Awa watched her hand and gulped. Sarah sighed and stepped towards her raising her knife in the air.

“Damn stupid girl! Did you have to come home now? You are only complicating my task...”

There was a glint of craziness in her eyes. Awa's eyes ran from Anabella to Zera to Sarah and back. She made a step back, horrified and confused.

“Why?” - she asked, not understanding. Sarah muttered:

“It had to be! You could have been my daughter! Now, what am I going to do with you?”

She hit with the knife, trying to stab her, and Awa grabbed her hand with hers. To her luck, Sarah was not a fighter, but she was still stronger. The two fought, and Awa was pushed back.

She knew she had no chance against the almost two times heavier woman. Physically. But she had her magic; however no mana.

If only she could intake the mana from the air she breathed! If only she could!

Her mind was working feverishly as she struggled to keep Sarah at bay. She had command over the ambient mana; she could use it!? If she could spell with it, why could she not intake it? It was not enough for a spell, but every little bit counted, so why should she not be able to intake it?

She willed it, and the foreign mana obeyed, entering her body. It was a strange sensation that she could not compare with anything she had lived through. As if a worm, a foreign being, would enter her lungs.

Sarah hit her over the face with the left hand, and she had to slip along the wall to avoid her grasp.

It was then that Sarah screamed as Zera bit her ankle. Sarah kicked her, but Zera cramped herself against her leg.

Awa could have freed herself now, but she did not dare leave Sarah's hand with the knife. She would stab Zera again! Holding Sarah's hand and stepping backwards, she inhaled air again, drawing even more mana into her. It was as if her soul would become the centre of gravity for the ambient mana that started to stream toward her. It was nauseating, and her tongue prickled as if she would taste an electrical current.

With a hit and a hard push, Sarah finally freed herself, sending Awa stumbling against the wall. She raised her hand with the knife to hit Zara with it.

Having lost her balance, Awa fell to the side while her eyes met Zera's. They both knew that Zera was going to be stabbed, and yet the little horned girl smiled defiantly. She would die fighting for Anabella!

“Nooooo!” - Awa screamed from all her lungs, turning her face to Sarah, ordering the mana to burn, and Sarah literally exploded. The hand with the knife fell in front of Zera's shocked round eyes.

Mana was still storming inside her, and Awa tried hard to stop it. Her eyes lit, and a flash of fire covered the ceiling. For a moment, Awa thought she would not be able to stop the inflow and she herself would be burned, but then suddenly, the mana flow stabilized.

She had only the time to breathe once then she started to barf. Zera, a couple of feet away, whispered, holding her bleeding belly with her hand.

“Ana...”

Awa breathed through, raised her eyes and looked at Anabella. There was a glint of life in those eyes! She was still alive! She tried to stand but could not, so she advanced on all four until she reached Anabella's feet and pulled herself up, resting on her chair until she was at her level.

She heard the barely moving lips:

“Zera. Give Zera a healing potion!"