“Almark, please, you have to help Eldo…”
“You’re sure it was a monster?”
A monster, when it was still this bright out? Almark doubted Cecily at first. Maybe she was only imagining things, like first-year girls often did. Maybe it was a harmless prank the boys pulled on her. All sorts of possibilities crossed Almark’s mind until he remembered what Morgan told him the other day.
A shadow near the entrance to the woods. A long-clawed shadow.
Maybe Cecily was right. In which case, he couldn’t afford to hesitate.
“Cecily, what kind of monster was it?” Almark gently held her by the shoulders, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible so as to not frighten her.
“What kind…? I don’t know. It was a monster. The big and scary sort,” Cecily said in between sobs. But her answer didn’t help.
“What color was it? Was it human, did it look like a dog?” Almark asked patiently. He wanted to run into the woods right then and there, but he knew he needed to get at least some information first.
“I don’t know. I was so scared… I didn’t really get a good look at it…” Cecily shook her head.
Almark kneeled down and looked her in the eye. “Cecily, you have to keep your cool. You’re a mage, remember? I’ll save Eldo—I promise. But I need you to tell me what you saw.”
You’re a mage. Those words seemed to resonate with Cecily. She stared at Almark, her large eyes full of tears; he met her gaze and nodded. Cecily’s eyes wavered, like she was trying to sift through her memories.
“You can do it, Cecily.”
The girl’s eyes swam a little more until she gingerly replied, “…It had brown fur… It was about as tall as an intermediate student. And it had horns…I think.”
“All right. Good work.” Almark got to his feet. “You go back to the schoolhouse and call a teacher. I’ll run ahead to the woods. Can you make it back on your own?”
Cecily nodded stoutly.
“Good. Hurry, then.”
Almark turned around and saw a familiar trio walking over leisurely.
“Tohrk!”
Tohrk and his two friends froze upon hearing Almark suddenly call his name. But Tohrk soon replied with his usual sarcasm.
“What, playing around with first-years again? Guess it suits you.”
“Eldo got snatched away by a monster!” Almark yelled, ignoring Tohrk’s taunting.
“A monster?” Tohrk blinked in surprise.
“I’ll go ahead to the woods. Go call a teacher and look after Cecily here, okay?”
“W-wait, hold on! I don’t understand!” Tohrk cried, flustered, but Almark continued speaking.
“Sorry, but if she saw what I think she saw, we can’t let even a minute go to waste. There’s no time to explain.”
Tohrk stared at Almark’s face, taken aback. “A monster snatched a first-year… Okay, but what are you going into the woods for…?”
“To get Eldo out of there. And defeat the monster, if I have to,” Almark answered concisely.
“Defeat the monster…?” Tohrk whispered.
“Tohrk, please,” Almark said one last time before turning around and taking off toward the woods.
Tohrk scowled and clicked his tongue. He turned to Garain and Deg, who were both stunned.
“You two, go with this girl and call a teacher. It’s urgent.”
“Huh?” The pair stared at him in shock. “Wh-what about you?”
“What do you think?” Tohrk huffed. “That idiot thinks he can do anything except for magic, but he doesn’t know the first thing about the woods. I have to go with him!”
Almark bolted into the woods, found an appropriately sized tree branch, and snapped it off. He swung it once through the air, checking how it felt in his hand; his mind wandered to the longsword back in his room, but that was a lost cause. Even a mere tree branch was better than going in empty-handed.
“Hey, wait up!” a voice called out to Almark from behind.
Almark turned around to see Tohrk running after him, short of breath.
“Tohrk? Why are you here? What about Cecily?”
Still gasping for air, Tohrk caught up to Almark. “You’re way too damn fast…,” he spat, glaring at Almark. “I had Garain and Deg take the first-year back.”
Almark didn’t seem to be catching on, so Tohrk clicked his tongue.
“You’re gonna beat the monster while I just call for a teacher? Who the hell do you think you are?” He wiped the sweat from his forehead and laid into Almark, grimacing. “What, did you think saying ‘monster’ was going to scare me and send me running to the teachers for help? Don’t you dare make a mockery of me. If one of the younger students has been snatched by a monster, I’m not going to leave you to handle it. You can’t cast a single spell, and you don’t even know your way around these woods. No way in hell you’re doing this alone.”
Almark stared at Tohrk in shock.
“Is that how it sounded to you?” Almark asked. “Tohrk, there’s nothing wrong with having some pride, but pride won’t keep you safe from danger.”
Tohrk scoffed at him. “What would you even know?”
This must be his pride as a member of the nobility, thought Almark. Almark remembered the knights he saw fighting in the North. And maybe it was true—perhaps a mercenary couldn’t relate to how a knight felt.
“Fine, let’s go together,” Almark said. “But if you’re coming with me, you have to look after yourself, all right?”
“Shut up. I should be saying that to you.”
The two started running again, side by side this time.
“Do you have any idea where to go?” Tohrk asked between gasps for air.