Caia woke with Fern's golden yellow orbs staring into her sapphire blue.
"We should probably move," Fern stated firmly.
"How many? Days I have left, I mean," Caia asked, fearing the answer.
"You have two days left. The trip to Heral's cottage usually takes a day. Heral has the strength I need to make the portal. He can lend it to me, so to speak," Fern sighed.
"Okay. Okay, we can do this," Caia kept whispering to herself for reassurance as her and Fern were walking through the woods, their feet lightly treading the cold, dark earth.
"I know so," Fern said strongly as she squared her shoulders. Her eyes flickered to an orange, betraying her confident demeanor.
Caia chose not to acknowledge her sudden eye change.
"We need to head East," Fern instructed.
"Let's do this," Caia said confidently.
It took them about six hours of walking on the moist ground for them to find something interesting. It was a fountain, just in the middle of the forest. Fern said they just magically appeared to help the area become "more beautiful". After marveling at the glamorous fountain for about a quarter of an hour, they started walking again. They turned North after about an hour.
When the whole journey had equaled out to a little over sixteen hours, they were forced to rest. Caia was exhausted, but Fern looked as bouncy as she was before they started this ordeal, which Caia found impossible. They emerged into a large clearing, a house surrounded with a forest of trees. The cottage was tall, two stories, and had a collection of windows lining the outside of the house.
They had finally reached Heral's cottage.
Fern pounded impatiently onto the door after having first run up the steps quickly.
After a minute, the large mahogany door opened, revealing an overweight..thing. It was blue, and had ivory horns. The rest of it was vaguely humanoid. The creature, which Caia assumed was Heral, beckoned them inside.
The inside of the cottage had an airy feeling, possibly because of all of the windows. All of the walls were covered with a sky blue, complete with clouds. After a few moments of making sure her eyes weren't deceiving her, Caia affirmed that the clouds were moving across the wall.
"I need your help, Heral. We need your help," Fern pleaded.
"What is it you need, child?" Heral asked Fern gently, his voice was deep and gravelly, like rocks grinding on other rocks.
Fern took a deep breath as her eyes turned a forest green.
"I need to borrow your strength," Fern said meekly.
"Okay," Heral said simply.
"O..kay?" Fern asked, a bit disbelieving.
"Yes, you always have a good reason, and I believe you will use it wisely," Heral stated.
"Oh, okay!" Fern brightened, her eyes turning a bright yellow.
"I must warn you, my girl," Heral softly said, addressing Caia, "you need to hurry, or all will be lost."
"Yes," Caia replied, already knowing the dangers if she didn't return on time. But..she was starting to like this world. Would it be so bad if she just..didn't come back?