Chapter Twenty Three

Viper wasn't very accepting of the addition in their group, she didn't see the point and doubted her warrior title to the least.

"are you really a warrior?" she asked eyeing the girl who faced forward the entire journey not looking sideways and had been at Ryokos side the whole way.

"yes my family served the royal kingdoms in the west for years and we are very proud of it" she said proudly

"oh really? And you couldn't fight of a single demon?" she said earning an irritated glance

"I'll have you know that I had been fighting that demon for hours and I had made some progress that being my first demon encounter" she said

"pfft yeah okay say what makes you sleep at night" Elena growled slightly at the unbearable teenager, she was only fourteen from what she could tell

"you know Viper even if you don't like the whole arrangement and the changes you could pretend and just shut it for a while don't you think?" Viper was a bit irritated at the way Ryoko told her to shut it but didn't go deeper into the topic remembering exactly what had happened before and imagining what would happen now

"my mother always thought me not to lie" she said looking away

"yeah right" Tatsuya said rolling his eyes while the others giggled lightly seeing her fed up expression.

They continued down the path they had been on avoiding smaller demons and other creatures in the forest. They stopped after a while to rest and sleep for a while as they couldn't tell if it was night nor day they rested as they got tired, Elena insisted on staying up but Ryoko was able to convince her to go to sleep with the rest of them.

Their rest didn't last too long but it was long enough, they had been awoken by a sudden wind which seemed like it would be able to uproot any normal tree miles away, they put their things together and stood behind a tree as the wind was blowing against it therefore it wouldn't get to them. After a while the wind stopped, they slowly came out of their hiding place to see a woman sitting some feet away from them, they originally decided to walk away without disturbing her but she was in their path and they would have to go past her.

With Ryoko in the lead they continued through the path slowly walking by the woman, they got far away from her and were feeling much more comfortable.

"that was easy" Karla said

"shut up and don't jinx it" Viper said smacking her behind the head

"look I see the river looks like we're almost there" Tatsuya said

"how can you see it from such a distance" Elena asked squinting to see the river

"oh you are human?" Ryoko asked

"no I'm an elf wizard" she said

"oh cool we are dragons" Ryoko said shocking the others as to how easily she said it

"oh really?" Elena asked with wide eyes

"she's probably gonna stop following us" Viper said to no one but made it so she would hear it

"I will not, I have lived with dragons and have nothing against them" she said glaring at Viper before looking to Ryoko with hope in her eyes

"oh don't look at me like that I knew that's why I told you, I'm not stupid" she said with a smile patting Elena's head

"oh wow for a moment there I thought you were" Viper earned a punch to her side from Ryoko

"oi sorry it was a joke you didn't have to destroy my digestive system" she whined continuing painfully

"don't even complain, my digestive system is gonna digest me if I don't eat food" Ryoko said

"mine was destroyed by darkness" Karla said gaging at the thought

"mistress"

"what? No call me Ryoko" Ryoko said cringing at the word mistress

"oh ok, Ryoko if you need food I have some" she said

"wait what? How?" Ryoko asked

"I've been in here for days and have found that there are animals edible here, so I hunt and eat but my last hunt wasn't eating and it's still in my bag" she said taking off her bag

"bag? Where did you get a bag?" Viper asked staring at her

"you didn't see me pick It up?" she asked bringing out some cooked meat rapped in some kind of leaf and gave it Ryoko

"wow thanks Elena" Ryoko said with a bright smile before sharing the meat into five pieces giving one to each person and giving the last one to Elena

"what? But I gave it to you I'm fine" Elena said pushing it back

"It won't feel right eating this without you, you know"

"but"

"did you poison it or something?" Viper asked smirking

"no I did not why would I do such" she asked with a red face

"then prove it" with a flushed face she took it from Ryoko and ate

"thank you, honestly I am a little hungry" she said smiling a little

"I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one who heard your rumbling stomach" Viper said chuckling

"you really are a bully you know that?" Tatsuya said smacking her a little before walking forward while she scowled.

They got closer to the river and closer to their way out of the hell hole according to Viper who was fed up with the awkwardness and unpredictability of the place.

"guys, I don't think we're done here" Karla said pointing at the boat they were supposedly supposed to use, it looked very usable as it was almost ship like and the captain could be seen from where they stood the only problem was the woman who stood at the dock in a barricading way.

"seriously what's she still doing here"

"I didn't call her a surprise witch for no reason" Ryoko said stopping some spaces before the lady

"oh so she's the witch" Karla said

"I don't have time for this" Viper said walking towards the woman in an attempt to walk by her again

"see unless you can pull out a get out sign or a solution to the worlds problems from the sky then get out" she said passing by her but was pushed back with a powerful force

"you can ignore me once, but a second time could be the death of you" she said in a wispy voice

"do you want something?" Karla asked

"not any particular thing, I guard the forest and the rest of Akira's kingdom, and I always get something in return for the safe passage out the forest"

"what could you possibly need except a new job" Viper muttered

"I hear you" the woman said glancing at her with her obsidian black eyes

"what are we gonna give her, we don't have any kind of money" Tatsuya said

"I know what to give her" Ryoko said walking to her

"is it a punch?" Viper asked

"no it's this" Ryoko brought out a glowing crystal which easily caught the attention of the witch

"crystal from the nest of dragon royalty" she said slowly opening her hand

"Ryoko is that a good idea?" Viper asked questioning her choice

"yes, this is a rear element for witches and would do her a lot of good am I right?"

"you may pass"