Princess Cecilia watched as the fire Blaize had to make cackled. It was a very cold night, one they would not survive without heat. They had taken shelter somewhere inside the cave and needed the light for more than just heat. They had to know they were in a safe space. All kinds of things crept into the dark."Start talking..." Blaize said to Cecilia as she sat beside the fire. He was standing, and his eyes were on her."I do not like it when men stand over me. It makes me feel like they own me and that is something that cannot be." She said and Blaize scoffed."You have serious issues, do you know that? You are a proud maniac who thinks everything in life should just happen to you the way you want. But guess what? Life isn't that way. There are times when it fucks you up and this moment right now is one of those times." Blaize told her and she just nodded. He was done with princesses."Fine. Whatever."Then she sighed."The people that attacked us are called The Buba tribe. They are
Blaize threaded carefully as he walked towards the mouth of the cave. It was a bit dark, and from where he was, he could hear the footsteps approaching him. The footsteps were steady and calculated, but he could only hear one person walking towards him.Were they alone? Where were the others?He placed his hand on the hilt of his sword and walked closer. The footsteps kept approaching and although he was as stealthy as he could be, he was certain that they probably knew he was coming as well. His cover was fully blown when he stepped on a twig and it snapped.Someone yelled and hurled at him, knocking him into the wall. But he recognized the voice."Victoria?"He asked and the person stopped. Blaize snapped his fingers and opened his palm as fire suddenly appeared in it. Victoria took a step back and gazed at Blaize with much suspicion."I am happy to see you alive."He said to her but she did not reply. The old him may have killed her on the spot for deserting him but Blaize at that
Blaize stood close to the mouth of the cave for the rest of the night, keeping an eye out as Victoria and Cecilia slept. He had gone to check on them once and found them sleeping peacefully on the ground. The fire they made had now become a pile of ashes on the ground and the cold that had started blowing in the cave made Cecilia shiver in her sleep.Blaize gazed at her carefully. A princess out there in the woods, all alone. She never should have left her village. She should have stayed there and got married to whomever it was her father chose and that way, she would have been able to save herself from some of the pain she was going through at that moment.But still, if she had not run away, she never would have been able to take destiny by its balls and live her best life. Blaize just needed to keep her safe until they got to the Arynthians. He had a feeling that they would find that very interesting.He drew a rune on the ground, tracing it carefully so as not to miss any detail wh
The morning came quickly, and the silence that swept across the forest was one that haunted those inside the cave. For Blaize, it was a relief that it was daytime. He was never really a fan of the night. He knew that what he could see had little or no chance of hurting him, unlike the nighttime when he had to use his magic to stay conscious of the world around him.Blaize glanced over his shoulder and discovered Victoria was no longer beside him. He trudged slowly toward the deeper parts of the cave. He had fallen asleep along the way, just enough to keep him sane for the day. He walked towards where the fire had been but he could not find Victoria, and neither could he find the princess.Where the hell were they?"Victoria?" He called out but his voice echoed in the cave. He had serious doubts they went that way. Where could they possibly be? Did they not know it was dangerous for them to just walk around unsupervised?"Victoria!" He called again and yet, he was met with the respons
The Riverside was...huge.It looked more like a city than a small village and only contradicted everything Blaize had had in mind about the place. He stood with the women at the hill and watched as people kept shouting at others, trading, and cursing.Little children ran around the square and some women could be seen preparing the nets for men to go fishing with. There were a lot of fruits and meat on display which people quickly went to buy. The sight of that food made Blaize's stomach growl.Has he really fallen so bad that years of Elderien training were wiping already? The old him would not have cared about that meal unless it was finally time to eat. But he was out of practice and outdated. And it put some relief in him to know that he was not the only one surprised by the city.Victoria was speechless! She kept gazing at the Riverside in awe and her mouth was slightly ajar."Wow... what happened here?" She asked no one in particular, but the princess shrugged her shoulders."Wel
A tall, dark man walked towards them, wearing a grin on his face. He was dressed in Normal outfits that showed no extravagance. His hair was neatly cut and so were his beards. As the man continued to approach, Cecilia could feel the tightness in her chest. She could barely breathe, and everything about him made her crazily aroused."Cecilia. How are you?" He asked as he stood closer to them, his shoulders standing at equal heights with those of Blaize's."Ragnar. It is good to see that you have not changed a bit." Cecilia said and he just smiled at her."Come. I was not expecting you. Are these your friends?" He asked while gesturing to Blaize and Victoria."Yeah. Ragnar, meet Victoria and Vector. Everyone, meet Ragnar. The love of my life." Cecilia said and Victoria nodded. She was not expecting that."You must be hungry, tired. I will get rooms prepared for you immediately. Come."He led them toward a table and gestured to Victoria and Blaize to a seat. Before they knew it, food was
Victoria gasped as Blaize hurried to her side, worry written all over his face. He grabbed the coat he had placed on the chair he was sitting on and glanced back toward the window."What is it? What's wrong?" Victoria asked him."We have been sold out. Ragnar sold us out to the Buba and they are on their way here." He told her and she just stood transfixed.Of course, she had her doubts about Ragnar but she did not really expect him to betray them. Why would he do that? Did he and Cecilia not claim to be in love? People in love do not sell the other out. Something was wrong."Where is she? The princess, where is she?" Blaize asked Victoria as he walked towards the table she and Ragnar had taken. She was no longer there. Her meal was not finished. Victoria stood up and joined him."I could swear she was here just two seconds ago." She said to Blaize who just cursed."We need to find her, right now..."Blaize's words were interrupted when a member of the Buba walked into the inn. The la
Blaize blocked the first hit from the Buba with his sword, but the strength of the Man that struck him made him struggle to get a grip on his sword. The man struck again and Blaize dodged it and tried to attack, but the Buba was wise.He quickly dodged Blaize's strike and tried punching him in the face, an attack which Blaize saw coming and dodged. The man groaned, hurled at him, and struck again. Blaize quickly leaned to the side and when the man had lost his footing, Blaize slashed his back, but what slashed instead was the armor the man wore beneath his clothing.He chuckled as he kicked Blaize in the chest, sending him to the ground. Blaize did not see that coming. Who wears armor on their backs? The man twisted his axe and tried to strike Blaize again but Blaize dodged it. There was a similarity between the way the Buba fought and the way the leader of the band that attacked them at first fought.Plus, the other members of the Buba all stood, watching the fight, like they wanted
***Final Chapter***The monster hurled at the ship with a force so great that its punch pushed the ship backward. They were lucky not to have sustained a tear because Alastair and Blaize had formed a shield to block the punch. The shield, however, shattered immediately upon impact.The ship groaned and tilted from side to side, and what came next were screams from the crew as they fell into the sea. The captain struggled to find her balance, however, that was proving difficult. The ship groaned again and tilted to another side, shaking the captain's grip off her sword with which she had stabbed the deck.She screamed as she glided towards the sea, which at that time was already being occupied by monsters that looked like snakes. There was a multitude of them, and their hisses could be heard. They had killed the members of the crew that fell into the sea.As the captain was about to fall overboard, Blaize created a shield that blocked her path and pulled her back into the ship. She exch
"Set sail!"The captain's voice rang through the entire ship as men busied themselves with their jobs. The crew members ran Helter skelter as they tried to get the ship running, and in no time, they did. The ship roared as it sailed on the sea, a sight that sent shivers down Cara's body For Alastair, he just stood beside her and watched other members of the crew as they worked tirelessly. The captain was no longer with them. She was busy shouting orders, screaming at the men, and cursing them as they worked. Considering the fact that she was much smaller than most of the men on the ship, it was a funny sight to see.She soon sent Alastair a gaze and nodded to him. Alastair returned the gesture. As soon as the captain looked away, Alastair smiled softly. The time was finally approaching, and there was nothing to stop destiny from unfolding. He was still lost in thoughts when he suddenly began to feel like there was a pair of eyes looking at him.It was the same feeling he had gotten b
"Stand firm. Widen your stance and fix yourself to the ground. Strike with intent."Alastair instructed Cara as she sparred against him. Her moves had gotten better already but they still needed some more work. She groaned and struck Alastair, putting in so much of her energy that she tripped and fell down when Alastair made a false move."Predict where I will be. It will be what you need most of the time. You need to see the bigger picture when you are dealing with an opponent. Stand up and come at me again."Alastair instructed and Cara obeyed. She was past the stage of grumbling. She knew she needed to become stronger for what was coming.She charged and did her best to predict Alastair's moves. But they were too advanced for her. However, Alastair did not hold back. If she was to fulfill her destiny, she needed to become better than he was. Alastair decided to do a move to throw her off balance but Cara suddenly blocked it.Alastair was surprised. He pushed a bit further and intro
"Why don't you put down the crossbow and we can talk this through like adults?" Alastair said to the captain who scoffed at his guts. Her eyes were blaring with anger, and the only thing in her eyes other than anger was turmoil, pain, and regret.She steadied the crossbow in her hand and fixed her gaze upon Cara. Her eyes never left her. It seemed like she could remember what happened that day, the fire that suddenly blasted them all apart. She could remember the smell of burnt flesh which filled the air, saturating every part of the house. She could remember the smell of her own flesh and the moment that hit her, her face twitched a little. She took a deep breath and pointed the crossbow at Cara. Alastair did not want to use his magic against her for he knew they would be needing her help if they were to get to the isle of mists. But how the captain survived was still a mystery. He was certain she had died."You! You did this to me!", The captain said and pointed to the scarred part
"You didn't even ask for her name." Cara said to Alastair as they walked down the busy road. Their short time at the pub had not turned out the way Alastair hoped. He just kept walking in silence, and the silence was what made Cara uncomfortable."I did not need to," Alastair replied and she scoffed."Why not? She was clearly into you and you liked her as well. What is stopping you?" Cara asked, but then she realized how insensitive her statement was. She should not say such things about Alastair's relationship."Is it because of Miranda?" She asked but he was silent."How do you know she is still waiting for you?" Cara asked again but Alastair still said nothing. She was right. He did not know. But the thing bothering him was that he might not live to find out. "I... I do not want to forget her. I want to cherish our memories together until there is nothing left of me. That is why I cannot look at another woman. But what do you know? You are just a child.".Alastair said and scoff
The night still ravaged on as Alastair and Cara kept walking down the streets. Alastair got the chance to see more of the town, like he had secretly desired. The town was a beautiful place, quite exotic as well.He did not know if it were the decorations, or the thrill in the air but he was certain that that town had seen alot of bad days in the past and they were trying to make out the future as best as they can. He could see a young woman and two kids which looked like they were hers.The woman glanced at him and smiled, a smile which melted Alastair's heart. He saw that she had twin boys, and the imagination of the kind of life he would have been living if he grew up with his mother and brother was vivid.One of the twin boys ran towards him and gave him a popsicle. Alastair smiled as he took the popsicle from the boy, and giving their mother a nod, she quickly led her eager boys toward a candy shop. Alastair sighed as he watched them. He did not even hear Cara stepping up before h
The journey was quiet, and although the moonlight shone upon them like the ever glowing beam of light that it is, Cara was not feeling it. She just kept walking, a step behind Alastair. Her head was bowed, her fists were clenched. Her nails were digging into her palms, although not enough to give her an injury, it still hurt.Maybe she wanted it to hurt. Maybe she just wanted to feel something at the end of the day. She had been so hollow ever since the fight. She could feel Asmodeus crawling around in her mind. She could feel the Phoenix slowly regressing. She could feel the terror that was coming, very one that she was destined to bring upon the world."Are you alright?" Alastair asked her, snapping her out of it. She nodded quickly and looked at him for a moment. "You look disturbed. Is there anything you would like to talk about?" Alastair asked her again but she shook her head. He decided not to press her. If she was ready to talk, she would."Do you miss it? Everything else bef
An energy blast escaped from cara's body and hit all those that were in close proximity to her, James and Denise included. The force of the blast was so powerful that it took them off their feet and crashed them onto the ground. Cara let out a guttural growl as energy began to radiate from her body. The red, hot, energy began to gush out even more as her powers levitated her slowly. The growls continued, and so did the fear on lord Karl's face. He has never seen anything like that. He and his followers were not sure of what to do at that point. They slowly stood to their feet and watched as she stretched out her hand toward them. Her yellow eyes fell on them and with a sudden spark, her energy surged again. This time, it did not hit James and Denise. Both were surprised that the energy phased right through them to hit a sorcerer standing behind them and when they turned around, their eyes beheld a horror unlike what they knew before.The sorcerer's body froze. His eyes stretched out
"Cara... Cara, are you alright?"Cara could hear Fristborn's voice call out to her. She opened her eyes slowly and what she saw was someone she never knew she could see any more. Was she dead, or was she dreaming? She gazed at Fristborn's face and in that split second, she reached out to touch him.But someone else quickly grabbed her hand and she turned and saw Denise standing there. Her eyes roamed back to 'fristborn' but was actually James that was kneeling beside her. She blushed in embarrassment as she quickly say up. They were no longer in the house. From what Cara could see, they were some distance away from the house and it was not too quiet. She could still hear the sounds of guards running around, trying to look for them. The three of them remained silent for a while."What happened?" Cara asked as she rubbed her eyes. It felt like she slept for a long time."You fainted," Denise replied to her. Cara tried to recall what had happened after she felt the surge in her magic b