Lory waited for Girsha's cue before she left the shaft. The beast's heavy footstep decreased as it moved away from her hiding place. She slowly crawled out the shaft at Girsha's behest. Thankfully, there were many boulders around the shaft so she could hide behind them as she moved stealthily. The darkness around the boulders completely hid her figure. Her only problem was the cliff was further away yet the giant beast still wandered close.

The half-eaten carcass left by the wolves could be seen everywhere as she moved. Flies swarmed in on the carcass as the terrible smell set in. Lory covered her nose with her hand to protect her nose from the gagging stench. Lory froze and held her breath as the giant beasts footstep seemed to head towards her direction. The giant beast stopped in front of the carcass and begun to eat it with much gusto.

​​

It was a disgusting and gory scene. Lory subconsciously gulped her saliva as she moved away from the boulder near the carcass. It seemed like the beast could sense her movement as it stopped eating and looked around to search for prey. It only went back to its meal when it was unable to smell or see anything.

Lory and Girsha were relieved when the beast stopped looking for them. Lory sighed deeply as the giant beast's munched its meal and wished for a ridiculous miracle that involved the beast being choked to death by a bone while it ate. She shrugged and knew God would obviously take her wish as a joke if he was to hear it.

High pitched shrieks soon disrupted her thoughts as she stumbled across another beast. Lory recognized the beast as the earth pig, a vermin that ate the leftover carcass of other beasts. Lory had accidentally disturbed the vermin's feast. Lory was shocked by the scene and her first reflex was to stab the beast with her sword. Unfortunately, the commotion attracted the giant beast's attention.

The giant beast's eyes met Lory's shocked eyes and took in her sword that was still stuck in the earth pig's body. They both stared at each other like two long lost lovers unsure of a reunion. Their eyes held for about two seconds but it felt like an eternity for Lory. The giant beast stomped its feet on the ground and made a thunderous roar before it charged. Lory cursed the earth pig for her misfortune and took off with all her might.

Lory slid behind a boulder as the beast swung a giant claw and destroyed it. Lory somersaulted and covered her head from the boulder debris being spread everywhere. She then straightened herself and released her arrow at the beast. The giant beast roared angrily when the arrow pierced its flesh. Her arrow must have felt like a mosquito bite on the beast's enormous body but Lory's purpose was not to kill the beast. She only hoped to make it angry, a quest she succeeded.

The beast gave an earth-shattering roar and Lory quickly hid behind a bigger boulder as she knew what came next. The giant beast puffed and flames gushed out of the beast's mouth. The boulder before her melted like lava as the beast's fire. It was a good thing Lory was protected by the purple silkworm robe that Zhao Li Xin gifted her as her back could have been burned to a crisp. The only damage she received were the blisters she felt on her back.

Lory gritted her teeth at the pain but didn't have time to mind the blisters. She pushed herself away and run faster. The giant beast became more agitated when it noticed Lory was still alive. Girsha flew in front of the giant beast, opened its beak, and released a deafening squawk that hurt the beast's eardrums.

Lory could finally see the cliff ahead. She took out the three arrows encased by the tube, turned around as she drew them all at once, and waited for her cue. The giant beast tried to ignore Girsha as it charged towards Lory.

[Make him angrier, birdie!]

Girsha released another squawk that was much louder than the previous one. The beast staggered a little from the sound as Girsha flew towards Lory. The beast shook its head profusely as it felt dizzy from the assault. It became more enraged.

The beast's eyes managed to lock on Lory who stood with arrows pointed at it. The beast dashed towards her in anger and widely opened its giant mouth for a second blast. Lory could see the fire as it emerged from the beast's throat. She released all three arrows from the bow as she aimed for the beast's mouth.

The beast's open mouth swallowed the arrows as a reflex. It stopped in confusion and its eyes became redder. Lory turned away from it and took out the arrow with the rope attached to her body. Unfortunately, the giant beast exploded before she could release the arrow. The explosion impact unceremoniously pushed her off the cliff.

Lory shot her arrow aimlessly as she fell off the cliff and was lucky the arrow stuck on the wall close to the cliff in time. Her body twisted because the rope around her waist was twisted in a funny angle and jolted her as the arrow settled on the wall. Lory winced in pain as she wondered if she had broken her waist apart. The wall around the cliff started to crumble just when she thought she was safe. Lory's face turned stiff as she fell once again. Her anchor had broken away.

'Oh, S*it!'

Her body hit the water in the Cenote with a loud splash before she could scream. Lory consumed a lot of water at the impact. Her body ached from the fall and she could barely breathe under the water. She gradually lost consciousness and her body sunk to the depths of the water. The only thought in her head was, 'Is this how I am supposed to die?'

Her past flashed before her eyes. She went back to the time she was outside her city, in a forest like this. She fought a pack of wild beasts. Her body ached in the same way, her hands were numb and skin was covered with wounds. She panted heavily while Fargo watched her calmly on his side. His back was on a tree with his arms crossed like he had all the time in the world. He teased her with an annoying smirk, "Are you giving up, princess?"

Lory was only twelve years old at that time and was too tired to pay attention to Fargo's mockery. The beast swarmed around her and one pounced at her. Her grip loosened around her sword and fell from her hand. She could no longer use her right hand as it was broken. She also couldn't heal herself as her healing powers were sealed by her spartan teacher.

"Are you tired, princess? Are you hurt?" Fargo's voice teased once again and the princess was at her wit's end.

"Can you fight, Lory? Do you want to give up? Do you want to live?" Fargo's voice became louder as Lory glance at the sword behind her. Fargo screamed, "If you want to live… MOVE!"

His roar made her more determined. The beast jumped at her but she dodged it, rolled over, and reached for the sword. The beast pounced on her once again as it tried to rip her off her neck. She used her sword to parry the beast's fangs.

"That's it! MOVE GIRL, MOVE!" Fargo screamed with encouragement.

The memory disappeared as Lory regained consciousness. Her lungs were filled with water. She had the urge to expel it from her body only to realize she was still underwater. Darkness surrounded her and she could not tell if she was facing up or down the water surface. The little air in her lungs created a bubble as she exhaled and headed to her right to signal the surface direction. She kicked her numb legs with much effort and swum as faster as she could towards the surface as she was afraid of losing more air.

Lory kept kicking but it didn't seem like she was moving fast enough as she didn't seem to reach the surface. The air in her lungs was spread thin as exhaustion settled in. She swallowed a lot of water as she was could no longer hold her breath. She was about to give up when a small claw grabbed her sleeve and pulled her up at high speed. Her eyes were too blurry to see what was happening but she grateful for the help.

She knew she had made it to the surface as the light filled her eyes. She came out of the water and roughly gasped for breath while she was dragged to the shore. She managed to crawl out of the water but fell on the ground face first and coughed out the water in her lungs.

[Dammit, Lory. That was too close!] Girsha was the one who pulled her out of the water. The bird was also exhausted from the thrill as it was too much for his old soul.

Lory slowly gave him a thumbs up to thank him as she couldn't talk or move. She needed more time to gather her breath. Her body was already numb from cold and she ached everywhere. She didn't want to think of the number of bones she had broken when she hit the water. Her lips were blue and she couldn't stop trembling. She took off her wet clothes and winced every time she moved her hands.

Her body was covered with blisters and bruises. She was literally black and blue. She took out an ointment from her spatial ring with a trembling hand and carefully rubbed it on her skin. She hissed with pain as the cold ointment touch her battered skin. She didn't know what the ointment was made of but was thankful when the pain decreased tremendously a few minutes after application.

Lory hissed once again when she tried to move her leg. It seemed like she had sprained her ankle from all the running. She took off her boots and rubbed some of the ointment on the ankle then bandaged it with clean gauze.

[You okay?] Girsha was worried when he saw all the wounds on her body.

[I've been worst] Lory said in a perfunctory manner.

[Yeah, I know. However, you had your Gift at that time] Girsha reminded her.

[But… I have a powerful ring now] Lory raised her finger with a big smile.

Girsha knew she was trying to comfort him. Although the ring could not compare to her Gift, he had to admit the ring was the one thing that managed to keep her alive so far. That and her tremendous luck and wits.

Girsha gathered some dry wood around them and Lory made a bonfire to warm herself and dry her clothes. She forced herself to eat despite not having an appetite. She lay down and covered herself with a blanket. The place was quiet and the burning wood was the only sound around her.

[You know…when I was down there… I thought of Fargo] Lory broke the silence. Girsha glanced at her but didn't say anything. Lory didn't mind his reaction. She murmured. [When I was older, Father order Fargo to train me and Lucas not as royalty but as elite soldiers. I wondered why father did that]

[Especially me…since I had you protecting me. With the First Kind as a guardian, any person would be calmed to be under your wings but not my father. He insisted on training me and Lucas. We were trained harder than any other knight or normal soldiers in our kingdom]

[You feel wronged?] Girsha asked.

[Of course not!] Lory answered without any hesitation [I just wonder if he knew...what would happen to me and Lucas]

Lory sighed as she pondered [Father didn't look shocked when the Gods wanted to bestow Lucas with the power of seven Gods. When I think about it now...Father didn't look surprised at all but he rather looked...sad. Why didn't I notice it that day?]

Silence followed that statement. There were so many things that happened in Lory's past that she knew nothing about.

[Marcus was the king. It is not a surprise he had a few secrets…] Girsha said.

[But why? Why did he need to hide it from me...from Lucas? If he confided in me…maybe I could…I could have helped him!]

[He was not just a king, Lory. He was also a father. He didn't want your help. He wanted to protect you...both of you...]