After a while, I spotted a dense forest on the side of a mountain with a slight slope. Though there was a town at the mountain's base at the intersection of woodland and the irrigated flatland, it did not worry me.

I eyed the town, then angled my flight path towards the edge of the forest farthest from the settlement. Thankfully, no alarms went off in the village. If there had been any signs that the villagers noticed me, I would abort and find a new location farther away.

"That looks like a nice town," Saki observed in a shocked voice. "Hoshi, why are we this close to one? We rarely camp within eyesight of a town."

"There's not much else in this area," I informed her in a calm voice as I scanned our surroundings, "I don't think this village is big enough to be on the map. Also, I thought you could maybe buy some more supplies. I took a few things from the town we just saved, but we do have a bit of money you could use in the town for food or clothes for you."

"You stole!" Saki scolded in a breathy voice of disbelief, "We're supposed to be the good guys! Bad Hoshi!"

"I only took damaged items," I assured, but Saki scoffed again as I continued, "Things they couldn't sell anyway."

"We're the good guys!" Saki scolded again. I could feel her glare at the back of my head without the need to glance back at her. "We're not villains that steal whenever we get a chance! We help people!

"We are still fugitives that will starve without food, and you hate it when I hunt for deer or other animals to feed us. At least I did something good while I was in that store; I saved someone under some shelves," I attempted to calm the young magician. "And that was after I finished destroying the monsters. I didn't abandon the person as soon as I figured out there was someone there."

"Don't distract me from the fact you stole!" Saki stated, but her tone was less angry than before.

"Fine then, I won't share any of the food. All the carrots and other vegetables are mine now." As I descended, I noticed the lack of breaks in the underbrush that lined the dense stand of trees.

"Wait, that's not fair!" Saki argued, and I laughed in response. "You can't take it back, so the least you could do is share!"

"I'm a bad guy, remember?" I laughed, then spotted a break in the underbrush and descended towards it.

"You can still share them!" Saki whined in slight desperation, but I ignored her plea and refocused on landing.

As I descended, she gripped the harness beneath my scarf and held on as my paws hit the muddy ground at the edge of the irrigation field.

"We have to continue on foot from here," I folded my wings to my side and looked to the small gap between the bushes. When Saki didn't dismount, I glanced back to her with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not walking, I have to punish you for stealing somehow." Saki crossed her arms in defiance.

I gave her an unamused stare for several moments. When she didn't budge, I mumbled incoherently pushed my way between the bushes and into the forest. Ferns and fallen tree branches lined the edges of the dirt path just beyond the underbrush. I'll follow this for a few minutes, then break off once I know what direction it leads. I began to trot down the path.

However, the sight of bold red letters stopped me in my tracks.

WANTED: THE MAGE AND THE MONSTER

I walked down the worn path through the dense woodland until I stood in front of the offensive poster. I scoffed as I noticed the accompanying picture as it dangled from a nail on the tree trunk. "Are they mocking us? They're even posting them in the middle of the forest!" I glared at the object tacked to the tree with a nail and a snarl escaped my throat.

The glaring eyes of the spiky draconic figure and the crazed grin of the fire-wielding humanoid mocked me. The figure vaguely appeared like Saki, if she grinned like a wild child and hit her eyes beneath her hat, but I did not approve of their representation of me.

The artist took many liberties, especially with my armor. Instead, he covered my armor with spikes and drew me larger than actuality. My soulless black eyes glared in a pointless monstrous fury that could terrify children.

Saki's melodious voice snickered from my back. "That's what you deserve for being a thief!" She tried to withhold her laughter, but several giggles continued to escape and reached my ears.

"Why is it here in the middle of the woods?" I growled and glared at the image that was supposedly me. "Who is going to see this?"

"We're only a few feet in, and on a hunting trail, a member of the army must be from here as a warning to the hunters," Saki replied as she slowly stopped her laughter. "We do commonly stay in forested areas when we don't hide in caves or abandoned towns. I guess we aren't careful enough about hiding our tracts."

"Doesn't even look like us." With a huff, I lifted a paw to the stationary and extended my retractable claws. My claws shredded the flimsy laminated sign with a single swipe. I gleefully watched the small strips of paper float to the ground. I winced as my shoulder throbbed even though Saki had healed the wound hours ago. Saki did it several hours ago when we briefly stopped in the middle of a different forest for a bit of rest, some food, and water.

"You didn't have to destroy it that thoroughly," Saki stated in a jesting tone. "You're just jealous that they make you look all cool and powerful when you're a cutie in reality!" Her voice increased an octave mid-sentence. Once she finished speaking, the Stellan broke into a fit of giggles.

"Let's just find a place to camp for the night." I turned off the path and into the leaf and fern-covered floor of the woods. "We can deal with the implications of this later."

"You're jealous." Saki continued to laugh as I continued to walk with my nose raised and receptive to scents. "You wish you looked as powerful and awesome as the poster makes you look."

It's what I should look like. I exhale in annoyance, both at Saki's insistence and the continued faint prevalence of old Stellan scents. We need to be as far away from here to find a safe place to rest.

She suddenly stopped her laughter. "I wish we could stay in the towns; those people were so grateful for our help." Saki sighed a bit and released the hug. "But that's a few hours flight back now." Her arms dangled limply off of my shoulders and moved with each step.

"I am not going to risk being captured by the army, thank you." I snorted and subconsciously increased my pace. "We're fugitives to both sides. Both the army and the monsters want us dead."

"But we fight against the monsters like the army! Why can't we work together?" Saki briefly raised her arms to accompany her slight yelling. "We could team up and end this war!"

I roll my eyes. "I'm a monster; you are a lawbreaker for using magic. There's no place for us in this society." I subconsciously increased my pace as I wove through the densely forested land.

Saki released a groan as she leaned limply against my neck. "Why are most Stellans so judgmental?" She sighed, "Maybe we could go and stay the night in Ginfield and eat a real cooked meal with Mrs. Hanna instead of prepackaged foods or meals heated up over the fire?"

"Another day, but I'm not traveling that far today." I huff, "Besides, we don't want to frequent any one area too often unless there are monsters. We don't want to put her in danger. If either side has a chance, they will use our connection to her against us. For now, we need to sleep in the woods."

Saki sighed as I continued to pick my way through the dense woodland, careful to leave as few traces as possible. Despite the increasing darkness that marked the coming of dusk, I continued to travel up the mountain's slight slope. Whenever I could, I walked on rocks, tree roots, logs, and stumps instead of the fern and leaf-covered ground.

Despite the protection they provided, I disliked dense forests; I couldn't fly in, out, or within the trees. I couldn't easily break through the canopy, and the mostly thin trees were too close together for me to fly within the limits of the woods.

I hopped onto a large boulder, then down into a stream that ran perpendicular to my previous direction. Water noisily splashed as I trotted down the stream for a long distance. I swiftly jumped over small waterfall cascades and calmly traversed rapids for several hours.

Eventually, I spotted a partially enclosed spot to spend the night: a large tree stump. The blackened wood was hollow; the spire-like remains only stood around three-quarters of what was once a mighty tree.

I sniffed the space as I slowly circled the natural wooden structure. I could scent a few wild predators that had marked the exterior and an old scent of a deer, but I could not detect any Stellans. This will do. Though it lacks a roof, it is a good place to spend the night.

I stopped in front of our new campsite, but Saki remained on my back, silently asleep. "Saki," I snorted and rustled my wings, hoping the sudden movement of my wing-shoulders would rouse her. However, she refused to wake. "Saki!" I roared in a louder voice, but the exhausted magician remained asleep.

With a sigh, I walked over to our and carefully curled on the inside of it. The soreness of my limbs soothed as I finally relaxed, but I kept my senses aware.

Saki usually set up an alarm spell to wake us whenever we camped, but that was a spell I couldn't create. The dark magic inside me inhibited most of my magic except for my armor and a few simple charms. 

I will have to keep watch tonight. The night was warmer than usual, which was both a fortunate and unfortunate thing. It was great for Saki; she did not shiver through the night. However, her shivering and the cool air would have helped keep my sleepiness away.

I tried to remain awake. Despite my attempts, eventually, drowsiness overtook me; I fell into a light, nightmare-filled sleep.

Author Notes!

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