'I have to run. I have to run. I have to run.'
The thought keeps repeating in Gene's head, but her body isn't responding. Her legs feel like play-doh and they won't listen to her. She never thought that she was this weak. She can't even blame it on Siv's delicate body, her very soul is trembling with fear.
Leaves crush under the man's feet as he walks to her and crouches to face her. His scary eyes study her for a moment, looking at her from right to left as if she is a rare specimen he's seeing for the first time.
"You are a real trouble maker, did you know that?" A smile is tugging on his lips, but his expression is grim. His voice is raw, stripped from any emotion.
For a moment, Gene wonders what it feels like to die.
'No, what the hell am I thinking? This man is going to kill me. I need to do something for God's sake.'
She tries to subtly move back, but the man grabs her leg immediately.
"Going somewhere?"
Gene shakes her head frantically.
She grabs a rock lying close to her, and slams it against the man's head as hard as she can. Gene reckons that it is probably too weak to do any damage, but it was enough for him to release her leg.
All she hears is a grunt before she stands and starts running away. She barely takes a few steps before her body freezes. It won't budge an inch.
'What is going on?'
"Well, Lady Siv, that was unexpected," the man utters. "I thought that killing you was going to be boring. What a nice surprise."
As if someone else is controlling her body, Gene is spun around to face the man. She tries really hard to move, but not even a finger responds. She is sure the man is using some kind of magic.
'Wait, is he the sorcerer who put a spell on those shoes?'
"Why are you doing this?" Her body shivers at the realization. She stands zero chance against a sorcerer.
"Someone wants you dead," he answers with a grin.
Could it be that princess from Vanta? But she is not even around anymore, she went back to her country. Could it be that she still hasn't given up on Brandt? Or is it the duchess?
"Who wants me dead? Who sent you?" The sorcerer just shrugs.
'Of course he is not going to answer that question. Am I really going to die without even knowing who wanted me dead?' Gene can't believe that she traveled all the way to this world just to die in the middle of these woods. 'What happened to my destiny of marrying the prince and becoming queen? Where is that stupid voice now?'
She sighs.
She has been too naïve to believe all of it. Too naïve to think that she could live a happy life.
'I guess my bad luck will never change, even if I live a hundred different lives. Idiot.'
Warm streams race down her cheeks. Tears for her wasted life as Gene, and her short life as Siv. Tears because she will never live the life she has dreamed of with Brandt. Tears for her pathetic body that can't even save itself.
The man stretches his right arm before him and even when he is standing a few feet away, Gene feels his hand squeeze around her throat.
"Wait…please…" She starts choking, which only makes him tighten his grip.
"It will be over soon." She hears him say over her struggles to breathe.
'I don't want to die.'
He lifts her off the ground as if she were a piece of cloth. Gene feels him squeeze the life out of her. She can't keep her eyes open anymore.
'Somebody, somebody please help me. I don't want to die.'
As darkness swallows the world around her, Gene hears a loud explosion before her numb body crashes onto the ground. She tries to inhale but she chokes. It takes a moment for her lungs to find air again.
She tries to look around but her vision is still blurry. All she can see are flashes of blue light, matching the blaring bangs she hears. Her heart pounds against her rib cage so hard that it hurts.
"That's enough," a male voice orders, but the fighting doesn't stop.
Gene's eyes are finally clear enough to see the source of the voice. He has his back to her so she can't see his face, but something about him seems familiar.
The two sorcerers exchange a few more attacks but it is clear that her savior is stronger. Finally, the man with blue eyes stops attacking and disappears into thin air.
"Are you alright?" Gene's body relaxes a bit as she sighs in relief. The man kneels next to her and helps her sit up. "Are you alright?" He repeats his question.
No words will come out, so she nods. He puts his hands on each side of her neck to examine it.
His cold touch is very soothing.
"I am just going to heal these bruises," he says.
A cooling air seeps from his fingers to her skin as a gentle turquoise light emits from them. It reminds Gene of when she chewed on an ice-breaker and then inhaled cold air on a winter day.
"My lady, does it hurt anywhere else in your body?" the man asks.
After seeing that 'magic show' earlier, she should be scared of this sorcerer, she should fear his unnatural power. But when Gene looks into his honey eyes, she can't help but feel safe and comfortable. She shakes her head in answer.
"So why are you crying?"
Gene touches her face unconsciously. Her tears are unstoppable as dozens of emotions hit her like a full speed train.
'I almost died.'
Soon after, her silent tears transform into loud howls. She feels bad for the man, she reckons he was probably just passing by and thought he should do a good deed by saving a pathetic and weak girl about to be killed. Despite that, he awkwardly sits there, patting her shoulder every now and then until she finally calms down.
"Lady Siv," the young sorcerer calls.
'Wait, how does he know my name?'
She studies his face more closely, thinking that she might have met him before. Even his voice sounds familiar.
"Have we met before, sir?"
"Well technically, we haven't," he says with the hint of a smile.
'What's with the ambiguous answer?' Then it hits her. The black robe, the long brown hair, the wide honey eyes, and that voice.
'I've seen this man before, he was the man who woke me from my dream.'
*********
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