【Saihe】Chasing the clouds and chasing the sun

13

Ifrit grows up to ten years old, with two spikes protruding from her head, and her tail looks like a protruding tailbone.

If she wanted, she could shoot a small cluster of flames from her fingertips.Although the girl's body was not considered healthy, and she often got sick and had a fever, but with Hemer's black magic, she didn't suffer too much torture.

Hemer confessed frankly when Ifrit was sensible that he and Seliya were not her blood relatives.

Ifrit didn't care at all, she called Hemer as Hemer, and Sereya as Sereya, she was a little girl with unique thoughts, her head was full of weird ideas.

Homer read the encyclopedia for her to fall asleep every night, and Saria told her some wild fantasy stories. She knew things that her peers and even many adults didn't understand all their lives.Hemer and Saria are her closest friends, relatives who have no blood relationship. She grew up in the Black Forest, like a little princess in the Black Forest, who never thought of leaving to find her real parents.

Ifrit stroked the tip of her head and proudly showed it to Hemer.

"Will it be like Saria?" she asked.

Hemer concealed his worry very well, and stretched out his fingertips to touch the little girl's horns—maybe they can't be called "horns" yet, they are just two hard protrusions, hidden under the hair, they are almost invisible come out.

"Do you like Saria's horn?"

"Of course!"

"Then they must be as beautiful as Saria's."

14

Hemer didn't tell Ifrit all the facts frankly, she was still a little girl after all.

Hemer didn't tell Ifrit that Saria was a real dragon. Fortunately, the girl never wondered about Saria's horns and tail; nor did she tell Ifrit that the reason she stayed away from her relatives was because She was murdered when she was one year old, and she almost drowned in the river; she didn't tell Ifrit that Serena's blood was like the sword of Damocles, which gave her the right to live, and was always hanging above her head, I don't know when it will fall.

Time moved forward calmly, but Ifrit became very interested in dragons, perhaps because of the research materials in Hemer's study, or perhaps because of the involvement of fate in the dark, there are too many things in the world that humans cannot explain. doubt.

"I want to find the dragon."

"There are no dragons in this world, Ifrit."

"Yes, Hemer." Ifrit raised her small face, looked into Hemer's eyes seriously and said, "I've seen a dragon. She even talked to me."

Hemo stopped writing for a moment, pretended not to care and asked, "What did the dragon say to you?"

"I can't remember," Ifrit said. "I was in the water, and then I fell asleep. The dragon was talking to me secretly."

Hemo couldn't help but think of the day Serena picked Ifrit back, Moon River, Long, the little girl who didn't know much about the world. She never thought that Ifrit still vaguely retained the memory of that time.

"What's the matter?" Serena walked in from the outside, seeing the strange atmosphere, she asked casually.

"Nothing." Ifrit replied quickly.

She trotted over, jumped up and hugged Saria's neck coquettishly. "I'm so bored, Saria. Homer won't let me hang out."

"You've been sick lately, and you were complaining of a headache just now."

"I didn't!" Ifrit protested.

Seeing that Hemo couldn't speak, she turned her head and stared at Serena anxiously.

"Hmm." Serena felt a little uncomfortable at the waist, hugged the gradually slender girl up a little bit, weighed it, and found that the girl has indeed been growing very fast recently, both in terms of height and weight.The two points on her head flowed a metallic red luster, suggesting that there was great power in it.

This does not bode well for the future.

"Hemer's right. You should listen to what Hemer says."

"Seriya!"

Ifrit wailed and complained, "You will always be on Hemo's side!"

"I do not have."

"You have!"

"Okay." Serena put Ifrit down, rubbed the girl's soft hair, pondered for a while and promised: "Next Monday, I will take you to the market."

"Yeah!" Ifrit jumped up on the spot, like a happy little sparrow.Hemo shook his head helplessly and smiled: "Go play in the forest for a while, remember to come back before sunset."

"I'll bring you gifts!"

The girl ran away in a flash, and the voice came from not far away.She ran and danced, humming an out-of-key song, and ran to the forest.

Ifrit has shown a high degree of synchronization with Serea in that he likes to pick up weird things.

The forest is like Ifrit's garden by herself, she can stay in it and play all afternoon, and bring all kinds of weird things when Saria or Hemer ask her to go home, so it's a good name Gifts—fossils of bunnies, dead watermelon worms, oversized chunks of scorpion amber, birch leaves weathered to the point of veining, and so on.

Her and Saria's collection filled every corner of the house.

15

When the girl's back was gone, Hemer said solemnly, "She still remembers you."

Saria soon realized what Hemer was referring to, and the black mage seldom appeared flustered.Serena pursed her lips, sat next to Hemer, and held her hand tightly.

"I always have a bad feeling." Hemo lowered his eyes and let Saria hold her hand. "I'm thinking, it's time to tell Ifrit everything."

"She's too young," Saria said.

Hemer didn't refute, and she was still struggling.For a girl, telling her that someone tried to kill her when she was a child is really a cruel thing. If she tells the beginning of everything, it will inevitably involve more, Serena's identity, Eve Lite's current changes, Hemer's identity.

Serena concluded: "Wait a little longer."

16

They didn't have time to sit together and be honest.

Probably because the lives of the three of them were too stable, Hemo almost forgot that life was full of hidden dangers everywhere. The hidden dangers were not only caused by Ifrit's physical condition, but also from the outside world.

Saria's appearance that day eventually became the trigger for the detonation device, which exploded years later, filling the town with rumors of dragons.

Serena took Ifrit and saw the disguised dragon hunters from a distance, and could smell their dangerous and deadly aura from hundreds of meters away.

The troubadour was singing. He said that a giant dragon appeared and took the princess away. The king sent brave men to search tirelessly for several years, and finally found the dragon near the small town of Rhine.

The brave have arrived, and the battle is imminent.

They hurried back to the Black Forest, and Ifrit was uncharacteristically silent all the way.

Serena didn't have time to explain. When she walked to the edge of the Black Forest, she found that most of the teleportation formations set up by Hemo had been destroyed. The ground was covered with messy footprints, extending toward the depths of the forest. At least a hundred people had visited.

Serena was frightened, dark clouds were pressing down on the city in the distance, and a storm was coming. Hemer's safety was uncertain, and she had to go back as soon as possible.

Saria picked up Ifrit on her back, turned and ran in the opposite direction.She found a hidden cave at the foot of the mountain and settled Ifrit.

She knelt down to look at the silent girl, stroked her cheek, and kissed her forehead softly.

"Ifrit." Serena paused, and finally just said, "Don't run around. We will come to pick you up."

After walking a few hundred meters, Serena closed her eyes, and the wind suddenly picked up, kicking up dust, rolling up dead branches and leaves.

People in a small town far away were surprised to find that there would be a tornado in such a calm inland, and the howling wind would break many trees and roll them up to the sky, making daytime look like dusk.

People stood in place and pointed at the depths of the forest, but they didn't know that the center of the storm was a huge red dragon.

Serena flew straight to the residence. The closer they got, the more chaotic footprints appeared. Discarded bows and arrows were scattered on the ground. It seemed that this group of people encountered some obstacles.

Serena was anxious, and suddenly saw a dazzling white light flashing like a reflection in a mirror. She recognized it as a symbol of light magic, and Hemo was most likely there!She immediately flew in the direction of the white light.

Saria's appearance made the hero camp flustered for a moment.

"dragon!"

"It's a dragon!"

"Don't mess up the size!"

"—Dragon! It's a real dragon!"

Only a few of them are dragon hunters that have been passed down from generation to generation. Most of them are ordinary soldiers. They embarked on the journey because of the king's favorable conditions. , if the leader hadn't tried his best to calm the mood of the team, he would have escaped a long time ago.

Serena saw Hemer surrounded by it at a glance.The black magician, who has always been neat and tidy, is now in a mess. She is injured and half of her glasses are broken.There was an arrow stuck in the arm of her left hand, and most of her arm was stained red with blood.

The giant dragon's pupils constricted and it roared angrily. The scorching flames immediately scorched the ground black. As she walked towards the trembling heroes step by step, the ground shook.

"Calm down!" Hemer yelled, "Don't kill them!"

The giant dragon turned to look at her, its scarlet vertical pupils were full of anger and confusion, the haste of being hunted down for thousands of years, the grief and indignation of being disturbed in a peaceful life and the anger of Hemo's injury were intertwined, sweeping away her sanity empty.Hatred occupied her heart at this moment, what a despicable and shameless creature human beings are, they are like locusts, like blood-sucking fleas, always chasing after and biting.

Hemo clutched her injured arm, trying to comfort her restless nerves.

"I'm fine, Serena!" She squeezed out a pale smile, "We can find another place to live. But once we kill them, no one will let us go."

The brave group was silent, watching the surrounded magician talking with the dragon.

The restless red dragon gradually calmed down, no longer spouting thick smoke and sparks from its mouth, Hemo heaved a sigh of relief, watching Serena approaching him step by step.

Suddenly, an arrow flying from the sky pierced the dragon's neck.This cold arrow is attached to the power of light magic, and it easily penetrates the hard scales and skin of the giant dragon.

The giant dragon roared in pain, swung its long tail heavily, and threw away the surrounding soldiers.

"Seriya!" Hemer blamed himself.

She has been reluctant to use black magic in front of this group of people, and she does not want to reveal her identity. Even if she is injured, she has always endured it, but her tolerance has caused Seliya to be hurt again.

She couldn't help wondering if what she had done for so long was the right thing to do?If you keep hiding like this, can everything be fine?

The green light collided with the dazzling white light, and the dragon's wound healed quickly at a speed visible to the naked eye. The brave group was dumbfounded, and it took a long time before someone shouted in surprise.

"It's black magic!"

"Kill, kill her! She is a black magician!"

The brave leader was in a state of desperation. He never thought that there would be a black magician beside the dragon.

A dragon is tough enough, how about black magic?All of them have witnessed the evil of black magic, and finally hurt the dragon, and black magic healed it with terrifying speed, so the odds of winning are almost zero!

But he is the king's brave man, a fearless warrior, since he came here, he will not be afraid of death, he raised his bow and arrow again, aimed at the dragon's eyes, ready to go!

"I'll go with you!"

In the midst of the melee, a childish and clear voice suddenly appeared.

Ifrit walked up to the leader of the brave at some point.The girl opened her arms to block his bow and arrow, and said firmly, "Take me away!"

"Ifrit!" Hemer shouted anxiously, "Come back!"

The girl didn't respond to her call, her frail body trembled slightly, she looked so small in the crowd, but blocked dozens of red-eyed soldiers.

"I was taken away by the dragon nine years ago," she said to the leader, "Didn't you come to rescue me, take me away! My father, Your Excellency the King, must miss me very much."

"your Highness!"

Exclamations came one after another from among the brave men, and many people had already put down their weapons and saluted her.

The leader hesitated a little.His order was to kill the dragon and bring back the princess and the dragon's heart.

I thought it was a bloody battle with a narrow escape, but I didn't expect that the kidnapped princess was safe and sound, and returned to their camp safely.

He gritted his teeth and glanced at the evil dragon and black mage, weighed the pros and cons, and ordered to retreat.

Anyway, the king's purpose is to retrieve the princess, and now that the princess has returned to the kingdom safely, the task is considered accomplished.

Hemer didn't call Ifrit's name again.

She shed tears silently, standing with Seliya, watching Ifrit's back getting smaller and further away.

TBC