songbird. I wonder if he's at least edible."

"—I HEARD THAT!"

Even though it had been a week since they had set off on their journey towards Mount Terone, the morale and stamina of the group continued to prevail. By now, they had travelled out of Laydel and stopped for rest at several small villages or camps along the way.

As Daniel held the rear to ensure everyone was still together, his gaze sharpened as his horse continued darting through the thick forestry with careful yet swift speed. The stallions raised and vigorously trained by the Cherlianns duchy were incredibly skilled. Requiring the littlest instruction, they meandered around the sharpest of turns with ease and manoeuvred their large bodies in a way that their riders would remain unharmed.

The sound of Snow's voice echoed in the distance. But a tingling sensation inside his chest urged Daniel to narrow his eyes in scrutiny. Whilst everyone was proceeding at full speed, something felt strangely off.

He could feel the way the demon inside him was beginning to grow unsettled. Its whisper of a laugh cackling from within as Daniel placed a gloved hand over the hilt of his sword.

"Everyone! Be on high alert!" He shouted, loudly enough for the soldiers ahead to hear. Turning back to face him, Nasriel flashed the prince a quizzical look.

"Is something wrong, Highness?"

Her eyes widened at the tension plastered to Daniel's stoic face. But what startled her more was the cold, grace look in those ocean blue eyes. They almost seemed as though they were glowing.

Exactly at that moment — Snow's unrelenting cacophony of a voice, suddenly disappeared. As if the music emanating from a record player was forcibly stopped.

"Snow?! Are you still there?" Nasriel called out, bewildered. He was so loudly blaring his singing just a second ago. Now, only the sound of thunder roared eerily overhead as flashes of lightning spilled light through the gaps between the forest leaves.

It took no longer than five second for the entire group to notice Snow's sudden silence. Daniel stared up at the canopy of leaves, unable to make out the body of the great white bird. But it took him no longer than a moment to understand what was happening here.