Seven Devils and a Rose

We continued looking for more black widow herbs, and I was pleased that I found some amongst the thick bushes. I carefully picked them and put them into Aria's magic bag, since she was next to me. Of course, it amazed me that no matter how much I put in, the magic bag never seemed to get full, and I'll be honest that I desperately wanted one of my own, more than ever after seeing how awesome it was, especially during lunch break.

Hence, when the sun was high above the sky, indicating midday, everyone gathered around, and Aria and Brenna produced some very delicious packed lunch out of their magic bags. We even had a picnic blanket laid on the ground under a tree.

As we sat there eating club sandwiches and drinking sweet drinks—which I assumed was something akin to juice—I admired the fields of wild flowers before us. The sight was breathtakingly beautiful, and I suddenly wished that I had a digital camera with me.

Speaking of digital cameras, I turned to Aria and asked, "Do you have a camera app on that tablet of yours?"

"Did you want to take some pictures, Alfie?" Aria asked.

I answered in glee. "Yes."

Aria retrieved the tablet from within the magic bag and brought up the camera app. Then she showed me how to use it, and I found that it wasn't different from our own app back home. Thus, I started snapping pictures of the field of wildflowers, and soon it was all of us, too, including the soldiers Michael, Allan, Peter, and Travis. I even took our selfies with all our faces squeezed against each other to fit in the frame, with the field of wildflowers and herbs as the backdrop. Needless to say, I had fun with everyone.

It wasn't long before Michael, who I thought was the oldest out of the four soldiers, asked, "Were you scared when we came chasing after you last night, Alfie?"

His question took me by surprise. I nodded my head and said, "Very scared. I have to be honest that you all looked like a bunch of demons, since it was so dark."

Allan asked, "Why were you in the woods?"

"We heard from Lord Worthington that you got lost. But how did you even get here in the first place?" Travis asked with a look of worry and confusion on his face.

Peter nodded his head in agreement. He said, "No village ever existed so close to the barrier. It's a rule in all of the kingdoms across the realm."

Now then, I thought, how the hell was I going to explain this to them?

I licked my lips and said, "I was completely lost during my travels and just kind of kept walking until I found the bathhouse, which I assumed at the time was someone's house. So I went in to ask for help, but of course, no one was there. And since there was a pool, I decided to take a bath because I was so dirty."

God, I couldn't believe I could lie through my teeth with a straight face.

Aria said, "It's lucky, then, that the lords found you, Alfie."

Michael said, chuckling in amusement, "It wasn't so much as the lords found him, Aria. The lords were hunting for him."

Eh? Michael's words caught my attention.

Felix and Caleb were hunting for me? But why? How did they even know that I had been around there in the first place?

Peter explained. "We were just finishing off a small group of bandits in the woods when we saw a beam of white light piercing the night sky, and both Lord Worthington and Lord Harrington reacted."

Lord Worthington and Lord Harrington? I assumed Peter was referring to Felix and Caleb respectively. And a beam of white light? What could that be?

Allan nodded. He was chuckling as he said, "They were like a pair of provoked beasts for sure. Every one of us soldiers on the mission that night could feel their dark qi pulsating in the air."

Travis nodded. He said, "They were triggered by that white qi for sure."

Michael said, "We were ordered to hunt down that white qi, and then we found you, Alfie."

Rather, I wanted to correct them, they captured me. Found and captured were two very different words with different meanings, after all.

I said in explanation, "The white qi must have been the barrier. It was glowing in the pool in that bathhouse last night."

Michael asked, as if in doubt, "Is that so? Not because it's you, Alfie?"

I cocked my head to one side, confused.

Peter said, "We're some of the lords' most trusted soldiers. Can you explain why we're here and not on a mission with the lords themselves?"

I frowned, even more confused now. What are they trying to imply?

It was then Aria said, "I don't think this is the time to talk about this, gentlemen."

Brenna said, "I'm also curious, Aria. Yesterday, when we went gathering herbs, we were escorted by the newly recruited soldiers."

I, too, became curious as to what they were talking about and asked, "Aria?"

Finally, Aria said, "Alfie has pure qi. It's not strong, but still pure, nonetheless."

Now that she said that, I remembered she had mentioned something to me last night about me being pure. Was this what she meant? That I had pure qi?

It was then Brenna and all four soldiers nodded in understanding. But of course, I didn't understand anything except for the fact that I apparently had pure qi.

Michael said, "That would explain why Lord Worthington couldn't control himself and attacked Alfie last night." He was looking at me strangely.

Attacked? When did Felix attack me last night? Then it dawned on me. The kiss! Of course, Felix had kissed me last night.

Allan nodded. "He's the strongest."

"And therefore the most sensitive to the pure qi," Brenna said. "Even those with very low levels trigger his basic instinct." She turned to me. "Your qi must be very weak, Alfie, because I can't even sense you at all."

Michael said, "Me neither."