Chapter 93

93 Henry’s dedication

In the darkness around the area, while two gentlemen crawling from the inside of a carriage, Henry and his grandfather Horden tried to locate the driver first.

“Did you see him?” Whispered Henry to Horden.

Horden look around and heard a whimper coming from the other side of the carriage, “Yes, I’ve heard it.”

“Good, what should we do then?” Henry asked Horden, while he tried to locate the monster.

Horden pointed in the driver’s direction, “I’ll go and search for the monster. You tried to save the driver. After you hide him, go back and help me.”

“Wait, aren’t we supposed to go together?” Henry held onto Horden’s right arm. He was actually nervous. For him, fighting monsters with his friends was enjoyable, but not if it involved his family member. “Let us find the carriage driver first and handle the monster.”

“Then we let the monster to ambushed us when we are trying to hide the driver?” Horden whispered his frustration, “Go! I have Panthera with me.”

‘At once, master.’ Said the red fur panther.

Henry voiced his protest, but seems his grandfather had already ignored him. He groaned and sneaked into the other side of the carriage. Horden walks around the bushes with Panthera by his side. He tried to walk as quietly as possible until Panthera told him to stop. He crouches and hides and begins to question Panthera.

.....

“What is it?”

‘I can sense the monster. Seems like it lingered on one spot.’

“Lingered? in one spot? How is that possible?” Horden asked his familiar once more.

‘I am sorry, master, that was as much information that I could give. I know nothing else.’

“Where’s the location?” Asked Horden again.

‘You’re near. It was passing the small river... No, it was inside the river.’

“Shit! two dimension monster, just what we need right now.”

‘You need it, master?’ Panthera tilted her head comically, not realizing the sarcasm.

Horden gave her a smile and even patted her head, “Just... let’s go, sneak attack as always. We don’t know what kind of monster we are dealing with here?”

‘Yes, master.’

The two of them carefully walks into the river bank, the sound of the calming water couldn’t even peace of mind to Horden, he was nervous, two dimension monster means the monster was capable to go to the land while having the ability to swim or flying, or one of the combination.

Finally, they saw the monster, a long body with thick grey skin, and a snout with three reptilian eyes. The body is elongated in the river with a sharp tail and four short legs that fill with warts. Horden knew about the monster, he curses and call for another weapon, a hatchet.

“Shit! A Gargator! Thankfully, it is the grey skin gargator.”

‘Did you recognize the species, master?’

“Yes, I fought it a long time ago, fearful beast, they also come in four colors, grey, black, red, and rainbow colors.” Whispered Horden, “Grey is the easiest. We just need to roll it and hack the stomach.”

‘What do I need to do, master?’ Panthera is so eager to fight the monster, Horden smile and brushes her fur.

“Don’t worry, we need to wait for Henry. After all, it was a mid-size monster. We need any help that we can get... even though it was coming from my lazy grandson.” Muttered Horden.

“Well, sorry then If I was that lazy b*stard,” Henry mumbled from behind Horden.

“God!” Horden was in shock, he tried to muffle his voice as much as possible, “Are you trying to give me a shocked till I die?!”

Henry rolled his eyes. “Relax, you’re one of the strongest old people that I know.”

“After the shock, now you’re mocking me? Some grandson you are.” Mumbled Horden.

“Can we just focus on that large monster over there?” Henry gritted his teeth while pointing at the gargator on the river.

Horden lifted his hatched, and glared at Henry, “Fine! It was a medium size gargator, actually.”

Looking at how stubborn his grandfather was, Henry just huffed his breath, “Fine, what should we do with that mid-size gargator?”

“What about the driver?” Asked Horden, suddenly remembering about the poor driver.

“Besides the obviously broken leg, he is fine. I hide him in a good place.”

Satisfied with the answer, he lay his plan to Henry, “Good, now I want you to wait here, while I distracted him, you can use your rapier to pierce the stomach of that monster.”

“Wait, I thought the gargator had a thick skin, rapier will never pierce through it, how about my long sword?” Henry call for the long sword and showed the hardened steel to Horden.

“You’re right, now wait for my call and quick attack the stomach.”

Before Henry gave him the answer, Horden already strike the gargator, “That bloody commander, wait for my approval first!” He shouted at Horden, who was busy handling the gargator.

Horden tried to hack the monster but swiftly avoided him. Panthera, however, successfully clawed her middle eye. The monster roars and shakes his head in pain. It’s tried to snap and crushed into Panthera’s body, but the red-fur panther is agile and can easily maneuver around the area.

Horde took the chance and hack the ground beside the gargator, the force make the gargator reveal its stomach, and Horden shouted at Henry. The Knight captain immediately slashed the stomach with three quick attacks. The monster lay flat on the ground with an open stomach wound from Henry’s attack. They look at the gargator together.

“Good job, son! Now, help me find those horses. We need to alert the nearest village about this road.” Said Horden while patting Henry’s shoulder.

“You can go to the village first, I need to find a mandragora since this is a perfect place for the plant to grow.” Henry told Horden and pointed at a black stallion drinking on the side of the river, “Look, we already found the horse.”

“Alright, you stay put with the driver after you found the mandragora, I’ll go to the nearest village.” Said Horden to his grandson.

They part way not long after, Henry walks around the road with a hovering small orb, trying so hard to find the mandragora, while Horden gallops the carriage horse to the nearest village. Vale sent him the sketch of the mandragora. The plant has a broad and expanded leaf with a stem shaped like a plump bubble with an earthy color.

“Sabrina, come out, my darling.” Said Henry to his familiar, while he was busy staring at the many plants on the ground.

‘Did you call me? Handsome?’ a perky red cardinal appears from Henry’s shadow. ‘Oh dearie, this is a dark and mischievous road. What are you doing here, my master?’

“I need to find a mandragora. Please help me by scanning the area,” Henry orders the red cardinal that perches on his shoulder.

‘Mandragora? Why do you want to be associated with a sassy b*tch?’ Complained Sabrina with her pitched voice.

“Sassy b*tch? What do you mean?” Henry turns his attention to Sabrina, trying to find an answer.

‘Mandragora is a female plant from the Mandracus family. The male counterpart of the family was called Mandrake.’

“Wow, I never knew that even a plant has its own species.”

Sabrina flew into the sky and scan the area. ‘Well, only the healer and the alchemist know about this kind of thing.’

He bitterly smiles at the sky, where his familiar fly around, “True, although the book specifically said mandragora, not mandrake.”

‘Because, unlike mandragora that has many healing effects, mandrake is a poisonous plant.’

“You’re so well informed, Sabrina, how so?” Asked Henry, a bit curious when he saw his tiny familiar.

Sabrina never answered his question. She instead tells him about the location of one of the mandragora, when they found a handful of the mandracus, she even helps differentiate the two.

“You know, I don’t even have to learn any of this, Sabrina.” Said Henry while huffing his breath.

‘Now, now, your future partner is a healer. Don’t you think you will help her tremendously by knowing all of this?’

A gleeful smile came into Henry, “You’re right, now tell me about mandrake once again?”

The little red cardinal patiently teaches Henry, and after, like forever, Horden finally comes with the guards from a nearby village. The wounded driver gets carried to the nearest clinic, while Henry and Horden go back to the capital by horses. They stop only to get a little break and feed the horses. Henry can’t wait to see Anne’s face, he doesn’t care if it’s because of the effect of the bewitched spell or not, for Henry, the feeling is real.

One day later, Henry arrived on the doorstep of the alchemia tower, he go down from his horse and let it go to the nearby stable to be fed and rest. He asked one alchemist to open the door for him, carefully he step inside, and in front of him, there was a girl carrying heavy books in her hand. Her long purple hair color swayed every time the breeze catches it.

When Anne saw Henry, she dropped the book with a surprise on her face. Henry runs into her immediately and embraces her in his arms.

He inhale every sweet scent that emitted from her, and said with a smile on his face, “Anne, I’m here.” Surprisingly, Anne pushed him away. There were tears in her eyes. Henry’s smile disappear when he demanded an answer from her, “What happened, Anne?”

“Oh, Henry... it was Xavier,” Anne explained to Henry while her lips trembled and tears came running from her eyes.