It's been a while, hasn't it? About 1 and 3/4 years since I last updated this story. I had writer's block for a while, and then I forgot about this. Apparently, I had a full chapter just sitting around for months while I forgot to put it on here. Well, here it is! To be honest, I really don't expect to update this story regularly, seeing my track record with this. I do hope to get at least one more chapter out before I disappear again.
Tigerking492-Thanks for the review! I imagine this was a bit longer of a wait between chapters than you meant, but at least I got one out eventually, right?
After that first battle that day, they fell back into silence. Raiden led the way, although that didn't mean much since the path they were on was entirely straight, with no branching pathways or variation at all. Isha trailed behind him, not caring enough to protest. The adventures so far had been mind-numbingly boring. When she had left her home to spend some time away, she hadn't counted on wandering the countryside with another person being so dull. Despite the adventure she was on with Raiden, despite the semi-frequent monster encounters, she found little excitement in the trip. She had been having more fun in the week before she was dragged into the quest, which didn't make much sense to her. In theory, traveling with a companion and having a reason for the trip would make the journey more pleasant, but that hadn't been her experience. For that, she blamed Raiden. Every decision had to be discussed and approved, and every conversation would end with both of them at least mildly irritated. They had to share everything they got from the monsters, meaning that neither of them had good equipment or were likely to get it anytime soon. (It didn't occur to her during her mental rant that he had saved her life multiple times and that going solo on a quest to save the world wouldn't work well in her present condition). She continued with the same train of thought during their walk until a large butterfly flew slightly in front of them.
It was a light purple color, unlike any monster they had seen so far, with shades of light blue and pink on its wings as well. The first thing Isha noticed was that it didn't have a face, but was also definitely not acting like a normal butterfly. Raiden, who had suddenly stopped when he first saw it a few moments earlier, stepped back so he was next to her and got ready to fight. Isha followed suit, focusing on the butterfly and hoping that no monsters would ambush them from behind. A face, contained within a light blue orb, came floating towards them and attached itself to the butterfly. This was followed by an immediate change in the butterfly's behavior. It immediately went after Raiden, who managed to dodge it just in time. Isha was ready with a fire spell as soon as the butterfly was a safe distance away, and Raiden followed up with an attack focused on its weak point. Although the butterfly was badly injured, it hit both of them with its wing. Isha's new robe softened the blow, although it still hurt more than she was used to. She retaliated with one more blast of fire, causing the butterfly to disappear and leave some purple honey behind. After collecting it, they rested for a bit, tired from the battle and from walking.
"That butterfly seemed different from the others," Raiden said. "None of the others we've seen have been so purple or large. And we've never seen the face attach itself to a monster right in front of us before, have we?"
"I've seen it a few times, but that was before I was a mage. This was much stronger than the other monsters, anyway, and it was alone." Isha said.
Raiden nodded, thinking for a second. "Maybe it's someone one of us knows. Did the face look familiar to you?"
"I was a little busy trying to defeat the creature to look, but no, I've never seen that face before. It's probably from someone nearby. Someone living in Greenhorne, maybe."
"Why Greenhorne?" he asked, and Isha realized that she hadn't told him anything about the events that caused her to begin a quest to defeat the Dark Lord.
"When I arrived at Greenhorne a few days ago, it was all dark and many of the people there were missing their faces. One of the ones who still had a face told me that the Dark Lord was the one who took them."
"Huh. Well, that would have been useful to know earlier."
Isha ignored his comment, saying, "Let's go find an inn, it'll be dark soon." They did as she said, and they soon discovered that it was good that they left then. The inn was further away than they had expected, and the sun was beginning to set as they entered. They went up to the room they were using, putting their weapons and other possessions down after a long day of travel.