MagiStream

Nick frowned and sat beside her, letting her lean against him though it made him flush. "All right, well, if you need to stop and sleep, we can do that," he said in a worried tone.

She just nodded. "Let's just hope the, the," she paused and frowned, something felt wrong. She knew she was being chased and that something was hunting her, she'd seen it only a couple days ago. And yet, she couldn't seem to remember what it was. When she tried to picture all she saw was a formless dark shape with lots of teeth. And that wasn't right, was it? "The thing chasing me, let's hope it's not anywhere near." she said finally.

Nick's frown deepened a little. "I'll keep it away," he promised, concerned. "Why...why can't you remember it?"

She shook her head, "I don't know. It's weird." she said, "I can picture it, but it's like there's a fog around it and I can't see it clearly. In fact, home's kinda hard to remember too," she frowned. She shivered fearfully and held onto his arm, her memories seemed to be fading and she had no idea why. She looked up, a soft rustling sound having caught her attention from the trees and bushes. "What was that?' she asked.

Nick frowned and moved to almost cover Alina protectively. "I...I don't know," he said in a quiet voice, dropping one hand to unsheathe his knife from his belt. "But I won't let anything hurt you, don't worry."

A slender deer stepped out of the bushes and looked in their direction almost curiously before it was joined by a second. They had snowy white coats and delicate split hooves. Alina held his arm back, these creatures were harmless. The larger of the two deer sported a rack of shimmering antlers. Their appearance was familiar and she tried to rack her brains for where she'd seen them before.
"Forest guardians." she said as she stood up. She only got a few steps before she sunk to her knees, her shaking legs having given out.
The doe approached her and sniffed her before gently butting her head against her. The powerless goddess giggled, the deer's fur was soft like velvet and tickled.

Nick glanced at Alina as she stopped his hand from going to his knife... He'd trust her judgment, though he watched the large deer warily. "What are they doing here?" he asked her quietly.

The stag turned its attention to Nick, regarding him curiously at first. ~You are, her protector?~ it asked, taking a step in his direction.

Nick gave a startled exhale as...words seemed to drop into his mind, words that weren't his, that were distinctly foreign. He tensed and shifted his weight just a little, just enough to partially shield Alina from the deer. "Something is speaking to me..." he whispered to Alina, though he kept his eyes on the deer. "I...I think it was one of them!"

Alina nodded, "Yeah, they can do that." she said, petting the doe as it helped her to her feet. ~Is this one, your protector?~ asked the stag, looking at her. "I guess you could call him that. I mean, he's been helping me out and looking after me." She looked at the deer, head tilted to one side, "I've seen you before, but I just, I can't place it." ~That, is not good if you cannot remember.~ The stag looked back at Nick. ~They lady is in far more trouble than you realize now. She is weakening with each passing day.~