Chapter 46 - Facing your fears (1/2)

Lily's newfound and seemingly unswerving determination sadly only lasted until she met the first scary-looking monster in this hellish place. Fear quickly set in, overwhelming her completely, making her frozen on the spot.

As the scarlet eyes gazed on her, she felt as if the monster was looking deep inside her heart and pulling out the strings of fear, and doubt, turning her legs wobbly and smearing water on the corner of her eyes.

Not daring to take a step further, she gulped and stuttered in a weak voice.

”B-b-brother help meee! I-i-i don't know w-w-what to do!”

Standing next to her, Aiden put his hands on Lily's shoulders and smiled. Then he stepped out of the shrubs and faced the hound face to face, focusing his mind on his [Dragon's Wrath] ability. He actually wanted to work on the transformation and get to know it more during his time in this pocket world, so he wouldn't face such embarrassing moments like before.

Focusing his will, he forced his transformation only on his hands. Lily watched as Aiden's hands morphed, growing golden scales, his thin fingers changed, became meatier and as they grew huge, thick black claws at their fingertips.

Suddenly a simple bow and a quiver full of arrows appeared on the ground in front of Lily, catching her off-guard and surprising her momentarily.

”Pick up your weapon big sis. I stored your weapons for you, but now it will be your job to carry them and assist me. We are supposed to be a team, remember? Let's defeat this enemy together!”

Puzzled she looked at Aiden and was about to ask what he meant about 'stored', but then coming back to her senses, instead she just looked at the weapon tailored for her on the ground. She really wanted to know more about this 'storing' he mentioned though and made a mental note to ask it if Aiden will not give an answer.

Looking at the weapon in front of her in the ground, she smiled and picked it up. No, she can't always hide behind the back of her brother and Granny all the time! She wanted to be standing WITH them, not behind their backs. She wanted the two of them, brother and sister to be a true team, a team that would help each other and works together to overcome any obstacles, and not just rely on Aiden to save her all the time.

'I'm not gonna be scared all the time, I will not let anybody else be hurt because they were protecting me! I'm not gonna lose brother, no that's not gonna happen! Pick up the weapon you scaredy-cat!' She berated herself inwardly. Shaking her head, she picked up the quiver and placed it on her back, then pulled out one arrow as she readied the bow.

Meanwhile, Aiden already engaged the hound. The terrifying-looking animal wasn't that difficult to overcome, but he was keeping an eye on Lily, and seeing that her eyes cleared, he wanted her to kill the beast to anchor her determination and shoo away the fear once and for all. This symbolic victory would be the anchor, the moment she could always return to when she would feel doubt set in her heart. This would be…

'...the first trial!' Aiden exclaimed inwardly. He just realized that most likely Granny and Number 3 place this beast here to rattle the girl's frail mind and make sure with his help she would overcome her inner demons and become much stronger.

Smiling, Aiden kept blocking the beast's attempts at clawing and biting on his flesh, while also doing light scratches on its body, just to keep it occupied, and to slowly drain his stamina. Seconds felt minutes as he was waiting for Lily to shoot the arrow.

'Come on… shoot it Lily… You can do it…' Aiden muttered to himself. He couldn't look back or voice it out loud, this was something Lily had to do herself…

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Holding her breath as her mother once taught her, Lily aimed at the head and pulled the bowstring until it stretched.

'With this, I am no longer what I was. Let this arrow be the start of the new and strong Lily!'

Finished with her self-motivational chant, she let go of the string and watched as the arrow flew straight to its intended destination piercing the unsuspecting beast in the left eye and settling its tip deep into its brain, ending the creature's life in an instant.

Blood, mixed with brain tissue spewed out of the point of impact, spurting a little bit of it on Aiden's arms and chest, as he jumped back. Transforming his hands back to normal, he turned around and while still smiling, he looked at Lily.

”Big sis, you could have aimed at somewhere else and still come out victorious. You just had to aim at the one spot where I would be covered with this goo!”