Meilie was running, finding her way through the Nyctona.

  She got separated from the group while fighting some of them. Now she was trying to find her way back to someone from the group.

  She ran swiftly, like the wind, but soon stopped when two Nyctona stood in front of her, each mounted on his horse.

  “A girl with no mouth. How tragic,” the Nyctona on the left smirked, drawing his curved sword.

  Meilie got into a stance, narrowed her eyes, and pointed her staff toward the Nyctona.

  A beam of light blasted from her staff, aimed at the Nyctona on the left. But he was able to dodge it by moving to his left. By then, the Nyctona on the right charged toward Meilie and drove his horse at her, a curved sword in his hand.

  Meilie dodged to her left and cast a wind barrier from her staff. A whirl of wind gathered around her, protecting her from the sword slashes the Nyctona were dealing.

  Both Nyctona backed off, unable to land a single strike on her. They were gasping for breath when a voice came from behind. “Stand aside.”

  Both Nyctona turned around, their eyes widening. They quickly gave space to the Nyctona walking toward Meilie and bowed down.

  “My lord,” they said.

  Kharvos was walking toward her. Meilie’s eyes widened, and she quickly pointed her staff toward Kharvos and cast Light Arrow Three. A beam of light blasted from the staff, straight toward Kharvos.

  But Kharvos easily jumped aside, dodging the attack.

  “An elf. What are you doing with humans? Don’t you know the rules of this land?” Kharvos said.

  Meilie stayed silent.

  "I see you have no mouth. Interesting," Kharvos said. Another voice came from behind him. “My lord, the king must not get involved with lowlife creatures in war. Let your servant Azhruun handle her.”

  Kharvos turned around to find Azhruun standing there with his bow on his back and arrows placed in a black quiver.

  "Fine. Know that this girl is an elf — she knows magic," Kharvos said.

  “That will be no problem, my lord.” Azhruun walked ahead. Kharvos gave him space and stood aside, watching the battle.

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  Meilie turned her staff toward Azhruun. The wind was still revolving strongly around her, acting as her shield.

  Azhruun smirked. “Oh my. You are pretty. Shame you have to die by my hand.” He took out an arrow from his quiver. It was a long black arrow. He aimed his bow at Meilie and shot the arrow.

  The arrow flew fast. It went straight toward Meilie’s face. Her eyes widened. She quickly shifted her head to the left, still staring at Azhruun. The arrow flew past her ear, barely missing it.

  The whirl of wind around her vanished in an instant as soon as the arrow touched it.

  Azhruun gave a small laugh and loaded another arrow. Meilie pointed her staff forward and cast Light Shield. A shield of light appeared in front of her, guarding her from any attack.

  The arrow left the bow and, in an instant, struck Meilie’s shield. The shield shattered, but Meilie was safe behind it. Still, she looked exhausted.

  Azhruun pulled out another arrow and shot it toward Meilie. She cast Light Shield again, but behind it, she was preparing another attack.

  Casting the light shield took much of her mana, and because she hadn’t gotten much sleep in the last two days, she wasn’t able to store much mana within herself. The attack she was preparing depleted the last of her mana.

  As soon as the arrow hit the shield, it shattered.

  Azhruun reached for another arrow, but his smile soon disappeared, and his eyes widened when he saw a point of light forming at the tip of her staff.

  Meilie was standing sideways, her eyes narrowed. A ball of light formed at the tip of her staff and hung in the air for a brief moment before flying toward him at great speed. He tried to dodge, but the ball still struck his stomach from the side, leaving him bleeding.

  Azhruun was breathing hard. He looked down and saw that a part of his stomach was missing. There was a large gap. He was on his last breath. He ground his teeth, narrowed his eyes, and looked at Meilie.

  Meilie had no mana left. She was standing with the support of her staff, gasping for breath heavily.

  “You shadowed witch!” Azhruun shouted as he pulled out another arrow from his quiver with all the strength he had and pointed it toward Meilie.

  Meilie tried to run, but her legs were locked. She looked down at her trembling legs. She had no strength left.

  “I will kill you!” Azhruun shouted again. The king was standing aside when something passed before his eyes.

  At first, he was unable to recognize it, but in the next moment, he saw another woman standing close to Azhruun with a needle pierced through Azhruun’s heart.

  It was Lyra. She had stabbed Azhruun in the heart from behind. But the moment she stabbed him, his arrow left the bow and flew directly toward Meilie. Because of Lyra’s strike, his bow shifted slightly, and the arrow changed direction.

  Lyra was unable to move in time, and the arrow passed by her, slightly grazing her stomach. It left a scratch, but not a deep one.

  Meilie took a deep breath and looked ahead.

  Lyra sighed, looking at Meilie, and said, “Thank God. You are safe.”

  Meilie nodded through her blurry vision. She was completely leaning on her staff.

  Kharvos watched as Azhruun’s body fell to the ground. He pulled out his two longswords from his back and stood against Lyra.

  “Interfering in a one-on-one battle. You shall die right now,” he said.

  Lyra turned around and pointed her needle at Kharvos. “You are the one who is going to die.”

  Bromgar came from behind. He had managed to find Kharvos just in time.

  “I found you, Kharvos,” he shouted, grabbing Kharvos’s attention.

  Kharvos turned sideways, pointing one longsword at Lyra and the other at Bromgar.