V2Ch104 New Rain

"Babur. Let's go."

"NYAA..."

I cupped my hand over her mouth.

"Shhh. Let's get out of here before the others wake up. I may have gotten rid of the arm but there are bloodstains. We should disappear sooner than later."

"Oh..."

She nodded her head. We packed up as quickly as possible in the dimmest of light. The sun hasn't even come over the horizon yet.

We hadn't even been walking for five minutes along the trail before we already passed someone going toward Reinstorm.

"Guess we aren't the only early risers."

"Nyaaa... Just because I'm awake, doesn't mean I'm an early riser..."

She was still half asleep. I had to hold her hand to keep her moving. I felt a little bad though. It wasn't her fault that we left early. I moved my backpack to my front and crouched ahead of her.

"Want a ride? Catch some more z's?"

"Zeees?"

Her eyelids looked so heavy. She rubbed one eye with the back of her hand.

"Just hop on."

She let out a sigh and waddled over to me. She landed her thighs in my hands and leaned forward to rest on my back. I stood up and continued on.

I think that was the first time I had given someone a piggyback ride. Let alone a sleeping person.

By noon, she was back up and walking on her own. She seemed fairly appreciative of the extra sleep she got. As a matter of fact, she had so much energy that she demanded to give me a ride for a while. Not only that, but she ran as fast as she could with me on her back for quite a while. Probably shaved off an extra half a day's worth of walking.

The following week, we made up for that extra time by staying put for the last half of a day when it started raining hard. We took shelter under a cliff and set up our tent. I meditated in the rain for a while. I learned a lot from Rage and Mother about Eyse. I learned about a few key races.

The Heroes of All. Kurio and Goldie's ancestors were a proud race that were warriors and stood up for what was right, no matter the opposition. Many fought alone against insurmountable odds. Many died alone. However, like poking a bee's nest, they had a tendency to take revenge for fallen comrades. Killing one was ill-advised, even for armies.

Their lifespan seemed limitless. Some lived for thousands of years without any evidence of aging. But that was only because their life force was based on mana. Without mana, the entire race essentially suffocated overnight when the Magician drained the world of it.

It made me wonder. The Magician was thought to be a hero in his own right. Was he really though? Rage said that it was common knowledge that the Heroes of All lived off of mana. Could the world's greatest Magecrafter really consume all that mana and not think about the consequences? Accidental genocide? That's a tough one to swallow...

Rage also told me about the history between the griffons and the anuran. Long before Rage was born, the anuran race controlled the majority of the Cumios continent.

The griffons were a race that developed slower than the anuran. They had wings and flew all over. Their primary homes were in mountains. He wasn't sure if the anuran people were jealous or just greedy but, they sought out the griffons and enslaved nearly the entire race. The griffon wings were removed from current slaves and the hatchlings had any trace of wings removed upon emerging from their eggs. After many centuries of this violent behavior, the griffon bodies evolved and stopped growing wings.

It was only about 200 years ago when there was a major uprising. The griffons gathered and made plans behind their master's backs. The land that the griffons control now was previously owned by an anuran tyrant King. They took the castle by force and raised arms against the southern anuran royalty.

The two races have been at arms ever since.

The last race that Rage told me about was the yeti tribes. There is a particular tribe that lives in the frozen Snow Lands of southern Grampus. His description of them was brief. Suffice it to say, he thinks they would make the best lovers. They tend to be overbearing toward a lover if they have no fur to keep them warm in the harshly cold area.

I think Rage just has a thing for them...

'Hey!'

'Shush. I'm meditating.'

'I can be really annoying if I want to! LA LA LA LA LA..."

"And I have four of my emotions and Mother who can pester the shit out of you. Also, I'll tell Wisdom to stop playing board games with you."

All I heard from him after that was a grunt of disapproval.

"Were you saying something, Lake?"

Babur asked me from the entrance of our tent. I guess I did talk to Rage out loud.

"I was just talking to myself."

"You should come inside and dry off. It's so cold..."

"I guess I've done enough meditating for the evening."

I went inside and spent the night next to Babur, who was shivering almost all night. By morning, the rain had stopped. She had such a hard time getting to sleep last night that I decided to just let her sleep until she was ready to wake up on her own.

Around noon, we packed up and started walking again. We lost almost a full day's worth of travel.

While I am in a hurry to find Sophie, I'm quite alright with spending a little extra time with Babur. I feel like we are getting closer every day. I've been seeing her smile and laugh more. She brightens up my mood whenever I see her happy. It's almost infectious.

I want to protect Babur. Like I want to find and protect Sophie.

I failed with Mery.

While Riksa may have had a long life, I failed her, too.

I feel like I am on the verge of failing Sophie.

I need to find her.