Chapter 19

"Where are we going?" Seiran asked Leon as soon as they passed through the kingdom's border.

"Red valley at the Sillia Kingdom." She didn't expect they were going to another kingdom so Seiran felt excited to have this adventure.

They arrived at the capital then Leon helped put Seiran down the horse. There was a stable at the entrance so they left their horse there.

There were many people bustling everywhere making it hard for Seiran to keep up with the rest of the group. She was about to lose her sight of Leon when someone grabbed her hand.

"Come on." Noah said then they walked together. They went inside a building then Leon talked to the girl at the counter beside the front door.

"Four rooms for two nights." Leon said. The lady gave him bunch of keys and he gave her a pouch of money. He distribute the room keys to the group. He saw Noah holding Seiran's hand and wanted to tease him but decided not to if he wanted to live for another day.

"Let's rest for a few hours then I'll come to your room to talk about some things for tomorrow." He said as they stood in front of Seiran's room.

"Ok, thank you." She said then gave him a small smile before he let his hand go.

Noah came to her room so they could have their dinner. They went downstairs and saw Paul and Leon already waiting for them. The food arrived and Seiran ate quickly since she haven't had her lunch before coming here.

"I already put the border lately so people here should know that the red valley is off-limits for now." Leon started after they finished eating.

"Always stay behind me Seiran. Run if I tell you to." Noah said.

"Give her a weapon at least so she can protect herself if worst comes to worst." Paul sighed as he told them.

"Nothing worse will happen if you follow the plan sir Armonde." Noah said, not accepting his suggestion.

"But it wouldn't be bad to give her a weapon in case for an emergency." Leon said slowly, scared that Noah might get angry that he's taking Paul's side. Noah glared at him but he thought that Leon was right.

When he agreed, Leon felt like he made such a huge accomplishment that he volunteered to buy Seiran her weapon. He went out after they were done talking to buy it. Noah grabbed Seiran's hand then pulled her to her room, leaving Paul sitting alone.

"We'll set out at twilight." He said then let her hand go.

Seiran took a quick bath then sat on her bed. Suddenly there was a knock in her door. She stood up and opened it.

"Here." Leon handed her a bow and quiver with 10 pieces of arrow inside.

"Thank you." She said as she received it. He leaned closer and lightly hit his elbow on her side.

"So, does Noah holding your hand felt good?" He teased. Seiran immediately blushed and turned her head to the side. Leon laughed hard that tears started to form in his eyes.

"Aren't you two being cute!" He said. The door beside Seiran's room suddenly opened and Noah came out of it.

"You're being way too noisy, stupid. Let her rest since we'll be leaving early tomorrow." He said. Leon winked at Seiran before returning back to his room. The other man didn't like what he just saw right now, that is Leon teasing her while she's blushing, so he let out a frustrated sigh before throwing Seiran a look.

"I recommend not to get too close with that playboy." He said. Seiran tilted her head as she was confused with his statement.

"He was only teasing me with you." She said innocently. Noah's somewhat angry look disappeared instantly and changed into a surprised look. A faint blush appeared in his cheeks because of the girl's full honesty. However, Seiran blushed hard after realizing what she just said. She didn't know what to answer if he asked what were they talking about him.

"What a reaction! Please don't ruin my image Mr. Raileigh and let her rest since we'll be leaving early tomorrow." Leon said. He was peeking from his room when he said that. Noah glared at him then he quickly closed the door as he laughed hard. Even if the door is already closed, they could still hear his laugh.

"I should go inside." Seiran said, avoiding eye contact with him.

"Yeah." Noah simply answered.

"Check your weapons before we head out." Noah said as the four of them stood at the bottom stairs of the inn. Seiran stared at Noah's sword as she remembered Luke recognizing it that he also mentioned Noah's full name.

The sword has a white grip. Black line swirled and it popped out of the guard of the sword. It became thicker as it curved towards the pommel part. Seiran couldn't see what the blade looks like because she haven't seen him unsheathe it.

They started to move out after double checking their equipments. Noah held Seiran's hand again because even if the sun's still not up, there were people already getting busy with different stuff.

"Ready?" Leon asked Seiran as they looked up the red valley. She nodded then they steeped over the border he made yesterday. Seiran saw the familiar scarf that is tied in the middle of the rope.

The leaves of each trees have different shades of red and orange and has many yellow flowers blooming at the bottom of the tree branches. Their feet makes scrunching sound everytime they take a step because dried leaves covered the ground.

Noah glanced beside him, where Seiran is still holding his hand. She looked amazed as she looked from the trees to the ground. Her long silver hair became more noticeable then red eyes shined brightly when a flower fell in front of her. Noah snatched it mid-air and tucked it beside her ear.

"It suits you." Seiran blushed as he saw him smile softly at her.

"Shh." Leon suddenly shushed them. They stopped in their tracks and listened eagerly. They heard a faint 'hiss' so they quickly get into position. Seiran let Noah's hand go then pulled out an arrow behind her. She and Paul are in the middle while Leon is at the back and Noah's at the front.

Everyone stayed still, still listening where the sound comes from. Seiran felt the murdering stare so she looked up and saw the black, two-headed snake hanging from a branch.

"Above!" They all looked up, just in time to see the attack that was coming towards them. It fell and landed at Seiran's place. Fortunately they dodged it.

The snake's tail quickly took Paul, who fell on the floor as he dodged. The snake back away to put some distance to the humans.

"Save me!!" Paul shouted as he writhe in pain. The snake tightened it's tail around Paul's body so he started to suffocate.

Leon attacked it with his sword but the scale was so hard it didn't even put a scratch with the contact. He quickly stepped back s the snake tried to bite him.

"The lower half of the snake is soft so you have to lift it off the ground to stab it." Seiran said quickly as she remembered her past lessons.

Noah tried to disturb it by making it attack him above so the snake could show it's lower half then Leon would have a chance to hit it but the snake has two head so they couldn't see the chance to defeat it. The snake was being distracted by the two men so the grip of it's tail around Paul loosened.

"Villamonde do something!!" He shouted angrily. Seeing her only pulling the string of the bow with an arrow but not releasing it even once made him angry the girl being a big coward. She wasn't though, she couldn't find the chance to release the bow because the two men are fighting it and she might accidentally hit them.

Leon was still in mid-air when the right head of the snake attacked him. He out the sword in front of him to protect himself from it's huge fangs. Seiran quickly turned her bow and made a yellow magic circle to add speed and power to the arrow. She released it and hit the snake's fang. The snake's head swerved and completely missed Leon from the arrow's impact. The snake turned at Seiran and was about to attack her when Noah noticed it so he made a yellow magic in mid-air. He stepped on it and jumped towards Seiran. He blocked the right head of the snake from attacking the girl. Leon took over the left head and started fighting with it.

Suddenly it backed away then the left head immediately bit Paul's leg.

"AAAAH!! It hurts!!!" He shouted.

The right head backed away also and turned to Paul then it opened it's mouth. It was about to eat Paul so he started shouting again.

"Don't eat me!! Come on finish this damn snake and save me!!!" He started crying.

Noah made a magic circle again and stepped on it. Like lately, it gave him a boost. He swung his sword towards the lower half of the right head and it was instantly beheaded. It fell with a thud on the ground. Black blood came out of the snake. The left head also stopped attacking then they fell on the ground.

"Heal me already!!" Paul shouted at Seiran. She flinched at the sudden outburst then she came near him. She knelt down but suddenly remembered about the black mana incident with Noah.

"Well? What are you waiting for?!! The poison is already spreading!" He shouted more. Seiran stood up and took the right head of the snake that Noah cut off.

"What are you doing?" He asked when she knelt down in front of him.

"This is the cure of that poison." The men were completely surprised. Paul hit her hand away disgustingly. She tried to fight back then Paul slap her hard. Seiran's lip was cut in the process.

"Just do your healing magic already!!" He shouted furiously. Seiran saw the black poison already reached up his waist. She quickly opened the mouth of the snake and dug it's fangs deep into his leg where he was bitten with poison.

Everyone was quiet until the black poisonous liquid slowly flow out from the bite. She took out the head of the snake away from his leg and threw it to the side.

"Can you heal yourself?" Noah asked immediately. Some healers aren't able to heal themselves so he had to ask that.

"Yeah." She answered then did it. He turned his back then quickly gave Paul a hard punch.

"I can't believe you just slapped her when you wanted her to come along and support us." Leon said then gave him another blow to the other side of his face.

Noah grabbed Seiran's hand then pulled her out of the red valley.