Melina was also watching the pair of little birds. She smiled and said, "Did you want something?"
She was no Magic Princess and had no ability to talk to animals.
What she had just done was nothing more than an occasional display of girlish nature.
In this little village shrouded by the shadow of death, she was the only living person, and only a single campfire gave off light.
Apart from Torrent, she had only the two birds for company.
They were the only ones who could listen to her.
The little birds hopped a little closer, almost touching her legs.
They tilted their heads, observing Melina carefully for a while, as though trying to determine whether she would dislike them.
Melina did not move at all.
The pair of birds, with their distinctive, brilliantly colored feathers, spread their wings and fluttered up onto her legs.
Then they went a step further and flew onto Melina's shoulders.
One on each side.
With one eye and a bird on either shoulder, Melina looked quite distinctive now.
The little birds chirped softly beside her ears and pecked at her hair.
Melina understood. She had a peculiar sense of what they meant.
She stood up and tilted her head. "You... have somewhere you want me to go?"
Hearing this, the pair of little birds immediately leaped happily off her shoulders and took flight, circling above her head.
Calls kept coming from their beaks, as though urging Melina on.
Melina blew the Spectral Steed Whistle, summoned Torrent, and jumped onto his back, sitting sidesaddle. Pointing at the birds in the sky, she said, "Torrent, follow them!"
Torrent could understand human speech. Upon receiving the order, he immediately raised his forelegs and neighed, then broke into a run.
The little birds flew overhead to lead