The Last Chosen Summoner

4| Snake Girl and Barbro the Blind

"Please don't!" Eryk tried to defend his life by all means, but his strength was too weak when he was snared so tightly by the plant's tendrils.

The strange girl with plant tendrils all over her body was still sitting at Eryk's feet. She failed to stick the tip of a thorn into Eryk's heart. She instead took out a dagger and wanted to cut Eryk's fingers which were stretched on the asphalt surface.

Eryk couldn't see White anywhere. Sometimes the owl came to help him. More often than not, he suddenly disappears when Eryk is in a desperate situation. Fear pumped into Eryk's veins.

"I die tonight," he thought over and over.

But the dagger was just a trick to play Eryk.

"Careful!" shouted the owl, suddenly taking a sharp dive. The owl gripped the plant tendrils tightly before piercing Eryk's heart.

Eryk looked up when he heard the scream of an owl, which could be heard shivering on the back of his neck.

Someone came from the end of the alley and shot an arrow that flew and cut the tendrils that entangled Eryk's body. The girl in the red qipao jumped from Eryk's body and felt pain.

Eryk rolled on the asphalt surface as soon as he was freed. He glanced at the figure who had just arrived and saved him with a bow and arrow.

"Stop it, Aly!" shouted a man in his early 50s in tattered clothes.

In the man's hand, still clutched a bow. The arrows were tucked away in a bag on his back. He was ready to shoot another arrow at the girl named Aly.

"Don't meddle in my business, Barbro!" hissed Aly.

"You've hurt the wrong person, Aly!" Barbro said. "Or should I call you Belinda? I think the name Belinda (rattlesnake) suits you better."

Eryk knelt on the damp asphalt surface with his chest heaving and panting. His owl is perched not far from a nearby trash can.

This time, the girl called Aly or Belinda or whoever it was, thought Erik, was facing Barbro—a man dressed in rags and with a full beard on his face. Coarse brown hair stuck out from under the man's wool cap. He wore several layers of faded clothing, including an old tweed jacket held at the waist with a string.

"Don't bother the young man!" said Barbro, whose voice was rough. In his normal state, his eyes were like white clouds.

"He's blind!" Eric was surprised.

"What business do you have, Barbro? This young man has been involved in many murders recently in Rockwool. Tonight he punched a young summoner who was too stupid and careless to have her bones crushed at the end of the alley."

"Boxing? Crushed bones?" Eryk repeated in his mind. He thought of the two men who had held him captive in the barn.

Barbro grabbed one of the vines connected to Aly's body.

Eryk watched everything silently in a dark corner with White on his shoulder. It was seen that Aly was in pain and winced when the plant's tendrils were tightly gripped by Barbro.

"If you're still throwing tantrums here and don't leave soon, I'll cut your plants until you're helpless, Alyssa!" Barbro threatened. "Your place is not in the streets of Rockwool but in the ivory tower over there in Black Lake."

"So you are in cahoots with this man, Barbro? You're going to let those summoners die after death?" hissed Alyssa.

"I will guarantee that young man is not involved in killing the summoners. They died with fists all over their bodies. Even you can see for yourself this young man is frail. Never mind punching, even against your plants. He's already overwhelmed. He's just a human, a tramp, not a summoner," said Barbro.

Alyssa hissed and tugged the entire plant back into her palm. In several parts of Alyssa's body, there are scars caused by Barbro's arrows on her summoned spirit.

Eryk thought quickly. He wondered whether any treatment received by the summoned spirit would affect the summoner?

White can read Eryk's mind. The bird turns its head 360 degrees instead of nodding.

Eryk rushed to his feet with a heavy breath. He saw crows perched together on the fire escape watching them silently.

The crows flapped their wings and flew up into the dark sky. Alyssa kept all her vines back, and now she looks like an ordinary girl. With a cold gaze, Alyssa glanced alternately at Barbro and Eryk before leaving the dark alley.

Eryk is still hungry. He shot towards the fried chicken lying on the ground. He put the leftover fried chicken back in the box.

"Don't waste food!"

While doing so, Eryk felt Barbro staring at his back. Eryk didn't care and didn't feel he owed money or had to thank the man. He doesn't want to get involved with anyone. After picking up the chickens, Eryk put the chicken box in his coat pocket and rushed to the fire escape.

"Wait, Young Man!" shouted Barbro. "You really have no manners. What's your name?" asked Barbro.

Eryk turned and faced the man. However, Eryk's gaze fell to the ground. "I'm nobody," replied Eryk flatly.

Barbro snorted. A pair of blind eyes squinted disapprovingly. "Oh, yeah? So you're a newcomer here? I've never seen you before."

Eryk shook his head again, not knowing what to say. "Are you done? I want to go quickly and enjoy my dinner."

"You'd better be careful," Barbro admonished.

"I'm not a kid. I can take care of myself," said Eryk as he jumped onto one of the landings before climbing onto the roof of a nearby building.

"It doesn't seem so to me," Barbro said. He lifted his chin.

Eryk heard the cawing and claws of crows moving on the railing above him. It was as if Eryk could understand the crows' intentions. Barbro's blind eyes shifted to the crows. His lips formed a faint smile.

"They are your friends?" asked Barbro.

Eryk turned to Barbro with a very sharp look. "I have no friends! I've never made friends with anyone, let alone scavengers."

Eryk climbed the steel steps without looking down. He moved up fast and agile, as if his body was as light as cotton. Occasionally his legs jump and swing like a professional parkour player. Almost every movement made no sound.

When Eryk reached the roof, he looked one last time and saw Barbro still watching with his blind eyes.

"Something bad is coming!" shouted Barbro from below. "Something terrible. If you get in trouble, talk to the white birds. Death after death in this city is only the beginning of a bigger disaster."

"White bird?" Eryk glanced at White, who was still perched on his shoulder. "Did he mean you, White?"

The owl didn't answer and just waved its wings spread wide. "The man probably just talking nonsense. He can't even see me. He's blind!" said the owl.

"Is that true? I think he's been staring at you ever since."

"From earlier, that man kept glancing at the sky. You're too obvious. Be careful with your ability to speak and read the minds of birds. It can take you to the pits of hell."

Eryk was still kneeling on the roof of the building. Once more, he looked down, but Barbro was no longer there. Eryk looked at the siren of a police car which kept flashing in the distance with a wailing sound.

"Do you know anything, White?" he asked. "Looks like I need to check there. This is the first time someone has accused me of being involved in a murder. It's a little scary. Do I look like a killer? If the murder was committed by those two men, I have to go after them, right?"

"You want revenge? Didn't I say before, don't you want to help that girl? And you ignore it," White said before flapping his wings, leaving Eryk.

"I want revenge for myself!"

Eryk ran and jumped from one roof to another following the owl's departure. He saw a swift movement down one of the alleys that looked deserted and without lights. Eryk chased him. Something unusual happened in the area where he used to play. That something had put him in danger.

"White!" shouted Eric. "Chase that figure!"