As she slowly opened her eyes it nearly popped out from shock while her breath, on a halt in pure awe as she was greeted by beautiful black ornate walls filled intricate glowing gold and silver design which looked like veins wrapped on all it's sides on when you look close enough seemed to be pulsing as it showed a big painting of the starry night sky above which is shimmering and moving as it reflects on the floor.
"Woa!!! I'm in the sky room?! This is so cool!!! This place is so enchanting! My god it's more beautiful than the book's description" She nearly screamed as she happily walked the room with a big smile on her face
As she does, the stars started to moved as they formed a glowing path for her to follow as the room's strong presence of mana, gently touched her as if the room itself is greeting her.
She gently took a deep breath as it did and smiled so she won't feel overwhelmed and focus on the task at hand.
As she walked further down the path it made the stars in the room have moved ahead per step she took but it went faster making our girl panic as she was not able to match it's pace and ran up to catch up on it.
Though as she did the stars swiftly formed a silhouette of what seems to be an entrance Infront of our running mc which our girl ran straight into it screaming as she landed on some hay with echoes of horses neighing in panic.
She stood up and groaned as she pressed her hand on her head to lessen the pain from the crash "Owww! Ughh please warn me next time you damn stars" she commented as she stood up and headed out the stable within the knights training ground
It didn't take long , she managed to find the room she needed and quietly sneaked in to a room filled with organized armors sets and weapons for training.
With the light of the moon illuminating the room she easily spotted the chest filled with wooden swords which she happily took two, one for herself and one for self defense if someone saw her and attack her.
As she got out she nearly jumped as she met with two kids one looked like his early teens which has a lighter hair color with sharp eyes while the other seemed the same age as her with wavy and dark hair color with red eyes slightly glowing because of the moonlight, looking surprised.
The other one got his sword out by instinct and pointed at her which in turn made her stance as she slowly walked sideways her hands a she tightly held her wooden sword
"Who are you and why are you here?!" The older boy demanded
"I should be the one asking buddy. Why are you out here this late?!" Asked back as she pointed back at the teen
"I'm asking in the name of the empire of Vearus your identity, thief!" He demanded again as he kept the other boy shielded
"I don't give a damn who you are! I am not a thief, leave me be! Intruder!" She yelled as she carefully walked back
And as she did she saw a pebble and kicked it toward the boy startling him enough for her to grab another one and throw it at him hitting his head.
Groaning in pain giving, she used this opportunity to run for it and escape however she was painfully blocked by an Ice wall which she saw was casted by the smaller boy
This made Joie eyes widened and quickly turned into a panic as she nervously touched the sharp cold wall as she remembered who they are... especially the one who made the ice wall.
-------(0)---
{JOIE}
Damn... Damn....damn...!
It's an Ice wall...with magic..so it's really real?!
But why is he here?!
Why is Silva here?!
"You're not suppose to run away in the process of questioning my Lady" the other boy calmly said as he came closer to me feeling the cold frost from him making me shiver more
I tried to stand up to defend myself but as I did my damn leg felt like it's burning from the inside making me sit back on the ground .
I looked at my ankle and noticed it is swelling
Shit! I must had twisted it as I ran on to it...this ain't good!
But that's not what important...if he's here then...how?
The main estate for guests are 3 Miles away from here?
I got startled a bit when I heard footsteps coming and immediately turned and see the other tall guy "You seemed quieter now miss. Cat bit your tongue? Are you ready to tell us who you are now" the other boy mocked me as he walked towards me with a smirk
"L..look I'm not someone dangerous! I REALLY need to leave, there are Timberboars here and they're very dangerous" I warned them, trying to scare them off and leave
But it was too late.
As the clock by the main tower rang, the sky above them glowed then expanded quickly creating a dome like space as web like design appeared on the sky
Shit this isn't good... that's a deadly S-class spell
I slowly looked at them with fear as I slowly try to back away but my leg throbbed in pain making me almost fall.
The two looked at each other worried as I tried my best to keep standing.
Then little Silva went near me and gently grabbed my arm and swung it around his neck surprising me .
"Hold on to me for a bit. Looks like we'll be here for a while" He said as his face was visibly annoyed but he wasn't looking at me but the sky. Wait why is he relax in all of this?
"Your highness, it seems they really did follow through their threat and will you look at that they even cast a Widow weaver" the other boy said annoyed as well as he grabbed his sword from the ground and prepared for a stance
"You think so? I feel like its a bit more stronger than usual" Silva answered calmly as he took
I looked at these two in shock and astonishment and made my heart palpitate more that it should as my stomach started to turn and my face to turn paler
Are these two insane?!
They-we will die if we don't leave!!
That's not a widow weaver that is just a dome it's...an "Atrax cage weaver"
I know Silva is known to as the strongest young ice mage even this early in the story however this damn spell is an S-class and can kill you as soon as those black web like line touch you.
However he solidified that title with a big painful price, plus they're not supposed to be here...that event should had been in a villa by the main palace.
So why are they even here? The villa isn't near here too so how?!
Wait...hold on..
Could it be that it's....no
No...
No...no...no...no
Awakening....
I steadily thought as I started to breath hard and slow trying to process what the heck is going on.
Enemies....
My vision at the moment is starting blur out and I feel strong cold shiver by my spine as I finally understand the gravity of the situation as I look at the two boys...
This barrier...enemies... awakening....shit!
It means the older boy here...he's gonna die today?!
"D...ANGER! WE'RE IN BIG TROUBLE!! WE SHOULD GET OUT OF HERE! THIS...THIS FEELS DANGEROUS! " I pleaded as I panicked and tried to convince them as I try to remove my arm around Silva
Silva widened in shocked as he quickly grabbed my arm and then hug me while gently rubbing my back trying to calm me...which, helped??
What the- why is he being sweet?!
No fair!!
"We're strong little miss! Don't you worry about a thing! We can...at least hold them off for you to get out of here" the older boy said with a coy grin
Silva though did not buy it because his face stiffened as If he knows he's faking it well his shaking hands did give him away so I don't blame him.
If I just remembered this day sooner I might need not be in this messy blood bath.
This was the first tragic event that was explored more in the 2nd story of the book.
This boy right here is one of the other male leads who took me as his fiancé two years from now and betrayed this villain, me, in the end to Nicolas and the others by the climax of book one.
This backstory incident literally killed everyone in this magic dome besides Silva which from what I remembered is because his friend shielded him from the dark web magic which luckily has not yet activated yet...
Wait...
I glanced at the webs on the dome and noticed they're still black...which means...them... being here...
My eyes widened...as I remembered which part of he plot this is.
That's right it's because they're in the palace when this happened and the tragic massacre happened...but now that they're here...the spell got delayed...
Which means they haven't figured out they're here yet?! We can still get out of here alive if we can reach the manor!
"Hey you two...how did you get here?" I asked
"Well we went through a magic room filled with stars then before we know it we ended up here" the older boy explained
Odd-they went in the sky room too? Why didn't I saw them when I was there?
"And how exactly did you get in that room?" I asked again as I pulled the wooden sword around my hip to help me stand up with Silva's aid
"Through a painting within the palace main hall. I actually took this and looked at it and then it glowed and then we got there" Silva answered as he showed me a gold ring with a dark sapphire ring
Painting? Ring? here was also a door at that place? Was that mentioned in the books? A ring too? I need to get my shit together now because If I'm thinking what I think that is... then that might be link to that thing In the garden.
Okay, let's not think about that right now,
Let's focus to get to my place, the shield and security spell of that place would definitely keep out those evil mages long enough for us to survive
Still we don't have much time before those webs get triggered... because from what I remembered the mage who made it might be still be in the palace probably right now. This training ground is a mile away from the main palace with everyone of my family is sleeping probably on the north wing's exclusive royal estate.
Majority of the knights are more in the palace and north wing's estate since the main royal family and guests from other empires are staying too.
So I took a deep breath and calmed down.
Let's get a plan and get out of here.
"Okay...this will sound strange but I know a way to get out of here. Listen ,those webs things around this magic dome is supposed to kill the target upon summon . Which means that those things are not moving because the caster has not found it's target yet, If we're careful enough we may get to a safer ground unharmed. But we better move out now because if the caster finds out that his target escaped , that person will use the webs to track it and I'm assuming that you two are who that caster is looking for" I said as I winch in pain
The two looked at me more suspiciously with Silva looking at me and squinted slightly as if he's thinking...
Silva I understand but--we don't have time for this!!
I just sighed and roughly removed my arm off of Silva and snapped at the two "If you want to die so badly-Go ahead! I'm not gonna be a part of this! " I loudly stated as I angrily and painfully walked ahead
Wow Joi that was real mature of you
I mean I know that they will die but we don't have time for that. But then again they're kids and I'm some stranger who spouted weird things.
I sighed as I kept walking and as I am, I gently release my mana which luckily enough is a light attribute to help me with my sprain but since I'm not really using magic, it's just acting as a temporary pain reliever for me to walk.
Five minutes passed by and I'm pretty sure I got far enough because I can see the road taking me to my manor but oddly the cage has not made a move yet...
Did someone else set this up?
No that's not it... you'll need a shit load of mana to cast a spell this size let alone maintain it for this long.
Usually a S-class level spell like this should had went off minutes ago... could it be that the caster is still not in the dome yet?
As I was thinking this I noticed to silhouettes walking towards me and as they got closer, it was a tall long brown haired guy with sharp red eyes with a dead boar dangling on his broad shoulder wearing a worn out white shirt and a kid version of him looking at me with pure shock as he seemed to noticed me with the wooden sword cane
"Oya, miss child! What happened to ya?!" He asked as he rushed towards me and quickly bent down putting his boar by the side to see my foot
"Father, what happened? Is she alright". The small boy asked as he bent down too
"She seemed to have a very swollen ankle, betcha it's a sprain. Diego please get my wand from my back pocket so I can treat her will ya" his father said to his son as the small boy followed his father's request
His father patted his boy and started an enchantment which surprised me.
I... though they might be normal hunters or something but I don't think it's the case since weirdly it won't make sense because the father has a wand...and knows enchanting of this caliber, only sages with a grade A mostly have those in this story and his physic isn't showing of a sage... could he be a magister??
As the enchantment was casted a magic ring appeared on the ground where my injured leg foot is. It glowed as warm and calming energy surged to my foot which surprisingly ease the swelling of my foot as it became relatively less swollen and painful
That's so cool!!
"Okay looks like your foot will get better once you rest up alright. Though why are you even out here at this hour young lady? And why do you have wooden swords with you hmm?" he said looking amused but with a hint of suspicion towards me
I was about to answer when I got startled hearing a faint call of my name behind me.
That caught the attention of the father-son duo as they peeked behind me. I sighed took a deep breath and slowly turned around and saw Silva and his friend running towards us looking all relieved.
Well what do you know the two managed to get out the training area.
"They seemed to know you" the young boy commented
"Fortunately I don't " I answered as I stared at the two idiots running towards us as I yawned
As the two came closer I felt something...beating. I also noticed that its getting stronger as these two come closer
I felt like my whole heart drop and my lips went numb and cold as I shakily looked up as saw the dome...it's veins turned red and is glowing...
shit...
We're doomed
------------)∆(----------
The boy beside his father chuckled as the sight at two boys around probably his age and one older still awake and doing mischievous things but as he peered to the girl his father healed he felt sudden chills when she saw her look up and trembling.
But before he could even ask thick glowing red strings were appearing from above by a dark magis spell releasing hundreds of Vines at them so quick and so sudden no one can easily react.
He knew this was so sudden even a magis knight like his father's caliber wouldn't easily deflect this...not this quick
As he braces himself from what's gonna happen a loud gong like sound had emanated out of nowhere as the collision of two strong forces created a strong explosion as gust of smokes formed
As the smoke cleared up he noticed that the ground they're in is intact and no one in the undamaged space was hurt, not his father nor the two boys
But as he linger his gaze longer he saw the girl trembling, barely even standing, panting heavily like she ran for her life and her hair and eyes all white and glowing. Her arms up in the air as giant glowing purple magis circle was over them all protecting them from the whips.
He saw his father in utter disbelief as the red glowing whips are disappearing as it tries to aggressively hitting the magis circle we are in
"Well I'll be damn...it's null!!" his father who stood up from the ground exclaimed while he looked up as the whiplash of thread are constantly destroyed as it keeps hitting the magic circle above them
"Null?What do mean but that father?" He asked as he steadily balanced his footing from the ground shakiness
"It's...a rare kind of magic that can counter and null any spell in any element in any magic grade" the other older boy chimes in as he helps his younger companion up the ground
His companion however ran towards the girl as she's keeping them safe with her unusual ability however the moment she saw him she glared at him making him stop in his tracks.
"OH NO... NOT YOU!Get the HELL-argh! A-Away from ME!" she yelled as she nearly kneeled as a strong whip hit her magic circle
"I'm not going to let you do this alone! This isn't your fight, it's mine!!" he yelled back as he grabbed his wand and tried to cast a spell but unsurprisingly didn't work
"You, IDIOT! YOUR MAGIS WONT WORK AS LONG AS THIS SPELL IS ACTIVE! GET -Argh!" She shrieked as a thinner thread popped out the ground and stabbed her calf making her lose her footing nearly dispersing her spell
The boy jumped back a bit and quickly stomped it making it pull back . Joie, even with immense pain and exhaustion, stomped hard on the ground and took a very deep breath and screamed casting a spell
"EXPANSION ! SOTERIA VYOOMI!!"
A massive energy wave fan out the negative mana circle instantly destroying the dangerous spell like a glass shattering upon impact.
As this was happening an immense throbbing pain kicked in our little hero as the pressure of it increased ,especially from her punctured sprained leg making her fall hard on the dusty ground as she desperately try to hold on by controlling her breathing.
The older mage came immediately to her aid along with the young boys, while ripping his long sleeves and quickly tied it around her punctured calf.
The boys were all mortified , especially Silva who clenched his stomach while he held in the nausea that is creeping up.
With the amount of blood that was dripping off her big deep wound the others can help but come near her and held her hand for a bit of comfort to help her. However as much as they want to help her by their magic they can't use it because the little girl's negation magic is active.
As the man finished the wrap he noticed the girl's pale wheezing face as she tries to get up. The man sighed and put his hand on her shoulder and gently pat it "Little girl let's not move carelessly. Ye're deeply and severely injured and exhausted. Please rest up fer now . Ye already exhausted yer body from that and I doubt that the one who casted the damn spell won't be much harm with this spell active" He explained to the girl while
Joie looked down and nodded as she gently sat down on the ground and was to lay down her however the son of the mage stopped her so that he can sit on the floor and then tugged her down gently to lay on his lap which made her blush slightly.
"It's no good if the pretty lady who save us lays on cold ground" he said with a soft smile
The two other boys and the older mage were about to leave when they felt a haunting chill by their spine and quickly became on guard and put our heroine to a nearby tree and positioned themselves in front of her. Silva and Diego are beside of her while the older teen sat beside her as he unsheathed his sword. The older magis went infront of the two and instructed to get their weapons out as the mage heard foot steps coming their way.
The older man quickly pulled out and assembles his retractable bow that was by his waist buckle pack ,while his son grabbed his retractable staff by his own mini buckle pack. Silva took out his daggers from his waist.
As the figures appeared the older mage immediately recognized the two as high ranking mages that is currently with him in line of his order.
He grabbed an arrow and pulled it with confusion but with focus on the situation at hand as he aimed at the the two perpetrators.
"Why ain't this a surprise, what brings ye pompous bastards here so late at the evening" He sarcastically asked smirking making the two individuals raise their arms
The other fellow with long gray hair , pale skin with a crooked nose answered" Why we're just walking around the area that's all"
The other man with a long face chimes in rather sarcastically "Indeed it's not like we're prohibited to do so grand magis Cairo"
The man didn't put his bow down however as he know full well that these two are silently known to their order as sickeningly ambitious people and for these people to just be out here didn't click for our mage.
"Well unlike ye two who'd be the last people who'd even think of walking this late,I was busy teaching some kids here to hunt " he said while the kids including our heroine understood the subtle remark he did
The two men looked at the kids and from what he observed the two maybe a feet a way but their eyes quickly darted to Silva and his company with which made his suspicion more when he noticed them smirk
Out of nowhere an arrow shot was fired behind the big mage but it nearly missed the magis huntsman's ear however it shot straight through the long faced man's head. The children felt chills while the older mage gritted his teeth as he quickly understood the stakes they are in.
The man shallowly looked at his comrade before looking back at the magis with a disgusting grin" I always thought he looked better dead ain't I right Magis Cairo" he asked with a smug and unhinged smile
Cairo just glared as the kids look more mortified of the situation they're in.
While Joie searched to where the probable sniper might be. However the said sniper appeared walking slowly just beside Cairo as the slightly tall man point his mini cross bow by his head. The snipper wearing a mask and an all black clothes looked at the kids with bloodlust.
Oddly enough our heroine wasn't noticed because the two boys were blocking his view of her and Silva's companion.
The assailant and the mage were exchanging words and monologuing which he smartly play to buy them time to engage safely in combat since the other is an assassin.
The children were all tense on what to do especially Joie who is keeping the Anti-magic spell secretly active.
She desperately thinks hard and wide what she could do to help them all in the scary situation, then she heard a faint growl coming from the sky so she glanced up to see that there were scary big bat wing creatures quietly hovering above them.
This made her her looked at her leg and thought of an idea. She silently tapped Diego, whom was still guarded because the assassin's other hand has a knife readied and aimed at them, and whispered "Do you have a sling shot?"
Diego didn't break his guard but slightly nodded and slightly moved his right arm, indicating it was by his waist band.
She understood the gesture and carefully pulled the slingshot by his waist, when she managed to do so and unwrapped the bloody cloths that was wrapped around her leg as she was holding in her pain and grabbed some small rocks beside her wrapped it carefully then she used the wooden sword on the ground by the foot of Silva's companion and slightly tapped on his ankle which he noticed and slightly looked at her
"Look . trust . Me . use this, AIM . and. , Shoot this to that man" She mouthed to him as she lift her arm and point it to the long haired man.
The teen glanced at the assassin, which is still pointing his weapon at them and their protector, then to the mage who is now laughing maniacally for what ever bloody monologue, then nod as he carefully grabbed the bloody cloth holding in his gag reflex, took a deep breath and pulled the sling and let it go hitting the mage on the face barely grazing Diego's father by his ear
That made the long haired magis angry however due to his anger he failed to see a big bat winged creature swoop down and grabbed him.
The black haired magis uses this opportunity to grab the assassin's wrist and pulls him hard to him as he punched his face.
This momentary distraction help the kids quickly leave the scene, Silva's teen friend swiftly grabbing hold our heroine and lifted her up and ran into the forest.
The big magis followed right behind them after he knocking him out then bounding his arms and legs with the rope he has for hunting.
"Is the girl alright?!" the adult asked as he spotted the kids running
" She's loosing a lot of blood father!" Diego yelled with a worried glance to his father
"We have to get her somewhere safe, she's turning paler!" the teen added as he has a firm grip of our nearly unconscious heroin
But as they were on their way ,they heard loud and agonizing screeches from behind Diego's location.
Diego looked behind and immediately his eyes grew bigger and snapped back forward in time to avoid hitting a tree
"WATCH OUT THERE ARE HEMOVLADS FLYING TOWARD US!" Diego warned as he manages to his one incoming at him with his staff
The two nodded at each other as they started to run faster with Silva and Cairo providing the assist as they ward off other in coming ball of eyes off their way while Joie is quickly becoming colder.
The crew luckily spotted a manor up a head so Silva and his companion launched themselves in front of the gate while Diego and his father smacked two of the Hemovlads coming their way unbeknownst to them the magic barrier of said manor activating automatically loosing their scents from the monsters.
"We made it!" The older kid exclaimed catching his breath
"We sure did...oi! Is she still okay?! " Diego asked in a panicked state as he quickly went to a now unconscious and pale Joie
As he did he gently lifted her head which made him more scared when he saw her lips and face so pale and cold. Silva whom was behind him also saw this and gently lifter her arm and checked her pulse which was there but is very weak.
The two boys looked at the older mage with fear and concern
"D-d..da..dad! She's s...so-so co-old! What sho...should I do?!" Diego said shakily ask his father
His father went to check on her when he suddenly heard footsteps coming from behind his son.
As the figures came closer he was shocked to see his student and an older tall man with gray hair and red eyes both looking at him with confusion.
"MASTER?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" The small brunet with a mole by his eye asked as he went closer to them as the taller man followed right behind him.
"Your Highness?!
-To be continue