Chapter 7 Fireballs, Frustration, And The Fine Art Of Getting Lost

Aelries marched forward, her boots crunching against the dry grass as she looks at the map in her hands, again. The parchment was worn from her constant folding and unfolding, the ink of the borders slightly smudged from her frustrated grip. The grasslands stretched endlessly in every direction, an ocean of gold and green color under the vast blue sky. 'Two whole territories wide.' She thought exhaustedly. She sighed for what felt like the hundredth time, rubbing her temple. Even if she did figure out the best route, there was no guarantee they were even going the right way. Villages were sparse, most exist near the edges of the grasslands. And here they were, somewhere in the middle, with nothing but the wind to guide them. Meanwhile, Mixarnt strolled beside her, hands tucked behind his head, humming some obnoxiously cheerful tune like they were on a leisurely picnic. "You're awfully fixated on that map," he remarked with a grin. Aelries slowly turned her head toward him, her expression flat, her eyes the dead, an unamused stare of someone annoyed. "Unlike you, I am planning where we should go first," she snapped. Mixarnt just laughed, punching a fist into the air with ridiculous enthusiasm. "Haha, let's just go where the wind takes us!" Aelries's eye twitched. "Are you stupid? No, wait, I'm sure you're stupid. Why the hell would we wander aimlessly in the middle of the grasslands?!" Mixarnt tilted his head, blinking innocently. "I mean… aren't we already wandering aimlessly?" Silence. Aelries's fingers clenched around the map. Her jaw tightened. Her entire body trembled with the sheer, concentrated force of annoyance. "Grrr aghasdgft!!!" she erupted into incoherent gibberish, her hands flying up in frustration. She wanted to strangle him. She wanted to scream. But the worst part? He wasn't wrong. They were lost. They are wandering for more than a week now. And pointing it out like it was nothing made her blood boil. Mixarnt watched her meltdown with mild amusement before shrugging. "Y'know, if you keep making noises like that, you'll scare off any nearby animals. Then we'll really starve." Aelries inhaled sharply—then exhaled slowly, counting to ten in her head. 'Patience. Patience is a virtue. Patience is...' she trailed off in her mind before looking at Mixarnt with another annoyed expression. "I hate you," she said. Mixarnt just grinned. "Nah, you don't." And with that, he sauntered ahead, leaving her fuming in his wake, then while Aelries is calming herself, the unexpected happened. "O-oh look! Aelries! There's a village there!" Mixarnt suddenly exclaimed, pointing toward the horizon where the faint outline of rooftops and smoke from chimneys could be seen. Aelries, immediately sprinted to his side, her annoyance forgotten for a moment, squinting in the direction he indicated. Sure enough, nestled between the golden glow of grasses was a small, peaceful village. "Sigh… Finally," she muttered, relief washing over her. "I hope there's an inn." Mixarnt grinned. "Yeah, you stink and need to take a shower." he teased. Aelries's eye twitched. "Huh? For your information, I always clean myself! Elves are hygienic, unlike you humans!" Mixarnt smirked, leaning in slightly. "Does that mean you wanna shower together with me?" Silence. Then— Aelries's face turned redder than a ripe tomato. "Y-Y-Y-Y-YOU PERVERT!" she shrieked, her hands already glowing with fiery magic. Mixarnt's eyes widened in horror. "I WAS JUST KIDDING!!! AHHH!!!" He barely dodged the first fireball, which instead incinerated a nearby shrub. The second one singed his sleeve. The third— "YOWCH! HOT HOT HOT!" —landed squarely on his backside, sending him rolling on the ground in a desperate attempt to smother the flames. Aelries, now fully enraged, gathered an absurdly large fireball between her palms, her voice dripping with wrath. "REPENT IN HELL, YOU PERVERT!" BOOM! The explosion engulfed both of them in a cloud of dust and smoke.