“That’s not good…”

The ball of fire swirled around the white robbed man’s right hand. Leona looked towards the clouded sky above them where the man floated about twenty meters off the ground. Lightning sundered the air in constant bursts.

“Now now… don’t die!”

He hurled the fireball that seemed to get bigger and faster as it traveled through the air.

“Everyone! Get behind me!”

Leona quickly created a spiraling vortex of dull yellow air towards herself and large amounts of water in front of the cone of wind. The whole group gathered behind her, Laslow had vestiges of fire on both his hands as he put himself beside Princess, Krieg promptly unsheathed his blade and stood by Leona’s left side, Jonathan readied the light crossbow with a bolt tip coated in murky green liquid between the two mages while Laura and Neiliel protected Luke and Phoebe at the back of the group.

The moment the fireball impacted against the water it seemed to boil the liquid instantaneously as it traveled through it, but Leona made the water travel with the fire, creating a capsule that heavily diminished its destructive power, but the heat was so great that all liquid started to seethe.

“Argh! I won’t let this hurt anyone!”

She strengthened the vortex of wind and as the pressure decreased with its increased speed, the water became thinner until it simmered to nothing. The ball of fire was considerably smaller but still coming towards them, but Leona’s legs gave in as her spell started to weaken. It was at this moment Laslow released the spell he had prepared.

“Hell Fire Wall!”

He swung his arms apart as the trailing vestiges of fire on his hand hit the sand, violent blazes erupted from the ground creating a wall of intense orange red flames in front of them, surprisingly enough it didn’t burn anyone on the backside of the fire even though they were just a few meters shy of it.

“Now!”

Jonathan yelled as he dashed towards the right side of the wall and fired his crossbow at the floating wizard the second he had a direct line of sight of him. Krieg winded up his greatsword backwards over his back. Neiliel took her mace out and touched Leona’s right shoulder, before raising the mace towards the sky, a warm golden aura enveloped the princess while the cylindrical weapon started to shine.

“Oh ever merciful goddess of light, grants us the strength to prevail against our foes, Smite!”

As soon as the wall of fire started to fan out and the skies seemed to answer the priestess' call as a golden ray of light struck the figure with a tremendous thundering sound.

“Argh!”

The holy strike hit true as the figure wobbled in the air before taking a crossbow bolt to the left thigh.

“You damm insects! Hah?!”

A greatsword was spinning rapidly towards him, normally, foot soldiers wouldn’t be a problem without ranged weaponry, but throwing such a heavy sword upwards spinning at such speed was not a feat achieved by anyone.

“What the hell?!”

The mage floated away, dodging the weapon hurled by Krieg. Laslow held his right index and middle finger against the side of his head as if trying to concentrate on the opposing wizard, his eyes narrowed and he could see a faint line that connected both of them, seemingly otherworldly. He started to focus all his malice and anger towards the mage.

“Ack! What… what is this pain…?!”

The robbed man clutched his head in pain, seeming to lose his control over the flight magic, it felt as if his head was being split in two. Laslow began to clench his teeth as he increased the output of mental stress towards the opposite mage, his nose began to bleed.

“Enough.”

A snap of the fingers was enough to sever the mental connection between the two, the female magic caster behind the man was holding the greatsword Krieg had hurled albeit without directly touching it and instead seeming to hold it locked in place with some sort of spell on her right hand. She slowly descended as the other mage plummeted towards the sand. Thunder echoed and lightning could be in the distance, the group bunched up together ready to fight. Both Luke and Phoebe were standing up as well, the young man held a few stones he pulled out of his pocket on his left hand while the elf had a dagger on her right hand as her left arm was flailing limply on the side of her body.

“Well… considering how this went.”

The wizard started to speak. Her voice was calm yet an unsettling feeling of danger started to grow within everyone on the opposite side.

“No way…”

Phoebe muttered under her breath.

The woman pulled away her hood and revealed a long black haired elf that looked around her forties; her deep blue eyes had a piercing gaze, with her features, one could mistake her for a noble, saving for one tiny scar on her left cheek.

“Why are you here?!”

A smile came over the woman’s face as she saw Phoebe. She left the sword stuck on the sand while walking towards the group, Laura stood in front together with Krieg to form a wall between them, Leona and Laslow were both kneeling on the sand as Neiliel aided them to recover from the exhaustion of using too many spells. Jonathan was quietly loading another bolt on the crossbow from afar as the two elves kept talking.

“I missed you Phoebe. It has been a while.”

Leona looked over her shoulder to the elf behind her. She never once saw Phoebe angry in the short time they spent together, but this time she seemed to be fuming with an endless source of hatred, her right hand clenched on the knife so hard it wouldn’t be strange if her nails started to bleed from the sheer pressure.

“I… I’ll KILL YOU!”

Even with her useless left arm, Phoebe dashed recklessly towards the woman with her dagger. Leona tried to grasp her as well as Laura but the elf was much faster than any of them, so instead of waiting, Krieg and Laura decided to run in together.

“Now that won’t do.”

The woman mockingly said with another snap of the finger. The greatsword that was previously stuck on the sand came flying towards her right hand like a magnet, Phoebe was aiming towards her throat but the mage raised her left hand and a powerful gale of dark red wind stopped all of her movements.

“Gah!”

Laura came right behind Phoebe with a downward swing of her greatsword towards the magic caster but was effortlessly parried by the blade.

“What the-!”

The barbarian couldn’t pull her weapon back as if they had blades locked, a strange dark energy seemed to hold the sword.

Krieg dashed to her right flank and went for a powerful cross with his right towards her face, but the moment his fist was about to hit her it suddenly came to a stop as if there was a shield of dark red wind stopping his whole arm in place.

“Tch!”

“Krieg!”

Leona was about to get up but Neiliel put her hand in front and shook her head. The priestess raised her mace.

“Oh ever merciful goddess of light, grant this child the power to smite our foes, Weapon of Light!”

The knight’s fist and the barbarian’s greatsword started to shine with golden divine energy. Krieg felt the resistance on his right arm decreasing so he used all his strength to grasp the greatsword handle from the elf’s hand instead. Noticing the struggle between the two and an opening on her guard, Laura quickly swung the sword diagonally against the mage, but she dodged by jumping backwards releasing the wind spell. Phoebe was left to fall back on the ground while Krieg got a hold of his weapon again.

“Not bad at all.”

The mage praised.

“But it’s only a matter of time. After I put an end to this pointless war, I’ll have you back again dear sister. When lord Alexander finally rises to the throne, I’ll have you for myself.”

She pointed her right index finger towards the dead body of her fellow mage who had died by the poison bolt Jonathan had shot him with and using some sort of spell to scoop the cadaver off the sand, she hurled his body backwards towards the burning forest. She looked towards Leona one last time before her robe started to give off a faint light as once invisible runes started to flash up on the side of the sleeves.

“Take it as my warning to you, do not defy lord Alexander or we will hunt down everything that you hold dear. It is pointless to stall the inevitable.”

She took off towards the darkened sky with incredible speed. Phoebe cursed under her breath.

“Hope lightning strikes you. You damn...”

Jonathan tried to sneak in a shot with his crossbow but the bolt simply didn’t have enough power to reach the flying wizard in the first place, she became a white dot before disappearing completely over the burning forest. After the group was left in the open desert all eyes seemed to lock on the elf standing in the middle of everyone.

“That’s… that’s my older sister Kaeli.”

Her expression was bitter, eyes frowned and teeth clenching while looking towards where the mage had flown off.

“She betrayed our family’s ways to become a witch.”

“Curses.”

Jonathan came running to the group with his crossbow holstered while still staring at the way Kaeli went.

“Wasn’t there supposed to be a royal election before anyone was accepted as a ruler? The way she spoke implied he had already become king of Arcadia.”

Neiliel used the opportunity to change the subject as she explained.

“It’s supposed to hold a ceremony with all other noble families before handing the rulership of the kingdom. But it could vary depending on the Kingdom’s current standing.”

Laslow stood up, still a bit dizzy from the mental struggle against the now dead mage. His nose had a thick trail of blood wiped off by the sleeve of his robe giving an appearance of having been just punched in the face by someone.

“First things first, I believe we should get out of the open desert. Me and Krieg will take up the front, Neiliel, could I have you look up to Phoebe’s wounds?”

The priestess nodded.

“Thank you. You, Luke, stick with Princess Leona, if anything comes near any of you two, blow it up to smithereens with your fire magic, you still have some in you right?”

“Yeah, I got it.”

Luke gave him a thumbs up.

“Alright, let’s move out.”

He cleaned the rest of the blood with a handkerchief Neiliel handed him.

Laura escorted the backline of the group as they walked for a few hours before reentering the forest, though not deep enough to not be able to see the desert sand. Hours went by silently, with Jonathan still taking care of the group’s trace and the priestess healing Phoebe’s wounded arm.

“Is this alright Pho?”

Neiliel had used divine magic to heal the elf’s wounds, where originally there was a hole the size of a coin was now quickly remending itself with a faint golden glow, muscle tissue and the skin seemed to knit itself back, closing the wound like nothing ever happened.

“Yes, thank you Neil. I’m sorry for what I did, it was… reckless.”

“Everyone makes mistakes. I’m glad you’re alright now.”

The elf’s eyes trailed off when she tried to digest the reality of her sister chasing her half a continent only to hunt her down. When she became an assassin for Queen Eleonora, she vowed to kill the traitor who ended her mother’s life, which turned out to be her older sister. The fond memories she had made with Kaeli in her childhood only made her feel worse, killing someone for revenge was one thing, but the target of her hatred was someone she used to admire and love, that was now corrupted with power.

“I… I used to admire her, she was dependable, strong and honest, but something changed her.”

She closed and opened her left fist to test the strength of her grip. She stared at her fist, opening it and then closing it firmly one last time.

“Before I joined the assassin ranks under Queen Eleonora, me and Kaeli used to train together with our mother. She was quick to learn and even quicker to apply what she learnt, it was beautiful at the time, terrifying now. I remember now every night, the day she murdered our mother.”

On a thunderous day by the eastern country’s shore, Phoebe crossed blades with her forsworn foe of same blood, Kaeli. Both elves were armed with two shortswords, the usual weapon for an assassin employed by the Queen.

“Why… WHY?! KAELI!”

Phoebe’s eyes were filled with tears, on her face, she wore a mix of anger and despair. Her trembling blades showed signs of uncertainty of what her next action would be. Fight? Flee? Logic couldn’t explain why her mother was lying in a pool of blood and her sister was bathed in crimson.

Kaeli’s face didn’t answer any of her questions, if anything, it made Phoebe even more confused when she started to smile. A spine-chilling smile surged from her mouth as her laugh crackled against the storm and waves crashing against the tumultuous ocean in the distance. Lightning struck the waters, thunder echoed, each second that passed, her laugher got even more maniacal. Phoebe felt her blood start to boil, the fear and despair gave in place of anger and hatred, she sprint baring her blades against her sister.

“Phoebe! I did it! We won’t have to fear any of this! This living hell! Hahahahahahahaha!”

Paying no heed to what lunatical nonsense she was spouting, Phoebe aimed directly at her guts but the blades bounced off where they should have sinked in flesh, but instead of backing away she continued to hack and slash against her, but her blades dulling and denting with each strike.

“You’ll soon forgive me for this sacrifice our mom has made.”

Phoebe’s right arm completely stopped mid-swing as something appeared to grip her wrist, she looked up but couldn’t see anything. In her wrath she tried to escape whatever was holding her, but Kaeli seemed to have other plans for her.

“It’s pointless Phoebe, nothing will ever harm us, I’ll take you far away from this madness and we’ll live happily forever.”

“Argh! Aaagh!”

She flailed about her other hand but she couldn’t reach her with the blade.

“No, no, no that won’t do, Phoebe you must behave if I am to take you with me.”

“GO DIE!”

She threw her weapon at her and to Kaeli’s surprise, the blade nicked the edge of her left cheek. The long haired elf winced in pain and suddenly stopped moving entirely before reaching for her own face. As the touch left her cheek, a bit of blood could be seen on the tips of her fingers, her joyous and happy expression became dark and serious as her gaze turned to Phoebe.

“Be a good girl, or I’ll have to punish you Phoebe.”

Words couldn’t stop her flailing and so Kaeli came up with the only solution in her mind. A loud dry crack noise happened the moment Phoebe’s right forearm became crooked slightly.

“AAAH! HAAAA! MY ARM!”

Her sharp scream of pain seemed to throw off the older elf as she stumbled back a little bit before she recovered her composure.

“I’m sorry, Phoebe but this is for your own go-”

She jumped back as a flash of bright blue energy exploded in front of her and whatever was holding the elf girl by the arm released her.

“I know not what you did, but you have only one choice, stand down or be cut where you stand.”

A male voice came from Phoebe’s left side, clutching her crooked left arm, she saw on the edge of her vision a tattered robed black haired man before her consciousness faded away with the sound of rain and clashing of steel.

“I don’t know what to think after all of this.”

Leona spoke while staring at the elf resting loosely against a tree trunk that had fallen over. The group took a short break at a small clearing on the side of the forest, everyone but Krieg, Jonathan and Laslow were present, the others were silently listening to Phoebe's story as she explained to the princess.

The elf then took out a light blue silver metal pocket watch from beneath her top, it had a strange white sheen like it was made of snow, she gripped it tightly before opening it. The edges were rough as if they were dropped or thrown on the ground repeatedly. On the inside, the glass was shattered and jagged. Neither of the crystal arrows were moving.

“This is all I have left of my mother. It was a watch she made for my sister, but she never got the chance to give it to her. Before she died she asked me to forgive Kaeli, but how am I supposed to do that? How can I forgive the person who took my mother’s life?”

Leona lowered her face, staring at the mud covered cloth shoes. As a single child of a powerful household, it never occurred to her how it would be if she had any siblings, much less so if something terrible like that happened to her. But a strange sensation of tranquility came over her when she thought of her late mother and her last words.

“Be strong. That’s what my mother told me before she died. I think your mother would have wanted you to forget the sins your sister committed, for both your sakes.”

Phoebe took a last look at the watch before closing it and putting it back inside her robe.

“I wish I could forgive her. But then why, why would she do something like this?”

“Demons most likely.”

Neiliel voiced her opinion from the other side of the clearing, she had her mace out along with a small pocket book open on the ground with her four pointed wooden talisman on top of it. She appeared to be in the middle of a ritual of some kind while she continued to explain.

“I heard some of them tempt their chosen prey in doing terrible deeds for their own amusement. Some even grant their avatars power through a contract.”

“Looking from the aspect of her mana, that might be the case.”

Luke had a dark expression on his face when he said it. He was massaging his own wrists from time to time, before looking towards Phoebe.

“Wind magic usually has the environment’s appearance but hers was something else entirely, besides that, I never heard anyone being able to create a wind barrier so strong it could protect from blows like sir Krieg’s and miss Laura’s.”

The elf frowned, her gaze locking on a spot on the ground.

“Whatever it may be. I have a mission and I must accomplish it no matter what. Be for the favor of a demon or her own selfishness, I will put her down when we cross paths again.”

She lifted her face as a gentle touch reached her left hand, Leona was holding her hand while giving a soft squeeze.

“I know this is… egoistical of me, but please, try to make amends with her. If she was the totally terrible person you think she is, don’t you think our encounter could’ve gone much worse?”

Their eyes locked for a few seconds before Phoebe looked away.

“I… I’m not sure.”

Leona couldn’t help but smile, at least deep down she didn’t only hate her sister at heart.

But in the back of the Princess’ mind she couldn’t help but feel worried for Kaeli’s warning, if Alexander really did become ruler of the Arcadian kingdom, it would spell doom for the entire continent. The Lorraine family used to be just a weapons manufacturer just like the Crossfords, but it wasn’t until he became the head of the family that it all became clear, Alexander despised demons, as for the reason behind it, Leona didn’t have the slightest idea why he harbored such resentment.

Surely the war caused more harm than good, but it was thanks to it that both families thrived. Before Leona’s father became a noble, he was a simple weapon instructor, born to serve under the more powerful and influential families of the kingdom. It was only after he met his demi human wife he started to get somewhere, with his expertise with weapons and her knack for creating things, both worked together towards their own future, the same future that Leona was now trying to protect. A future where demonkind can coexist with humankind.

Now staring at her own two frail hands, she questioned whether or not she was suited to make that change happen or if she could even stop a whole kingdom from going towards certain destruction.

‘Not alone.’

She thought as she looked at everyone surrounding her, allies. She squeezed the elf’s hand one more time as she gazed back into the princess’ aquamarine eyes filled with determination. A strong-willed smile appeared on Leona’s face as she started to speak full of conviction.

“We’ll find a way to bring your sister to her senses, together I’m sure we can do it.”

Phoebe smiled back albeit still a little shaken from the whole experience.

“Thank you Princess Leona. I’ll give it my all to help you and sir Krieg.”

The elf turned to the rest of the group, lowering her head, before thanking them as well.

“If not for you all here, I don’t know what could have happened today, thank you.”

Laura bumped her fist on her chest before giving her a smile back, Neiliel nodded in agreement seemingly satisfied and Luke simply smiled while still tuckered in his own cloak.

Morale wasn’t exactly high amongst them after seeing what those mages were capable of, but Leona tried her best to shake the feeling of powerlessness between them by speaking with each one individually.

Meanwhile Krieg and Laslow were scouting ahead with Jonathan much further forward, the forest were still burning as waves of smoke came with the wind breeze blowing from the south, rendering visibility low at times. The wizard was crouched beside the knight that had his greatsword out, a trickle of sweat could be seen on his forehead as he wiped with the back of his left hand before glancing at Laslow the moment he opened his mouth.

“Krieg. Do you think Princess Leona can handle travelling more on foot? I don’t believe it’s wise to rest in the forest with the fire still going on.”

“...I don’t think she’ll be able to walk at the same pace as the group, but I’ll make sure to carry her if necessary.”

Even though he had a turban on his head covering most of his face, the surprise on the wizard’s eyes became apparent.

“I’m aware that knights are trained to persevere through very inhospitable environments but even so, carrying a person along with your equipment and yourself for another day worth of travel seems a bit too much.”

“No need to concern yourself with either of us, I’ve done this before.”

Krieg glanced forward towards where Jonathan went, but with the thief no longer in his field of view he decided to backtrack.

“I’ll fetch the others.”

Laslow nodded and started to scratch the back of his head through the turban.

“Shoot. Way to go Laslow.”

He mumbled to himself before setting a small arrow with pebbles and stones he found on the ground, pointing to where Jonathan went before heading the same way.

“Well ain’t that a bad job at socializing.”

The voice to his immediate right made the wizard jump to the opposite side with a vestige of fire swirling on the palm of his right hand. But who was peeking behind a bush was none other than the thief himself.

“For the love of goddess Jonathan, do you wish to be burned alive so badly?.”

Jonathan shrugged off with a light chuckle. He jumped over the bush so as to not leave any trace and landed with his hand on the ground beside Laslow. He glanced back before looking at the wizard.

“At least you know how to hold your fire. Anyhow, I scouted ahead but got nothing, apparently he didn’t send any soldiers to look out for us.”

“Can never be too careful, especially when it’s about that snake.”

Laslow was squeezing his wrists slightly, he seemed nervous, something the thief had never seen before.

“Hey.”

Jonathan’s fist hit his right shoulder softly and with a smirk across his face he said.

“You got us, we’ll be there to take care of your back, as you have with ours.”

Laslow sighed while shaking his head slightly, he looked down on the ground before closing his eyes and turning to meet his friend’s gaze.

“You were the last person I wanted to hear that from, but thank you. I’ll make sure that bastard dies the most painful way possible.”

The thief nodded with a confident smirk on his face as he stood up to meet the approaching group. Krieg motioned with his head to the people approaching from the trail behind him.

“Everyone is here. Let’s move.”

The knight still had his greatsword out but it was resting with the blade flat on his right shoulder. Though an ally, his height and muscle size was intimidating, especially with the weapon being held so easily with one hand.

“Right this way.”

Laslow showed the path they would be taking. Jonathan headed to the back of the group as he continued to take care of the traces left from footsteps, Laura’s were particularly difficult to hide due to its size and depth on the somewhat muddy terrain but he still managed to use the foliage and pebbles as to not make it too obvious that a group walked through the trail.

Hours went by, eventually the sun started to settle and the tint of orange painted the sky along with the darkness encroaching as the light became dimmer. It was considerably more difficult to traverse the forest without a source of light as many couldn’t see well in the dark, save for Krieg.

“Come on, this way, be careful with your footing.”

He took the lead from that point onwards, only consulting Laslow occasionally to keep going the right direction in the maze-like forest. Guiding the group through a shallow river, he made sure to hold Leona above the water as he crossed it carrying her, though it didn’t make her particularly happy.

“Krieg, I appreciate your concern but I can walk through this without issue.”

“This is for your own safety Princess. Without proper footwear you shouldn’t try to thread through water or mud. You could get yourself stuck.”

“Or sick, with sludge foot.”

Laura added as she further explained.

“If you stay too long with your feet wet it can create blisters and all kinds of nasty stuff. I experienced it myself and it ain’t pretty.”

Having never heard of such a horrible condition made Leona reevaluate how she had treated the knight with his, more than justifiable way to show his concern.

“Oh… I’m- I apologize Krieg.”

“It is okay Princess. Back in the war, my captain used to tell me how to keep myself battle ready and one of the lessons was about keeping my feet in shape to march if needed.”

“Still, it was uncalled for, I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok-”

Neiliel elbowed him on the right side of his rib and motioned with her hand as trying to say, ‘just accept it’.

“I’ll explain next time rather than do things on my own.”

Leona smiled weakly while they traversed the water, she had fond memories when Krieg held her like that, even though it made her feel like a kid now as a young woman.

“Kri! Let’s play tag!”

A very young Leona wearing a yellow dress was swinging her arms up and down trying to get the full armored knight’s attention as he towered meters above the little girl. The mansion was busy with maids running around as it was Lady Ravness’ birthday. One of the older maids carrying a basket of flowers stopped to scold the girl.

“Princess Leona, Krieg is currently on patrol and-”

He put his hand up to stop her from speaking, before giving a nod and turning to the little girl.

“No, it’s fine. Let’s play tag Princess Leona.”

A smile curled up on her face.

“You won’t catch me wearing that armor! Kri!”

She started to run to the opposite side of the hallway zig-zagging through the many maids carrying different tools or baskets. Krieg however, didn’t take the competition lightly as he too was nimble enough, even while wearing a full suit of silver armor, to avoid bumping into anyone while chasing the girl. She sharply turned the next corner and when the knight reached the same place he instead bumped directly into Adele, she had a very wide basket filled to the brim with bright yellow flowers that almost went to the ground but the knight helped her hold it before it fell.

“Oh I’m so sorry Miss Adele.”

Her eyes widened in surprise.

“Ah, Krieg, what is so important that you are in such a hurry?”

“Did you see Princess Leona? She came running this way.”

The maid tilted her head slightly to the side, her thick coiled horns almost hitting her slender shoulder.

“Princess Leona? No, I haven't seen her at all.”

“Really? I swear she ran this way.”

A faint giggle caught the knight’s attention and for a moment he stopped moving entirely. Adele couldn’t help but smirk at the sight of the knight looking around clueless.

“Can I help you Krieg?”

“Did you hear something?”

“Hear? My apologies, the only thing I heard was you asking me if I heard anything.”

Another faint giggle before Krieg looked towards his feet, a part of his right silver boot was affixed to the wooden floor with ice as a small hand was peeking out from Adele’s skirt. Dashing quickly out of the hiding spot down the hallway, Leona was laughing from the prank she pulled on the knight.

“Hahaha Kri is too slow!”

He tried to pull the boot but the wooden plank simply creaked as if it was about to break. Adele giggled before flicking a small flame into existence to melt the ice away.

“Don’t tell Princess Leona I helped you.”

“I am ever grateful for your help, Miss Adele.”

He bowed quickly before continuing to run after the young princess. Adele took a long look at the two of them with a smile on her face before heading off to do her chores.

“Princess that was low!”

“Haha! Maybe wear a normal shoe next time!”

She created a sheet of ice on the floor as she slid on top, gaining speed. Krieg focused all his strength on his legs as a burst of force sprung him forward.

“You’ll never catch me Kri!”

The moment she looked back, he was no longer there and when she was about to stop to figure out where he went, she suddenly didn’t feel her feet touch the ground anymore.

“Huh? Where did he- Wah!”

Krieg had picked her up by the waist. His left arm was big enough to wrap around her small body frame as she was held high off the ground.

“I caught you.”

“Aw, you got me.”

Even though she lost the game she still smiled warmly at him.

“Shall we go see Lady Ravness?”

“Yeah! Let’s go see mom!”

He walked at a peaceful pace back to the main hall, maids bowing towards Leona as she waved, greeting all of them cheerfully while clinging on the knight’s chest.

They reached the double doored war room, the intricate carvings on the wooden entrance represented two wolf heads meeting towards the middle. Krieg turned the knob and opened the door.

“Lady Ravness, I brought Princess Leona.”

The room was awfully dark even with the large clear windows open to the garden outside, some sort of mist gathered around the center of the room when they walked in.

Her mother was sitting with her back towards the doorway on a comfortable armchair while holding what seemed to be a cracked tea cup with her left hand, a dark red liquid was oozing from her long sleeve as her head turned almost one hundred eighty degrees to face them. Hollowed eye sockets and a creepy smile surged from her cracked lips.

“I gave everything for you, what else do you need to become stronger? Why haven’t you used your power?”

Leona’s eyes widened in terror.

“You… you’re not my mother!

She tried to tear Krieg’s grasp away from her hips but the knight kept imobile, the same red liquid started to come out from the gaps on his helmet like some sort of slime.

“Heed my call Leona. Our destinies are intertwined, now more than ever.”