"That is not what is important at the moment," Stilow spoke up, "How are we going to get back, or should we just wait for Lady Violet to open up the portal."
"How sure are we that the machine is going to work so soon?" Alecc sheathed his sword. It was almost as if they had forgotten that the man who lay before them was dangerous. "It's even a miracle that it worked in the first place."
"It should be soon. Until then, we should try and find the others." As Thyra spoke, Yasmine regained consciousness.
The back of her head hurt and she felt slightly dizzy. Nevertheless, she sat up slowly, and looked around her. The four people who had come to their rescue were standing in a small circle, surrounding Jason who lay on the ground. He was bleeding heavily from the stumps that were his two missing arms.
His head was tilted to the side, as he looked in the direction that Elroy and Yasmine lay. Even though she was at such a distance, Yasmine could still see him clearly, and thus she saw the two wet streaks of tears that ran down his cheeks. Her body shuddered, and she pushed her body further up, "Dad." She muttered in a small voice.
"That's your dad?" A feminine voice spoke from above her. "He just tried to kill you though. Is that how parents in this realm act? Odd."
Surprised, Yasmine yelled out and jumped up. Hanging from a branch on a tree that was closest to the siblings was a female. She balanced herself upside down on the branch using the back of her knees. Her hair was long, and although she was quite a distance from the ground, slightly grazed the soil. It was a plain white color that seemed almost luminous in the darkness of the night.
The eyes that stared at the siblings were a light gray color that did not seem to blink, as they studied Yasmine. Yasmine's shout did not go unheard, and the others looked back at where the two lay.
"It's just Ley." Vadmira spoke in that airy voice of hers, stopping the others from taking up their weapons and attacking one of their own.
"She comes and goes just as she pleases." Stilow muttered, "and yet all of you seem to have issues when I go and look for something to eat." He grumbled as he visibly pouted.
"This is no time to complain about that." Thyra shook her head and they turned their attention back to Jason who lay on the ground. He still silently stared at the two siblings, and the color in his eyes slowly returned. "Can he be saved?" Thyra asked.
"Violet could probably do it." Alec answered, "Whether she will agree to it is another matter entirely." He looked down at the heavily injured Jason, "But I do not think his arms can be saved. One was completely shattered when someone shot him using his gun, and I doubt we can find the other in this darkness."
They all simultaneously sighed.
Meanwhile, Yasmine took in deep breaths trying to calm herself. The people who had saved her and Elroy from their father had not come to protect her from this woman despite having seen her, then they were probably on the same team.
"Oh my. You really don't have to be so scared of me." The white haired female said as she swung on the branch. The leaves rustled softly due to her actions, while a few fell onto Yasmine's shoulder and hair. "But you really are a pretty little thing." She licked her lips as she stared into Yasmine's eyes.
Yasmine felt herself relax, and a silly smile spread up her lips. The female smiled even wider, "Your mind is weaker than I thought. Or is it because you are tired from siphoning all that mana? It isn't really good to siphon mana that is being used in a spell you know. How stupid are you not to know that I wonder."
The female was wearing a blood red dress that, seeing as she was upside down, fell to her stomach. This revealed a pair of plain white shorts that she had worn underneath. Earrings adorned her ears, and they were long. In her position, they reached half the length of her hair.
"I wonder, were you never taught that you should not just take any mana in the air. You might kill yourself. It would be interesting to see you burst from the inside out, although with the amount of mana you've siphoned, that won't be possible, sadly." She cocked her head slightly, causing the tips of her long hair to slightly brush the soil with a light fshh sound. "Well, we can take care of that right now. The others won't be happy if you died while I was here." She lowered one of her hands which she was using to balance herself on the tree.
A blue thread like material detached itself from the tip of her finger before attaching itself to Lexine's forehead. "Siphon." All the mana that Yasmine had just siphoned was pulled from her body into the thread. Just before it reached the odd female's body, the thread was snapped, and the mana poured back into the air.
Yasmine slumped down once that was done, suddenly exhausted down to her bones. "What did you do to…"
"Nothing that will seriously harm you." The woman said. "You will be really tired for the next few hours though. You should learn not to carelessly siphon just any mana." She raised her hand back to hold the branch and swung up to sitting position with her back facing Yasmine. "Surely, it is almost time for Violet to open the portal but the others are not yet here." She clicked her tongue. "Incompetent bastards." She swung her feet as she spoke, causing the red cloth she was wearing to swish up and down repeatedly.
"What do you m…" Yasmine groaned out. However, the other girl turned her head and raised her finger up her lips to silence her.
"Shh." Yasmine felt herself going silent despite the fact that she did not want to. "Do you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
Just after she had spoken, the leaves rustled and a male came out of the bushes. His hair was dark, and in the light of the moon, almost seemed black. However, as he got closer to Yasmine and the odd girl, Yasmine realized that his hair was a dark purple color. His eyes were sea blue that contrasted with his wheat colored skin. "Ranky." A wide smile spread along the girl's lips as she called out his name.
"Ley." The male called out before walking up to the tree that the odd female was seated in. "I cannot believe you got here before I did." He sighed as he jumped up the tree branch that she was seated on and placed his head on her shoulder.
She raised a pale arm to pat his purple locks in slow rhythmic pats. "I just got here myself. There are the ones we came to search for." She pointed back at Yasmine and Elroy and they both turned their head to look back.
Yasmine still did not have strength in her legs to stand, but she raised her hands, covering Elroy from their sight. The male, Ranky, tilted his head slightly and shook his head, "Does she think that I would hurt him?"
"She is quite protective." Ley continued to pat Ranky's hair, "She still wants to protect the man who tried to kill them. If that isn't odd, then I don't know what is."
"She did?" Ranky asked, a little bit surprised.
"Yes… I watched it all." Ley giggled.
"Leylanie," Ranky groaned, "You should have at least tried to help them."
"They were doing just fine. None of them would have died anyway. The only odd part of this equation was the girl. If it were not for her." They would have managed to dispose of the man even with their limited mana.
"Even then," Ranky shook his head.
"Don't worry." Leylanie smiled, "I was ready to jump in in case anything happened."
"I just cannot with you." Although it sounded like he was reprimanding her, he still had a small smile on his face.
Yasmine silently listened to them, as she slowly felt strength coming back to her. If she could just stand, or even move so that she could protect her brother, since she was too weak to protect their dad, then that would be enough for now.
She dragged her sore body, and sat just next to Elroy. His cheeks were pale, and when she placed her palm on his cheek, she realized that he was freezing cold. However, when she placed her hand on his chest, she could hear the low thumping of his heart. That assured her that he was not dead despite how pale he looked. She took his hand in her own, and cuddled it close to her, "Wake up, El." She muttered in a low voice that only she could hear.