The Devil's Cursed Witch novel Chapter 307

Ember was in a good mood. The breeze was cool and crisp, the sunshine warm, and the lovely scent of the grassland before them made her feel relaxed. Erlos told her that the vast meadows before them marked the boundary between two territories; they had just crossed the land of the witches and were about to enter the Forest of the Elves.

As they neared a river, she recognized this was the same river where Erlos had fished before.

"Erlos?"

"Yes, Miss?"

"If I remember correctly, from this river to Honeyharbor, didn't we take more than two hours? But it's only been roughly an hour since we left? Does this mean we already covered half the distance we need to travel?"

"Miss, it's all thanks to you. You can ride a horse really well now. Because of that, we could cross this distance faster than before," Erlos praised.

She offered him a pleasant smile. "No, it's thanks to you, Erlos. It's because you have taught me well."

"But it's also because you learned fast..."

As the two of them threw friendly praises at each other, Erlos spied a large tree with a nice shade by the riverbank.

"Shall we take a break under that tree? You must want to stretch your legs a little," Erlos suggested.

"Yes, please. And I am a little hungry as well."

He chuckled. "Even I feel the same. This time, I'll catch an even bigger fish and we can eat leisurely. We don't have to hurry back to the palace yet."

"Yes. I would love that. Let's spend some more time outside." Ember then glanced at the other side of the river and saw more trees clustered by the riverbank. "Why don't we cross the river? Is that possible? I think that spot near that large red tree beside that boulder is a nice place to camp..."

Erlos hesitated for a moment when he realized where she was pointing. "Do you really want to go to that side of the river, Miss?"

"Well, if it's too much trouble, then there's no need."

However, even as she said those words, her eyes held a look of curiosity at the dense green forest on the other side of the river.

"As you wish, Miss," he agreed, which caused Ember to show him a brilliant smile. Seeing her cheer for something so simple, he no longer doubted his choice. 'It should be fine, I think? Besides, we won't even go near them. Those people don't normally stray outside their villages. Even if they do, I can handle them.'

Ember tentatively looked around. "But is it possible for our horses to cross this river? Is there a shallow part?"

"There is a stone bridge ahead from here. Do you remember? We passed by it yesterday."

"Oh, yes, I remember now," she said. "Well, maybe it's because the impression of you fishing was too strong, I forgot it."

Both urged their horses to a gallop and soon reached the stone bridge. Ember happily crossed that bridge with Erlos in the lead.

As they crossed the body of water, her eyes could not help but widen in awe at the glittering surface of the river, the water crystal clear she could see the lively fishes and the swaying plants at the bottom. Erlos, being his usual chatterbox self, introduced the names of the fishes he could remember, among other things.

"...so the Aquatic Elf Clan love to eat these as delicacies."

"So does this mean the Aquatic Elves live nearby? Is their city among those trees?"

"Oh, no, Miss. They don't live in this area. Their city is further north, located upstream." _{freёwebnoѵel.com}

While the elf was preoccupied in searching for prey, Ember nibbled on the sweet biscuits given by Cornelia's servants. Just as she took the second one from the basket, she sensed movement behind her.

She turned around and looked at the wall of trees, eyes wide with curiosity. 'What's there? A wild animal? Maybe a rabbit?'

Ember looked back at Erlos and saw he was still busy looking for fish. 'I think it got scared when it saw me and ran away.' She resumed eating the tasty snacks.

Meanwhile, Erlos wondered if there was a need to dive in the river or if he should tell Ember to return to the other side of the river. The largest fish he had seen so far were a third of a fist, and if he were to roast that, there would be no meat to eat. Seeing the young miss happily enjoying her snacks, he had no heart to ask her to cross the river again.

"Where are the big fishes? I am not even asking for a fat one. Did those people scared of them so they only gathered on the other side? Well, it's possible since those people are hunters.' he mumbled but didn't wish to give up. "Miss wants to eat roasted fish. I can't disappoint her."

As he walked a little farther from the shore, his sensitive ears caught some sounds, and the next moment, Ember saw Erlos jump out of the water. His nimble body was high up in the air, and when he twisted around, a bow and arrow appeared in his hands out of thin air.

Ember could only raise her head and stare at the young elf with a gaping mouth--

Swish! Swish!

She only heard two sounds, but dozens of arrows left his bow towards her direction. She opened her mouth to let out a scream, but she seemed to have lost her voice, not understanding what was going on. Just as the magic power inside her body was about to erupt, she realized that the aim of the arrows were not her, but something behind her.

Ember immediately turned head back and jumped to her feet when she saw a handful of scary-looking creatures seemingly approaching her. Erlos' arrows had hit the ground in front of those creatures' feet as if to draw a line for them to not come forward.

"W-What are these?"