Daren let go of the scroll and it started floating and glowing with power.
"Ugh, why can't they make these things more efficient?" I heard him complain.
This was a good thing as it meant we had more time to kill him before the spell scroll fully activated.
He noticed that everyone was eyeing him so he quickly pulled out another spell scroll and activated it.
"Activate! Martial Boost!"
"Tsk." I heard many off the rangers' scoff at the use of this scroll, clearly annoyed at it.
The armoured soldiers then picked up their weapons at a faster speed than before, and this time, they looked ready to actually engage with the rangers in combat this time.
"You won't beat us so easily this time!" One of them shouted.
The two at the front, who I believe were Jack and Aaron, went forth and locked swords with two knights each as the rest of them went around and engaged with the rest of the knights.
Meanwhile, as I was preparing for the capture scroll to come at me, Daren pulled out yet another scroll.
'How many scrolls does this man have!?'
"Activate! Demonic Atmosphere!"
I recoiled in shock at the name of the spell of the scroll. It was a spell that would enhance the power of the caster and their soldiers whilst weakening the enemy, which in this case, would be us.
However, as the scroll was releasing a dim red dome of demonic energy, the dome suddenly shattered like glass, and the scroll was torn into two before it burst into pink flames which seemed oddly familiar.
"W-What?" Daren cried in shock, not knowing what caused the scroll to suddenly fail and destroy itself.
Everyone else was stunned for a moment before they went back to fighting.
The clangs of metal and burst of spells could be heard all around me, this and the unexpected failure of the scroll was enough to make me drop my guard.
And that was enough for the capture scroll to make its move and snag one of my front legs.
I immediately used my magic to conjure some vines that popped out of the ground and wrap around the ethereal blue rope that was trying hard to pull me towards the scroll.
I commanded the vines to constrict around the magic rope and it then shattered like glass. My mana was clearly stronger than that of the one who made the scroll.
Then a torrent of rope like magic assaulted me, but I managed to hold out.
A few minutes passed and Daren's men were starting to get tired. I thought that this would be the end of this encounter but once more, Daren pulled out another scroll, this time from his sleeve.
"Activate! Energy Rejuvenation!"
He shouted out the name of the spell and my heart immediately sank. That was a spell that would, as it said, rejuvenate the target of the spell by giving them stamina and also healing them a little bit.
This was going to be a tough battle.
_
_
_
Around half an hour had passed since the rejuvenation scroll was activated and our side was starting to run out of both, magic and stamina, we wouldn't be able to hold out much longer.
My own mama reserves were running dry and I knew it would only be a matter of time before I was taken.
"Ngh!" A band of mana wrapped around my leg. Then another, and another. Then they started to wrap around my other leg.
Not wanting to be dragged away to be used as some toy trophy or whatever this man wanted to use me for, I raised my hoof and smashed it into the ground, then I did the same for my other three legs.
This should hopefully prevent me from being pulled over to the capture scroll.
As I finished burying my hoofs into the ground, more magical ropes started to wrap around the rest of my body tightly. They tried to pull me towards the scroll but didn't budge, staying in place.
More magical blue ropes entangled me, slowly beginning to pull me towards the scroll. My hoofs dug into the earth and my resistance to the pulling increased, but not as great as the amount of twining that enveloped me.
Soon, Daren got impatient and walked over to the capture scroll and used his magic on it.
The ethereal ropes that entwined me stopped pulling me towards the scroll, and started pulling me upwards into the air.
My mind and body shuddered, knowing that this would be it for me. Everyone else was engaging with several knights each and not having the capacity to help me, as doing so would probably result in them losing their lives.
I struggled to shake myself free but the ropes just tightened up even more, disallowing me to struggle.
"SISTER!" I heard my brother shouting at me.
"BROTH-" I wanted to shout back but my mouth was covered in the magic ropes that bound my body.
I managed to look over to see Dorrak just standing there, with Traytora behind him, while also giving a side glance.
'Ah, he's protecting her, well, he did say it was his obligation.' I thought seeing him protecting her. I didn't want this to happen, but I couldn't make him protect me when he only has to protect her.
I guess this is my fate then. To be used as that man's toy trophy thing that he puts on display.
I closed my eyes as a tear fell out of it, a regretful feeling building inside of me. If I was too weak to even protect myself, how would I even be able to protect my child?
I resigned myself to my fate when I heard all of the noise cease. I guess I've been transported.
I opened my eyes to see that I hadn't been teleported and was still in the forest, still tied up.
But if I was still here, then why did the noise stop? Shouldn't they still be fighting? Why is it so quiet?
Thankfully I was still able to move my head a bit and saw everyone around me shivering in what seemed to be fear?
I looked forth to see Daren sweating like a pig that's just waiting to be slaughtered.
"W-W... W-What is th-th-that?" He asked, trembling in fear while looking at something.
I turned to where he was looking and saw Traytora was now awake, at least, I think she was awake.
There was this evil dark red aura that was being emanated off of her as she lay on the ground, her face was covered by a shadow while her eyes glowed blood red, staring straight past me. Not at me but past me.
"Grrrrr." I heard a guttural and primal growl coming from her. She used her arms to prop herself up, all without taking her eyes off of Daren.
"Grrrraaaaaa..." Her growl became more like a serpent as her body was raised upwards, and when her arms could no longer lift her up, she disappeared.
I felt something rush past me and turned back to see her in front of Daren.
"HIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!" I head the man screech like a pig about to be slaughtered.
Traytora then slammed her fist into the man's chest.
(No POV)
A magical shield surrounded Daren, protecting him from what would have been a lethal blow.
"Hah... Haha... Hahahaha! Fool! You think you can get past my defensive robes!?" He shouted in his snivellingly shrill voice, which even his own men found unpleasant at times, but they never said anything as they wanted to keep their jobs.
Traytora just stared at him with a lifeless and bloody hatred in her eyes. She looked down and saw him clutching a magic scroll, she looked to where it led and saw that it was entangling Cythistia.
Angered she used her [Hell Flame] and covered her left hand in the flames, and tore through the scroll with her claws, destroying it instantly.
"W-What? N-NO! That can't be right! Y-You shouldn't be able to do that!" Daren shouted in panic.
Which was a bad idea as he had been holding the scroll, so when he spoke, Traytora came to the realisation that he was the one behind all of this. She swung her still flaming hand and sliced through the magical barrier that shielded Daren, shattering it in one strike.
"HIIIIIIII!!!!!" He screamed like a pig again and fell to the floor and started shuffling backwards and away from the demonic entity that was slowly slithering towards him like an apex predator.
"S-S-S-S-Stay away from me you monster!" He screamed.
This did nothing to deter the serpentine demon though, as she just inched closer and closer. And when she was in front of him again, she punched down into the man with her right hand, sending his body smashing into the ground, causing it to crack like a spider web.
He became unconscious as he spewed blood out of his mouth, his organs in disarray. She then tried picking the man up by his neck but the magic shield suddenly popped back up, preventing her from doing so.
"Grrrrrrr... RRAAAAAHHH!!!" She swung her flaming fist into the magic shield, shattering it once more and setting the robes on fire, which also set the man on fire.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!" He burst awake, screaming in agony as his body was completely covered in hellfire. He then felt someone grabbing his throat tightly, disallowing him to scream.
He looked to see who it was, only to see and open maw, waiting to devour him.