Princess Qamari stood on the back of the golden bird as huge ancient oak, magnolia, palm, coconut, birch, and maple trees swept by her vision. Her arms openly spread out, she closed her eyes and breathed in the verdant nature deeply.
She had never felt as free, calm, and peaceful as she did than.
All the tension and fear from the past few days of hiding, and witnessing with her very eyes the brutality of nature and reality of her situation left her body. She no longer needed to be fearful or alone, because she had the golden bird with her.
Thinking of the fact that she still addressed the golden bird as golden bird, she frowned.
"Golden bird, what is your name?" Princess Qamari asked gently.
"Name? Is golden bird not my name?" The gold bird confusedly asked.
"Well, that must be what other people used to call you. However, I want to call you something different. How about Skyler? You have the ability to fly to the limits of the sky without any restraints. So from today, you will be the larker of the sky, Skyler!" Princess Qamari exclaimed as she caressed the golden bird's soft wing feathers.
The bird purred with pleasure and dived, causing a gasp to escape Princess Qamari's delicate lips as she grasped onto its outstretched wing while using magic to steady her footing.
"Skyler, I am glad that you like your new name. However, if I drop dead from my fall, you will not be getting anyone to call you that name in the near future." Princess Qamari playfully admonished.
Skyler flapped her wings again, this time rising gently as she playfully glided sideways causing another gasp of surprise to escape Princess Qamari's lips. Soon, there was the echo of a carefree laughter full of life and light sparkling within the heart of the dark forest as the two flew their way to a clear river.
On landing, Skyler turned back into a sword. Princess Qamari held her in her hands and walked the rest of the way to the river.
The forest here was more concentrated than the outer region she was sheltering. The thick foliage and vegetations were full of life and vitality. There were the palm, maple, oak, and magnolia trees, their thick lush branches and leaves growing outwards. There were also the oranges, lemons, grapefruits, bananas, pineapples, mangoes, berries, and tomatoes growing haphazardly around the river.
Little birds such as sparrows, hummingbirds, and songbirds chirped and tweeted as they flew around the blooming purple and red flowers by the water.
Princess Qamari admired the beautiful landscape as she strolled through the overgrown weeds and ferns. The last time she saw such unobstructed beauty of nature was when her parents had still been alive and she traveled with them on their expeditions to explore new lands and resources.
Sitting by the river, she laid down her sword, washed her hands, lifting a corner of her purple-red veil with her left hand, she drank the water with the other. Plucking a few of the berries and oranges, she sat down and contentedly munched on them.
Roar!
At this moment, the deafening roar of a wild beast sounded nearby.
Grabbing her sword, she looked towards the direction the roar came from.
"What do you think Skyler? Should we go and see what is going on?" Princess Qamari fearlessly suggested.
After discovering her magic powers and Skyler, she was no longer so fearful of the wild beasts and their forest. Although, she did not have what it took to defeat a crowd of wild beasts alone, she did have the ability to escape unscathed when the need arrived.
So without hesitation, Princess Qamari decided to see what the commotion was about.
"Yes! There is something good. Let us go quickly!" Skyler chimed in excitedly. As a sword spirit, she had no fear of puny little wild beasts, let alone considering them.
"Oh? Something good you say?" Princess Qamari's eyes glowed at the prospect of something that the sword spirit Skyler considered good.
"Then lets go." Without any further delay, the two made their way into the dark trees.
Skyler softly glowed to light the way as they ventured deeper into the forest. Along the way, the thunderous roars of the wild beasts caused a huge turmoil as the smaller creatures started scattering in chaos and fear.
Soon, they saw a cave. Inside the cave was a white tiger with silvery wings laying on its side. Its snow white coat was smeared with a glaring red. Under its body, on the ground of the cave was a pool of blood. As the wild beasts that got attracted by the scent of its rich blood attempted to approach, it roared in warning.
But as more and more time went by, its threatening growls grew weaker and weaker. By the look of the fading light in its eyes, it was close to its end. However, Princess Qamari could feel the struggle to remain awake in its desperate eyes that alertly scanned its surroundings.
At the side of the injured tiger, a pure radiance was flickering. If observed carefully, one would realize that it was caused by a tiger cub! The tiger cub was as big as an adult fox, its fur sparkling and translucent as if it was made out of pure-white jade. The cub transmitted a bright and glorious ray that lit the cave.
The winged tiger was a female that had recently given birth!
Princess Qamari suddenly realized the reason behind the winged tiger's desperation. She had just given birth to a baby cub that was not even old enough to hunt its own food, and yet, her life was coming to an end. She wanted to protect her child, but she could not hold on for much longer.
Once she died, not much explanation was needed to know what would become of the baby tiger. The wild beasts would not let go of such an easy and effortless meal.
Thinking of her own mother, Princess Qamari's purple pupils glittered with tears. Human or beast, mothers were only mothers. Moving out of the shadows of the trees, she slowly approached the mother tiger, who immediately raised her head in her direction and roared with bared fangs and unsheathed claws.
"Its okay. I will not harm you or your child. I came to help, if you will let me." Princess Qamari said in the gentlest and softest voice she had ever spoken in. She raised her hands and slowly lowered her sword onto the overgrown weeds before standing back up with them raised again.
"Will you let me help?" She sincerely asked looking straight into the almost murky eyes of the winged-tiger.