The angel Declan starts to descend down on a nearby forest. Earlier, he engaged Lord Arsenon Regnum in a one on one fight and got severely beaten. He barely managed to escape from certain doom thanks to that boy distracting the Balekon before he delivered the finishing blow.
"This is really pathetic… I haven't even landed a single hit. Dammit it all!"
Battered, bleeding and frustrated, Declan lands on the ground unsteadily, pain starts to wrack his entire body as the adrenaline rush from the fight and his escape has finally ended. Slowly, he begins limping towards a small stream he espied earlier as he was gliding down to land, crouching down at the bank in agony, grimacing and gritting his teeth, Declan starts cleaning himself.
He methodically scrubs his face with his two hands, adding water to soften the splattered blood that has caked on his handsome face and hair. Little by little, the dried blood from the recent fight starts to soften and washes off from his face, turning the stream reddish as it flows.
"Heh- There is no way I can beat that man head on… I need to find a different approach."
Declan suddenly slammed his fist to the ground in frustration, the force of the punch formed a crater, the shaking ground made the small animals hiding around the area to scurry away.
"Failure is never an option… I have to kill that man… Fuuuck!"
The angel reassessed what went wrong during the fight, what were his mistakes and how he ended up losing.
"I was outclassed… plain and simple… Who would have thought that Balekons were crazy strong. No wonder Lord Randal gave me that damn slime as backup, but my arrogance made things a lot more complicated than it should have been."
Sifting through his memories, Declan remembered how Lord Regnum got distracted long enough for him to escape.
"I see… that boy! that's the only fucking way to do it!" Deck finally found his answer.
"I know what needs to be done now..." He muttered but it left a bitter taste in the angel's tongue.
"I hate this… Fuck you Randal, fuck you for making me to do this, fuck you for forcing me to be a coward!"
Spreading his bat-wings, an angry mad eyed Declan once again soars through the heavens, heading back to Triplance once again, pain be damned, he needs to complete his mission at all cost-- no matter the cost.
"This isn't over yet… Lord Arsenon Regnum will die today…"
......…..
Miss Anne, together with Lord Regnum, took Chitose, Tusk and Lyn back to Holden Estate earlier after the attack at the school. It was quite crowded inside the carriage of Lord Regnum that he and his son Tusk instead rode with the driver outside.
The guards of the estate saw the carriage and quickly went towards the main house to inform Mr. Holden of the unexpected party.
Upon their arrival, Mr. Holden and Mrs. Holden, together with Ayako the Mayordoma of the estate, were already waiting at the gate entrance, trying their best to hide their surprise that a great Lord had come visiting unannounced. Mr. Holden hurriedly brushed his mustache with a small comb at the last minute, attempting to groom himself extra better for the important guest.
The carriage pulled to a stop just in front of the welcoming party. Lord Regnum looked down at Mr. and Mrs. Holden from above the driver's seat and pressed his right fist on the left side of his chest as a greeting to his host.
"My Lord, what a pleasant surprise. Please, please come inside to our humble home and make yourself and your company comfortable. The hospitality of our family is at your service." Bowing low to show respect. Mr. Holden, signals Ayako to mobilize the house servants to give the Lord and his party all the assistance they need.
Three house servants scurried along. After receiving instructions from Ayano, the trio quickly performed their assigned tasks; one taking the reins of the horses from the driver, while the other one started to open the carriage doors. The last one headed near the driver's side carrying a wooden ladder.
"No need to assist me…" Lord Regnum declines the ladder as he effortlessly jumps down from the driver's seat of the carriage, agile as a cat, landing firmly on his two feet. He took a moment to dust off his heavy black coat and this time, gave a more formal greeting by bowing to his hosts, as a true gentleman would.
"Master Holden, I am afraid I have some distressing news for you…" The nobleman with a very serious look, walked closer to Mr. Holden, clasped his shoulder with his beefy right hand to show his support and empathy.
The Lord took a moment to gather his thoughts, his grim face clearly shows the gravity of whatever news he is about to give, he then takes a deep breath to steady himself as he prepares to give the news to a now very worried Mr. Holden.
"For crying out loud father, enough with the dramatics…" Tusk blurted out from the top of the carriage where he was still seated, rolling his eyes and trying hard to hide his embarrassment for his Lord Father's over the top antics.
He leaps down with the same grace and agility like his fathers but lands more dramatically with his feet wide apart and his left hand touching the ground for support.
Lord Ars Regnum was teary eyed when he saw his precious son hit the hero landing perfectly, his heart swelling with pride.
"The school has been attacked, and your daughter, together with your ward were able to help save most of the students from harm." Lord Regnum explains to the now ghost-white-from the shock Mr. Holden.
Ayako, hearing this, ran towards the carriage filled with dread, thinking the worst has happened to her daughter and her young mistress. She quickly grabbed the door handle of the carriage and opened it with such force that the hinges almost broke.
There she saw Lyn cradling her daughter's injured foot, hurt but otherwise unharmed. Ayako looked at her daughter Chitose, tears welling in her eyes, not of sorrow but of joy that the two most precious to her are very much alive and well.
"Don't worry, they are safe… but the short haired girl with gold eyes has hurt her ankle… strange eyes that one… like angelic eyes, is she- ehrm… ah, nevermind… this day is full of crazy happenings as it is." Ars assisted Chitose out of the carriage and gently carried her on his massive arms inside the house while Miss Anne and Lyn followed behind.
.........
"Owww! Don't press too much…" Chitose cried when Miss Anne applied pressure on her injured ankle. She had to grit her teeth through the pain just to speak those five words, even speaking has become hard for Chitose as her emotions are getting the best of her.
Her mind is a jumble of thoughts, Bong dying in a horrible way, Claire running off like that, and the throbbing pain from her injured ankle has taxed her body severely. She stole a glance at Lyn, who was at the far corner of the room sulking.
Looking at Lyn now, the silver haired girl starts to stand up, wanting to go to her friend's side, but Miss Anne's hand gently stopped her from getting up and shook her head in disapproval.
"Stay down and rest Chitose, it's not advisable for you to move at your current condition."
Chitose took her teacher's advice and decided not to stand up anymore. It was then that she saw Tusk walking towards her, carrying a tray with some food, a jar of fresh orange juice and what seems to be a small ceramic basin filled with hot water.
"How is your leg?" Tusk asked as he sits beside Chitose, handing her a tuna sandwich then sets the tray he is holding down on the table in front of them. He then rinses a small towel he is carrying on the basin of hot water and slowly but strongly wrings the cloth to extract the excess water.
"Pardon me…" Tusk blushing heavily, apologizes in advance to Chitose as he kneels in front of her and gently lifts the injured foot, pressing the hot towel to ease the throbbing of her swollen ankle.
"How strange… it was only the other day that this very leg was like a tree trunk, now it's slim and shapely... and smooth…" thought Tusk while feeling Chitose's leg trying to find other swellings aside from the ankle.
"Ahhn~" Chitose cried as she felt stinging pain shooting up from her ankle to her thigh.
Hearing Chitose's voice, Lyn turned her gaze towards the girl's direction. Lyn's eyes suddenly blazed with such fury snapping her out from melancholy as she saw Tusk holding Chi's leg. She storms across the room towards Chitose and Tusk.
The young man looks up to the black haired girl he secretly has romantic feelings for. Without as much a word, Lyn places the ball of her right foot on Tusk's left shoulder, and using her hips, she push-kicks Tusk away from Chitose.
"Touch her again and I will kill you…" Lyn said. Her voice was ominous and chilling.
Tusk turned, only to be terrified at her dark eyes filled with hate. She was looking deep into him as if he was no different than an insect that needs to be crushed. Beads of cold sweat started to form on his forehead, his heart beating like a crazed drum as he felt a cold chill run down his spine. He had a hard time pulling his gaze from hers, but he managed to turn and walk away. His knees are still trembling.
"What the hell was that all about?" Was all Tusk could ask himself as he heads outside the house utterly confused. The young man stops just outside the simple steel gate of the Holden Estate, his eyes looking up in the sky observing the gathering dark clouds as dusk approaches.
The sun has finally set, its last rays disappear on the western horizon, and darkness starts to creep across the land as night finally begins.
.........
She is caressing Silma's soft black hair, she starts to kiss the sleeping elf all over her face. Tarmora took time to look at Silma sleeping peacefully, so fragile, so beautiful, her delicate face, small breasts, soft and perky, lithe body yet possessed strength to hold her own on most adversaries, her innocence as pure as the driven snow.
"Well not really pure now…" Tara happily thought, as she took Silma's first time earlier, and she felt very secure knowing that Silma belonged to her and only to her.
"Still… I can't force her to take this essence… it would be unfair…"
She once again looked at the ring stuck in her finger, with a sigh, the angel suddenly sat up, the blanket covering her naked body falling over, exposing her perfectly round breasts. She felt Silma stirred beside her, and a smile formed on her lips as the elf also sat up and gently kissed her cheek.
"Silma, how about we… uhmn… nevermind, let's talk about this later. How about we continue with our original purpose of coming to this town eh?"
"Of course, I also think that it would be better to go during night time, since I can move well in the darkness, hiding in the shadows." Silma proudly states as she comes behind Tara wrapping her arms around the angel while she proceeds to kiss her nape.
..........
Silent as a shadow, Silma leaps from one roof to another, serving as a scout for her lover who took a more traditional route down on the streets. The night was oddly a lot darker and colder than it should be, as the new moon provides no light and the overcast hid the stars from view.
This wasn't a hindrance to the elf however. Silma's elf eyes can see clearly in the darkness, one of the many talents gifted to elvenkind; crouching low from the roof of a local armor store, she scans the area for any possible threat, as news of the school being attacked by a bat-winged man kept the elfmaid on edge and refused to take any chances. She tightly pulls her cloak around her body to ward off the chill air.
Tara casually walks the night streets, she knows that out there in the darkness, her elven girlfriend is watching her back like a guardian angel- Tara can't help but smile at the irony of it all. She gave up convincing Silma to walk with her earlier, the elf was adamant about hiding in the shadows just in case, not taking any chances, especially about the rumours about the bat-winged man.
"That man really did some mental scarring to her it seems…" Tara thought as she continued walking towards the direction of the Holden Estate while munching on a green apple she bought earlier from Amuy.
"Just hang in there baby girl, once I get this blasted ring off, you will get your bat-winged man served on a platter." Tara swore silently, as she continued to head west.
A few minutes later, she finally arrived at her destination; Holden Estate. She looked back around the area surrounding the estate, taking mental notes of the buildings and possible routes for escape if necessary. It is always better to be prepared, she thought.
From across the steel gate inside the compound, she saw a young man sitting casually at the terrace just outside the house, looking deep in contemplation, at his side is a hulking man with red hair sipping something hot from a cup and talking animatedly to a smaller man with a ridiculous black mustache.
"Looks easy enough…" Tara whispered, as she started to size up her possible opponents, her eyes squinting back to its original almond shape.
.........…
Inside the house, Lyn took the role of sole nurse to Chitose, taking care of the silver haired girl's swollen ankle. She even went as far as throwing away the tuna sandwich that Tusk gave to Chitose and completely replaced the towel and hot water.
Miss Anne who was awfully tired due to the events that happened at the school earlier, was already fast asleep in one of the many rooms of Lyn's house.
"Nobody else can touch you Chi." These thoughts keep on repeating on the MAGICAL genius's head, over and over again as her blank stare was fixed on Chitose's foot.
A worried Chitose can only look at her friend's strange behaviour.
"The incident with Claire must have affected her more deeply than I first thought…" Chi sadly thought.
"Then again, we are all in the same boat… oh Claire… I am so sorry…" Tears started to flow from Chitose's golden eyes without her even knowing it.
..........
A thousand feet above Holden Estate in the dark sky, Declan's sharp eyes finally sees his target once more. This time, he will not fail, he must not fail… he will die first than fail. This he swore. He still hated his idea, but he had no choice, his master's orders must be realised at all cost… Even if the cost is his soul and his very life.
The Black Death took a deep breath, inhaling the chill crisp night air, steeling himself for what was about to happen. Exhaling loudly, he prepares to dive.