Vivienne and Lilith, their clothes tattered and their faces etched with exhaustion, staggered onto the sandy beach. Behind them, a small life-saving boat lay abandoned, a testament to their harrowing escape from their pursuers.
Lilith swept a strand of hair from her sweat-slicked forehead, her eyes scanning their surroundings with a mix of relief and uncertainty. "We made it back... for now," she muttered, her voice a weary whisper.
Vivienne nodded, her ruby eyes reflecting the hues of the fading sky. "Yeah. But we can't rest just yet. Our enemies may still be out there, and we need to gather our strength. We don't even know what this land is, it might be an enemy land"
As if answering Vivienne's unspoken concern, a group of eight young women stumbled onto the beach, their clothing in disarray, their faces mirroring the weariness that marked Vivienne and Lilith. They exchanged wary glances, a silent understanding passing between them.
One of the girls from the crew stepped forward, her gaze determined. "Lady Vivienne, what's our next move?"
Vivienne took a deep breath, her mind racing despite her fatigue. "First, we need sustenance. We can't fight on empty stomachs." She turned her attention to the lush landscape before them, its foliage promising potential nourishment. "Let's search for edible plants, fruits, and any signs of wildlife."
Everyone knew what her orders were since all of them were on the verge of fainting from hunger. Even though they managed to find some water thanks to the rain, all of them felt how bad of a decision it was to drink rainwater since all of them got diarrhea.
"Make sure you have your weapon with you, we don't know what kind of threats are in this land, our first objective right now is surviving then repairing our boat or finding a settlement,"
Including Princess Lilith, everyone in the crew nodded their head showing respect to their leaders and decided to search for the area until they could find something edible.
As the group spread out, their collective energy focused on the search for food, the air became charged with a mixture of tension and hope. Conversations hummed through the group like a delicate melody.
"We should find more fresh water too," suggested a soft-spoken girl from the crew. "It's as vital as food."
Vivienne nodded in agreement, impressed by the practicality of her companions. "You're right. We'll need to locate a freshwater source soon."
Lilith's fingers brushed against the soft sand as she rose to her feet, her determination unwavering. "I will be helpful this time, I won't betray my friends' expectations,"
As Lilith was busy with her own thoughts a chilling breeze seemed to whisper warnings to the girls, as if the very woods held secrets darker than the shadows they cast. Suddenly, a spine-tingling scream pierced through the air, shattering the tranquillity like glass. The girls froze, their eyes widening as they exchanged alarmed glances.
"What was that?" Lilith gasped, her voice quivering.
One of the girls tightened on her twin daggers, her instincts sharpened by years of training. "I don't know princess, but it sounded close. We need to go check it out."
With grim determination etched across their faces, the girls followed the source of the scream, their pace quickening as anxiety gnawed at their hearts. The woods seemed to close in around them, the once inviting foliage now casting ominous shadows.
And then, the sight that met their eyes was a nightmare incarnate. A gruesome scenery lay before them - the lifeless body of one of their own, a fellow crew member and dear friend, headless and drenched in crimson colour. The very ground seemed to weep with blood.
A collective gasp escaped their lips, and tears welled in their eyes as shock and grief washed over them. The girl's voice quivered with anguish. "No... it can't be..."
Vivienne's face hardened, her mind shifting into battle mode. "We need to be cautious. Something attacked her." She unsheathed her gleaming sword, a beacon of determination in the face of darkness. "Prepare yourselves."
As if the very forest sensed their resolve, the air crackled with tension. The girls formed a protective circle, weapons glinting in the dappled sunlight as they scanned their surroundings. Fear clung to the air like a noxious cloud, but bravery burned within them.
But before they could react, a monstrous figure burst forth from the undergrowth, a colossal lizard-like figure with scales like obsidian. Its eyes glowed with an eerie intelligence, and its maw dripped with venomous anticipation. The ground trembled beneath its massive form, and a roar that seemed to split the heavens echoed through the clearing.
"Run! It's a drake, none of you can harm it," Vivienne shouted looking at her girls and she knew things were getting too absurd.
'How did a drake come here? Are we really going to die here? We need at least two units of our armies to kill one drake, but right now-'
Staring at the massive lizard-looking organism before her, Vivienne understood that even her mother had encountered these creatures only on rare occasions due to their rare nature and formidable strength. She could still recall her childhood memory of witnessing the first drake in the capital, but the one standing in front of them now was twice the size of that initial encounter.
Panic spread among the group like wildfire, and the air was filled with desperate cries and the sound of pounding footsteps.
Vivienne herself took off, her heart pounding with adrenaline as she joined the chaotic retreat. Fear was a tangible presence in the air as if it could be touched, a heavyweight that threatened to crush them all. But amidst the chaos, something caught Vivienne's eye.
"That idiot!" She cursed as she saw Lilith, frozen in place, standing like a statue of terror. Her wide eyes were fixed on the oncoming drake, and it was clear that fear had rooted her to the spot. A small puddle formed beneath her as her bladder betrayed her in the face of the unimaginable threat.
Without a second thought, Vivienne's instincts kicked in. She sprinted back to Lilith, her heart pounding even harder as the massive creature closed in. With a swift and practised motion, Vivienne swung her resonance weapon, a glimmering blade that seemed to dance with its own fire, intercepting the drake's lunging attack with a resounding clash.
<<
The force of the impact sent shockwaves through her arms, but she held her ground. A smouldering blade was an ability that enchanted her blade with fire to absorb and deal additional damage to the opponent. With her resonance Phoenix Rebirth, Vivienne managed to protect both of them but at the cost of her hand going numb from the pressure she felt.
"Move, Lilith!" Vivienne's voice was a mix of command and concern as she grabbed Lilith's trembling hand. The urgency in her voice snapped Lilith out of her stupor, and she stumbled forward, her legs shaking beneath her.
Vivienne's grip tightened as she pulled Lilith along, their feet pounding against the earth as they fled from the monstrous predator. The drake roared in frustration, its massive form giving chase for a few heart-stopping moments before it seemed to grow disinterested, its attention drawn elsewhere.
As they finally put some distance between themselves and the fearsome creature, Vivienne spared a glance back, her chest heaving with exertion and relief. "Finally, it went away,"
But she didn't get any response instead all of the girls in the group looked scared by the fact that they were almost on the verge of death, especially Lilith, who didn't even know what was happening. Even though she had a fairly powerful resonance, Lilith was not interested in violence at all, so her behaviour wasn't that much of a surprise to Vivienne.
'We are going to die! It's all over, That monster will eat our heads too, It's over for us," Lilith suddenly started to freak out, as if she got electrocuted by the fear.
Before things escalated too much Vivienne quickly closed her mouth and asked everyone to calm down.
"Damn it, don't give our location to those monsters, listen, we don't have time or luxury to freak out, if we want to survive we have to work together, so listen," Vivienne released Lilith and showed a confident look on her face. "I will make sure all of you're safe as long as you don't act on your own, I promise on my mother's name that I won't let any of you die, so do what I tell,"
Lilith suddenly wiped her tears and looked at the prideful look of Vivienne and felt ashamed about how cowardly she was.
'No wonder, people don't want to support me for the throne, I'm sure if it is Vivienne instead of me she can even beat Raven'
"Lady Vivienne, we believe in you, we always do so what are we going to do now?" The female members of the crew raised inquiries, driven by their desire to prevent any potential misunderstandings. Vivienne openly shared all her strategies and plans, withholding nothing, ensuring that they could collaboratively proceed with constructing a secure haven in this location.