Melina had been told earlier by Kilgharrah that Princess Dasha was a strategic warrior.
A brutal one at that.
Even Kilgharrah, despite her ancient tricks and powers couldn't figure out what it was about Princess Dasha.
'There is a wild darkness clouding her, it is impossible to search her heart and know her plans...' Kilgharrah had reported that night when Melina had asked her what the plan would be.
'...and that is why you are the only one who can stop her. You are the only powerful witch who can wield dark magic. Even the priest of this kingdom is incapable of dark magic,' she told Melina with a small smile, a smile that made Melina cringe as always.
Even the dragoness had been put in a spot. She could get access to everything in the different kingdoms but as for Vagary and Savannah, King Albert's kingdom, something was totally off about those two.
'B-but I don't have such magic currently. I-i can't use my powers.' She told the dragoness, doubting if she even had one as she had never seen a flash of it before except on the day she had broken the barrier.
Kilgharrah smiled again, 'Your powers can only be yielded when needed. You have not yet mastered the act of sorcery so your power will only come in handy when it is needed.'
Melina paused her lips at Kilgharrah's words.
If her power only came in handy, why didn't it surface when she was in trouble, something that always happened to her at the slightest chance?
Melina wondered, her thoughts jabbed.
She remembered that fateful evening when Sir Julian had attacked her with such brute.
If she really had some powers, why didn't she do something at least?
'It was because your powers had not been activated, young witch.' The dragoness startled Melina as she spoke with her raspy voice, making Melina doubt further if this creature really was not a mind reader.
Ignoring what Melina could be thinking, Kilgharrah continued, 'You only gained access to your dragon blood few days ago, after the coronation.' She said, blinking at the redhead and letting her words sink in the girl's mind.
Melina's eyes widened in realization.
She remembered how she had felt strange the entire time while the priest performed the ritual.
Even though she was not aware of her eyes changing its colour, she knew something was off with her anytime the priest murmured words but how did such even correlate to her powers?
Did that mean the throne was connected to her powers? She looked at the dragoness for answers.
Kilgharrah, partly aware of what she was thinking blinked in excitement and intrigue. It had been a while she had a kin to speak to like this and somehow, it warmed her heart.
Spending years in a cage, one would think she was better off isolated but it was a different feeling being with someone she could talk to.
'Like I said, young kin, you have a lot to learn but you are going to learn them gradually. I cannot give all the information at once.'
The dragoness didn't bulge at Melina's uncertainty. She knew it was only a matter of time before the redhead changed everything that had been redundant for the past 40 years.
This time, she was sure nothing would go wrong like the last time.
She would make sure of that.
A flash of resolve stained her eyes for a moment, the first readable expression Melina could discern but then, it went away very quickly.
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Coming back to the present, Melina who was attending to the injured villagers, helping the medical practitioners to do menial task and clean the injured's wounds looked back and forth for an opportunity to leave here without drawing people's attention.
She was aware the troops has already left to war with the Vagarians. Though, she was skeptical on whether she should go along as she barely even knew what importance she would have there.
Kilgharrah already let her know she was the only one who could stop the Vagarian princess so as long as she didn't intervene, things will only keep getting worse.
Someone as fragile as her had no business with a war zone as the probability of her getting killed before even killing anyone or helping her kingdom fight was very high.
But somehow, she was confident in herself.
Her usually fragile heart held no atom of fear. Rather, it was willing to take the bait.
Sneakily, she walked to the end of the infirmary hall. Since there was a lot of people, she thought she would be unnoticeable but she was wrong.
"What are you doing standing there?! More injured victims are being brought in and you are leaving!" The voice that irritated her the most spoke and Melina rolled her eyes inwardly.
"Um...I wanted to use the restroom. It's urgent." She feigned an unsteady pace as though she needed to use the toilet.
Seeing this, Carlos snorted, "The restroom can wait. There are lives at stake at the moment, you should be helping!" She queried Melina but the redhead didn't bulge.
Somehow, she had the guts to want to challenge Ms Carlos today.
"B-but I am seriously pressed. Please give me a minute!" She ignored the chief maid and ran out regardless.
Even though there was currently a restroom in the infirmary, there was high possibility that it was occupied so Carlos didn't really have any reason to retort especially not in a situation were people were dying and it annoyed her that this measly girl had ignored her.
However, Melina followed the corner of the palace, dodging any guard she met on the way.
She passed the back of the palace where there were fewer guards as she didn't want to deal with the ones at the main gate.
Currently, the palace was on lockdown. No body came in. Nobody went out.
It was twice harder for her to leave in this situation so it would have made sense that she needed to speak to someone who could help her out of here.
But in truth, there was no one. The only person she could think of was Tynan and from her little observation, he was not here.
She took a brief moment to think of a better way out as she bit her nail subconsciously. When she had an idea looking at the small alley that wasn't really secured, she followed there in haste.
As she tiptoed down the path, she heard steps from the other corridor and immediately hid behind the pillar that was close to her, her heart skipped for a moment, not wanting to get caught so fast.
The guard paused for a moment, looked around him while placing his hand on his sword in alarm.
Perhaps the Vagarians had reached here without their knowledge? He couldn't exactly tell if that wasn't possible since they had managed to get to a close district of the kingdom without impacting on the ones before it.
He pulled his sword out and it made a swish sound. Melina had her heart leap in fear.
If she didn't take precaution, she was going to get caught and she knew it. Only guards were supposed to be around this vicinity.
Seeing her here would make them assume she was a traitor amidst them and she could be in big trouble if that happened.
Her beating heart thumped faster as she tried to move corner by corner when they guard started coming towards her.
She was totally nervous.
"Come out!" The guard yelled in a condescending tone and it only worsened the situation.
God! If only she could disappear right now! Or at least be invisible!
She sarcastically told herself in her mind.
The guard already sensed someone was behind the pillar and cautiously, he strode there, gripping his sword tight enough in case of any sudden attack.
He kept approaching with care and when he was close enough, he swung his sword at the pillar indiscriminately, not caring if he would end up beheading the person in the process.
He moved back slightly to process his surroundings and for safety. When he didn't see any reaction, he furrowed his brows curiously in surprise as he took a step forward.
However, when he came closer, he noticed that there was no one there.
He paused for a second, thinking he was hallucinating and immediately began looking around in alert for fear of any unexpected confrontation.
Was there a magician around here? Because he was very sure that someone was here! He could sense the person's presence.
His warrior's senses couldn't have failed at this time.
It was definitely not a mistake.
Simultaneously, another guard had come running after hearing a sword clash on the wall.
"What happened?" The second guard asked in fear.
"There was someone here. I am very sure of that." He explained.
The thing was the pillar was far from the corridor so there was no way the person could have escaped right?
The second guard walked toward the pillar in curiosity, looking around it in case the person had hid somewhere else.
"Are you sure of this?" He asked his fellow man and the man nodded with certainty.
He was very sure.
Meanwhile, Melina who was still behind the pillar watched in awe and bewilderment as the two guards continuously passed her like they couldn't see her.
Were they perhaps playing with her before the slaughter or were they really not seeing her?
Earlier, when the first guard had swung his sword in her face, she had screeched with fear that he would hurt her seriously but then she opened her eyes to see that the sword had passed right through her without harming her and seeing the display of confusion among the guards, she was sure she had indeed turned invisible.
When the guards finally concluded between themselves that no one was here, they stopped going around and stood in a corner, right in front of Melina.
The redhead stared at them with furrowed brows but they still were not seeing her.
To confirm, she raised her hand with speed towards one of the guard's face, swinging it at him. Yet, he stood there, her hands passing right through his face constantly and nothing happened.
Her mind reeled in awe as she had only wished a moment ago to be invisible. She wasn't a fool to have thought that would actually happened.
She raised the tip of her toe and walked towards them slowly to still see no reaction when one of them spoke out,
"We should stand here, in case someone does come around." One told the other and his fellow man nodded in agreement.
However, the person they were looking for was standing right in front of them!
It was an irony.
The redhead looked at herself, still in disbelief.
Realization slowly dawned on her, the inevitable truth she had been anticipating.
Her powers were working.