''Have you gone mad?'' Nathalie snapped her head in his direction with gawking eyes.

    "I''m beyond alright, so thank you for that."

    She looked at his visage remained unperturbed, then at the smoking pillar; she''d been at it several times, back and forth.

    Which she thought it''s not as simple as it is...

    ''You''ve lost your mind, I''m convinced.''

    "That''s a community bonfire."

    "Oh hell, no."

    In a single spot, the smoking pillar grew fiercer than earlier; as they got closer, it grew bigger and turbulent as it got blown by the wind.

    ''Do you take me for a fool? Look at—''

    When some of its ashes flew towards them, she tugged his robe and covered at least the lower part of her face but it didn''t save her from coughing on it.

    Despite muffling her coughs, her ears caught the drums beating alongside the rowdy cheers echoing in the forest.

    But then, she wondered how there was such a celebration without any amount of surveillance or security around.

    The seed of doubt sprouted rapidly within her, and it didn''t sit well with her standing.

    The flight had been rather quiet, only they knew was a rather estranged guest staying within the castle, and an unknown robed man, who turned out to be a mythical beast.

    Although the worst part, grabbing through the heat signals— other than the fierce smoke, emitting bright pallets of tangerine and yellow, everything turned out rather at the cold spectrum of light.

    ''It''s so suspicious…'' While she nudged his chest, garnering his focus. ''Let''s drop here, Ashtra.''

    "We''re not even that close."

    ''Let''s not put ourselves in danger; we are but strangers here, let alone your presence!''

    He hummed deep, then glanced ahead. They were still several yards away from the actual spot.

    While she also wanted peace and had a good time for herself, it was rather better to keep it low and distant.

    She already had so much attention; since then, everything became a distraction.

    "Fine. We shall do it according to your plan."

    From within, she sighed in relief that Ashtra wasn''t being too mischievous or stubborn; her body had yet to recover and she wanted none of the added burdens to come her way.

    Beneath them rather had a thick canopy, and beyond hard to see what was beyond it, even the ground was far-fetched.

    But then, as they got lower, Ashtra''s grasp became loosened and they had yet to reach the array of treetops. Which she clawed deep to his back out of instinct.

    ''You mad man; how dare you—''

    "You said drop here."

    ''Don''t take it as is! Be considerate at least!'' she spat at him, huffing out. The giant trees spoke volumes, and it would hurt a lot if she landed, even if it was face flat. ''I don''t have a grimoire to save myself from a quick free-fall!''

    Ashtra''s gaze softened for a while then he mused, "... So, where do you want to go?"

    ''Look over there!'' Gazing at the nearby river, she pointed to the direction with a squeal, which lit up joy in her eyes.

    "So be it." Ashtra changed the course of the flight, and her palpitations slowed right after.

    Now that her grimoire was out of reach, her shortcuts of magic incantation medium and convenient consumable material were sealed for now. Although there were other ways to manifest, nothing would top it off in all aspects.

    Until she had procured a better grimoire, which might be no different from a needle in a haystack, then she might have the liberty of using her powers.

    Soon as they got close to the river, the burbling waters crashing through the stones in the middle and at the riverside mused her ears; the water was rather pristine, somehow reflecting off the sun''s glimmering brilliance aside from the school of fishes in it.

    Luckily, there was a space by the riverbank, a grassy one with few boulders at that, which she hinted at him, "Over there, please—"

    "Sorry." Suddenly, Ashtra transformed into streaks of light before transforming into a necklace.

    ''NO!''

    Nathalie''s heart almost jumped out of the chest with eyes gouged out when she realized that the minute he let go, she was falling, straight to the depths of the river.

    ''Oh, no! No, no, no. no!''

    Internally, she cried on top of her lungs as the view of the water became clearer than ever, almost; in a blink of an eye, she plunged with such crass and splashed greatly past the surface water.

    Her face scrunched as the cruel waters crashed to her face, deafening her ears with the booming burbles. Although it didn''t take long, the water started to embrace her. With such utmost care, even helping her move towards the riverbank.

    Stroking her arms, she went up and gasped for air.

    Alas, the short debacle came to an end, and she coughed hard from it as she crawled towards the shore.

    ''I''m livid!''

    She clunked to the necklace, strangling with her grasp from what he did, even if it was futile.

    ''Stupid worm! Why did you do that—?! Ahhh! My make-up!'' She already lurched from standing but even for one step had her stumble, anchoring on a nearby boulder. ''I''m all wet!''

    Her dress didn''t help how she became too sluggish with her movement.

    So many thoughts ran wild in her head, bombing him with questions but he wasn''t answering.

    ''Huh? Ashtra?''

    Looking at the necklace, it was dimmed and dull; which creased her eyebrows. Tapping it didn''t help either way.

    ''Where did he run off to?'' Meanwhile, she grabbed a handful of her sleeves and hem of her dress, pouring out water from it.

    It wasn''t so unusual for him to do such a thing, other than playing a prank on her— which happened several times as her instincts turned rather fine and never alarmed.

    But it was too much; she thought of planning out revenge but she got distracted.

    She stopped her tracks when she got surrounded by lush herbs and shrubs, highly regarded as high-quality medicine ingredients.

    A hard gulp came, and her fingers began to tingle.

    ''I want it so bad… Ugh, I''m still wet...'' She twisted her hair before flicking it away and turned it into a hair bun. ''But where did Ashtra go?''

    No sound heard aside from the rustling leaves from the forest breeze, and the gushing waters.

    When she was good to go, she looked around only to know she was alone.

    A beautiful mauve flower got found in between the mossy rocks, which was her first stop.

    Though when she drew near, a glint from the shrouded forest was seen, and such danger followed immediately.