Tale Of The Half-Blood Wizard

"Naar! Look out!" I warned him when I saw the biggest among them was heading toward him.

  Naar who realized the danger he posed, jumped up on a branch of the tree. 

That creature looked so angry. It banged the tree with its back legs so that Naar could fall down. 

I swam to the bank of the river with my clothes wet and soaked. I was shivering from the cold water. While on the other side of the river, Naar was trying to make his body balance on that branch. The smallest creature looked unharmed although half of its horn was cut off. 

"Three are staring at you, the one that is raging is under you, and the smallest one is quiet" I screamed at him to tell his position so as to be alerted and careful. 

Naar randomly threw something wrapped in a small bag randomly. "Where is the biggest one?" He asked. 

"Right under you" I instructed him. We were yelling at each other because it was pretty far from the tree he was trying to save himself and the place where I was watching, on the other side of the river.

That man did not say anything anymore. I kept watching him, until finally my attention was distracted by odd movement of the biggest creature. "It is moving around and around, looks like it is in pain," it seemed like the thing Nar threw hit the eyes of it so that it was in pain. 

Naar made use of that moment by jumping down from the tree and ran toward me. We both ran away with the cut of the horn in our hand. We were heading to where we were supposed to meet the Azalea team. Naar looked so happy. 

When we arrived at the agreed place, I saw Azalea and Yoru were waiting for us. Naar showed what we got, and in an instant her expression changed. She looked happy. 

"Ohohoho! Someone was just playing in the mud" she teased me as she looked at my look. 

"She made herself a target so that I could get the horn," Naar explained. 

"I was kicked by the leader into the river. They were angry because I deceived it" they all laughed hearing my side story. 

…

Since the search for the horn ran successfully, almost all the inhabitants of that building knew who I was. Anytime they met me they would greet me in a friendly manner. I also received some kinds of gifts of cake or food from them. Honestly, they turned to be so kind to me. 

Slowly, I forgot my own life and started enjoying living here due to their hospitality. 

That morning Azalea called me. She asked me and one of her maids to bring some books and reports from the library. She asked me to help her maid bring the books she wanted because everyone was busy. 

"She cannot read. You ask her to bring books and report to me," Azalea said to her maid. 

Her name was Hana, she looked like human but her body was kind of black liquid and faceless. Looking at her made me remember Lichen. Her neck was long and extended like a giraffe, but her words and her characters were very gentle. 

That woman asked to wait in front of the building while she was picking up some stock. A train would pick us up, she said. 

Not long after that, a wagon Nana told me came along. I was so stunned to look at it. It looked like a horse wagon I often saw in fairy tales.

A coachman was driving a black dark horse with two eyes on each side and three pairs of legs. 

"Waw!" I exclaimed in awe. 

"Miss, are you ready?" the coachman asked me. His head was blue fire. 

        "Wait a minute. Hana is joining us in a moment," I was enthusiastic. 

I could not stop looking at him. Honestly it was my first time to see fire in complete outfits and talked to me. 

Not long after that Hana showed up. She carried a square bamboo basket, "This is our lunch. I stole it from the kitchen," She whispered. I was happy to hear that.

And in the wagon, I could not stop feeling awesome, "It is my first time. And I feel like a princess," I said in hyperbolic words to express my excitement. 

In the wagon, there were two seats opposite to each other. Hana sat on the seat in front, but her long head bent to my side. 

"Have you been to the palace before?" Hana's question distracted me, "Has miss Azalea ever taken you there?" 

"It is my first time. I don't even know there is such a place here," My awe grew more and more. I was confused with the dimension where I was at the moment. "The place where I came from, a palace or such things can be seen as a museum. If you go there, you have to spend some big cost. Some can be visited, some are not functioning anymore," I explained to her. 

"What is a museum?" Hana was interested in the world of humans, my world. 

"It is a place to keep such old and valuable things which are very rare, things like that," I tried to explain in a language easy to understand for Hana. 

It did not take long to reach the palace described by that woman. When the wagon stopped in front of a huge gate of a magnificent building, I got even more awed and excited.  'Waw! It must be like in films' I thought. 

However, my hopes were dashed when the gate was opened and my eyes immediately roamed around. I did not see any majestic buildings with pointed roofs or high rise buildings in classic styles and such. What I saw was a vast field with roses growing all over it and forming a dizzying maze. 

Hanna took me off the horse wagon and asked me not to be too far from her. 'The appearance of a palace that I was hoping for would really make me a fool' my heart was already.

***

Hanna took me to the rose maze, I did not really know where she would take me. I just remembered Azalea asked her to take me to the library but I could not see any buildings here. This confused me.

We kept walking until that woman stopped in front of a hole which looked like an entrance to the underground chamber. She lit a candle she had prepared and walked downstairs into that hole. 

After walking down the stairs, our feet stepped on the ground of a dark tunnel. It was quite dark due to the lack of light. The floor and the wall were made of wooden-like materials and were carved very neatly. Antelope-like statues were in line with firefly-like lights swarmed above the statues. 

We were walking quite long before we finally came to a wooden door. The height of it was not more than two meters tall. Hana turned the handle and asked me to follow her inside. 

Once we stepped in, the view presented in front of our eyes was very different. To tell the truth, it was such a heaven for book lovers and nerds. Bookshelves of seven meters tall were lining in front of our eye. It was countless books, I might say. Hana was heading to a table and she asked me to follow her closely. There was an owl standing on a trunk. 

"Owl, Azalea asked me to get the report," She said to that owl. 

The owl turned its head one hundred eighty degrees, looking at Hana, then it flew low to the table. "It should have been taken yesterday, shouldn't it? Why did you just come today?" the tone of was unpleasant. 

When that owl realized my presence, its pupils abnormally enlarged and filled up its cornea. I turned away to avoid those scary eyes, "Who is she?" It was an intimidating question. He checked on a high cabinet which was next to the table and contained envelops, "Your master's new toy?' it was a mocking remark.

Hanna did not reply it right away. I did not know what to say either. "She is human my Miss took here," Hana was half whispering to that owl after inspecting around and making sure no one was looking at us.

All the envelopes the owl brought fell down. It swooped down toward me and circled over my head, "Can she see me?" He asked arrogantly, "I believe she doesn't even know what I am talking about," he laughed disdainfully, "Many human pretend to understand me while they don't," 

"She can see you and understand all you are talking about. She knows all. Even yesterday she helped Miss Azalea to get that horn for medicine," After listening to Hana's explanation, the owl got silent.

          .

The owl did not say anything but flew low to the table, looking at me in confusion. 

"Hello," I was a bit awkward to say hi to him. He looked back at me, shocking so much and ... ....