"Kalika~." Lillian's voice rang out.
Kalika opened her eyes to see the back of a blonde girl's head. She was trembling from fear.
"It's been such a long time since I've seen you happy… Please… give me a smile."
The blonde girl turns her head slowly to reveal herself as Kalika. Kalika who was seeing this, was completely confused at seeing herself.
A blue hand stroked the chin of the girl, who is now forcing the smile.
"Is this good?" Kalika's copy asked.
She then lets out a shriek of pain.
Kalika something wet and slimy as grasped something fleshy that pulsed in her hand. It kept going, beating faster and faster as if in anticipation of something.
As much as Kalika wanted to rip away her hand from whatever she was touching, she was unable to control anything. Not her feelings. Not her voice. Not even her body
It felt as though she could only stand witness to some horrific experience that wasn't hers.
Soon the eyes of the terrified copy before Kalika grew more dead. The girl then gave a more genuine smile and started giggling with eyes more crazed like a maniac.
An alien feeling of disappointment washed over Kalika. "I broke her again…" Lillian's voice said.
Kalika then found herself hugging the still giggling girl. A sharp pain arose as she pinched her sharp finger, allowing blood to flow, and stuck it in the girl's mouth.
Kalika could see the eyes of her own face turn from green to gray for a second.
A scream is heard from the girl.
"I knew my sister was strong!" Lillian sounded very pleased. "IT HURTS! IT HURTS! PLEASE STOP IT!"
The girl looked back at her with a mixture of fear and confusion.
For some reason… Kalika could feel a sense of happiness swelling in her. Kalika could feel the squeezing of the hand on something fleshy until it became mush.
The eyes of the girl became dead and soon revitalized after a few seconds.
The girl's trembling resumed.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please. I don't want this anymore. Please, just let me go." The whimpers fell on deaf ears as Lillian placed her right hand on Kalika's chin and held her by the stomach with her other hand.
"Why would I let go of what belongs to me? Especially when you're the only thing that brings me any happiness."
Lillian, without warning, stabbed Kalika in the neck with her finger. Killing Kalika once again.
As Kalika's eyes became dead once more, Lillian spoke again. "You're the only family I have left after all… No matter where you go… No matter where you Hide… I will always find you." There was a tinge of sadness behind this voice. It was like Lillian's character suddenly changed.
Lillian hugged Kalika's body as she woke from being dead. It was a strange sight.
"What??"
Kalika suddenly woke up. She found herself inside of a roomy tent. A far departure from the prison cell she was in for some time.
"Where am I?"
She then remembered that she had been rescued by the Heroes. She lay back down to look at the tent's ceiling. It was a strange sight to behold, but she was also happy about it.
It wasn't long before Sylph entered the tent with a bucket of green liquid. "Ah, you're awake."
Sylph placed the bucket by a table with some vials and beakers.
"I have a fresh set of clothes right beside you. They're some of my old set of clothes so I hope you don't mind."
Kalika looked over to find some basic women's apparel. It was something nobles wouldn't wear, but it was also much better than what the unprivileged could afford.
Sylph grabbed a beaker dipping it into the green liquid. She repeated this process filling each one on the table.
"By the way, there's a river close by if you'd like to wash up."
Kalika frowned at hearing this. "Can't you pull out a tub with your powers?" "We're actually using that for the wisp tree outside. Sorry."
Kalika was disappointed to hear this. A brown cloth was then thrown onto Kalika. Kalika could only sigh as she looked at the cloth in her hand. Although she didn't want to do it, She also didn't want to smell bad in front of her saviors. especially since she was still the adopted daughter of the previous Lord Julian.
********
After some time washing in the riverbank, Kalika finished. Sylph even helped to stand guard and helped Kalika when she needed it.
"All done?" Sylph asked.
Kalika affirmed as she was now dressed in the new clothes given to her. Although the clothes weren't her style, she didn't complain since she always wore prisoner's clothes.
She glanced back at the riverbank, wondering how she looked after being locked away for almost fifteen years. She tried to get a closer look but found the waves of the river overbearing, leaving her unable to see herself.
She quickly gave in, opting to tag along with Sylph as they briefly walked through the forest to their campsite.
"Alright. Now that you're finished, we just have to finish making the last few-minute preparations."
"Preparations? For what?" Kalika became curious.
"Well, Ragnar has to finish breaking down the whisp tree, and Jarred is trying to put the last touches on his sword. We have to be prepared to fight, and leaving traces would be troublesome."
"Oh. Alright."
"It helps that we're not too far from the borders, but you can never be too careful." Altogether added.
Kalika can now see them making last-minute preparations. Just as Sylph was saying , Ragnar was chopping the last bit of the whisp tree while Jarred was tinkering with his platinum blade. With Jarred, was also an assortment of magic crystals, which surprised Kalika.
To Sylph's surprise Kalika approached Jarred, curious about why he had magic crystals. She started hovering around his work table, which he immediately noticed. "Oh, hey. I see you're looking a lot better than before."
Jarred saw that Kalika's gaze was fixed on the crystals on the table. "Why do you have these?" she asked curiously.
"These white shining crystals? Oh, I've been tinkering with these for a while now. I think it's possible to harness their powers in weapons. It works a little, but I just can't get the right one…"
"White crystals?" Kalika looked at the differently colored crystals, somewhat curious about what he was talking about.
"Well, you know they're all just white crystals that shine, but for some reason, they're always random."
Sylph joined in. "Yeah. Crystals like this are always unpredictable. A literal disaster waiting to happen."
"But… These aren't white." Kalika stated. "The white ones would have holy magic in them." Kalika started to point at a red crystal. "This one is a red crystal. It normally contains fire magic.
And this brown crystal here, that has earth magic."
Jarred was a little baffled listening to Kalika. "You can see colors in these?"
"Yeah, it's clear as day."
Ragnar suddenly showed up carrying a lot of chopped wood. "That's interesting, you're saying that these white crystals have different colors?"
"Perhaps your skill helps you to distinguish different sources of energy." Sylph hypothesized. "It'd make sense since, as the Saintess, you need to be able to detect the good from the bad."
"N-no Wait…"
Kalika didn't want them to continue to think that she was the Saintess. Kalika looked down to muster up what little courage she had. "I have to tell them."
"E-everyone stop… I'm not the…" Kalika couldn't say anymore. She started to choke, unable to tell them the truth.
"Why can't I just say it?"
A fear welled up in Kalika's heart that felt unnatural. It was the fear of rejection. After all, how could she be forgiven for everything she'd done for her own gain?
"Are you alright, Kalika?" Jarred asked.
Unknown to Kalika, she was becoming pale. Everyone was starting to worry for her. "I-I'm alright. Please. Don't worry about me."
Kalika suddenly felt a strange and dark sensation. A dark energy could be felt that couldn't be mistaken. It could only be one thing. The energy felt like a demon's bloodlust.
The sound of explosions and shattering glass was heard from a distance. Everyone was now on high alert.
"What the-! How did they find us!?" Ragnar shouted in disbelief. "We have to leave now! Everyone!!" Sylphs quickly ordered.
Ragnar dropped the wood logs, and Jarred sheathed his sword, quickly gathering up the magic crystals he had collected.
Ragnar suddenly hoisted Kalika up and into his arms. "H-hey!"
Without looking at Kalika, Ragnar apologizes. Kalika could tell just by Ragnar's expression that the situation was very dire. Without wasting further time, they all took off running.
Kalika could see fireballs grazing the heroes and hitting the trees. There was no doubt that they were now being chased.
"Damn it! How did they find us???" Jarred questioned.
********
Far behind the heroes was General Jala along with some of his subordinates. His demeanor was serious as he was now in pursuit.
"It's just like you said, General! But how did you know they'd be here?" a Demon soldier asked.
"Easy. Their Barrier may have been perfect for hiding their presence. But the lack of magic energy in this area gave them away. After all, all forms of life carry some form of magic, even plants."
The demon soldier didn't understand too much but complemented Jala anyway. Jala ignores him.
"Argh! They're starting to get away!" a soldier exclaimed.
Jala then started to think about the situation. These Humans can run as fast as they want. But they won't be able to reach outside our boundaries."
********
Unknown to the group of Heroes, an ambush was set up and ready for their group.
Demons lying in wait in the trees for any possible movements they find.
Suddenly, the groups of heroes pass the scouts. With their location discovered, one of them sends a fireball into the sky in the location of the Heroes. It then explodes, getting everyone's attention, including the Heroes, who understand the meaning behind it.
"Crap!" Jarred yelled.
"What happened?" Kalika asked in a panic.
"It's an ambush. We have no choice but to fight back!"
Suddenly some demons come on the attack, provoking Jarred to bring out his platinum sword. He easily dispatches two demons while Sylph takes care of some of the other ones.
They all found themselves in the middle of the forest surrounded by demons hiding. Fireballs and arrows alike came raining down on them. All they could do was hide behind trees as Sylph was readying a new spell.
Soon, with powerful wind magic, Sylph devastated the forest area, making a giant clearing and then following up with a fort-like shelter made of earth magic.
"Is everyone alright?" Sylph quickly asked.
Jarred looked around, still a little cautious. "I'm fine here. Kalika. Ragnar." "We're okay over here."
Kalika was released from Ragnar's grasp.
"They were expecting us to move south. It's gonna be difficult fighting these demons."
"They're after me." Kalika suddenly stated.
"Well, they can forget about it! Sylph Protect Kalika. Ragnar you're with me. We're gonna carve our way through these demons."
"Eh-hurhurhur. I thought you'd never ask." Ragnar grabbed his shield and transformed it into an Ax, surprising Kalika.
Demons start to surround the makeshift fort, and Ragnar and Jarred run out without warning. They started slaughtering demons left and right. They even expertly counter all the projectiles heading in their direction.
They killed all the demons that surrounded them pushing themselves into the forest to kill the remainder of their pursuers. They fight. Block and destroy trees in their way of their path of escape.
As Jarred and Ragnar Fought, Kalika couldn't understand why they would go so far to protect her.
"You sure are gloomy. Come on, keep your head held high. The moment you lose hope is the minute you lose the battle. Jarred and Ragnar can do it! Without a doubt. So don't worry about a thing."
A demon suddenly approached Ragnar from behind. He was seemingly defenseless, but as the attack hit the sword, it only bounced off of Ragnar. Ragnar turned to the demon and, with his eyes glowing green, swiftly killed the stunned demon with his ax.
Jarred didn't let Ragnar outshine him as he slashed an elemental air strike at multiple demons hiding in the tree.
"Looks like you're lucky when it counts." Ragnar joked.
"You got that right! That makes mine twenty-six to your Twenty-four." "Don't get too cocky. Heh."
Ragnar continued to kill demons with a smile and Jarred followed not too far behind. Eventually they practically carved out a path through the immaculate number of demons.
"SYLPH NOW!" Jarred yelled.
Not missing a beat, Sylph brought the shelter down, grabbing Kalika's hand. Sylph then went on to make a water platform, with its face pointing towards Jarred and Ragnar. Stepping on the sideways platform, she built a current of wind magic.
"Hold on tight!"
Like a cannon, Sylph launched herself and Kalika towards the two men, shocking Kalika to her core.
Kalika held as tight as she could, and before they knew it, they reached Jarred and Ragnar. Thanks to Sylph's mastery of magic, they were able to stop safely on the ground.
"W-what was that!?"
Sylph ignored the question and instead inquired Jarred and Ragnar about the situation.
"How far are we from the border??"
Ragnar's eyes glowed blue, and he quickly answered. "There's a large ground fissure just beyond this forest. Once we make it there, we should be able to reach a checkpoint just past that point."
Sylph looked in that direction , mentioning that the forest exit wasn't too far from them. They were close to the forest exit, where they knew they had a fighting chance.
"Alright, let's make that push then!" Sylph's eyes started to glow green and many different fireballs appeared and like a monster, she released a torrent of fireballs in many different directions carelessly.
Jarred was shocked to see Sylph doing this. "Hey! What are you doing, Sylph!" "I'm creating an opening. Now go!"
Everyone looked to see a straight path to the forest's exit. It was like she conjured a wall of fire to protect them. Using the opportunity, they all took off, with Ragnar again lifting Kalika into his arms. The forest was starting to burn all around them. It wasn't long before they finally made it out.
They reached rock terrain, and, as Ragnar said, there was indeed a large fissure.
Right below, it seemed to have been a cave that had collapsed
Ragnar finally let Kalika down, seeing that demons had come to chase after them.
"Alright, now we just need to cross. Sylph, are you able to make a bridge with your earth magic?" Jarred looked around for a way to get past it, but the entire fissure seemed to go on for miles.
Kalika walked away from the group to watch the forest burn in the distance. Despite being out of danger, she couldn't help but still feel an uneasiness in the air.
"I can probably launch us across, but a bridge is out of the question. That'll become exhausting to maintain."
"Right. If that's the case, start with bringing Kalika across
first."
Jarred turns to look back at Kalika. "Hey, Kalika."
Kalika looked back. To everyone's shock, a huge wall of ice separated Kalika and the other heroes without warning! The wall of ice became so high that it reached the heavens.
"Here we are," a voice rang out.
Kalika looked behind herself to find General Jala behind her. The red demon general with white hair and blue eyes, standing before the burning forest.
"You, of all people, should know that escape is futile…"
********
General Bjorn was back at the castle, standing on the Balcony. He saw a large spear of ice reaching the clouds. Beside him was another demon subordinate.
"Let the queen know that he found the girl."