Forests, valleys, canyons, all manner of scenery passes us by as Mephis shunts his way across the rugged landscape. Sometimes he senses something behind us and turns around. Since my basket is on his back, I can’t see who he is facing, but the fights are always short and brutal. Even while protecting a baby, this man is incredibly reliable. That is the first impression I get of Mephis.

Strong!

Though he travels at an insane speed, and fights with a savagery that shocks our pursuers, I am never harmed. At some point, I even fall into an exhausted sleep. It seems babies really can fall asleep while doing anything. Even while being chased by assassins. Only later, when I awaken with a cry, does Mephis stop to feed me from a bottle of milk.

“Shh…do not cry. Many things are listening right now…” The man whispers to me, his demonic red eyes staring into the shadows warily. The sun has set while I was sleeping and now it is nighttime. Part of me, the reincarnated part, probably, understands not to disobey this man’s orders. “You’re a good child. Lian should be proud. I hope she made it out…”

“…?” My facial expression turns into something questioning as I gulp down the sweet milk from the bottle he holds to my mouth. Mephis seems startled to see the change, his expression grows confused underneath his pointy black hat.

“You almost seem like you understand me already. But that’s impossible. You’re too young.” He sighs, stowing the bottle once I stop sucking. “Perhaps I just want someone to talk to. Either way, I’m sorry to say this…but you’re going to have to grow up fast. Alright, now that you’re done, ready to keep going? Well, I say that, but it’s not like you have a choice in the matter!”

*Shuuu*

Our trip continues in that manner. Though we travel far for many days and nights, the bottles of milk which Mephis produces are always slightly cold and fresh tasting. Sometimes I wonder how he manages to keep the milk fresh when we haven’t stopped anywhere. But then my brain gets sleepy and I fall into a doze again. Mephis walks so smoothly that I barely feel the impact of each step. Even still, a baby shouldn’t be subjected to such hard travel at the onset of its life. Unfortunately, as Mephis says, it’s not like I have a choice in the matter.

Gradually, the crazy scenery changes and the verdant trees and colorful leaves shift into sickly, rotting trunks, and empty branches. The weather grows warmer, until Mephis has to take the blanket off my sweaty body. For a while now, there has not been a single ambush. With a weary voice, my savior plops down my basket. And takes a rest. It is the first time I have seen him stop, besides to feed me, or regain his breath.

“Made it…” He growls with a deep, raspy voice as he sits down next to me and holds the bottle over my mouth. My curious eyes find his while I suckle. He grins, “Hehe, wondering where we are, Kid? Welcome to the Dead Forest. My home. And yours now too, I guess.”

“…?” I try to put on a curious expression and he takes the bottle away.

“Damn, when you make a face like that, it’s like I’m talking to a grown kid already.” He puts my basket in his lap and leans his back against a tree trunk with one hand on his sword. “I need to sleep too. Do me a favor if you understand and make some noise if bad people come, okay?” Mephis closes his eyes while muttering to himself, “Heh…I’m talking to the baby. Lian…is it really okay to trust someone like me with such a responsibility?”

*Snore*

Just like that Mephis’s head tips over and the shadow of his pointy hat falls over me, pleasantly covering up the setting sun. This place, the Dead Forest, for some reason the light which reaches us is a bit weaker. As if the very sun itself has begun to age and fail. Even still, the shade from Mephis’s hat is nice and I lie there comfortably in the basket, watching the tired man snooze. A couple hours pass, or maybe it is longer than that. Hard to tell, my sense of time is all messed up. Things take longer when you are younger. My energy wears out quickly, and though I do not think Mephis seriously expected the baby in his lap to keep watch, I do my best to observe our surroundings. I really am an obedient child.

*Flicker*

Something unusual happens. It has been so long since I have experienced it, that at first, I do not understand what it is.

This…I’m seeing two things at once. I remember this…

Is this the future?

*Swoosh*

In the corner of one half of my vision, an arrow comes out of nowhere and buries itself into my neck. Red splashes everywhere. I’m so startled that I instantly let out a piercing wail.

“Waaah!”

Before the present can catch up to that possible future, Mephis wakes up. His demonic red eyes snap open and his sword slithers out of its sheathe and cuts down the arrow before the deadly missile can arrive in the present. Exhaustion creeps over me and my sight grows blurry as the future I saw, gets changed. This new body of mine can’t handle seeing both future and present at once. As Mephis slings me over his back and charges the assassins, I begin to fall asleep. I can’t help it, I’m suddenly so very tired. Vaguely, I become aware of blood splashing in the background as the wind rushes by. Then things are quiet again as Mephis begins to run.

“Damn. They actually followed me all the way into the Dead Forest? I let my guard down…and yet…” The man glances over his shoulder at me, but my eyelids are already closing. For a brief moment, I think I see the beginnings of a wry grin on his face. “You actually warned me, didn’t you? How did you know they were there?”

“…”

His question goes unanswered as I fall asleep to the gentle rhythm of his bounding strides. Mephis’s footsteps have become my favorite lullaby over these last few days. So long as we are moving, I know that he will protect me no matter what. Just like that, we survive the pursuit and enter my new home.

This world…it seems very dangerous…

But I have the best protector.

#

Monsters…

Is this real?

From the very beginning I’ve been carried on Mephis’s back when he goes into battle so I have been unable to see what exactly he is fighting or how. After we truly cross into the Dead Forest, the assassins cease to appear. That doesn’t mean that this place is safe though. Instead of the people who chased us from my mother, now monsters begin to appear. That is what my previous self would see them as. Previous self? Right, there was something like that…I have to remember that. I’m…reincarnated…right?

Regardless of past lives, to me, these creatures are monsters. Though I am introduced to them from an incredibly young age, I don’t think it is possible for a human being to see these terrifying beasts and not consider them monsters. Scary…so scary! Once the fear begins to take over, my ability to think rationally greatly decreases. I curl up into my basket and pull the blankets over me tight as something lunges out of the shadows-

*Toc*

Mephis steps forward in front of me. His black robes flutter around him, giving him this illusory, wraith-like appearance as he appears with blistering speed. The creature attacked me right as he stepped away to use the bathroom. It must have been hiding in the trees, slithering closer every time he looked somewhere else. Our enemy resembles a snake, but it is ginormous. Maybe 10-20 meters in length, it would easily break records on Earth. In terms of thickness and girth, it is as wide as two men across, an absolute beast, with translucent, emerald-green scales that shift colors to create a sparkling mirage as it blends into the dying landscape. However, despite the snake’s size, Mephis shows absolutely no fear.

Without hesitation he rushes forwards and leaps into the sky. A splotch of red color appears on his sword though neither he nor the snake have struck yet. For an ephemeral moment, the two are locked in an epic painting. One warrior high in the sky, sword poised like a man-made fang. A titanic snake gaping its jaws wide, hissing as it prepares to lunge forwards and pluck him out of the air.

*Shing*

I can’t follow what happens with my eyes. One second they are about to meet, the next their paths have already diverged. All I know is that a second later, this fearsome beast of legend…falls to the ground with great gouts of blood spurting from its neck. Mephis returns to me, his breathing heavy, but acting as if this is entirely normal. Perhaps for him, it is.

Strong…stronger than I imagined!

My estimation of this man goes up even higher. As does my fear, a little bit. To slay a beast like that, Mephis must be an even greater monster. It may just be the light, but as he picks up my basket, his red eyes flash brighter than usual, as if his bloodlust has yet to be sated. However, when he starts walking his footsteps are smooth and unhurried. He carries me off on his back and I’m barely jostled. It seems I am not the only one who is a little bit disturbed by the composure of his traveling companion. He whispers under his breath, so quiet, that I’m not sure if I hear him right. It sounds a little like he says-

“You…are you really a child? What kind of baby sees a Gem Snake and doesn’t cry?”

It seems I’m drawing suspicion. Perhaps I should act a little more child-like? Wait, what am I even thinking?

Bits of the old me, mix with the new me, as the weeks go by. Eventually, Mephis brings us to a residence in the Dead Forest. He has a sort of makeshift home carved out of the trunk of a giant dead tree. The door is so thick that even the monsters in this place cannot penetrate it easily. There, we stay for some time to let me recover from the travel. I’m still a baby after all. Occasionally, he disappears with his pack, to go restock on milk for me. I am not sure where he goes to get it, but the days pass by quickly as I spend most of my time napping. Oftentimes, Mephis comes back when I am sleeping and I wake up to find that he has returned. Tucking his head onto his pillow, he lies down on the small bed to rest inside the tree. Though he takes his pointy hat off when sleeping, he always keeps his sword nearby. It is during the times when he is not here, or when he is dreaming, that I practice my talent. That is to say, I work on looking into the future. You might wonder how I do that while lying in a basket…

It’s simple.

I predict whether or not Mephis will snore on his next breath. Or if he’s gone, I focus on the wind outside or some sound from the forest and try to guess when it will come next. Unfortunately, this process is exhausting. Was it always this difficult? After peeking ahead for merely a split second, I immediately fell asleep the first time I tried to see into the future. It seems that if I overstrain myself, that is the likely result right now. My body shuts down and immediately enters recovery mode. However, I have little else to do, so when I wake up, I always try to peer into the future again. This knocks me out and the cycle continues.

Wake up.

Will he snore?

Yes, he will!

*Snoooreee*

Succe-

My head thuds back down into the basket and I’m right back off to dreamland until next time. Over a series of attempts, days and weeks, I begin to get a handle on how to turn my ability on or off. And using it for just a split second no longer puts me to sleep. Instead, I gain the ability to hold onto the future simultaneously for a few moments at a time. I’ll call this ability…Foresight. It’s a far cry from before, when I always saw what would happen before it did. But I’m improving.

Sometimes I remember bits of my past life, or the memories come to me in my dreams. I always wake up confused, and one-time Mephis even sees some tears building in my eyes. He looks away, but I get the feeling he is disappointed when I do not let the salty drops spill out. Apparently, children who do not cry are weird. If there is one thing I was good at in my last life…it was hiding how different I was. I should make more of an effort to seem like a normal baby. I’m not entirely sure how long we stay in that little hollowed out room in the tree trunk, but it is quite a while. By the end of our time there, Mephis is already feeding me soft fruits which I do not recognize, and bits of meat. Once I am capable of subsisting without milk, and I’ve almost grown too large for him to carry me in the basket, he suddenly decides to leave.

“Ehh…sorry about this, but now that I don’t need to stay near the village for your milk, it will be safer if we go deeper into the forest.” Mephis explains to me while picking up my basket and placing me on the usual spot behind his back. It has been a while since he has taken me outside, though he does sometimes do that to give me a chance to see the world. He speaks to me over his shoulder, “Those bastards have proven that they are willing to enter the Dead Forest. Eventually, they’ll find this place if we stay too close to the village. Understand?”

I make a tiny nod which could be construed as just something babies do sometimes. This makes Mephis frown as he tries to figure out whether or not I actually understand what he’s saying.

“Not even a one-year-old, yet he seems so intelligent. Lian…what kind of kid did you bring into this world?” He shakes his head and looks over his shoulder at me while opening the door to the tree trunk. “Well, I suppose I am the one who told you to grow up fast. I can’t really blame you for following my orders now, can I?” Unfiltered light, which doesn’t come from the holes carved in the ceiling of the hut, streams into my eyes. Squinting, I peer into the future for just a second, not long enough to make me sleep, but enough to check for ambushes as we leave our tree and enter the Dead Forest. No evil awaits us and I let the future fade away.