Seeing Tarina rushing into the thick fog, Charles followed without thinking. Talina didn't even have the strength to speak before, but now she was walking as fast as a deer, and Charles didn't dare to slow down, for fear that he would lose her if he hesitated.
After running out for a short distance, he could no longer hear the movement from the team. The fog not only obscured vision, but also cut off sound. But he didn't want to turn back, didn't want to leave Tarina alone.
He ran with Tarina all the way, climbed the hills, got into the bushes, and stepped over the fallen rotten logs... It was difficult to see the terrain in the fog, and occasionally the branches brushed over his body and scratched his cheeks. He didn't know that Tarina How can she run so fast, she is only thirteen years old, and has never learned combat skills, and is seriously ill...
After an unknown amount of time, when even Charles was panting, Tarina finally stopped. She fell to the ground, looked left and right, but her breathing was not disturbed at all.
Charles hurried forward: "Don't be afraid, I'll take you back..."
Tarina stared at him in confusion for a long time, as if she had temporarily forgotten who he was: "Charles? It's you... How could you... Are you the same as me?"
Charles didn't understand what she wanted to ask at all. He carried her on his back, pulled out the long sword with one hand, pushed aside the grass, and tried to return the same way.
Tarina's physical strength seemed to have recovered a bit, and she started talking more. She repeated the question just now: "Charles, are you the same as me?"
"What? I do not get it… "
"Did you feel it?"
Charles still didn't understand. The younger sister hugged his neck and tilted her head to look at him vigorously. After looking at him for a while, she said reassuringly, "It seems not. Great, you are not sick... Why did you follow..."
"Then why are you running?" Charles said. "Of course I'm going to follow. What else can I do? Are you going to run into the mountains alone?"
"Why did I run... It's strange, I don't know..." Tarina's tone had a sadness that didn't match her age, "Maybe it's because... I'm sick, Charles, I have the same disease as my mother. I can't resist... it will kill me sooner or later. I will go crazy like my mother and die alone in the mountains... "
"No, no..." Charles comforted his sister, but panicked in his heart. He couldn't tell the direction in the fog, and he didn't know whether he was going the right way.
The sun began to set, and the foggy mountains and forests became darker. Tarina wept silently on her brother's back, tears wet Charles' neck. Charles himself was also very scared, he was still very young, and although he was a soldier, he hadn't participated in any serious battles... But he couldn't show fear, otherwise Tarina would be even more afraid.
After walking for a while, a soft light faintly appeared in front of him. Ciel approached and found a lantern hanging from a tree trunk. There are several such lights in the distance, hanging every few steps, pointing out a path in the dark woods.
"Maybe it's a hunter on the mountain," Charles was overjoyed. "Even if it's a barbarian's tent... Now that we don't fight any more, it's better to meet a barbarian than a monster."
The road separated by the lantern was very smooth. Not long after walking, a wooden hut loomed at the end of the lights.
Outside the house, red and white roses bloom in seasons that do not belong to them. Many chains made of animal bones, feathers and small stones hang from the walls and wooden windows, as if they can play some protective role. Under the eaves Dried meat and herbs are drying, the skull of a young goat is hung in the center of the wooden door, and the warm firelight is flowing from the crack of the door...
Either continue to grope in the forest, or knock on the door for help... Charles walked over with his sister on his back. When approaching the wooden door, a breeze blew, and the door creaked open by itself.
Both Charles and Tarina looked nervously inside the room, fearing that something terrifying would jump out of the room. A stove was burning in the room, and many candles were lit on the window sills and tables. A slender figure was sitting in front of the stove, slowly stirring the stew in the small round pot with a long-handled spoon.
The man heard the movement, but didn't turn around immediately. He put down the spoon and took off the anti-scalding cotton gloves... Charles found that this man had a pair of hands with slender bones and tender skin. These were definitely not the hands of a hunter, and even the hands of most mages were not so soft and flawless.
The man turned slowly, revealing a morning glow of red hair under the hood of his fur cloak.
"Mom?" Tarina was in a daze and couldn't help calling softly.
The red-haired homeowner pursed his lips and smiled, with some embarrassment in his eyes: "I'm not your mother."
After he spoke, Tarina flinched on Ciel's back. Of course the owner was not her mother, it was a man's voice. When he turned around completely, it became more obvious that he was a young red-haired man, probably about the same age as Shire, but he was much slimmer than Shire, and he had delicate features and fair skin. People from this kind of place.
When looking at his back and red hair, for some reason, Talina thought for a moment that she saw her dead mother... His face did look a bit like the brother and sister's mother, but the overall face did not look much like it up.
Although there was a warm fire in the house, Charles didn't dare to move forward easily. The handsome boy with red hair took a few steps forward: "Good evening, both of you. My name is Rosey. Maybe you have heard of this name before?"
Charles wanted to step back, but suddenly his legs became stiff and he couldn't move a step.
"If you don't know the name 'Rosey'..." The young man walked up to Charles and raised his head to look at him, "Then you always remember who Snigg is?"
Of course they do. This is their mother's name.
Just as Charles was about to ask something more, there was a rustling sound from the forest behind him. Lanterns lit up the night fog, and countless figures swayed and hunched in the fog, slowly approaching the hut. Some of them are full-bodied, some are missing some limbs and even heads, and some have only dry bones... Obviously these are not living people.
Some of the corpses walked faster and more steadily than others, and they quickly passed through the jungle, out of the mist, and stood outside the fence of the cabin. Charles recognized them, they were the dead assassins from before.
"It seems that they failed to bring him back," the boy named Rosey sighed, the 'he' he said obviously did not refer to any corpse, "Forget it, so what if we got it..."
He lowered his head, his voice became smaller and smaller, and he muttered without knowing what to say. Suddenly he raised his head again and looked at Tarina on Charles' back.
"Son, I can help you," Rosie stretched out his hand and stroked the little girl's tears. Charles wanted to take his sister away, but he couldn't move. "You, like your mother, are born with elements that can be manipulated like me." It's a pity that your brothers didn't inherit this gift... You must be in pain now, the magic spoiler is raging on you, and it may tear you to pieces at any moment... Do you want to recover your health? Do you want to live ?”
The little girl nodded blankly, not sure if she really understood or was too scared to speak.
Rousey raised the corners of her lips and looked at her appreciatively: "Accordingly, a warlock like you who is so sick is hopeless... But the situation is different now. I have mastered an element that does not exist in the world. It healed my pain and cleansed me. The soul of my soul is still sending me a steady stream of great power... Come on," he walked to Charles and held out his hand to Tarina, "come with me into the house. As long as you walk in, the pain will be relieved immediately , I will continue to teach you some techniques in the future to help you get rid of this torture."
Ciel couldn't move, but Tarina moved freely. With the help of Rosie, she hesitantly climbed down from Charles' back, looking at the corpse in the mist from time to time, her eyes full of fear.
Rossi helped her into the house, and was about to close the door when Tarina rushed forward to stop him: "Wait! You... what are you going to do?"
"Little girl," Rosie smiled softly at her, "I can save you, but I can only save you. Look at those puppets outside, they are like an army. Your father also has an army. Does he have to let the army Drill? Do you have to distribute rations to the soldiers? I do the same with these corpses. Otherworldly elements make them yearn for violence and blood. Since they have gathered here obediently, I must give them some rewards to satisfy their appetite a little eager."
He was talking to Talina, but looked at Shire: "My child, as long as you come with me, I will love you like Asnigo. I will help you take care of your body and restore your health. Teach you how to manipulate elements... In the future, you will no longer be a weak little girl, you will become a better spellcaster than me. If you don't like this life in the deep mountains and old forests, you can also go back to Silver Falcon Castle... At that time you She is the only mistress of Silver Falcon Castle."
"What about... Charles?" Tarina clung to the wooden door tightly.
"He must stay outside." Rousey said coldly, "I also had blood relatives with deep affection, I can understand your feelings... But, no matter how close you are, I only want you alone. If you want If you want to survive, you must let him stay outside."
Before Talina answered, Charles spoke: "Is what you just said true? Are you really... able to save Talina?"
Rosey looked at him provocatively: "Everything I said is true. In fact, I can kill both of you. With such a huge advantage, what's the point of me lying to you?"
Charles lowered his eyes and looked at Tarina by the door. She looked at him too, with tears in her bloodshot eyes.
"Tarina, go in with him," said Charles.
It took him a lot of strength to move the sword in his hand, pretending that he could still fight.
"Follow him in... I'm not afraid of those corpses. I'm a soldier, you should know how powerful I am. Besides, even if there are too many of them and I can't fight them, at least I can escape! I can kill a few of them first. A dead body, and if it's not good, I'll run out and find more people..."
Tarina shook her head, wiped away her tears, let go of the wooden door, and stood outside the door unsteadily, leaning against her brother's hand.
Rose narrowed her eyes impatiently: "Little girl, as I said, I only want you alone."
"Then... I'm not alive, can't I?" Tarina sobbed, "Anyway, I thought I was going to die...I've felt that way since I was a child. I'm not strong enough, I'm not beautiful enough, I'm stupid, my body is weak, I was stunned by the durian... Yesterday I felt that I was going to die soon! Anyway, death is a matter of time... It doesn't matter, you don't have to save me, just let Shire and I die outside to feed your army! "
"Tarina!" Charles said anxiously and sadly.
The girl glanced at the walking corpse in the mist, then raised her head to look at Charles: "Although I was young at that time, I remember very clearly... Mom once told us..."
Charles followed her words in a trance: "She said... we brothers and sisters will be together forever..."
Tarina nodded firmly: "As long as we live, we will be together forever."
There was a clatter from inside the door. Rosey took a few steps back with a pale face, and hit the corner of the table with her back. The water glass on the table fell to the ground, and the candle almost fell over.
The siblings looked at him in fear and doubt. Why did this vicious red-haired man suddenly look panic-stricken
At this time, a white light suddenly appeared in the forest. It was bright but not dazzling, piercing the darkness like the radiance of a full moon. At the same time, a gust of temperate wind tore through the thick fog, creating an airy area near the hut. The corpses gathered here became restless, some ran to the depths of the woods, and some instinctively went to meet the enemies that appeared.
In the distance came the sound of horseshoes, roars, faint chanting... and sporadic screams. The scream was very familiar, it should be the pale elf.
The bondage on Ciel suddenly disappeared. He hugged Tarina by his side and rushed into the house with sword in hand... Now the house was empty, and the red-haired man had disappeared without a trace.
"Sir Charles, Miss Tarina!" Burris ran in with blood all over his face, followed by Lott.
"You... what's wrong with you?" Tarina was taken aback by his face.
"Oh, I'm fine," the mage kept a little distance from her, "Before I was hit by a carriage... people's scalps tend to bleed more easily. It looks scary, but the wound is actually very small."
As he spoke, he wiped some blood that was about to dry, and dipped his fingers into a small tin box. After the blood and the ointment on his fingertips fused together, he raised his hand and drew several invisible runes in the air.
"The red vulture ran away, and it ran quite a distance," the mage shook his head. "For a warlock, his reaction is very rare..."
"Red Vulture?" Charles and Tarina looked at each other.
Burris frowned: "What? Isn't he the one you met?"
Although Talina is young, she also knows that this person cursed herself to be stabbed to death by durian. But... there was something neither she nor Shire knew: "Your Excellency, that red vulture... what's his name?"
Burris didn't know either. Lotter is very good at inquiring about gossip and grasping details, etc.: "I know. The name of the red vulture is Rose Green."
At the same time, Rose Green recovered from the dizziness of the teleportation spell and fell down in the dark alley.
we will be together forever.
As long as we live, we must be together forever.
He knelt on the ground, clasped his shoulders and wept tremblingly, repeating these two sentences over and over again.
The author has something to say:
This time there are two fairy tales, I wonder if anyone can see them...