Another two months later, just as I finished creating a new batch of crystals and was getting reading to go to sleep, I heard a small knock on the door. I stood up from the bed and walked up to open the door.
Outside, there was a young man I knew as one of Ennith's close aides. He bowed towards me and said: "Excuse me from bothering you, Saintess, but the leader requests your presence at his house. He said he has something important to show you."
Nodding, I grabbed a cloak since I didn't want to attract too much attention on the way and followed after him. I asked him what the leader wanted but he said he didn't know so I was left with no choice but to wait until I got there to find out. After reaching the leader's house, which now was at least double in size, the young man opened the door and I stepped inside.
Once inside, I was greeted by Ennith and Kayara sitting around a table with worried expressions. Seeing their expression, I walked up to them and asked: "Is something the matter?"
"Anna, please take a seat." Said Ennith as he pointed to an empty seat across from him. His attitude only served to make me more worried so I sat down and waited anxiously for him to speak.
"When you joined us you gave us a description of you mother and asked us to keep an eye out for her."
His words made my heart beat faster, a foreboding feeling brewing up inside me.
"Did you find her? Has anything happened to her?" I asked with an anxious voice.
Ennith nodded with a somber look and said: "We did, but she's already fallen to the demon's brainwash."
"The crystals?" I asked, already knowing the answer inside my heart.
Ennith shook his head and looked down.
Struggling to fight the tears that were already building at the corner of my eyes, I asked: "Where is she? I want to see her."
"We brought her here and is currently restrained in the free dormitory of our house but I don't think you…"
Before he could finish his words I already stood up and started running towards the back. My heart beating wildly inside my chest, I sprinted up the stairs and pushed the bedroom door open.
Inside, I saw a middle aged woman with disheveled ashen hair, struggling on the bed and biting against her restrains with a wild look on her face. She didn't have a single reaction to me entering the room and just continued to struggle with unintelligible grunts escaping her mouth continuously.
The scene caused me to fall to my knees and the tears I was holding back broke free, running down my cheeks. Seeing the woman who gave birth to me and raised me up in this condition broke my heart into million pieces.
Kayara, who followed right after me when I ran up, brought me to her chest and kept trying to calm me down, but my crying only got louder. The fact that I spend my entire mana just before on making crystals didn't help, as the exhaustion and the blow I received from seeing my mother like were too much for me to take and I eventually passed out.
When I opened my eyes, I was laying down on an unfamiliar bed and Kayara was hugging me closely. I was initially confused, but as images from before passing out started coming back to me, I started silently crying again.
Feeling me waking up, Kayara opened some distance between us and asked in a worried tone: "How are you feeling?"
I struggled to answer, feeling my lower jaw continuously shaking and said: "How is mother?"
Kayara took a deep breath and said: "We asked one of our wizards to put her to sleep so she's asleep for now."
I nodded and continued: "Why was she acting like that?"
Kayara sighed and said: "You never witnessed it before, but if you kidnap a brainwashed human he will start struggling to return to the place you took him from. That's the reason we never allowed brainwashed people inside Atar, since it will prove difficult to control them."
I nodded in understanding and used the sleeve of my robes to wipe my tears as I asked: "Can I see her?"
"Sure, she's right outside in the other room. Do you want me to come with you?"
"No, thank you. I want to be alone for a while."
She agreed and I stood up. Walking outside, I hesitated with my hand on the door's handle for a moment before biting my lower lip and pressing on it. Walking inside, I saw my mother sleeping peacefully on the bed, looking nothing like the image from before.
I approached her and with a trembling hand I moved the hair away from her face. My eyes started reddening again but I bit my lower lip harder and refused to cry as I stared at her face in silence. Memories of my childhood started coming back to me. The care and loved she always showered me with..
"Mom.." I said with a trembling voice as I grabbed one of her hand and brought it to my face "..It's me, Anna.". Closing my eyes I said: "I'm going to bring you back to me. I will not give up. You know mom, I'm strong now. I'm no longer the little girl you and dad had to protect. Father might already be gone, but I promise I'll bring you back and protect you from now on."
I was finally unable to control my tears and they started falling again, but I ignored them and continued: "Mom, you know, I have someone I love now. Just like you loved father."
"He's not with me at the moment, we got separated in the same cave you and father did, but he will return to me and once he does, I'll come and introduce him to you. I'm sure you'll like him as well."
"We'll all be a family together, so mom, please wait, please wait for me bring you back."
As my words ended, I rested my head on her chest with my eyes still closed. Her warmth was something I haven't felt for such a long time and it felt so comfortable that I started telling her more about everything that happened since she was gone. I didn't know for sure if she could hear me, but the first man I freed from the demon's brainwashing said he could so I choose to believe that mother could as well.
Eventually there was a small knock on the door and Kayara slowly opened the door and peeked inside. Seeing me laying with my head on mom's chest, she asked: "I was worried and decided to check on you. Are you all right, Anna?"
Lifting my head from mom's chest, I looked towards Kayara and said: "Not yet, but I'll be. Give me a bit more time, please."
Nodding, Kayara said: "Sure, take your time. In a couple of hours I'll send a wizard up to ensure that your mother is not hungry and reinforce the sleeping spell so that she won't hurt herself."
"I understand. Thank you again, Kayara." She nodded again and closed the door.
I placed my head on her chest and resumed my story once again. A couple hours later, there was another knock on the door and an old man stepped inside. Bowing towards me, he said: "Saintess, lady Kayara sent me to make sure your mother is fed and to reinforce the sleeping spell."
This time I stood up, looked at my mother's face for a moment before bowing towards the old wizard and saying: "Please take care of my mother, I'm going to speak with the leader. Thank you."
"It's my pleasure to be able to help, Saintess."
Nodding, I walked out the door and want to find Ennith and Kayara. They were both inside the main hall and seeing me enter, Ennith said: "Are you all right?"
"Yes. I want to find a way to bring her back. Do you have any idea?" I asked with a serious expression.
Ennith looked troubled for a moment before saying: "I don't know for sure, but the only idea I can think of is to kill demoness Mezienne. She's the one responsible for brainwashing the entire continent. Maybe killing her will cancel the spell."
"Do we have any information on where she is?"
Ennith shook his head: "We don't know, but even if we did, we have no hope of succeeding. She's supposedly the second strongest amongst the demon generals. Me and Kayara already fought against Azrin, who is weaker than she is, and were no match for him."
"I understand. Then, I want to double the time I spend outside. I want to increase my level faster."
Seeing my determined expression, Ennith sighed and relented: "All right, but you have to promise me to be careful and don't do anything stupid like hunting down Mezienne on your own."
"Don't worry, I don't plan on killing myself. I will wait for Ethan to return here before I start hunting down Mezienne. I just want to get as strong as possible before that day comes."
"Who is Ethan?"
A smile appeared on my lips as I turned around and started walking away while saying: "I'm going to rest now and tomorrow I'll go outside to level up. Please take care of my mother while I'm outside leveling up."
Like this, I started a completely new routine. For four days I'll hunt down demons with the other members of the Blessed Battalion and the next two days I'll spend with mom while creating more crystals before going to level up once again. I barely spend any time at my house anymore.
One day, as I was just about to head out to increase my level again, Ennith stopped me on the way and said: "Anna, I wanted to let you know that me, Brenn and Kayara will be leaving the city for a while."
"Huh? What for?" I asked, befuddled by what I just heard. For as long as I stayed here, Brenn, Ennith and Kayara never left the place at all.
"We heard that the Southern Continent started repelling the demon armies there and Vannoth just teleported there to provide assistance. We decided to head to Nazim City before he comes back and try to ambush him."
"With only the three of you?" This plan sounded like total madness to me.
Ennith nodded and said: "If our group is too large, the demons might notice. Brenn also doesn't have the mana to bring more people and also help in the fight. Vannoth is the weakest of the demon generals and we might have a chance in an ambush."
"That is too dangerous. You'll be heading inside the enemy territory with no backup." I replied in worry. All I knew about Nazim City was that it was one of the largest cities on the Northern Continent and after the demon's invasion it became home to one of it's generals, General Vannoth.
"Yes, it's dangerous, but all that we've been doing up until now is poking holes inside the enemy ranks here and there. At most we managed to annoy them. If we manage to take out a general it will be a serious blow to their forces. We can't miss this chance and he's sure to be exhausted after performing such a long range teleportation twice."
"But, won't he use a teleportation circle to travel to the Southern Continent and back?"
"Our spies in Nazim City told us that he didn't use the circle but teleported there using his own mana. Anyway, our decision is final. I just wanted to let you know since you might want to stay here and take care of your mother since Kayara will not be able to while we're gone."
"All right. I'll stay here and wait for your return. Please be careful."
Ennith nodded and started walking towards the teleportation platform together with Kayara. Sighing, since my plan to head out and increase my level has been canceled, I returned to my mother's room.
Not even an hour later, the door to mother's room swung open and a panicking young man walked inside. The sound startled me but the young man didn't give me the chance to say anything as he said hurriedly: "Saintess, please come. Elder Brenn is seriously wounded."
I immediately stood up and followed after him. He led me all the way to the teleportation platform where Brenn was laying down against the archway with a hole in his stomach and one of his arms missing. Seeing me appear, he wanted to say something but I didn't give him the chance as I ran to him and started healing him right away. It took a while for the spell to complete, but once done, Brenn appeared completely healed. The hole in his stomach gone and even his missing arm grown anew.
As soon as my spell was done, I grabbed his arms, looked into his eyes and ignoring all the chatter around us asked: "What happened? Where are Ennith and Kayara?"
Brenn trembled lightly when he heard Ennith and Kayara's names and muttered a single world with a lost look: "Dead."
His words made me release him from my hold as I fell down backwards on my rear. Looking at him with an incredulous face, I asked: "What happened?"
Brenn was still visibly shaking as he said: "There as a monster.. Too strong.. We didn't stand a chance."
Seeing that Brenn was still in shock and hearing the voices of the other people around us I knew things were taking a turn for the worst.
"The leader is dead?"
"What will happen to us?"
"What do we do? Will the Battalion disband?"
Fighting the grief I was feeling inside, I stood up and said as loud as possible: "All missions outside are canceled until further notice. Don't worry, with Brenn to operate the teleportation devices and me to create more crystals, our mission will continue even if the leader passed out. Everyone return to your own homes and wait until you hear more news from me or Brenn."
After my words ended, I turned towards the young man who led me here and said: "Please help me carry Brenn to the leader's house."
The young man immediately carried Brenn on his back and said: "I can carry him on my own, Saintess."
"All right. Please place him in the leader's room on the bed and watch over him. I'll be there as fast as I can."
With that taken care of, I started reassuring the people around. Even with the leader gone, I couldn't let the Blessed Battalion fall apart. After calming everyone as best as I could, I started heading back to the leader's house.
Entering Brenn's room, I found him laying down on the bed and staring at the ceiling with a lost look. Sitting down next to him, I said: "How are you?"
He didn't break his sight from the ceiling as he answered: "You spell healed me completely, but…" his words stop here and he let out a long sigh.
"Can you tell me exactly what happened?" I asked right after. My heart was already aching from the thought we lost both Ennith and Kayara.
Brenn nodded and said: "The plan worked perfectly at the start. Using the spies we have inside the city, we managed to arrive inside Vannoth's room unnoticed and started waiting for him to arrive. We didn't have to wait for long before Vannoth also teleported inside. His appearance suggested that he even suffered some sort of defeat in the south which only served to strengthen our morale."
"As soon as he appeared, both Ennith and Kayara attacked straight away and managed to even injure him slightly, but after that something weird happened. A black shadow came out of Vannoth's body and started attacking us with some weird magic we've never seen before., managing to seriously injure all of us in a matter of seconds. He was the one who cut one of my arms. Understanding that the situation was not looking good, I immediately channeled my mana and started to teleport us back here, but before I could, the shadow somehow knew I planned to retreat and launched an attack at me."
His words took a small break here as tears started falling from his eyes and he continued: "Ennith and Kayara jumped in front of the attack and managed to delay it just enough for me to complete the spell. The last thing I saw before I appeared at the teleportation platform was their bodies exploding into pieces…"
As his story ended, tears also started falling down from my eyes. We both cried in silence for a long time. I didn't know them for that long of a time, but they were still close friends and Kayara was always there for me when I needed her. She was also the one who always took care of my mother when I was out leveling. Their death was both a blow to me and a blow to the entire battalion.
A long time later, after I felt like I had no more tears to cry, I stood up and said to Brenn: "Please rest for now. I'll go spend with time with mother and come back later so we can talk about what will happen next."
Brenn nodded and closed his eyes as I stepped outside. Once out of the room, I rested my back on the door and closed my eyes while muttering: "Ethan, hurry. I need you.."
After taking a couple more minutes to calm down, I walked to mom's room and also slept for a bit. Once I was rested enough, I got up and returned to the room Brenn stayed in only to discover he was not there.
After walking down the stairs, I found Brenn playing with an empty cup of tea at the table in the dinning room. Sitting down next to him, I asked: "Are you better now?"
He nodded and asked: "You?"
"As good as I can be after everything that happened. The people outside are probably getting restless already. I think you should take Ennith's role and lead the Blessed Battalion. The people need a leader before the entire place falls into chaos."
Brenn surprisingly shook his head as he said: "I can't. I need to supervise the teleportation device and don't have the time for that. I'm afraid only you can take that role now, Saintess Anna."
"But I have no idea what to do.. I can't. We must find someone else."
"And who is that? Considering your popularity with the entire battalion you are the only possible choice. And you were right before, the Blessed Battalion must have a leader."
"But I…" I wanted to refuse again, but I understood that what he said was the truth and I had no other choice. Sighing, I continued: "Can you help me? I don't know how to do anything…"
"I'll try my best, but Ennith was always the one who managed everything..."
We both looked at each other and saw the hopelessness in the other's eyes. Brenn thought for a moment before saying: "I think you should make an announcement and let the others know about what happened and that you'll be the one leading us from now on. It should at least calm them down and bring some momentary peace. I also think that you should suspend the missions outside for a while until we stabilize the situation inside."
We both stood up and started getting to work. Brenn walked out and started gathering everyone while I went to Ennith's room and started working on my speech.
Once everyone was gathered around the teleportation platform, as it was the largest open area inside the entire city, I walked in front of all of them and started presenting my speech.
I started by explaining everything that happened with Ennith and Kayara truthfully before I told everyone that the missions outside will stop for the near future. I also announced that I will be leading the battalion from now. I couldn't say if it was a success or not, but at least the people were no longer confused about what will happen in the future.
Brenn returned to his post at the teleportation platform and I returned to the leader's house. As I sat down in the now empty dinning hall, I let out a sigh and looked at my shaking hands while muttering: "This is harder than even facing a demon in battle, I wonder if I can do it."
It took a while until I got used to my new role as the Blessed Battalion's leader, but eventually everything fell back into place and we even resumed the missions outside. Sadly, I was unable to get out and increase my level anymore since I was too busy taking care of all my leader responsibilities.
Time passed by and one day, as I was looking through some papers on the demon's movements, a voice I haven't heard in a long time sounded inside my head: "He's here. Outside."
My heart skipped a beat and the stack of papers fell from my hand. Without waiting for a second, I rushed out the door and ran towards the teleportation platform. Since Brenn was not here, I activated my bracelet using my own mana and teleported outside.
As the surroundings changed around me, I soon saw in front of my eyes, only a couple of meters away, a face I haven't seen for what felt like an eternity.
All my pent up feelings and emotions erupted from deep inside me as I threw myself at him and we both fell to the ground. I hugged him as hard as I could wishing that this moment will last forever. He was finally here, after such a long time I got to see him again.