"Don't let her get away", a man yelled at the top of his voice ordering a group of men who

looked like personal guards, clad in black cloaks. They were chasing a woman; she was just

a few paces ahead of them. She looked like she was in her twenties; she was running with

all her might, strands of hair stuck to her pale white sweat covered face. Her violet eyes

reflected fear and panic. Physically she was almost done but it seemed she was running

only on the sanity of her mentality while protecting the belly protruding from her petite

form with her delicate hands. For reasons unknown to her she was being chased. "Make

sure she is killed or we'll lose our heads", the man who had ordered them earlier spoke

sternly. He looked like he was in his thirties, short brown hair parted in between revealing

his wide forehead, blue eyes reflecting authority and tan skin which complimented his

features.

"Captain ! I think we've lost her!"

"Stop!!" the blue-eyed man ordered "she couldn't have gone too far" he continues "keep

looking" he says directing his men to go in every possible direction.

"Chasing and capturing mice, how troublesome, isn't that right Captain Braun?" a sneaky

looking man whispers into the captain's ears.

"Levi...you..." the captain glares at him with irritation, to be honest Braun thought of Levi as

a snake that incessantly tried to wrap itself around its prey.

"Ah...did I say something...don't give me such scary glares", Levi says pretending to be

offended, his eyes closed , a fake smile plastered on his long bony face and long black hair

curtaining both sides of his cheeks. He places a hand on Braun's left shoulder, his eyes part

open slightly revealing yellow irises, his eyebrows perk up as he continues "to think the

mousetrap is having a hard time trapping a pathetic mouse" he grins. The captain gets

agitated and smacks Levi's hand away and takes a few steps ahead, "Levi know your place

don't get too casual with me!"

"Oh! Scary..." Levi raises both his hands and wriggles his fingers dropping his head to the

right, the same fake smile stuck to his face, 'just you wait Braun...it would be fun to kill you

but playing with you is so much more fun ' he thinks chuckling to himself. Meanwhile

somewhere behind a dense bush the woman that was on the run managed to hide herself,

her heavy breaths seemed to vibrate into the air so she held onto her mouth fearing that

the sound of her breaths would give her away. Her face showed signs of fatigue and

exhaustion as multiple thoughts crossed her mind, 'Why...Why are they after me…? What do

they want...? Who sent them...? ' Of course she couldn't make head or tail of the situation she

was in. Her thoughts turned towards her husband, and all she could think of was if he was okay and if he would find her. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, 'I can't just sit

here cracking my head over things I don't have a clue about' , she takes a peek through the

partings between the bushes, 'it seems no one's there I should take this opportunity to escape

some place where I won't be found'. Then looking down at her belly she gently caresses it

'Don't worry my child I will protect you, I will protect us both'. She takes a deep breath and

picks herself up, the moment she stands her head begins to throb as dizziness takes over

her, and she almost falls but manages to hold onto a nearby tree maintaining her position.

Suddenly voices could be heard; she whips her head backwards and catches a glimpse of

the guards. In a hurry she trudges her way through the woods trying to pick up her pace

but accidently steps on dry twigs sprawled on the forest floor. CRACK!! The crackling of the

twigs catches the attention of her pursuers.

"There she is!!! Captain we found her!!"

"Damn it!" she bites her lip in fear still running; she notices an opening in the forest. It

looked like a path, there were trees on either sides of the path making it look like a tunnel

enveloped in darkness 'just a little more ..If I can get there I still have a chance...But I'll have

to risk getting out into the open...what should I do?..' she stops, clenching onto her dress skirt

'I don't have a choice', saying this to herself she dashes out of her refuge and attempts to

make a run towards the direction of the dark tunnel. Braun arrives on time catching her

making a dash for the opening towards the dark tunnel, he looks over to a guard, "give that

to me" he says and then looks towards the direction of the woman.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!!!" Braun shouts.

The woman looks back and stops, her eyes widen at the sight in front of her. There was

Braun aiming an arrow at her ready to shoot at any time. 'I can't move….why can't I move?'

"Are you thinking why you can't move?"

Levi sniggers at the woman trying to move whilst crying out in pain, she finds herself stuck

to the ground as if frozen on that very spot.

"I have you in the palm of my hand" Levi smirks lifting his hand and revealing a red

translucent light shaped like a snake making its way out of his palm and slowly gliding

along the floor. The woman looks on in horror as the red snake like light twirls around her

body gradually transforming into a real snake. As he closes his palm into a fist the snake

tightens itself around her. 'What is this..? Dark Craft? I can't breathe... Damn it...Is it the

end...? I've been running for hours I don't have much energy...move...move...I have to get

away...What do I do?'

"This is going to be fun...finally the mouse has been trapped eh.." his long snake-like tongue

whips out licking his lips, as if ready for a meal he lets out an evil grin.

"Quit your maniac drama and get it over with" Braun reprimands Levi. Levi's expression

changes into a serious one "when I'm playing don't interfere" he spits back and while

saying this, another snake wraps itself around the neck of one of the guards. The guard

writhes in pain; his face begins to lose color.

"Captain...he is suffocating!!" another guard shouts out.

"Levi!! Let him go right now!!" Braun commands while walking over to the guard.

"Tch!! Whatever!! "

The snake around the guard vanishes, the guard holds onto his neck coughing in pain. Levi

just sniggers looking at him then turns his attention towards his prey "sorry I didn't pay

much attention to you...so where were we??"

'This man...he uses the forbidden Dark Craft...Who are these people…?' the woman thinks to

herself.

"You are not allowed to get lost in thoughts when I'm playing with you woman!" Levi

squeezes his palms causing the woman to give out a painful cry. Her head jerked forward as

she took in heavy breaths.

"Who…who are you?? Who sent you..? Who are you working for? Do you even know who I

am?" she manages to speak out.

"There there be patient...all your questions will be answered...it would be rude not to let a

dying person know what they want...don't you think Braun??" Levi looks over at Braun who

immediately ignores him. Levi looks over to the woman, perking up an eyebrow he says

"and of course I know who you are …Queen Rei".

"You know who I am and yet you dare to harm me? Do you know the consequences of such

a traitorous act?!"

Upon hearing her say those words Levi bursts out into a psychotic laughter, "You speak as

if you will be rescued" his tone changes into a dangerous one "you my queen are going to

die here and no one will know".

'Of course I know that', she thinks to herself 'I just need to buy some time to conserve my

energy, even if a little'

He starts walking towards her "so then end of our little game, it seems I've gotten bored"

he stops in front of her and lifts her chin up with his forefinger "what a pity, such a

beautiful face" saying this he leans forward and whispers into her ear "the one that wants

you dead is...Lady Rowena".

Rei's eyes widen in disbelief "Rowe...na?? No...It is not true...I refuse to believe that".

"Ah! My queen...don't worry...My Lady will keep the king company so DIE IN PEACE!!!!" he

shouts out. The snake wrapped around her loosens its grip, its head grows larger aiming to

bite off her neck. That's when Rei musters up all the energy she could and chants a spell.

"Break and cast away, all evil that hinders my way.

Divine Spiritual Spell Mote and Dispel!!"

At that moment a white semi-translucent light emits from her body, the snake immediately

withers and a strong gust of wind blows over in all directions.

"What was that?!!" Braun exclaims shielding himself from the wind while the other guards

try to stand their ground, Levi is blown a little away from Rei but manages to maintain

himself in time.

'Divine Craft huh...didn't see that coming but she's not getting away' he mutters materializing

two more snakes that charge at her "you can't escape this!!"

"Protect and defend Attacks that transcend Divine Spiritual Spell Be my shield!!"

Rei faces her palm forward forming a huge wall of blue spiritual energy that shoots up from

the ground protecting her from the charging snakes. She cringes as she feels pain shoot

through her body 'this won't hold on for long I have to make it into the dark tunnel'; she says

to herself and makes a dash towards the tunnel path.

"Don't let her escape!!!!" Braun orders his men who immediately ready their bows and

arrows and fire at the blue shield but the shield stays strong. Another shower of arrows hit

the shield making cracks on it when it finally bursts into pieces and fades away.

"Captain she got away!!"

Braun walks over to Levi and holds him by the collar "You psycho! How, are you going to

explain this to the lady?!"

"Oops! My bad!! I made a mistake" Levi looks away "I'm human after all".

Braun snorts at his remark "Human huh..." saying this he pushes Levi away.

"Captain what about the queen?" a guard runs up to him.

"Let her be she just dug her own grave by entering that part of the forest"

"Captain...What does that mean?" the latter inquires.

"She just entered the Forbidden Forest, they say abhorrent monsters and dangerous

creatures lurk in there", saying this Braun looks towards the dark tunnel path and

continues "And its getting dark we should head back".

"An old granny's tale" Levi snorts teasing Braun.

"Shut your mouth Levi!! Why don't you go in there and check if it's an old granny's tale or

not" an already pissed off Braun retorts aggressively.

"Whoa! I used up too much energy I'm tired" Levi stretches his arms and yawns then stuffs

his hands into his pocket.

"Everyone let's go!!" Braun walks away as the guards follow him.