A last goodbye would have been great.

Even if it was only a quick hug, he didn’t have the chance for one as his parents weren’t home with only a small note on the table detailing their sudden absence; they were recruited to help the harvest on another village as the extra pay would be enough to cover the taxes to the end of the year. It was tragic to read as they no longer had the need to pay taxes anymore and could have proper rest.

There was nothing else he could do but write another letter to detail his luck and new circumstances before leaving his house, yet he truly wished them to be with him in his moment of triumph.

His room was nothing to admire, a simple rectangular wooden frame with a large mattress stuffed with soft materials; while it wasn’t the best of beds, he grew accustomed to sleeping on it. At the end of his bed was a rough wooden trunk where he stored most of his clothes, but it was a mess as he had to dig through all the clothes to find a specific set of clothing, but unlike most days he pulled out everything from the trunk and stuffed everything inside his old leather backpack forcing the square shape to bloat into a ball trying to accommodate all its contents.

But that didn’t matter to him and put his backpack on before leaving his small room, not before stopping at the entrance and giving one last look at his humble room.

His gaze shifted to his other side to see his parents' bedroom sharing the same humility and small hint of sadness reached his heart as he was leaving them without a proper farewell.

His feet rushed to leave the house and lock the door.

“Is that all?” Mars, who was waiting at the entrance, asked when he noticed the bloated backpack, curiosity peaked as the backpack wasn’t by any means big.

“It's not like I have much.” Konnor forced a smile on his face. Besides clothes there was nothing else that could call his property as he didn’t find ownership of materialistic hedonism appealing like others who boasted their trinkets or toys.

“Do not be ashamed of humility, it is a wonderful trait.” The priest praised him, but deep down he comprehended the shame of misunderstanding, as humility would often be taken as a sign of poverty.

“How long will it take us to reach the capital?” The farm boy asked.

“With our carriage, it will take two days.” The priest showed two fingers to emphasize his reply.

“But I heard it would take at least a week.”

“On carriages pulled by horses, that estimate is correct, but raptors will pull our carriage.”

“Raptors?” He tilted his head. It was the first time he heard that name.

“Raptors are domesticated monsters. I would describe them for you, but we will meet them soon. Firsthand experience is much better than a thousand words!” Mars raised his fist in triumph. He was willing to give a long explanation when they returned to the church.

Konnor didn’t inquire any further, but that didn’t prevent him from becoming curious about those raptors and wondering about their appearance.

However, he looked back to his now empty house and let out a sigh, “I will miss my parents.”

Mars reached for his shoulder and pulled his friend closer in hopes of comforting his grievances. “It’s not like you are leaving forever. You will always have a home to return to.”

The farm boy’s eyes lit up with renewed flames of hope, “I can?”

The priest nodded, “Being blessed by the gods doesn’t mean you will go into an eternal crusade for the rest of your days, you can always return as long as you fulfill your duties.”

“Really? I heard stories of other chosen ones.”

Mars squinted his eyes, his mind racing trying to figure out what lies had been spreading, “I think you are taking Bards' tales as fact and generalizing them. They based their song in special cases and most of the time are greatly exaggerated. Like Gylan the sleepless, fighting day and night waves of monsters and green skins at the frontier, totally incorrect.”

“So he sleeps?”

“Of course he does.” The priest scoffed, “There is so much a person can endure before collapsing from exhaustion. Gylan simply has a complex schedule for his skirmishes that looks like he never sleeps.” He revealed the truth with his arms crossed, trying to hide his annoyance.

Konnor scratched his head, taking in the new information, and another doubt surfaced in him. “So you know what my duties are?”

His friend shook his head. “Sadly no, but everything will be explained to you at the Capital. However, I know one thing for certain: you will be able to travel through all the Empire states.” The priest took the opportunity to pull him closer and directed his gaze to the mountains on the horizon.

Konnor took those words into consideration but no idea or destination came to mind so pulled away from his grasp. “That’s great, I guess.”

“Alright, that might not be a great perk.”Mars dropped his shoulder in temporary defeat, but his face lit up and flashed a smile. “But you can broaden your horizons. You might learn a thing or two. Just like me!”

Konnor remembered about his friend's studies and became curious once again, leaning closer, “Did you visit every state?”

“Well, I only traveled to Saintiò and the principality of Viridis for my studies abroad,” Mars looked away with a finger, scratching his jaw.

Konnor stifled a laugh with his hands, taking deep breaths for a clear mind, but his mind finally got an idea about his future plans with a new gate of possibilities open for him. “I really want to visit the principality first.”

It came the turn of the priest to stifle his laugh but quickly regained his composure, hiding his mischief with his friendly smile. “I won’t spoil your surprise, then.”

“What surprise?”

His smile turned into a toothy grin, but rather than saying anything, he skipped in direction to the church, creating a distance between the two before turning back with the same grin on his face. “I think we should hurry. It's getting late.”

However, rather than run to catch up to him, he stood his ground shaking his head. “I just need to do one more thing.”

Mars wanted to complain but quickly noticed his friend looked at a particular house not very far from their position, he wasn’t going to take away his precious moment or interrupt him, there was still time and being a little late wouldn’t harm them specially if it was for something so important for his friend.

Konnor, on the other hand, approached the entrance of the wooden house and stood there for a short while contemplating the place as his mind raced about the news. He could even feel his stomach churning.

However, he steeled his nerves and knocked on the door three times, and patiently waited for a response.

Soon after, the door eye slot opened, revealing a pair of blue eyes staring straight at him, which widened in glee.

“Konnor!” the girl on the other side exclaimed in joy before closing the slot and proceeded to open the locks as fast as she could.

The boy waited, hearing and counting the clicking sound of each lock going off, after the fourth click the door was thrown open revealing a relatively short fair-skinned girl with long messy grey hair that reached the end of her back, wearing a white linen one piece dress and brown leather vest hugging her upper body. However, what stood out the most to her was a pair of long canine ears sharing the same color of her hair and a long feathery tail which occasionally appeared as she wagged her tail.

“Hello Irina. Can I come in?” He politely asked his neighbor and childhood friend despite it wasn’t necessary, yet he felt the need to be very polite thanks to his special circumstances messing with his head.

“Of course!” She quickly moved to the side, but her sharp eyesight caught the sight of a certain priest in the distance staring at the couple.

“Hey Mars!” The canis girl happily waved at the priest, who greeted in kind before turning around and walked away from their view.

Irina tried to suppress a giggle with her right hand for a moment but quickly changed her focus and grabbed his wrist to pull him inside. Konnor’s attention turned to his friend who led him towards a humble wooden square table with a wooden chair on each side where he took a seat, or was placed on one of them on better terms.

Irina left his side soon after, heading towards the next room.

Only then Konnor had time to check his surroundings.

Compared to his house, Irina’s house was built differently, with horizontal wood planks above each other and metal bars protecting the two frame windows inside the room he currently was. The room itself wasn’t empty, but neither was to the brim with furniture yet enough to not give the feeling of emptiness, book shelves, barrels and a single small chest next to the door.

He wanted to pass the time looking at the room, but a faint smell caught in his nostrils, shifting his attention to the kitchen room, not very far from him. The delicious smell tempted him to stand up from his chair and go to the source to take a peek, yet he suppressed his desires and remained in place.

Irina wouldn’t like him to spoil the surprise.

“You really need to taste today's dish!” She came into view with a relatively big bowl of clay filled to the brim with what he could assume was a new stew accompanied by a wooden spoon, which she placed in front of him, revealing its contents. “Is a recipe from Odral. Markel said it tastes really good!”

He inhaled his dish, feeling a faint taste in his mouth, causing him to salivate, as it was getting harder for him to resist the instinct to grab the bowl and gulp everything down in a single go.

However, he grabbed the spoon and stirred the yellowish stew a little, revealing his favorite mixture of vegetables, like the carrot, peas, and potatoes. Only then he finally had a taste, giving him a minor explosion on his tasting buds.

“This tastes amazing Irina!” He exclaimed as he took another spoonful.

The canis girl revealed a grin from ear to ear, showing off her fangs. “Thank you!”

Konnor took another spoonful of the dish and enjoyed the homemade food until he felt something odd inside his mouth forcing him to stop chewing and use his fingers to pull out whatever was inside.

Using his tongue to push the strange but very thin object to his teeth, he finally pulled it out in front of his eyes for a better look. “This is hair... your hair.”

Irina's smile disappeared and her ears lowered while a faint blush crept up to her cheeks. “Oops…”

Konnor turned to look his friend directly in the eye. “You didn’t wear the cooking hat, did you?”

Irina squirmed on her seat for a couple of seconds before both arms shot up exaggeratedly along with her ears abruptly standing up at full attention. “Ugh! I hate that thing, it is too restrictive. My ears can't stand it!”

Konnor, on the other hand, closed his eyes, thinking back the very first time she cooked and her final product was mixed with so much hair it was inedible, earning a small chuckle from him and a way to defuse her. He slowly extended his hand and grabbed her right ear, slowly rubbing it in circles before turning his attention to the other, giving it the same careful treatment.

Irina instinctively leaned closer to him with her eyes closed, enjoying the weak ticklish pleasure as her tail excitedly wagged side to side, calling out to the boy for more. “Keep doing that.”

The excited tail didn’t go unnoticed by Konnor and felt tempted to grab it but the earlier talk with Mars played out in his mind along with the past incident, forcing him to hold back despite he was sure nothing would happen, so he kept playing with her ears, much to her enjoyment, and continue eating his stew despite that little discovery since it didn’t ruin anything for him.

By the time he was done eating, Irina was practically on his lap, happily receiving her headpats. It was then he stopped and realized that it would take a long while for another chance to spend time with her.

Irina’s ears perked up as she noticed his hand stopped, slowly turning to look up at him expectantly as well as curious for his silence.

Konnor knew that look very well and sighed in defeat as there was no more reason to stall his stay, especially that Mars was still waiting for him outside. “I wish I could stay longer, but I need to leave.”

“Home?” she asked, slowly getting up and stretching her arms.

“To the capital.”

Irina stopped dead on the spot. Her eyes widened as everything stood up in surprise for a moment as her brain processed the sudden revelation. “I see…”

She pulled one chair into which she took a seat next to him. “You have been blessed, haven’t you?”

Konnor only nodded in silent confirmation.

The canis girl let out a long due sigh as she leaned back in her chair, staring at the roof. “I wish I had your luck. Receiving a blessing would have made things so much easier for me and my family.”

“I know.” Konnor recalled a year ago his friend's ceremony and the excitement she was exuding when leaving, only to return with her head hanging low. Just like Mars said, nobody blamed her as it was such a rare occasion to be blessed by the gods, yet that doesn’t stop one from dreaming or hoping to have the luck of the devil.

Irina was one of such tragic cases, and as the awkward silence between the two remained, she opted to stand up and turned around to leave in the direction of her kitchen.

Konnor gulped. He was impatient squirming on his chair waiting for her, her silence made him feel like that since she was very vocal on her opinions. But his nerves calmed down when he saw her return with a small straw basket between her arms.

“Take this with you.” She placed the basket in front of him.

He was quick to grab it and remove its cover. “Bread?”

It was filled with breads of similar size, all tightly packed together.

“I baked it myself. I hope you enjoy it on your way to the capital.” Her expression slowly warmed up like he was accustomed to.

“Thank you Irina.” He took the initiative to hold her between her arms, feeling her warmth.

“How long before you have to leave?” She asked.

“Soon.”

Irina immediately broke away from his arms and pushed him back before punching his arm. “Fuck you. That's for getting my hopes up.”

He rubbed the spot, barely feeling the strike as he let out a short laugh. “From an all loving girl to a total bitch.”

The Canis girl flashed her sharp teeth. “Bite me.”

Konnor rolled his eyes and extended one hand above her head and carefully caressed her head before shifting his attention on massaging her long grey ears. The girl's bravado quickly mellowed out and her tail excitedly wagged, inciting temptation to stroke it.

But the joy suddenly stopped as she pulled away from his grasp. “It won’t be the same without you around.”

She forced another smile with her eyes closed.

“I won’t be gone for long. At least I hope so. Mars said that I can go anywhere.”

Irina's eyes shot wide open as her expression turned ugly with her right hand pointing an accusatory finger at him. “Asshole, you will use that opportunity to indulge in your pointy ears fetish!”

“Come on Irina, is just curiosity not a fetish!” He didn’t know how to defend his view as he truly wanted to see and elf up close as he heard they looked like humans, yet they weren’t humans and had glaring differences. However, he couldn’t reveal that many also praised the natural beauty the elves possessed and wanted to be witness to it and be able to make an educated opinion.

Yet, like many others, she didn’t buy his excuse as her frown deepened, flashing her fangs. “That's what everyone says.”

Konnor simply raised his hands, giving up as there wouldn’t be success found in trying to convince her.

However, Irina's outburst quickly grabbed the basket that was on the table and handed it to him. “Let me know when you will be back so I can cook your favorite dish.”

“Thank you.” With his gift in hand, he made his way to the door, but she was faster than him and reached it first so she could open it for him. He gratefully accepted her kind gesture and was outside on the streets.

“Good luck Konnor, I will be waiting.” His childhood friend closed the door, signaling the end of this stay and the start of his journey.

Yet Konnor couldn’t find it exciting as he was leaving so much behind, causing a void in his stomach which he didn’t hesitate to pull out one bread from the basket and eat it as he walked away.

Irina’s house slowly shrinks from his view the farther he walks.

So did his reserves of bread.

And when he finally reached the church, he didn’t find more bread inside, only realizing his mistake, but he didn’t have time for himself as the priest quickly came into view and dragged his friend behind the church to finally show him the awaited surprise.

Mars was correct with his words. When they arrived at the church, Father Arthur was already waiting for them with a large, beautiful and shiny silver carriage, but all his attention turned to the creatures pulling the carriage. The raptors had a monstrous appearance, an amalgamation between a horse and a beetle. The long oval head had a pair of big chitin cackling mandibles and big pitch black round eyes. The body itself wasn't looking any prettier as it possessed six long but thin legs with visible joints where the knees and hocks should be; all ending in what would be a parody of a hoof. Its back didn't show different parts, but a single united body looking more like an insect thorax, yet it was all covered by maroon fur, including a long black tail.

Konnor was terrified at the sight, even more so when both raptors turned to look at him and struggled from their reins while salivating from their open mouths. However, the driver pulled out his whip and struck against the arse of the two monsters, which instantly put them back in line, staring at the road with their heads down. Yet Konnor couldn't help but notice the driver's choice of clothes was strange, he had so many winter clothes on him that he couldn't see any of his features, except the brown eyes through the googles.

Once they got in the car, he stood in awe by the luxurious insides which only a noble could afford but as he was preoccupied with something so materialistic his friend, on the other hand, grabbed one of his seats handles and pulled a string above his head, soon after they heard the driver used his whip on the raptors and the carriage departed with such force that made Konnor crash to the other side, thankfully it was a cushioned seat, preventing him from receiving any harm except the scare.

The chosen boy quickly got up and looked from the window at his hometown, fastly shrinking from his view until it was just an empty road between the lush green grassland.

He couldn’t believe at first how fast they left the town behind. The raptors’ speed was both amazing and terrifying, making him wonder how the church was able to capture and domesticate them in the first place.

But his awe and doubts came to a halt as his friend pulled out a stack of books under his seat, his face distorted with a cheshire grin as he opened the first book and started his long lecture.

“I should start with the Felis. While not very appropriate, they are better described as a hybrid between Humans and felines. We cannot really place a specific day for their appearance. However, we are sure their population grew exponentially after the Second monster invasion and spread through all the Empire states..."

Konnor dropped dead on the spot, silently screaming as his friend kept on reading.