The Chase
The Chase
This was her newly received task. Together with Soraya, she had to draw a map of the Western Region.
Flying together with Soraya, her altitude was significantly reduced, making it difficult to fly over the forest. So she would first paint a rough outline of the topography, and later Soraya would draw a more exact picture. By using her magic pen, the map looked like an aerial view, every detail seemed to come to life.
Lightning planned to go back to Border Town after the parchment was filled in. Several months of practicing had made her flying much faster. His Highness Roland calculated that Lightening could fly 120 kilometers per hour at full speed. At this speed, any incoming strong wind made it nearly impossible for her to open her eyes.
She had thought that it was all she could do. However, the day before yesterday, His Highness had given her a gift, a headband made of leather, with two copper rings in the middle and transparent glass embedded into the copper rings. As long as she wore the headband, she was immune to the incoming wind.
His Highness called it wind-proof glass, and it was made when firing some glassware. He had said she looked like a little Ezreal when she wore it. Lightning did not know who Ezreal was, but she understood that it took a lot of time to join the copper rings and glass lenses. The complete piece of leather had a double-layered structure so that it could wrap itself tightly around the inset copper rings. There was no need to worry about scratching her skin. The buckle was also designed to adjust the tightness. Anyhow, it was not something that had been just casually made.
She liked the gift instantly and wore it on her head. Even when she was sleeping she also wore it. She could fly as fast as she wanted now, regardless of the howling wind around her. As long as she wore the wind-proof glass.
Lightning reached the small town soon, and when she would fly back to the castle to give Soraya the map, a pale figure suddenly swept past the corner of her eye. She turned, only to find a pigeon flying toward Longsong Stronghold. Pigeons were not rare, but this one was quite different. It was too fat and just the wings alone would be enough to satisfy her stomach for an entire day.
Lightning swallowed. She thought back to a time when she had still lived on the island and caught some flying fish and birds by hand, later roasting them over the fire. Now, living under the roof of His Highness, although the food was substantial, having to eat bread with butter and mushroom soup for months on end, the food had started to become somewhat tasteless to her. If she could catch a pigeon to roast… She touched the pack with salt and pepper fastened to her waist and made her decision.
Lightning adjusted her direction and flew directly toward the pigeon. The pigeon quickly noticed Lightning. It immediately folded its wings, and dove sharply downwards, seemingly wanting to hide in the woods, to rid itself of this menacing hunter.
Seeing this, Lighting was shocked, for she would never have thought a pigeon could be this clever. A few seconds later, a broad grin spread across her face. With a sudden turn, she followed the pigeon as it dove downwards. Since the Months of Demons had ended, the little girl had become confident that nothing could escape her.
The pigeon would skim the treetops for a moment, and then fly extremely low for a while, close to the ground. However, the distance between the two got closer and closer. No matter how fast it beat its wings, it could not throw off Lightning's pursuit.
The dense forest receded, and the sun shone occasionally through the branches, alternating patches of light and shade. Until finally they flew through an open area, with an expanse of brightness. Grabbing hold of this opportunity, Lightning brought her speed up to maximum, grabbing the pigeon from behind and tumbling to the ground.
No matter how hard she struggled, the pigeon could not escape. Lightning drew the knife from her waist and prepared to kill the prey. But at this moment, the pigeon said suddenly, "Stop... coo! Help... coo!"
The little girl's shock was so heavy that she almost tossed her knife away. But she quickly understood and asked, "Are you a witch?"
The Pigeon nodded repeatedly as an answer.
"And here I thought I could finally have a change in flavor." Lightning sighed in regret, putting her knife away. "I'm Lightning, what's your name?"
The pigeon swelled and magically changed into human form. "Maggie. How dare you try to eat this bird!" She complained.
"I've actually eaten many before." Lightning shrugged and reached out her hand to pull Maggie up. Suddenly, a bead rolled out from under her arm and bounced on the ground, finally falling into a pit. Lightning went to pick the bead up, wanting to return it to Maggie. She noticed that the red transparent bead was engraved with a string of strange runes and looked particularly familiar.
She frowned and thought for a moment, and then she grasped a string around her neck, and slowly pulled a dark red pendant from her chest. Placing them side by side, she discovered that the pattern on them was exactly the same.
"What?" Shocked, Maggie who was looking over her shoulder, asked, "You have a tracking sigil, too?"
"A tracking sigil? What's that?"
"You don't know what it is? It can respond to a magic stone, allowing the holder of the stone to locate your position," she paused and said, "No! I shouldn't have told you. Just now, you wanted to eat me!"
"Do you have such a magic stone?"
"Yes. No!" Maggie shook her head.
"So, you can track my position?" Lightning asked curiously.
"No, I can't. The magic stone can only track the corresponding sigil," she answered this time, "and only we witches can use it. If you don't know this already, how did you even get it?"
"My father gave it to me." Lightning returned the bead to Maggie and asked, "What about you?"
"It's a secret." Maggie made a face but then she stared curiously at the other girl. "You belong to the Witch Cooperation Association, don't you? Ashes said that you don't want to leave Border Town."
"You're on her side?" Lightning curled up her lips in disdain. "And here I thought you were a new witch, attracted by the rumor. We live a good life here. Why would we leave?"
""Because it's dangerous. The church could come with their army at any time."
"The explorer isn't frightened by potential dangers." She blushed when she mentioned this. The Stone Tower didn't count. It was only a matter of time before she would visit the ruin again, and by then she would be able to enter the basement. "Furthermore, His Highness Roland Wimbledon has several incredible inventions. Once you've seen them, you'll understand. One can turn a fist-sized ball into a weapon, and when someone is hit by it, they're torn to pieces."
"Really? Could you take me to see them?" Maggie exclaimed.
"No. You're not allowed unless you join the Witches Union and become one of us."
"But I have to go back with Ashes," Maggie said with hesitation
"Then you can come back later," Lightning continued her coaxing, "Here there're many interesting things. We have machines which move on their own using heated water, and there are also weapons that can attack enemies a kilometer away. Uh, are you asking how far a kilometer is? It's quite far, if you look at people from one kilometer away, and they'll seem to be about the size of a tree branch." She made many gestures with her hands and feet. "There're even more interesting places and things to do in Misty Forest. Things like poking honeycombs, gathering so many mushrooms that you couldn't even count them all, and hunting birds and wild boars which are even more interesting. They're delicious if you peel off their fur and roast them over a bonfire with just a sprinkle of salt and pepper."
"Really?" Maggie could not help licking her lips.
"Of course. Why should I lie to you?" Lightning hooked her arm around Maggie's shoulder. "How about hunting a bird and roasting it, right now!"