Chapter III : A bond for life

The meal ended without a hitch, despite the worried looks her family gave her, no one commented on the girl, which satisfied her.

She remained a little tense, watching Morgan out of the corner of her eye, if the young man mentioned last night she wouldn't know how to justify herself, everything was still too confused for her to think clearly.

Once the family meeting was over, she rushed outside, the strange moans she had heard earlier lingering in her head.

She took the time to admire the beauty of the garden while straining her ears to hear the slightest sound.

The backyard garden was large, there were several paths and in the center, a large patch of colorful flowers with a fountain in the middle.

In the background, after a small alley of flowering bushes, there was a wooden shed, this is where the garden tools were stored but the young girl had always been prohibited from approaching because of the potential danger that the place represented.

A low growl came to her then, a growl full of anger and distress that seemed to belong to an animal, it was a lament between feline and canine, a cry for help uttered in a deep and weary voice.

The beast seemed to be on the verge of death, struggling in vain to stay alive, it looked like it was fidgeting unnecessarily and would probably kill itself faster than remaining calm but that was without taking into account the little one who approached the noise with as much curiosity as worry.

The source of the screams brought her closer to the shed which was strictly forbidden to her, the latch of the door had been left open, no doubt an oversight by the employees since the three children of the Duchy usually obey the rules, they were less vigilant.

Astellyah slowly opened the door to find herself in front of a saddening scene, the place was a mess, tools were strewn all over the floor, pots and other supplies spilled on the shelves, soil, and seeds scattered all over the place.

In the center of the carnage, a small silvery animal was draining its blood, it was impaled on a jelly that seemed to have fallen on it and wooden planks immobilized it completely, leaving the points of the object deeply planted from its shoulder to his abdomen seemed to be very painful.

The Duke's Daughter did not recognize what sort of creature it was, his body was small, elongated, and supple like that of a feline but his paws were wider, his skull thicker and longer, his ears short and rounded as well as his tail in a feather duster.

A strange pattern seemed to cover him but it was not time to wonder what he was, in the first place, she had to save him.

The animal weakly raised its head towards her, its intense gaze was peculiar, it had one golden pupil and the other was a bright red color, it was something peculiar that made him look both noble and terrifying.

With a last-ditch effort, the creature struggled much harder, striking a heavy wooden beam on the top of his head, he fell unconscious.

Horrified, Lyah rushed towards the beast, carefully releasing the various objects that covered his body, then came the most delicate, removing the tool that pierced him, hands shaking, she grabbed the handle, removing the spikes of the animal's body.

The blood still hadn't stopped flowing, even gaining a new stream now that nothing was blocking the exit.

She grabbed the poor thing in her arms, applying pressure with the sleeve of her robe to stop the bleeding. She had to get to her room and now!

The emergency made her gasp, then she felt her body tip over and fly away, was she losing consciousness? Now was clearly not the time.

As if by magic, she found herself in her room in a flash of soft blue light, without thinking of the how and why, she rushed for the care of the creature in agony, behind the dresser was a passage which allowed her to access a room where she would not have disturbance, no one knew of her existence, there was also care equipment and something to calm the animal which seemed so fearful of human.

She walked inside the wooden chest of drawers and touched the frame wall, which released a light similar to that seen previously, a dark tunnel was now in front of her, without hesitation she took it, heading there confidently and swiftly despite the darkness here, that found itself broken for a fraction of a second by the same blue glow, telling her the passage was closed.

The room in which she arrived was quite dark, made of wood, there was a single bed, a large table, two chairs, two shelves, a cupboard, a bookcase, and a desk, on it were arranged several scrolls, jars filled with various colored liquids, piles of books and several things like dried seeds or petals.

With one hand she grabbed a blanket from the bed, laying it on the table before placing the animal on it, it still hadn't regained consciousness and his breath was slower and more choppy as his body cooled, there was no more time to waste.

She opened the cupboard, taking out several bandages, then walked over to one of the shelves, grabbing two small metal boxes, then took a vial that was on the desk filled with a radiating yellow-orange liquid with a translucent sheen.

She looked like a little girl who played the witch's apprentice and who would with no doubt kill the beast because of her incompetence due to her young age, however, the truth was quite different.

She had discovered this room while wanting to flee the Imperial Guards and had stayed there long enough, learning alchemy and herbalism with the contents of the books, even today, she had not solved the mystery of who had left everything here and how she got to it but that wasn't the most important.

She was relieved that even now she was able to make the way there, it was a bit of no negligible asset, so she could improve her knowledge of plants, magic, and alchemy, well that was her hopes, although she knew full well that the contents of the books were known to her inside and out. For now, the location was more than useful enough to heal the creature and hide her research into the events that would lead to their deaths.

Coming out of her reflections, she approached the animal, opening the lid of the first grayish box, she plunged two fingers into it, taking them out, they were covered with a creamy and sticky water green substance that she applied on the wounds of the hybrid which let out a small growl.

She grabbed the second box and did the same again, this time pulling out a maple-colored substance with a similar consistency but more grainy.

As she applied it, she pressed lightly on the wounds, pressing them to make the product penetrate faster.

The budding alchemist then covered the bruised body with of little thing in a bandage, gazing at the bottle and the mysterious colored liquid thoughtfully.

Shaking her head gently, she walked back to the desk, grabbed an empty small glass, a brown package tied with a string, and a bottle containing a strange thick purple liquid.

Returning to the animal, she poured some of the two products into the empty cup and mixed them with a little white powder that was in the package, the whole thing being a dense mixture of a brown-gold color.

The young girl smoothly lifted the creature's head before opening its mouth and making it ingest the strange mix, the animal groaned and struggled weakly but held firmly, the mouth at vertical, he had no choice but to swallow, then coughing several times, as if to pass off a bad taste.

The contents of the two tins were two herbal ointments, the first used to disinfect and prevent the bleeding from resuming, the other serving as painkiller and healing.

The liquid from the first bottle was a vitamin and mineral concentrate, useful in cases of deficiency or too much blood loss, a good solution to fill the gaps in the body.

The second bottle served as a supplement for the immune system and as an energizer, added to the powder it enabled the body to recover faster by filling in the lost hemoglobin and making blood circulating and breathing easier.

With all this, the little beast would probably survive, all he needed was rest and he would soon regain his health.

With that reflection, she sits down next to the tiny creature, absentmindedly stroking its head, what could he be? She wondered, never having seen such a being in her entire life.

After about two hours, she was dozing, cradled by the slow and steady breathing of the animal wrapped in the blanket, gradually sinking into sleep, a slight noise brought her out of her torpor.

Lifting her eyelids, she realized that two bright eyes were staring at her vehemently, their golden and red colors standing out in the dark brown room.

With a delighted smile, she directed her hand towards the creature's head to stroke it, whispering a hello to it in a sleepy voice.

"Glad to see you feel better, I was starting to believe you would never open your eyes again." The child sighed when her hand finally reached the top of his head.

She flinched violently, straightening up suddenly, the beast clawed at the back of her hand, staring at her angrily.

"Can I find out who allowed you to touch me? Or take me here ?" He growled in annoyance, his fur swelling.

"There was no need to scratch me! I didn't mean any harm to you and then you should be glad I touched you and brought you back here, just imagine, without that you would probably be dead in your own blood!" The second she hearing the reproaches, her body starts to boil, she had helped this creature not die and this was how he thanked her? What ungrateful!

"Well… you're not really wrong… so thank you human… I guess? "

"You guess?" The girl repeated stupidly, looking a little silly.

"Yes, it was nice of you to help me, now I have to go." The animal said quite naturally.

Stunned, she did not know what to answer, this beast spoke and was incredibly ungrateful and unconscious, leaving now was dangerous since he had lost a lot of blood.

She recognized now that he was male, he had a low, deep voice that went particularly well with his cold and somewhat brittle tone.

Without her having time to think, he jumped to the ground, sprawling out full length with a pitiful groan when he barely touching the ground.

" What is your name?" She asked, gently grabbing him to put him back on the blanket.

"Colleen…" He replied briefly, his teeth clenched in pain.

"Nice to meet you, remember that you are seriously injured, you need a rest before you can go anywhere. Take your discomfort patiently. "

"I absolutely must go!" The latter retorted, a strange gleam animating his gaze.

She glanced briefly at Colleen's silvery body, the bandages were red with clotted blood and he looked like he had a fever, his eyes were even red from it.

Maybe she could help him do what seemed so urgent for him? That way, he could rest before leaving.

"What is more in a hurry than your health? If you tell me, I might be able to help you. "

The injured one seemed to be gauging Lyah and her proposal, his pupils narrowing to two skinny slits, he looked a little eerie, remaining silent with his long feathered tail swinging from side to side.

He looked more like a cat in his behavior but had a bestial and cruel side, like what one would find in a rabid dog, his existence was a mystery.

"What is more important than my health…? I would say my existence and that of my entire tribe? Know that I'm not thrilled to tell you this and even less ask you for help ... but I don't have a choice. So listen carefully, I don't want to repeat myself. "

"Glad to be able to help." The girl mumbled sarcastically.

It wasn't the attitude of someone asking for a favor, let singly someone who had just saved his life, she suppressed a sigh, returning her attention to the cat-like.

"I'm a holy beast from a great tribe, after a change in the timeline I found myself in this world but I'm not even supposed to be born then! As I do not belong to this temporality, I have only a little time left before being completely erased, except that I have to stay alive to save my tribe, you are not supposed to know the future but in a little bit over a decade, my people will be wiped out by sinister forces, I must prevent this disaster and save my family and my people… I know it sounds crazy but…"

"I understand, I will help you accomplish your goal but you will have to help me in return as well." She interrupted the sacred beast.

"You understand and go to help me?" He repeated in a dumbfounded voice.

"And am I the one who shouldn't make you repeat? Anyway, I came here to save myself and my family from an imminent and cruel death, currently, I look like a six-year old girl but died at thirty-one. How can I help you survive here? "

He took the time to digest the information, watching the child from top to toe, initially thinking of a joke to make fun of him, Colleen quickly changed his mind.

Her gaze was not that of a little girl, just like her language and her knowledge, he didn't have many other options and a little time rest, it was arguably the best solution, he knew he could. probably trust the child.

"Let's go through a contract." Was his one and only answer.

It was the girl's turn to weigh the pros and cons, staring at the creature from the future, having contracted with a divine creature was not something to be taken lightly.

Their lives would find themselves forever linked most intimately way, a contract like this implied blind trust in the other party.

They would share thoughts, feelings, pains, wounds, lives, deaths, and more, their souls would be intertwined for eternity with no possibility of turning back, an unwavering bond would be created between the two of them.

"Do you know what that means?" She questioned, her eyes shining.

Silence answered her, a long and heavy quietness that was suffocating, the cat-like gaze on her seemed to analyze her to the very depths of her being, did he ever regret his proposal? If so, it was better to abandon the idea, a single second of hesitation was enough to dismiss the proposal, it took absolute certainty, confidence, and faith for a seal of this magnitude.

"I know what that involves and am ready to pay the consequences, what about you?"

This question had to be answered cautiously, she knew it was a test, ironic enough for which of the two had received the worst reception.

She wasn't going to complain about it now but it was still something real that he hurt her, he would have to apologize for his bad behavior, arrogance was not a virtue.

Was she ready to entrust her life to this animal?

Although she had never encountered one, the divine creatures were known to be powerful, fierce, and extremely selective.

To be able to meet one and talk to her was already a great honor, so making a contract was beyond all hope.

Although Colleen was running out of time, she knew his proposal had no less value, he had thought carefully and considered that Astellyah was worthy of him and his protection, a chance which would push certain to the murder point for getting her.

She had to think about it seriously and be honest, before the proposition of power and the fact that she saved a life, plus those who were related to it, it was above all to abandon herself to a person, something not insignificant since they would not have the wastefulness of not getting along.

The creature didn't seem to be unbearable on the contrary, he seemed to have a good heart and to be faithful, however, she would be foolish without taking the time to think about the implications there would be in, with accepting this contact.

On the one hand, they had to avoid that the conditions which they would establish between them are discovered, they will have to have a relation of complicity where honesty would be the queen.

Sealing a contract with a divine beast was like a marriage vow but with more application and higher meaning.

Often, it even suggested that the two contracting parties would end up loving each other, which tore a pang in her heart, it was not really an artificial love but the result of common trust and a sacrifice sealed by a secret deal.

Astellyah already loved someone from the bottom of her heart and it was like giving up on that person.

She would have to devote her life to her oath to Colleen, just as he would to her, it was a fused relationship where they would no longer have the option of escaping or dividing.

On the other hand, they would achieve their goals by relying on each other and be better, stronger, and more effective. They could lean on each other and support each other.

"To life, to death." Said the girl in response.

Which drew a smile from the feline-canine who stood up, shaking off the blanket with confidence, their fates would now be linked but neither of them regretted the decision.

It was now necessary to proceed to the contract which would seal their lives forever but would allow those of their families to be preserved.

Maybe it was the birth of a great bond, they both had a strong character but that was what would allow them to get along well.