I reached the surrounding forest. Only in the woods did I realize that it was winter because the trees were covered with snow, even if there was little of it on the ground.

Where are Si and Grandma? And where does it even go back from here?

I oriented myself towards the sun and decided to move east since when we arrived, we were approaching the city from the east.

I entered more in-depth into the forest that seemed endless. I hardly noticed any animals or other creatures.

I had to admit that I had little hope of meeting Si and Grandma. But I firmly believed that they would make it back home. The meadow was not more than a day's ride from the orc city. Otherwise, the carriage would have taken much longer,

The brook at home came from the north. If its length is long enough, I should be able to find it on the way.

There was no positive outlook, but neither was there a negative one.

 

=== hours later

 

The sky was slowly turning red, and I felt the temperature drop.

I should find myself a hole or something else for the night.

I let my gaze wander through the surroundings. There was nothing to be seen between the trees, but even sleeping outside was too dangerous. My look stopped on a fallen tree.

That could work.

I hopped over to the tree and looked at the trunk. The trunk was partially hollow on the inside, which would hide me from unwanted eyes and could protect me partly from the cold wind.

Nothing would help, so I hopped in and curled up. My eyelids closed on their own.

 

===

 

...

...

The wind howled through the night, and its whistling woke me up.

"Damn it!"

The rude awakening spoiled my mood, and I just wanted to sleep again. I turned and tried to sleep again.

*Buu*

A sound was carried with the wind. I couldn't hear clearly what it was and who it belonged to.

*Boo*

I could listen to it again with the next gust of wind.

What should I do? I will probably no longer be able to sleep!?

I slowly stood up and jumped out of the tree trunk. I raised my ears and tried to pinpoint the source.

I couldn't tell exactly what the source was, but it got louder with every gust of wind. I kept getting closer until a smell mixed with the forest's scent came carried by the wind.

It was a nutty, metallic odor I was all too familiar with, blood.

A dying animal? Or maybe a monster covered in blood?

The sound became more apparent until I could identify it as a scream.

*Waaah* *waah*

That scream was a child's, no doubt, and when I realized that, I ran as fast as I could towards the source.

I ran around one tree after the other until I had to brake suddenly because there was a hole in the middle of the forest. It wasn't vast, but it still had the size of a car.

I looked down. To my surprise, it wasn't deep, maybe a meter or one and a half, but what was inside worried me more.

I could see a woman's body, her back studded with arrows. In her arms, she held something and covered it.

I hopped down and approached the woman. Her blood was all over the ground, and her blond hair was tainted in it. I nudged the woman, but her body was already cold. Her wounds were too many and too deep. The scream I heard didn't come from her, but from the bundle, she was covering.

I pushed the woman's body aside. Her hair flew to one side, and I could see her pointy ears.

An elf? Well, this is a fantasy world, after all, so I could have expected it.

My gaze turned from her to the bundle she was protecting with her life. It could only be one thing ... I slowly turned it around and what I saw were the eyes of an innocent child. It was dirty and was bitterly crying.

Who would do this to an innocent child and its mother?

I bit the child's bundle and picked it up. It was light as a feather and cold.

I need to warm it up.

I didn't care what others would think if they were in the same position as me. For me, there was only one answer, to save the innocent life.

I hopped up over several ledges. Fortunately, after a short search, I found a small cave.

The hole owners were displeased when I partially blocked their entrance, but the mice that called this place their home tolerated me for now.

I put the child down and snuggled myself up to it to keep it warm. There was still some time until sunrise, and I wanted to use this time to rest.

 

===

 

*Waaah* *waah*

I was woken up by the baby. It cried and screamed.

Little one... I... If I was able to use water magic... It doesn't matter! I have to find help.

I picked up the child and ran into the early morning sunshine. The sky was still red and reflected in the frost-covered forest floor, making it appear red.

I'm sorry, child, but your hunger has to wait.

I ran east toward the sun.

With a crying child, I was to the forest's creatures like a flashlight to moths. I could have had a crosshair on my forehead too. I had to find something to calm the child down.

I stopped moving as fast before the fabric peeled off, and the child would fell to the ground. I kept an eye on my surroundings and looked for anything useful or gave hints where I had to go.

I reached a road that led through the middle of the forest. I looked in both directions, but nobody could be seen. When crossing the path, I got a bad feeling. It felt like someone started watching me.

The feeling stayed even after I passed through several groups of trees.

*woosh*

A short whirring sound could be heard, which startled me, and I stopped immediately. An arrow struck the ground in front of me.

A person came down from the treetops and landed a little away from me. She wore a long hooded cloak that covered the top half of her head. But under the coat, I could see a woman's body. She wore white and gold armor, but I couldn't say what it was made of. In her hand was a bow with an arrow pointed at me.

“Rtagam dkaedam!”

There was a certain aggressiveness in her language. And to my surprise, she was gazing at the child and not at me.

“Fukkam kurram!”

The person took a step toward me but never let me out of her eyes.

“Fukkam kurram!”

The woman got louder, but even if she did, I couldn't understand her. She started to gesticulate, and I could only read from it that I should put the child down. I slowly lowered the child and put it down.

I was about to lift my head to see what she wanted, but at the same moment, I heard the bowstring. Without knowing what the woman wished to, I created a fireball in front of the child and me.

This shielded us, and the arrow burned in it. I hurled the fireball forward but withdrew at the same time with the child in my mouth.

"Wasbunntar Deart!"

I heard the woman cursing.

Arrows came flying in from behind.

I have to come up with something.

I put the child behind a tree and came out alone. The woman's hood had fallen off. She was an elf just like the other woman, the same blonde hair, her eyes sparkled blue. But the expression on her face was anything but beautiful, and it looked more like a touch of madness.

An arrow came towards me while I was inspecting her.

I blocked the attack with a fireball and hurled a second one after her. However, she took her bow and cut it lengthwise through the fireball, splitting it in two.

Damn!

She reacted quickly and drew one arrow after the other and shot them at me. I kept jumping back and letting her arrows go nowhere.

A loud horn was blown in the distance, and the elf immediately stopped her attacks. She looked annoyed, then made a gesture I never expected. She pointed to the tree where the child was lying and to me. Then she indicated with her thumb that she wanted to cut off our heads. When she finished her gesture, she turned away and disappeared into the trees.

We had luck.

I could breathe a sigh of relief for now, but I couldn't be sure that she wouldn't return soon.