[POV: Feng Cai]
Eventually, I stopped crying.
I pushed myself back onto my feet, using the sheathed sword to help me stand. It was very heavy, and it was even taller than me, which made it very hard to carry. I could not even drag it properly. Still, I stubbornly held onto it and pulled the sword behind me as I marched forward with all the little strength I had. I could not leave it behind. It was Dad's sword. Dad needed his sword to fight. The thought made my eyes sting again.
"D-Dad..." I sniffled, my little hands tightening around the sword. "Dad is still fighting..."
He was alone. He was fighting a whole bunch of bad guys on the lake.
"B-But..." I looked around helplessly. "Where am I supposed to go?"
My legs suddenly felt weak. I fell to my knees, and the tears came pouring out again. I bawled as hard as I could, finally realizing that I was lost. I did not know where Dad was. I did not even know where to look for him. Everywhere I looked, there were only trees.
"D-Dad! Where are you?" I cried. "I-I don't know where to go! Dad!"
I remembered Mom's back as she turned away. Was Dad going to leave me too?
"No! Dad, don't leave me!" I screamed through my tears. "Please don't leave me! I-I'll be good! Dad, please!"
I felt so weak, small, and alone.
"Dad..."
I hugged myself and cried to my little friends.
"Please help me..." I sobbed. "Help me save Dad. Dad is in danger. I don't want to lose him, too..."
Something warm stirred inside my chest. It was my little friends. I remembered the bronze thing-y Dad had left me. I took it out with trembling hands. It had a strange drawing on it, one I did not understand, but I could feel something inside.
A friend.
There was a friend trapped inside.
"F-Friend..." I sniffled, holding the bronze thing-y close. "Can you help me? Please? Help me save Dad..."
I wiped my tears with the back of my hand. Maybe I could free my friend. I placed the bronze thing-y on the ground and grabbed Dad's sheathed sword with both hands. Then I began stabbing the bronze thing-y with it. Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! It barely moved. The sword was too heavy, and I was too small. Every time I stabbed down, it felt like I was using all the strength in my little body.
"I-I can do it..." I whimpered.
Thunk!
"I can..."
Thunk!
"F-Friend..."
My arms trembled. Tears began filling my eyes again.
"I-I can't..."
I stopped, sniffled, and clenched my little fists.
"No."
I was going to save Dad, so I had to be strong. I picked up the bronze thing-y and held it tightly against myself. The moment I did, I felt the friend inside pointing me toward somewhere. That direction. I felt like I was forgetting something Dad had told me before. Something important. But maybe... if I followed this friend, I could help Dad. So I did. I held the bronze thing-y in one hand while dragging Dad's sheathed sword behind me with the other. Step by step, I followed the direction my friend showed me.
"I-I'll save Dad," I whispered.
My little legs trembled, but I kept walking.
"I have to be strong..."
As I continued, I felt more friends gathering around me. They were warm. They made my body feel stronger.
"Thank you, friends," I said, my little voice still trembling. "Please help me..."
My steps became faster, and faster. I marched through the forest, dragging Dad's sword behind me, until something suddenly appeared in front of me. It was bouncing. Boing. Boing. It was blue and had little black, beady eyes. It was also making strange sounds.
It stared directly at me, furiously. "Glblbglublubub~!"
I froze.
My legs stopped moving.
"W-What's that...?"
I was scared.
Very, very scared.
"What are you...?"
The blue thing bounced toward me. I quickly hugged the bronze thing-y to my chest.
"Uwa..." I whimpered. "N-No... Don't come..."
I felt my little friends gather around Dad's sword. They were telling me something. I did not know how I understood them, but somehow, I did. I put the bronze thing-y back in my clothes and grabbed Dad's sword. When I pulled it free from its sheath, the sword was suddenly heavier without the sheath. I had to hold it with both hands just to keep it from falling.
My arms shook.
"Friends..." I whispered. "Please help me..."
Something warm flowed through my little arms. It was strength. A lot of strength. I lifted Dad's sword. Somehow, my friends remembered all of Dad's bravery and movements with the sword. They remembered the way he moved, the way he swung it, and the way he fought. Those memories seemed to flow into me.
"Come," I said, trying my best to sound brave. I puffed out my cheeks. "Hmhmm... I'm nut 'fraid of you..."
I was absolutely afraid. In fact, I was about to cry again.
The blue creature suddenly jumped at me.
"Aah!" I swung Dad's sword as hard as I could. The swing was very clumsy. The blue creature latched onto the sword and then crawled onto my arms. "Uwaaaah!"
It was icky! It was slimy like moss, but thick and sticky like honey.
I burst into tears.
"H-Help me!" I bawled as I shook my arms. "Protect me! P-Please protect me!"
My little friends responded. Warmth spread across my arms. They covered my skin and crawled along Dad's sword, surrounding it with their strength. I felt them telling me something. Swing. Swing with all my might. I remembered Dad and the way he swung his sword. I gritted my little teeth.
"Uuu..."
I gathered every bit of strength I had, and swung.
"Take this!"
My friends rushed along the edge of Dad's sword. The blade cut through the slimy creature. Crack! The sword struck something hard, an almost transparent orb hidden inside the blue creature. A crack appeared across it, then another. Crack! The orb split into two. The rest of the creature collapsed onto the ground. I stood there, still holding Dad's sword. My teeth were clenched. My tears had already dried. And somehow, I felt much stronger. I looked down at my little friends.
"Thank you," I whispered.
I hugged Dad's sword tightly.
"Please... lend me more strength."
I had to save Dad, so I couldn't stop yet.
However, I could not take even one more step.
My legs gave out beneath me, and I fell flat on my face.
"O-Ouch..."
I did not have the strength to get back up. My little body felt so heavy, and my arms hurt from dragging Dad's sword for so long. "D-Dad..." I whimpered, my cheek pressed against the ground. "I'm sorry..."
Dad was all alone. He was fighting the bad men without me.
"I should be with Dad..." I cried weakly. "I-I should help him..."
Suddenly, someone appeared in front of me.
I looked up.
The sun was behind him, so his whole body became a big, dark shape. I could not see his face very well because the sunlight was too bright. But I could see that he wore earthy-colored robes and carried a wooden staff.
"W-Who...?"
I blinked my teary eyes.
"Are you... golden dragon?"
I was not even sure what a dragon looked like. I had never seen one before. But Dad had told me about dragons, and this person felt like a friend.
"Golden... dwagon?"
My voice came out all broken because I was so tired.
The mysterious person paused.
"A golden dragon, huh?" he murmured. "I suppose I am one, but not really..."
He let out a deep sigh. He sounded troubled.
"Child, what happened to you?"
"Dad..."
My eyes filled with tears again.
"Help Dad..."
I reached out toward him with my little hand.
"Dad is alone..."
My voice trembled.
"He is in danger. Bad men are attacking him..."
I sniffled.
"Please help Dad..."
The mysterious figure was quiet for a moment, then he slowly knelt before me. His hand gently patted my head. "Rest now, child. Let me handle the rest." His hand was warm. I wanted to tell him more. I wanted to tell him where Dad was. But my eyes were already becoming so heavy.
"O-Okay..." I slowly closed my eyes. "Dad..." And then I fell asleep.
...
..
.
[POV: Sloth]
I watched the little girl finally drift into sleep.
After casting Nature's Rest, I mentally called out to the slimes. That had been too close. I had considered the possibility of stray summons, but I had never really stopped to think about what could happen if one of them encountered someone completely helpless.
I had almost become a child killer.
"Thank you, little one," I muttered softly to the little girl. My gaze fell toward the slime that had nearly killed her. "Really... thank you."
This child was tiny. A toddler, really. If her hair was any indication of her gender, she was probably a girl. She could barely have been more than two years old. I looked at the sword beside her, then at her battered little body. I could not imagine what kind of ordeal she had gone through to end up in this state. Or how she had even managed to reach this place. She definitely had a story to tell. There was also something strange about her.
I could feel a faint presence surrounding both the child and the sword. It was a mysterious power, something I could not immediately identify. Though it did remind me of the strange stones that the slimes have grown a great liking to. That was probably what had protected her from my slime. When the slimes arrived, I turned my attention toward them.
"Listen carefully," I ordered. "Protect this child. Take her back to the palace." I paused, my tone becoming considerably harsher. "And under no circumstances are you to hurt her. Do you understand?"
The anger in my voice surprised even me. But I could still remember how close one of my summoned creatures had come to killing this little girl. The slimes immediately moved. Several of them gently lifted the sleeping child while others positioned themselves beneath her. Working together, they formed a soft, moving platform that carried her as though she were lying on a makeshift bed.
I watched them for a moment before mentally contacting Nature Sprite and Golem Guardian. "Protect our guest and make sure she feels at home."
I received a faint affirmative response through our connection. It was strangely comforting, then I heard the familiar beating of wings. Gryphon landed gently before me. It seemed to sense what I needed without me having to say anything.
"Scout ahead," I ordered, looking toward the forest ahead. "Follow the direction the little girl came from. Start from the left side. I'll search from the right. We'll search in a cone. Keep moving forward while gradually widening your search. Look for anything that might lead us to her father."
Gryphon immediately leaped into the air, spreading its wings. I used Wild Shape. My body transformed into another Gryphon, then I took flight. The search began. We moved through the forest in widening arcs, each of us covering a different side of the path the little girl had traveled. I searched low and high, checking clearings, trails, broken branches, disturbed soil, and anything else that might indicate someone had passed through. Gryphon did the same from the opposite side.
The search gradually widened as we advanced, forming a rough cone through the forest. I had been worried that my instructions might have been too complicated. After all, I was communicating through our bond. What I thought in my head might not always translate perfectly into what the Gryphon understood.
Apparently, I had underestimated it. Gryphon kept up with me without difficulty, conducting a thorough search of its own side of the forest.
Fifteen minutes later, I found a battlefield or what remained of one. I slowed in midair as I looked down. The lake below was smeared with red. Bodies floated upon the water, drifting among the waves. The surrounding ground had been torn apart, with signs of a terrible struggle scattered everywhere. I immediately used Life Sense, only to detect nothing but the faint lives of grass and the fish beneath the lake's surface. My heart sank. I hoped the little girl's father was not among the dead. Five minutes later, I felt a tug through my connection with Gryphon.
I shared its vision, showing a lone man. He was bloody and battered. He was completely alone, still fighting for his life. So that could only be her father. I also saw the pursuers, the 'bad guys' the little girl referred to. "Buy him time," I ordered through our connection. "Don't engage him directly unless you have to. If you can get him out, escape with him."
Gryphon immediately changed direction.
I beat my wings ferociously.
There was no time to waste.