Feeling so happy, she made her way down the path he told her.
As he jumps away in the distance, all of a sudden he stops.
He sighs after standing for some minutes, "Stupid girl, she'll definitely meet a calamity. That should teach her a lesson first, not letting me explain, she feels she knows it all" he smiles to himself.
"Wait, she'll definitely meet the soldiers on her way... I shouldn't have left her".
He hurries back to the direction in which he came from.
***********
In Alacia, the mer queen sits in her throne, with her daughter by her left hand side.
"Mother"
"Shh, they are arriving".
Soon some merfolks enter the throne room and bow greeting the queen and princess.
"Your majesty, your highness".
"Rise, what news do you bring? ".
"It is serious your majesty. The child of Queen Isadora is alive my queen".
"She let out the power surge".
"She?" They we're stunned.
"Yes your majesty. Your grand child is a girl".
"The hybrid is not my grandchild".
"But your majesty, you cannot deny the fact that the child is your son's".
"If that conniving half breed hadn't seduced my son into bedding her... Just so she can have power then we would not be in this mess. Having the first hybrid since time began. She wanted the fane and power. But I'm going to put an end to that".
"My queen" one of the mermaids said.
"Where is she now?" The princess asked.
"She was chased by the human soldiers into the Mountain of fogs".
"She is heading for the Elf Kingdom as we speak".
"Everyone wants her... " another mermaid spoke.
"Muirgen, Doris, Maraja, send some troops, and monitor her, lure her near the water if you must and capture her. Bring her here".
"Yes your majesty" the mermaids chorused.
"Alvaro wait behind".
"Yes your majesty" the merman said with a bow.
"The rest of you can go".
They bowed and left to carry out her orders.
***********
In the Elf kingdom, Astrid continues on her journey and soon her stomach starts grumbling.
"Grrrhhhh" she stops in her tracks.
"Wow, I haven't eaten for two days. Aunt Nerissa packed some dried loaves and dried meat. I can rest and gave a meal while at it".
She stopped, looked for a nearby tree and sat down under its shade resting her back on its stem. Then took her bag and searched for her meal, but what her hand touched was a big book instead. She brought it out and placed it on the ground, then brought out her water gourd and the dry loaf of bread and meat.
She carefully took the book and looked at the cover. "Ancient Magic" she opened the book and saw some spells.
"Perfect, at least I can practice different spells. I thought with Aunt Nerissa gone, I won't learn magic. Thank you aunt".
She picks up her bread and began eating with the mclimed a tall treeAfter sometime she finished with her meal and continued reading the book. She got up having rested enough and continued her journey, all the while reading the book.
******
The boy searches for Astrid but couldn't find her. "Where in the world did she venture up to? " he said to himself.
He had even searched through the wrong road he directed her to but couldn't find a trace of her. He looked far off and saw where the soldiers camped. He ran closer to where they were and climbed a tall tree. He scanned the full soldier's camp but couldn't find her.
"Just where could she be? Or did she find the right path? I better hurry". Just as he is about to jump down, he sees a blue light far away in the distance and rushed there.
As he got there, he couldn't help but be stunned. There in the middle of the Elven forest, thinking she was lost, she was actually practicing her magic. He stayed some distance away from her, standing on a tree branch and watching how frustrated she was with the current spell she was practicing.
Astrid tries on a freezing spell, but when she directs the magic to the tree, it only turns to water, she got frustrated as this was her fifteenth attempt.
"Come on, work with me here. Elphii nil ver hyean scriich ne mie". Still the same outcome.
Whereas he just sat down on the tree branch laughing at her frustration.
Off in the distance on a tree, she sees an object...
"Seems to be a bird, let me practice my freezing spell on it and catch it. It'll make a nice pet or a meal" she giggles as she cast the spell again, this time more determined.
"Elphii nil ver hyean scriich ne mie" and it hit the target. She squeals feeling she hut her target which fell to the ground.
"Yay, my pet here I come".
She moves in the direction where it had fallen but instead encountered some Elven soldiers. Practicing her magic had attracted the Elf soldiers.
"What do we have here?".
"A human girl".
"You're a long way from home girl" another one of the soldiers said with a wicked grin.
----------
Meanwhile the object Astrid saw in the distance thinking it was a bird, was actually her savior.
"How dare she hit me with her magic? Now my feet are stuck. But she didn't see me did she? Or she just wanted to pay me back" he thought again, "aarrrggghh, stupid girl".
He brings out a dagger and began hitting the ice that formed on his feet.
Minutes later, he hears a sound and a blast followed.
"Damn it".