The lone way - The Tale of a Beast Girl and a Traveler

2026 - A New Fantasy Novel

"In this world, if you want to keep walking alive, you'd better pack some extra seasoning."

Kora's nose never lies. A young beastkin of the Fur Song tribe, she can smell blood and danger on the wind, pick out the sour sweat of a lie at twenty paces. For nineteen years, the mangrove tides and her tribe's bonfires were her entire world - until her grandfather's worsening illness demanded an herb that grows only on the spine of a legendary deep-sea dragon.

During a foraging run that nearly ended in the jaws of a swamp predator, a human traveler named Aaron dropped from the trees, made a six-meter apex hunter whimper with a single spice bomb - then told her he knew the way to that island.

His blood was flowing, but his heartbeat held steady as a pendulum. His wound gaped open, yet his face suggested he was discussing the weather. Kora decided to follow.

From blinding salt flats to the spine of a deep-sea dragon, from snow-locked dwarven strongholds to living architecture woven among the elves' thousand-year trees - the journey stretched far beyond anything Kora had imagined, and cut far deeper. Every city harbored secrets. Every smile concealed calculation. And the traveler who carried it all with effortless calm gave off a scent her keenest nose could never quite decipher - something deeper than fear. Something older than sorrow.

The road is long. Some travelers are destined to walk it alone.

※The author is from Taiwan, and the original work is in Chinese.
The author has translated it into English to share with friends from all the world.

If you notice any awkward phrasing or other issues,
I'd be very grateful if you could let me know in the comments section.
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