The wind howled through the night, carrying a scent that could change the world. A six-foot woman in black shiny armor lifted her head and scanned the entire area. She looked human except for her crimson hair and maroon-colored eyes.
She had a staff in her right hand. And as of right now, she was using it to walk through the bushy forest because of how weak she felt at the moment. But how long could this go on? She had already received an injury on the left side of her stomach from her previous fight.
"Sister, we need to stop," said another crimson-haired girl who was hiking behind her. She had a concerned guise in her eyes as they continued to push through the cold forest. They belonged to the same race hence the resemblance in looks. Also, she had a bow slung on her back and was smartly dressed in the Ace Magic Academy uniform.
"We…can't. I need to get you somewhere safe." grunted the older woman as they continued to brush through the forest as fast as they could.
It was too dark for any human to see, but to them, the faint moonlight was like sunshine streaming between the trees; every detail was clear and sharp to her searching gaze. And even with the open wound on her abdomen, she was capable of running at top speed without slowing down.
The girl forced herself to stop all of a sudden.
"You're taking me to Valron, aren't yar?" she bellowed, sounding frustrated. She had tears in her eyes after seeing so much along the way.
The woman also stopped and twisted to one side and face the young girl.
"Yes, I am. The humans can protect you from the demons until you're strong enough," she said. "The demon race has grown stronger over the past years. Our race can't protect itself if you're in it."
The young girl was about to speak when her pointed ears twitched after hearing loud rustling within the bushes not so far away from them. They had enhanced senses like sight, hearing, and smell that defined them as advanced species in the magic realm.
She peered around as she slowly drew her bow after getting the feeling that the enemy had caught up to them. Carefully, she slowly approached the older woman to strengthen their defense. They weren't in the open, but they were sure that these trees weren't enough to hold back their hunter.
The older woman stood straight forgetting about her pain and summoned magic that made her free hand glow a purple color. Maybe the hunter had found them this fast because of how much blood she was losing at the moment.
But she didn't care about that, her main priority as grand mage apprentice of the Red Dragon kingdom of Eshelem was the royal family. And so, she was ready to give her life for the royal family.
Suddenly, the first creature screeched from the sky—they looked up and it stopped flapping its leathery bat wings once it noticed them, it dived down for the girl. But before it could even get close to her, it exploded into a combination of blood and flesh after being hit by one of the woman's spells.
It didn't take long for another monster to appear: this one resembled a wolf but with a pair of burning horns above its ears and razor-sharp teeth producing foam as it growled while glaring at them.
Immediately, the girl produced an arrow from nowhere, placed it between her bow, and fired it without holding back—the arrow flew at a speed that made it impossible to dodge. As predicted, it hit the wolf in the left eye and dug deep enough to break through to the other side of the skull. Then, she joined both her index and middle finger to activate the spells on her arrows and shouted.
"Agreal!"
Black flames erupted from her arrow, engulfing the beast in ever-burning flames that wouldn't stop until the target is completely dead. With her red eyes, she watched as the wolf ran around, hitting itself on the ground in hope that it puts out the flames. But that was completely useless because black flames were powerful magic and wouldn't stop until the target is dead.
"When did you master that power?" asked the older woman as she watched the black flames destroy a powerful beast with ease. She was horrified by how powerful this child was.
"I didn't, I've always been able to use it after awakening six years ago."
Their ears twitched again. Though this time, they hadn't sensed a monster. A gust of wind then rushed through the forest, and they both trembled after a familiar scent triggered their fear.
"Eris, I need you to run as fast as you," whispered the woman, her entire body now vibrating. The magic in her hand even gleamed brighter than before as she tightened the grip she already had around her staff. It had taken her so many years to achieve this level of the dark mystic arts for just this moment. Her magic wasn't going to let her down right now.
Eris' eyes etched with fear as she watched a shade crawl out from a darker part of the forest. Even though her vision was enhanced, she still couldn't see who it was because of the black cloak he had covering his entire body. His feet were elevated from the ground and his eyes gleamed a bright azure color—they were flowing with an energy that wasn't mana.
After seeing that, Eris already knew that she wasn't strong enough for this fight despite the constant training she had been put through the past six years.
The shade attacked first with a blue energy blast from his palm. It eroded the ground and blasted through the trees, setting everything around them on fire as it approached. The rushed woman cast a mana-concentrated barrier that protected her and Eris from the blast.
Then, she drew mana from her surrounding and converted it into purple lighting that she launched directly at the enemy from her staff. This was special-grade magic, it could only be done by a handful of people since it was insanely powerful.
The shade dashed out of the way and used his strange powers to block some attacks, but some managed to hit him and the attack sent him flying backward, crashing into a nearby tree.
Her magic was that powerful.
The woman staggered from the use of too many spells at the same time. She could tell her enemy was still alive because the wound he had inflicted on her hadn't yet healed. It was just getting worse, she was losing even more blood, and any minute from now, she was going to lose consciousness.
"Sister…" Eris trembled after seeing her protector in such bad shape. She was going to cast healing magic when the woman grasped her hand and stopped her.
"This is my last stand, Princess Eris. Let me serve the kingdom of red dragons one last time."
"But sister, who will protect me?" Eris cried. "Mother and Father—"
"They're alive. The demon didn't come to take over, they came for you before you turn into a threat. I was tasked with the duty of protecting you and I can't fail…I will find you when I'm done here," she said her eyes stained with tears as if she wasn't so sure about her final sentence. They were like family, and so this farewell might as well be her final one.
Eris sniffed and forced herself to wipe her tears. "Which direction?"
The woman lifted her hand and pointed at the dark darker section of the forest with her bloody hands. "I need you to run north until you're out of the forest itself. The humans have a boundary that will protect you from the demons as long as your uniform is—"
The shade's aura spiked as he rose from the destruction, appearing angrier than he was before.
The woman straightened herself again as Eris continued the journey without her. She drew as much mana as she could and prepared herself to buy the princess as much time as possible, even if it was going to cost her life to do so.
"Bring it on, you demon piece of shit!"
She charged with a battle cry.
.
.
.
Eris didn't look back, and neither did she stop. A lot was on her mind, but it was all for the greater good of her kingdom. She was running away because of what she was.
And if she stopped, her hunter would catch up on her, and everyone's sacrifice would end up for nothing.
After running for an hour, she finally made it to a part of the forest where the trees were fewer and had more space between them. She was a fifteen-year-old, so her body was not as strong as a grown dragon. Hence, once the adrenaline stopped, she lost all her strength and collapsed.
The next morning, a female student was found unconscious past the human domain boundary, two kilometers away from the blood river that flowed into Hellton Village in the north of the kingdom of Valron. And a few days later, the girl was picked up by Obsidian Rein and taken to the capital for treatment.