The stranger had a secure and imposing appearance. She walked in light steps that could not be heard. Her gray eyes stared at them coldly; she had silver blonde hair, with blue streaks, fastened in a perfect ponytail. The glasses fit perfectly on her face and the pointed ears were adorned with silver earrings.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Asked Mira, pointing the knife at her that she had picked up quickly on the table.
"I don't think we have time for conversation, Miss Collins." replied the elf. "They're after us, or rather you."
The invader looked at the knife pointed at her and laughed.
"That kind of weapon is not something that can stop me."
"Want to see?" said the girls.
You could hear the back door being scratched and the sounds of the howls entering the house.
"Do you want to save yourselves or would you rather stay to die?" the woman said, ignoring them.
The strange observed the place, curious as she dragged her navy dress from one side to the other.
The howls were getting closer and closer, the noises of the door and windows being scratched already made his ears squeak.
Mira tried to attack the intruder for answers; however, the elder only move her hand and threw the gun away.
"We don't have time for games, girls. Are you coming or not?"
Mira stared at her for a while. She doesn't know if she could trust her, but when she saw a huge black snout with silver fangs go through the door, she knew there was no other option.
"We'll go with you." she replied.
"Are you sure? Do you think we should trust her?" Kendra asked, still undecided.
"No, we shouldn't. But she seems to be our only chance" sighed the healer.
The elf smiled and appeared with two suitcases in her hand.
"That's what you can take. Then we'll come back to take the rest."
No one said anything. The girls followed the woman in the back door, not understanding what was happening. But the animals had already entered the place.
Outside there was a carriage that was "almost" invisible. The vehicle was transparent, being able to see the other side of the street. Its shadow only recognized its location. They entered and as they moved away, they saw strange wolves, sometimes black, sometimes gray, with blue lights on their paws entering the house.
The locomotive was camouflaged by every passing place; however, the interior did not seem to change at all.
Upon seeing the teenagers' confused expression, the elf exclaimed:
"The chariot and all in contact with it, camouflage themselves, so we deceive the enemies."
They passed through the healing temple, where the god Eluin was worshiped. Alice prayed every day in the temple for wisdom to help the sick. And according to her, he always answered her. Mira did not use to be very attached to the gods. The girl only believed in them and point.
When the black horses took the carriage out of town, Mira looked at the stranger in her glasses and said:
"I think we have time for explanations now."
"You are determined, Miss Collins. That may be useful to you in the future." She settled into the seat and continued, "My name is Astrid Betwein."
Her gray eyes stared at her with curiosity.
"I am the coordinator of Lumnus Theorys. You will stay there for now. It is the only safe place away from the emperor."
"Miss Betwein, how did you know my mother had been kidnapped?" asked Mira, curious.
"We've been following in the footsteps of the king of Harlisze for a while."
"King of where? I've never heard of." Kendra said.
"King of Harlisze, the kingdom of the magi. It is a closed kingdom controlled by the successor of King Neelas. Nobody knows the way there, just a citizen of the kingdom of the fairies. He's been stalking you for some time, Miss Collins, but something was keeping him from finding you."
"Right. And what do my mother and I have to do with it?" asked the brown-haired, impatient.
Astrid looked at her annoyed.
"It's not her, silly girl. It's something your mother or you own. Your house has something he needs to access a place in that village. Besides, there's something about you."
"We have nothing. We have no money that is precious to an emperor, no jewels, nothing. I have no idea what this man is looking for, much less do I know him. He chose the wrong person." the young lady exclaimed.
"He does not pick wrong. Especially if he knows her." replied the elf seriously.
"But… " the girl tried to argue, but was ignored.
"And how come we never heard of this kingdom?" asked Kendra, breaking the silence.
Astrid stared at them and sighed.
"Long ago, the world of magic and humans lived together. But the gods lost some of their power for a mysterious reason, and so their influence on mortals diminished. Humans were very young at the time and were lost without them. So, they moved away from the other species out of fear."
"Afraid of what?" Mira asked.
"There has always been the supernatural, yet prejudice has always existed. The powerless found others strange and vice versa. So, those who had no magic and were younger were afraid. Besides the fact that without the influence of the gods, some humans became greedy and selfish, and desired the power of the magical world. To avoid wars, one moved away from the other. Over time, each species was forgotten by the other and a division was created between them. A barrier so strong that only the specials could cross it.
"And will we come back here? To our world?" Kendra asked.
"In a week. It's the maximum time the Dowykais stay in one place." explained the coordinator." However, we'll have to go back to school. You won't be safe here for a long time.
The rest of the trip was quiet. Mira ended up sleeping on her friend's shoulder. But this one wasn't as easy, Kendra couldn't. Now everything had changed. She wanted to avoid sleeping so as not to find out that the worst would happen. As the blonde had prophetic dreams and visions since childhood, she thought again about how strange it was that day she slept so quietly. Maybe her dreams passed to Mira, who said she had nightmares.
"We arrived." Said Astrid, coming down from the carriage with elegance.