The whole day passed with us killing the mysterious beast. It wasn't easy, but through teamwork... or rather, desperate cooperation, we killed it.
I turned my gaze towards the decapitated head of the beast. It had wanted to kill us, but unknown to it, it would meet its own doom.
That's how life is. If you want to kill someone, you have to be prepared to be killed also. The world never dances to your tune; instead, you dance to its tune.
"Let's move on, people," Quinn said, his voice cutting through the heavy silence.
The second day had been stressful for all of us, but the only advantage it brought was that it provided us with a source of food. The centaur-beast's meat was tough and gamy, but it was calories. We roasted strips of it over a pitiful fire, and no one complained. Not when starvation was the alternative.
The third day began with the journey towards the castle becoming shorter. The visage had grown larger, giving us the direction we needed to pass. The sight of it looming on the horizon was the only thing keeping our feet moving. The day, just like every other day, started with someone stealing our resources overnight.
"Do you have any ideas who stole our stuff?" Edward directed that question towards Quinn.
Quinn didn't answer immediately, but after a few seconds, he gave his opinion.
"No idea, but the thing that keeps stealing our resources has to be small to be able to sneak into our camp and then steal. I have set various traps just to catch this thing, but somehow it keeps evading them..."
I began to frown as I heard what he said.
'It is one thing for it to steal our stuff, but for it to do it repeatedly, that means...'
"....That means that thing is following us," Quinn finished my thought.
Everyone's face turned ugly when we thought about what Quinn said. Being on a journey and being followed at the same time was a dangerous thing.
The person would be open to attack from the back, and your whereabouts would be known not only to the attacker, but to the person who hired them.
But when you think about it more, we were the only ones who entered the unknown, and we haven't seen any humans on our way. That means whoever is stealing from us is a professional at evading people's senses, and might be an anomaly like the beast, or maybe a human.
"Everyone keep your eyes peeled and always be ready for an attack," Quinn commanded as we walked through the desert.
The sun, for no reason, was hotter than usual. It was as if we were walking through hell—the heat was enough to burn our feet through our boots. The sand shimmered, and mirages danced at the edges of our vision.
We moved through the desert. The heat wasn't enough to deter us. Each one of us had our motivation for going on this expedition, and with the end goal near us, we would never give up.
Unfortunately, we were stopped in our tracks by a weird mutated beast. The beast had two big, round, compound eyes, two antennas on his head, and the rest of its body was like that of a monkey.
The most surprising thing was that it talked.
"Hello, humans," it said. Its voice was high-pitched and clicked slightly, like mandibles clacking together.
"What the heck are you?" Edward asked, with a calculated look.
Each one of us was cautious about the beast, regarding the experience we had with the first one. Our hands drifted to our weapons, muscles tensed.
"You don't need to know who I am, but since you're heading in the direction of the castle, I would like to help you people by giving you intel," it went straight to the point.
"On what basis?" Quinn asked as he frowned.
"Don't look at me like that, human. You know nothing is free in this world. It is a give and take affair. I will provide intel about the castle while you will let me follow you. What do you think?" It smiled as it said that.
Its smile made my skin crawl. It was as if he had planned out everything we would say, like we were dancing to its tune.
"Why do you need us? As far as I can see, anyone could go into the castle, unless beasts are not permitted entry into the castle, right?"
"What a smart way to think, human, but this is where we know who is the smartest. There wasn't a rule in the castle that prohibits beasts from entering, but there was another reason. The reason is that the whole realm was cursed. Beasts such as me weren't like this, but we were cursed into this. And that curse would not permit any beast to enter the castle," the beast explained.
"So, you are trying to say that you need us to break the curse for you, so you could enter, right?"
"Nope, I don't need you to break the curse because the curse can't be broken but can be bypassed. The curse states any beast who wants to enter must be in the circle of a human. Have I answered all your questions?" It smiled towards us.
"How can we trust you?" Quinn asked.
"You can't. Look, I don't have a way to earn your trust, but you can do whatever you want—whether to trust me or not," it gave its answer.
The way the beast talked, moved, and composed itself was weird and creepy. No one knew how it gained its intelligence, but the way it conducted itself revealed something distressing.
None of us could trust this beast, I looked by my side and I saw Mark's hand shaking faintly as he held on his weapon.
A beast of this caliber who had intelligence to boast would be a menacing figure. The way the beast talked revealed there was more to be said. Most likely it was keeping some information to itself, or just refraining from telling us.
The most dangerous enemy to face is not one who is proficient in battle, but one who has an alarming intellect, making it easy to manipulate its opponents.
As I looked at the beast, I knew it had its own agenda. But for it to approach us and offer us information only for us to help it enter the castle seems too easy.
The exchange was probably more in our favor, which in turn indicates there was more to this deal.
"Tell us your true agenda, beast."
I wasn't going to be fooled by its sweet, convincing facts, so I asked the pressing question.
"Ah, human, you seem to be mistaken. I am not going to do anything that will harm you. Other than entering the castle, there is nothing else," it gave a harmless smile.
But no one was a fool. Under that harmless smile, there was a sinister plan being woven in its mind.
Nothing was more dangerous than journeying with someone you can't trust. Trust is something that can be broken or strengthened based on events or actions.
No one knew what the beast was plotting in its mind. The obvious choice would be to leave this guy and continue on our journey, but knowledge is also an important thing to have, especially when traveling through uncharted territory.
"What would your choice be, human?" the beast asked once again, its compound eyes reflecting all of us at once.