"And where did you even find that thing? I checked the entire castle before sleeping, and I didn't find anything." I questioned from behind.
"Duskwraiths aren't the problem my lady, its something else." Completely ignoring my question, Tess urged Aria and the injured knight towards the hallway leading outside.
"It's something else. I have never encountered such a beast in my life, but I am absolutely certain it's above Grade 3. Commander Vexis barely manages to hold that thing back. If we are going to escape, now is the time."
Escape? At night? Outside in the Gleaming Wastes? Just what kind of monstrosity had they encountered? And more importantly, I had missed it.
"I have already lost enough in this expedition, I am not going to lose anymore." Aria spoke, her eyes filled with fierceness. "We aren't leaving this place without Commander Vexis."
"But my lady…" The injured knight began to interject but was stopped by Aria.
"My decision is final; nothing you can say will sway me." She then looked towards the injured knight.
"I know this might be difficult with your injuries Thorne, but I will need your help, I cant save Lord Vexis's life alone, you as well Tess."
Her eyes moistened with compassion as a slight smile appeared on her lips.
Hearing their Young Lady Tess and Thorne somberly nod, even from here, I could tell what was going through their minds. Aria had a reputation for being far too compassionate and kind, an exemplary noble who wouldn't even leave behind a single knight, even if it meant risking her life. These poor bastards were prepared to lay their lives for her at this instant.
Aria then turned towards me. "Mr. Zane Ashwood, I understand that this is an unreasonable request, asking you to put your life on the life of some strangers you have just met. But given the circumstances I must ask you. Please help us save Sir Vexis; if we succeed, I promise you will have the friendship of House Nyrith till the day I draw my last breath." Her face shifted; just a glance, and one could tell the young lady of House Nyrith wasn't used to asking favors, but she was willing to do so, putting her pride on the line to save one of her knights.
Bullshit, like I was going to fall for that. Aria was one of the heroines of Echoes of Fallen, yet she was also one of the most cold and calculative people that I had read about. Acting like the perfect noble, kind and compassionate yet also resolute and brave in front of the world. She had a side that only a few people knew about.
Risking her life to save Vexis. Yeah, right. Asking Thorne and me to help her, Thorne was already too injured to the point that he would be considered dead weight in the desert, and I was a stranger she had just met. I could bet anything that she was planning to sacrifice our lives to escape in exchange for a relatively fine Vexis.
"This seems a bit too dangerous. I think I'll stay here." I flatly refused. Sure, I wanted their help to cross the desert and for Aria to be safe, considering she was one of the main characters. But I wasn't going to straight up kill myself for it. That would defeat the entire purpose.
Hearing my answer Aria seemed a bit taken aback, I could even sense some momentary frustration appear on her face. I get that though, what fool out there would refuse the offer of friendship with a great house.
The knights beside her scrunched up their noses as if they had expected my answer. Ignoring me once more, they turned towards Aria.
"My Lady, we can't waste any more of our time if we plan to save Commander Vexis," Tess spoke.
Aria nodded and spoke. "It's a shame Mr Zane but I see your point, my request was a bit bizarre in the first place. I apologize."
She then turned towards the two knights and signaled them to move. "Tess, tell us as much as you can about the beast, Thorne; whatever the beast might be, I want you to distract him using the blinding spell. We will pull Commander Vexis out under the confusion."
She began ordering them while running down the hallway; her plan, to no one's surprise, was to use Thorne as bait.
That guy was going to die today, oh well…
"I should probably get out of this place as well." The place had already shook two more times during our conversation. If I was going to escape, I had to do it now.
I rushed inside the room and began packing my stuff inside the spatial storage.
Suddenly, a sudden click behind me forced me to turn my head. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a cobald-like creature lunging out of the darkness; its claw extended outwards only a few feet from my throat.
Deadly Intuition fired up at once. My instincts took over, and I immediately activated Static Timefall, allowing me to leap back, missing its claw by a hair's breadth.
Seeing that I had evaded its attack, the Duskwraith rushed forward once again. I, too, deactivated the spell and summoned Raven. Raven flew out of my arm at unimaginable speed, its sharp wings slashing past the creature's neck, severing its head from its torso.
I was just about to take a sigh of relief when the Intuition activated once again. This time I looked up towards the cobald like creature lunging down with its claws reaching for my head. Raven was too far, I didn't had any time to call it back and use Static Timefall, instead I took out my knife and pierced it towards the creature's head.
My attack was instantaneous; it didn't mean it had no flaws. The dusk wraith's arms were longer than mine; even with my sudden movement to the side, it managed to impale through my shoulder before my knife could pierce its head, killing it in an instant.
Blood gushed out as the Duskwraith's corpse fell over me, toppling me to the ground.
"Damn it." I cursed, throwing the dead Duskwraith away and clutching my shoulder.
Tess said this place was crawling with those things. I took out some healing paste and hurriedly applied it over my wound and bandaged it.