Haze hadn't reached the highest floor when he saw a shadowy figure coming down the hallway.
Haze's hand immediately went to the handle of his sword and he gripped it firmly, he wasn't expecting to run into the queen so soon, but he supposed there was no need to delay the inevitable.
The figure noticed him as he got nearer and started walking towards him, Haze pulled his sword out and turned to the little girl with him.
"Hey darling, it's time for you to go back downstairs, this place isn't safe for you". He said. The little girl nodded and scrambled back to the kitchen as fast as her tiny legs could carry her.
Haze swung his sword and began to walk towards the figure with purpose, then as he got nearer and could see the figure clearer, he stopped.
It was Elena, she was bruised and there were several scratches on her face, blood gushed out of a wound on her neck but she walked straight.
"Elena?" He called out.
The figure squinted and when she saw it was Haze, she ran over to him despite the pain she felt in her body.
"Haze!" She shouted and threw her arms around him in a hug.
She pulled back and surveyed him. "You look terrible". She said.
"It looks worse than I feel trust me". He assured her with a smile. "You look terrible".
Elena grimaced. "Well, fighting that nasty princess bitch will do that to you".
Haze raised an eyebrow. "You met Neesha?"
Elena frowned. "I met, fought her". Her frown dissolved into a smile. "Then I rocked her into tomorrow".
Haze chuckled. "Why am I not surpised?"
Elena smiled and then blinked at him. "What about you? You beat the queen? She paused. I don't think you'd be standing here if you didn't anyway".
Haze grimaced. "I didn't beat her". He replied.
"You didn't?" Elena asked in surprise. "How are you still here then?"
"I didn't". Haze replied. "In fact, she kinda killed me".
Elena's eyes widened. "She killed you?"
Haze nodded grimly. "Yes she did".
"How did she? How are you standing here then? Where is she? I have so many questions". Elena rambled.
Haze couldn't tell her about the system and how it's saved his life by extracting the shadow so he shrugged.
"I don't exactly know how myself but she stabbed my heart with her shadow spear and I passed out, but it wasn't like normal fainting, I felt my heart stop beating". He explained. "Then I woke up to see the spear on the ground beside me, it must have fallen out of my body somehow".
It was a blatant lie but it was the best explanation he could give her at the moment.
Elena nodded. "She must have thought the shadows would finish the job, that's why she left. You know what that means right?"
Haze frowned. "What does it mean?"
"It means that party, whatever it's for, is very important to her". Elena explained. For her to leave the job unfinished and rush back to it.
Haze thought about it, it was true that ordinarily he would expect someone as evil as the queen of witches to find a more permanent way to dispose of him, perhaps locking him in a cell or dismembering him, or even feeding his body to beast monsters.
But she didn't do any of that, she didn't even make sure he had stopped moving before she left, clearly the party was very important to her and she would be there at the moment.
"Okay". Haze said. "What does it mean though?"
"It means she's not in these chambers". Elena said. "If you're looking to meet her, she's not here".
Haze thought about it, then he sighed and turned around, "let's go find the palace then".
Elena grabbed his arm. "Wait, we're already near her chambers, why not just search and see if the ring is there".
Haze considered her suggestion. Even though the last time they saw the ring, it was with the queen, it wasn't a bad idea to see if she had left it in the room. Besides he wasn't too keen to face the queen again after what happened the last time they met.
He nodded. "A quick look around can't hurt".
Elena smiled and they walked off to the queen's room.
As the reached the sharp bend, Elena motioned tor Haze to stop, she pressed her body flat to the wall and peaked at the room, there was a lone guard in front of the room and he seemed bored, he paced back and forth lazily.
Elena faced Haze. "There's just one guard". She whispered to him.
Haze frowned, there was some really sloppy security going on in the red mountain, he expected the queen's bedroom to have at least two fully alert guards.
He nodded however and told her his plan. "Give me your knives". He told her, Elena raised her brows curiously but she handed him the knives regardless.
"I'm going to fling the knives at him, then when he doges them, you attack him with your fire. If he's good, he'll block your flames, but I'll be there with my sword". He explained to her.
Elena smiled. "Really ruthless of you". She cooed but Haze didn't return her smile, he suddenly dashed in front of the corner and flung the two knives at the guard with great precision.
The guard heard the knives before he saw them and he quickly moved his body out of the way, dodging effectively. However Elena was already standing in front of him and she blasted him with her flames.
"Earth wall!" The guard yelled and slammed his palm on the ground, a thick wall rose from the floor and blocked off the flames, he dropped the wall when the flames had died down and stared at Elena with a cruel smile on his face.
"Now it's my tur…" he started to say but Haze was behind him already and with one clean swipe, his head came off.