6 Chapter Two - 2 || Encounter

She shook her musings aside and descended back to earth. For now, Essairyn needed to create a lodging for herself.

Some of the encircling trees had branches as thick as normal trunks. Perhaps with these she would be able to construct a treehouse in the ancient tree. Essairyn figured it would be the safest spot since it was the highest off the ground.

Taking a hard look at some prospective trees, she traced the branches of each one to find the nonessential branches she could lop off.

After selecting several branches from the surrounding trees, she flew up to a chosen branch. Essairyn wasn't sure if she could dual-cast, but she was about to find out now.

She swiped her hand down the width of the branch by its base. Following her hand, a lilac strip of light appeared on the bark. Not even a second after the completion of the motion, the branch plummeted to the ground.

Fleetly flustered by its sudden descent, Essairyn hurriedly softened the impact by casting what she thought was going to be a net but turned out to be a magic circle.

The plants below were saved from being squashed, and the branch was now hovering on a circle that had different inscriptions from the one she was using to fly.

Essairyn glided down to inspect it, amazed by how the supposed net automatically transformed into another magic circle. She gestured for it move to the grass under the ancient tree's canopy.

The inscriptions illuminated momentarily before changing into letters that almost corresponded to her flying disk. Only one segment, possibly the word for branch or object, was different.

She followed the circle as it transported the branch to the gestured location. Essairyn noticed the letters changed again when she ordered it to place the branch gently on the ground. Now she knew for sure that the letters were the language of magic and spells. She'd have to meet another person in order to find if it was also the spoken language.

Returning to her task, Essairyn lopped off each of the selected branches and placed them in a pile by the ancient tree. She soon had enough to begin construction and devised a mental blueprint of how the treehouse would be assembled.

In less than an hour, she created a spacious treehouse with two rooms and a deck that would be the envy of any treehouse owner.

One room was a dual living room and office space with a guest table, work desk, and two chairs; the other was a bedroom with a bed and nightstand. That room had one window by the bed while the other room had two windows: one by the doorway, and another in-between the guest and work spaces.

As for bedding and curtains, she saw some cotton-like plants earlier that might suffice. But, she didn't know whether they were poisonous or allergy prone.

Additionally, Essairyn felt a need to make paper and ink for the desk. She had already crafted a small box which held the black claw, a cup for the desk, and a vase for the guest table.

She wasn't sure how long she'd stay in the forest, but at the very least, she couldn't leave and be satisfied without making the treehouse suitably livable. That included basic furniture, textiles, and utensils. The paper would be easy enough to make, but for the ink, she would need some berries. Hopefully, the juice would stain well enough to serve as ink.

Essairyn left the little tree fort and flew in search of fruits. Once discovered, she ceased the magic spell and landed straight down on the ground in front of the berry bushes. She picked the darkest berries and placed them in a grass bag she wove on the spot.

Just as she was about to return, a faint clamor arose from nearby. Curious, Essairyn picked her way through the brush toward the noise.

As she got closer, she discerned a human figure through the foliage. Two voices, one distinctly male and one distinctly female were engaged in some kind of altercation.

To her relief, Essairyn understood their language, but wary of the feuding strangers, she listened behind a cover of leaves in order to grasp the situation.

"How does it feel to be weak and powerless for once, knowing that you'll die just a day after being reincarnated?" the male voice mocked contemptuously.

"Ha! As if that'd ever happen you weak, low-class demon!" the female voice spitted, visibly aggravating the man who wrinkled his face in burning rage and what also seemed like shame.

Surprisingly, the female voice came from an animal in front of the man, and to Essairyn's further astonishment, it was the small fox from earlier that day.

The fox bristled in hostility as it faced off the humanoid demon. However, it looked to have taken a harsh beating; its fur was in a disarray, all matted and dried with blood.

Apparently, bleeding was possible in this world, making Essairyn confused about why the demon from before didn't. If the fox wasn't a demon, perhaps it was only demons that didn't bleed?

"Today, you'll finally get what you deserve. And after you die, we'll hunt you down again and again, mercilessly ending your life each time until you no longer have the ability to even reincarnate!" the demon retorted in triumph and pure hatred.

The notion of reincarnation was a revelation. If reincarnation was possible in this world, Essairyn wondered if it had something to do with why she appeared here. And seeing that the demon and fox knew one another, it seemed that past memories were also retained.

However, it was also possible to lose the ability to reincarnate too. These discoveries elicited ambivalent emotions inside Essairyn.

Humans had always feared death and the unknown after death. Yet the prospect of reincarnation wasn't completely palatable to Essairyn.

The idea of having no definite end to existence made current lives and time seem less valuable. It was no longer about living a full life without regrets.

But the man's barbaric words triggered something inside Essairyn.

Somehow, ending a living existence through the inability to reincarnate seemed more cruel than simply dying once.

Humans lived knowing they would die one day. Those with the ability to reincarnate died knowing that their goals could be achieved in the next life.

But if that safety net was suddenly stripped from them while they still had these aspirations, then it was an existence with regrets. That kind of desperation and despair… How sorrowful was that kind of end?

Spurred on by tragedy, pity, and indignation, Essairyn hardly realized she had stepped away from her hiding spot until she was in the open, a streak of magic flying from her hand toward the man.

It hit him squarely in his stomach and sent him stumbling backwards. Briefly in shock from the sudden attack, he could only gape at Essairyn before straightening his hunched back and giving her a wary glare.

"Who are you? A friend of this murderous rat?" he spitted with narrowed eyes, quickly taking in her appearance, "But you're just a human!"

Essairyn only blinked, hastily searching for an answer as he studied her a little closer.

"And with such strange fashion for being in the Spirit and Demon Forest, too," he added, raising a brow at her black combat boots, lavender chiffon blouse, and stonewash light blue jeans. "But a pretty one," he leered, making Essairyn's skin crawl.

The fox flashed a look at the both of them and decided now was as good of a time to escape as ever. But as soon as she began to dart out of the scene, the man immediately blocked her path with an arc of smoldering ash-black magic.

"Trying to escape again, eh?" the demon jeered, "Leaving your friends to save your hide again, no less—that is, if she is your 'friend'."

"What do you know, you brute!" the fox shot back, revealing her small canines as he drew near.

"Aww, how cute," the man mocked, making a fake, adoring face. "Yeah right, you worthless pup," he switched, eyes sinister as he raised a leg to give her a sharp kick in her side.

But before he made impact, a lilac streak knocked his foot away, unbalancing him and causing him to swivel a step aside. He swiftly swung his head at Essairyn who had her hand outstretched.

"So you're on her side," he snarled with glowering ash-black eyes, "I was going to maybe let you go, but it seems like I'll have to hurt you before I have some fun."