When she opened her eyes, she could see the green and brown branches of the trees all around her. Had she reached her shelter? What about Raz? What about Dmitri and Fleur? Where was Mun? Why did she feel that Mun followed her all the time? She tried to get up,, but her head was spinning. She whimpered in pain.

Outside, the boy in glasses heard her and came inside to check upon her. When he saw that she was already awake, he went near her to help her sit. Adrianna weakly sat up and looked at him. He smiled, kindly looking at her with his brown eyes. "Hi, I am Shay."

​​

Adrianna smiled back at him. "Hi, I am Adrianna…" she answered feebly.

Shay's smile widened. "Adrianna, how are you feeling? If you would like, we can send you back to the academy. A boy rescued you quite a distance up to the mountains. Did your portal opened in a higher altitude?"

Shay was keenly looking at Adrianna. He then offered her water from his bottle and said, "You are very weak. Did any wild animal attack you? You were brought here heavily injured."

Adrianna removed her blanket and looked at her clothes. Her clothes were entirely tattered and messed up. There was a lot of dried blood on them. She stretched her leg a little and yelped in pain. There was a deep wound on her thigh. She bit her lip, trying to stop the shout that was ready to escape her mouth. Right at that moment, Nefasky came running in along with other boys and girls. When Adrianna saw her, her eyes went cold. Nefasky became quiet, seeing Adrianna's cold gaze on her.

"This boy out here – he brought you from the higher slope," said Lenny as she smiled at Adrianna and pointed at the boy.

"Thank you," Adrianna looked at him with gratitude.

"Nefasky and I were the ones who applied medicine on your wounds while Shay was the one gave it. If you think that it's better to stay, then you should stay. Otherwise, you should think of going back, Adrianna," suggested Lenny. None of them wanted an extra burden except Shay. An injured person would only mean burden without magic.

Adrianna knew that she would heal fast but the wounds were too deep. It might take the entire day for them to completely heal. Adrianna felt grateful to those who helped her, although she wondered why would Nefasky help her.

Lenny went near her to inspect her wounds. Adrianna became a little uncomfortable with the way Lenny was checking her wounds by pulling and pushing her a little. Lenny exclaimed, "The wound on your back was open yesterday, but today it is already closed!" She looked at Shay and said, "Give me more of your medicine and I will apply it on her wounds."

Shay was happy. He dug out the medicine from his bag and gave it to Nefasky. Nefasky pursed her lips and went near Adrianna. Gently, she pushed her a little to be able to apply the liquid. Then, Lenny took it from her and applied it on her thigh. Nefasky closed the bottle and gave it back to Shay.

Adrianna was flabbergasted at Nefasky's willingness to help out. "Would you like to rest more?" asked Lenny. "As all our tasks are complete, we are not planning to go anywhere today. Plus we have plenty of food, thanks to a stray wolf that came here last night!" Lenny looked at Adrianna, "By the way, did you meet that stray wolf? Looking at your wounds, it seems that you have been attacked by a wild animal!"

Adrianna's face paled. She had come to attack this group. She lowered her head and said, "Yes, I was attacked brutally by a fox…"

"Oh! We have those foxes dead now, Adrianna. Don't worry!" Nefasky exclaimed.

Adrianna was in for a shock. She must have killed those foxes, but how did they end up dead around the shelter?

Suddenly, the entire group broke into loud chatter around Adrianna, and the uneasiness evaporated. They all laughed at Shay's explanation of his relationship with Adrianna, as he claimed to be her cousin. In the next hour, the place looked like the party which Adrianna had attended on the creek where she met Dmitri. At that point of time, she didn't understand her attraction for him. Suddenly, she remembered that she had seen him near the cave entrance where Mun had left her. What had happened to them?

The plan had gone haywire because they were supposed to make her stay in the cave. How did she manage to escape? She wondered what must have happened to Dmitri and Fleur. She resisted the temptation to go back to the academy to meet them. Did Dmitri go back safely? All of a sudden , she became anxious. Sweat broke out on her forehead. She covered her face with the blanket.

---

When Adrianna escaped from the cave, Dmitri ran after her to the top of the staircase and shouted, risking his life even though Fleur had previously warned him. However, he found that Adrianna had landed several feet away. She was looking at the moon and then let out a blood-curdling howl. He knew that he couldn't disturb that creature anymore. He helplessly watched as she ran away into darkness. Feeling dejected, Dmitri walked back into the cave. He was not allowed to go inside the inn because Ed was there. It was crucial to hide his identity.

Fleur could understand the pain he was going through. She brought her broom to him and said, "It's time to go Dmitri. We have done what we could. We should all hope that she would stay safe. meet on the other side of the world."

She took Dmitri down to the cave entrance. Thankfully, this time there was no one was lurking out there, and they went back quietly.

---

The entire day the group spent laughing and telling jokes. When Adrianna's condition became a little better, she also joined them. Talking to all of them, lessened her urge to go back.