ã€ŠThe Tree-Man and His Wifeã€‹


 Prologue: There Was Once Great Peace and Harmony

    When he had awoken, he had all the knowledge the world could provide. He was born of the Earth, planted as a seed by his mother on an island she knew only he could survive on, he began his life filled with sand and incredible heat. This was good for him, he preferred the heat over the cold in the first place, so he grew at a fast rate. It took a few thousand years until he was strong, but once he had hit his six thousand and forty fifth birthday, he decided to bring life to the desert island his mother had planted him on all those years ago.

    With his guidance, three hundred thousand years later the island had ceased to be a desert. In it''s place blossomed a beautiful forest with freshwater streams and animals of all kinds. In the center of this forest was the tree that had started it all. It''s branches spread out and over for more than a mile on all sides, the leaves never changing from it''s deep green color that contained a hint of golden red on the corners.

    The tree was highly sought after by others, but once anybody stepped foot into the forest they were immediately chased out by creatures of the forest as well as special flowers that just so happened to be spread out at the corners of the island for protection.

    Around the eleven hundred thousandth birthday of the tree, it was full grown. The forest was as strong as ever, and the waters surrounding the island it lay upon was as clear as the sky was blue. It was on that day the tree was engulfed in a deep blue light, spreading across it''s whole being until there was nothing but an orb that overtook the whole island. If there had been any people around out at sea they would have been blinded by the intensity of the light.

    Within ten minutes, the light had died down. The forest had not changed, but the tree was gone. Laying on the dark, fertile soil where the tree once stood laid a tall red haired man. His eyes slowly opened with a hint of drowsiness as he carefully sat upright. Glancing around, a slow smile spread across his face. The man of the forest had awaken.

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    ********

    Fear and excitement spread through the small girl as she bolted through the training grounds set out for her by her older brother. It was common for the training to start at the age of six, but she was a year younger than that. The guild had proposed for her to start to build up her magic capacity and strength as soon as possible for her own safety.

    Of course, the girl didn''t truly know that. All she knew was that her brother was watching the training commence, so she had to do her best and impress him. Slight pain made her cringe as she stepped into the gravity plane, her small body not accustomed to the feel as she continued running.

    The memories of her mother¡¯s eyes being ripped out of her skull only pushed her on. It was two years ago that the evil creatures had burst into her parents¡¯ house and murdered her mother right in front of her while her father had run out to attack the intruders head on. If it wasn''t for her brother showing up with his team of guild members she would have died as well.

    She vowed to become stronger since that day, and she hoped to find her father as well. All the emotions of the past came back up as she fought back tears and pushed on. She hated when those memories came back up from where she had pushed them down, they always seemed to do so at the worst time.

    The girl didn''t see the finish line when she passed it. Her training as a special unit Mage had begun.

 Chapter 1: Ronéˆ¥æªš Hate

    It was the twelfth day that Ron had taken form in his new body when he decided that the island should have others living and enjoying it''s life that he had given it. The animals were thriving, so there was no reason he couldn''t bring others. It was quite a large island, so he didn''t have to live with the others.

    The island was about 124 kilometers in all, hot springs and three large freshwater streams spread out around it. Sadly, there were not many different kinds of plants, so he would have to retrieve some that would help his people eat and become strong. He also realized that there would need to be an area where they could take down trees and create houses and sheds for themselves.

    Ron slightly smiled as he continued to walk through the forest until he found one if his favorite hot springs. He slid down into the warm, steaming water and closed his eyes. A plan was already forming in his mind, and as his palms stretched out and created small trees specifically for building materials, there was one problem he had. There were people whom he had already decided upon to live on the island.

    The one thing he hated the most flashed through his mind, annoyance burning in his heart as he thought of the damages it does. The people he would have live in his forest would be slaves. Those whom had suffered immensely by the people who claimed to own them, and even though he wished to free every last person who was forced into labor by others he knew it wasn''t possible. The least he could do was bring some to live in peace and happiness on the island.

    With a fierce passion burning inside him, he stood up and stepped out of the water, steam drifting from his body with each step while the water ran down and off his skin and onto the ground. He remembered a time where an old king once had his men attempt to go into his forest to retrieve one of the special flowers that that grown near the middle of the forest. He hated stealing just as much as he did slavery, so naturally he had retaliated as soon as they stepped onto the island.

    He had heard the cries from the ship that had rested off in the distance. The people crying as whips dug into their backs because their work wasn''t satisfactory enough. The flag that had rested on the ship was burned into his memory, so it would be an easy find to go and retrieve those people. If they didn''t want to go with him, at least he would have set them free. He decided it was time for him to pay those men a visit.

    With armor and clothing made from thick vines and bark from trees, he closed his eyes and knelt down onto his knees. Memories, knowledge, images flashed through his mind as he searched for the right spell to teleport. Because of his family lineage, he had the ability to do many things that most people would find almost godlike. As the correct spell finally surfaced, he brought the flag¡¯s symbol into the equation and repeated the words he had to say.

    When he opened his eyes, he was in the middle of a filthy shopping square. He stood to his feet and examined his surroundings in both curiosity and disgust. The people whom had previously been shopping were staring at Ron, surprise causing the whole place to freeze. It was obvious that they were treated horribly, and it broke his heart to see the pain they had gone through.

    A sharp tap on the shoulder dragged him from his thoughts. He could sense the self-importance that the man carried himself with, and it only made Ron more annoyed. He glanced slightly at the soldier with the emblem of a snake wrapped around a sword pinned to his cape. A black and red woven shirt with black pants covered his slightly built body, but it didn¡¯t seem like he would be any match for the strength Ron carried in him. The man had his hand on his sword that was sheathed on his side. It was all he needed for him to make up his mind, and in a split second the soldier was slammed against the ground with his face shoved deep into the sludge of the street.

    ¡°Before you spout any kind of bullshit, I would like to use you for information,¡± Ron said slowly. He lifted the man¡¯s face from the muck and looked him in the eyes calmly. The fear in the soldier¡¯s tone proved he would be the perfect man to retrieve what he needed.

    ¡°W-what kind of information sir? We mean you no harm, so please do not kill me,¡± he whimpered. Brown, wide eyes looked in every direction to avoid Ron¡¯s gaze.

    ¡°Where are your slaves kept, as well as your king.¡± The soldier then stared at Ron for a second before bursting out laughing, deep throaty laughs that forced him to end up coughing in the end.

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    ¡°O-*cough*-our slaves? They''re kept in the cells of the castle. They''re useless, but the women and children are quite fun to play with when it comes to the hunger of our king,¡± he snickered. ¡°But when it comes to the king, nobody can see him without his permission.¡±

    Ron picked the man up by the throat with ease and held him in the air. With his height it wasn''t hard to do such a thing. The man coughed and opened his eyes in both fear and surprise. He knew there was nothing he could do to truly fight back, not in the position he was in. The soldier wasn¡¯t truly prepared for being attacked, he felt safe around the townspeople because they themselves were afraid and refused to attack. For this reason alone, he let himself go limp in the the hand that squeezed the air from him.

    When Ron decided he had had enough, he let him collapse into the ground and gasp for air. Leaving the soldier to lay there, he left the square and walked towards the castle that lay in the distance. It didn''t take long, and Ron wanted the other soldiers that protected the king to come out and try and attack. It would make things much more fun to strike fear into the horrid men that would do such a thing to others.

    As he walked through the streets, he noticed the look of the people there. They knelt down as he walked by, not knowing what else to do in the presence of power. Oh, how Ron wished he could take each and every one of them with him, but he would have to settle for forcing the king¡¯s hand on changing the lives of his people. He was here only for those who suffered the most.

    Waste from houses, horse manure, and all types of filth laid out all over the walkway that Ron had taken to the large, gated area where the king was. The lines of houses seemed to stop a mile from where the castle was, the roadway was much cleaner and seemed to be well kept. It only made things more annoying to the tall warrior as he strode forward to where a large group of soldier in full body armor waited his arrival.

    ¡°Who are you, what are you, and why have you come to our kingdom?¡± A man yelled as he stepped forward. He seemed to be the leader of the group, the markings on his armor was different from the others. A slow grin spread across Ron¡¯s face as he continued forward, not saying a single word to the man.

    ¡°In the name of King Drudard, I command you to stop!¡± A different man called out, pulling out his sword and pointing the tip towards the advancing man.

    ¡°His name¡¯s Drudard, huh? Well then, tell your king I have a deal to make with him,¡± Ron called back as he continued to walk forward.

    The men were obviously on edge at his refusal to follow the order directed to him. The leader turned and whispered to one of the men who didn¡¯t have on armor, who in turn started to run at high speeds back to the castle. Ron took note of the ears and confirmed that he had to be an elf with how fast he ran, as well as his body shape. Of course, that wouldn¡¯t stop him from killing the man if he needed to.

    The rest of the men waited for Ron to approach them. It didn¡¯t take long for him to do so, and when he had reached the group they all kept their swords ready. Much to their surprise, Ron crossed his arms and stood in silence. He didn¡¯t want to kill them, he didn¡¯t like death that much at all. The only man he would be perfectly fine with doing so would be the bastard who wanted others to be killed or hurt.

    It was a standoff between the men and Ron for about five minutes, then the runner came back. He nodded to the leader of the group, who in response glanced back at the oddly dressed man before yelling out an order to his own men.

    ¡°The king has ordered the death of this man! Fight for our kingdom and you shall be rewarded!¡± The group cheered in response and rushed at Ron. Sadness filled his heart as they thrust their swords at him, he truly hadn¡¯t wanted to kill them.

    When he walked away from the battleground, blood dripping from his hands and face, he had changed his mind about how he would take care of the king. Instead of killing the man himself, he would feed him to the guarding plants on his island. It was about time they played with their food again.

 Chapter 2: Emilys Strength

    The knee brace Emily wore shattered when she was smacked by the war hammer. The force tossed her against a wall with a sickening crunch on impact. The little girl coughed up blood as her small sword slipped from her fingers, landing on the dirt beside her. Arturo, her combat trainer, hefted the large weapon to his shoulder blades and walked towards Emily with ease.

    He always left Emily in awe; everything he does seems so easy for him. His large build was enough to intimidate most people, but he showed kindness to those he would meet instead. A slight smile was enough for the girl to know he was laughing at her. Emily groaned in pain as she slowly reached out and grabbed the sword and pulled it towards herself while using the newly-created cracks in the wall to lift herself back to her feet.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to push yourself too much, you know. It¡¯s only the second week of your training, and I have yet to even show you how to dodge my weapon,¡± Arturo sighed. Emily¡¯s stubborn step towards him was enough to have him take the large hammer from his shoulder and prepare himself for another light swing.

    ¡°I-it¡¯s not about pushing myself right now. I need to feel pain,¡± Emily growled through gritted teeth before running towards her trainer. A bored expression was on Arturo¡¯s face while he gave a small swing in the direction of her.

    Emily had no idea what that swing contained. In an instant, a burst of wind overtook her and threw her backwards to the same spot where she had been lying beforehand. Shock made her fall to her knees, sweat blinding her as she stared at the ground trying to comprehend what had just happened.

    The look on her face made Arturo burst out in deep, throaty laughs. The girl finally looked up in defeat and held her sword out in the way she was taught to signify her loss. Arturo took the sword from Emily¡¯s hands and wiped it off with the rag he kept in the back pocket of his pants before walking to the shelf where a variety of weapons hung.

    ¡°I suppose that¡¯s enough for the day. Tomorrow, I will be teaching you defensive maneuvers to back up your natural ability for offense.¡± He turned and walked to the door before turning back to smile at his student.

    Emily sighed and stood up, wincing at the slight pain that shot through her left leg. The disability that the goblins had given her the day her parents died still slowed her down, and even though the physical therapy the med clerk had given helped stop pain from rising up, it still reappeared time to time.

    The girl sucked up whatever feelings jolted through her body as she walked out of the training room and down the hall to the outdoors. Opening the large oak door, a gush of wind made her brown slap her in the face, much to the young girl¡¯s annoyance. Taking a few steps forward and noticing the small stairway to the ground put a sick feeling in her stomach. This was the type of thing she dreaded the most.

    She took a deep breath before starting the small descent to the ground. It was only a few steps, but it was enough to get the small tears streaming down her face. When the last step was finished, Emily collapsed to the ground and rubbed the back of her legs before stretching them out in front of her. Anger ripped through her as she glared at her own body with a blurred vision. It took everything inside her to calm down, and when she did the minutes began to pass by.

    She had an odd problem with her body. The goblins that had murdered her parents had slashed open the back of her calves and ripped the tendons to pieces, causing her to forever walk on the front of her feet, never to use her heel again. She knew that surgery could have helped, but with the chances being incredibly high for her to never walk again, Emily had chosen the hard road and went with short tendons instead.

    Rubbing her calves and doing her normal stretches, Emily realized the sun was starting to set now. Her eyes grew wide as she remembered the warnings given to her by her brother about being in the open during nightfall. Emily only felt a small hint of relief when she felt the dagger on its hilt by her side, but she knew that if something big came out she wouldn¡¯t stand much of a chance with the little magic she knew.

    Forgetting about the pain, Emily stood to her feet and started to run towards the large castle that the guild had as their headquarters. With each step, pain that felt like large knives pushing up through her calves to the rest of her body made the girl scream a silent plea to whatever gods ruled above to save her.

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    It was darker at that point, mist rising around the grass area she was running on. Her heart was beating faster with each step as she started to notice shapes beginning to form in the mist.

    Something took ahold of her shoulders, and with a jolt Emily had her dagger out in less than a second and brought it up to her attacker without a second thought. Stabbing deep, she felt the warm liquid seep through her shirt as a sharp cry of pain was heard. Spinning around with dagger ready, she came face to face with her now bleeding brother.

    ¡°J-James? You scared m-,¡± Emily was muffled as her brother covered her mouth and picked her up. Without hesitation, James ran to the door of the castle and threw it open. Setting Emily down in the safety of the welcoming hall, he turned around and took out his sword from the sheath on his back. She watched as blood dripped from his other hand where a large shield formed at the snap of his fingers.

    Awe formed in Emily as she observed James race into the mist, the creatures she saw forming go against the one person whom the girl looked up to the most. Black, sticky-looking liquid suddenly splattered across the grass, standing out from the deep green. Wherever the substance touched, it took only a few seconds for the area to become brown and dead. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that the young girl had full confidence in her brother she would have become afraid.

    She counted the seconds as they ticked by, odd noises came from the mists that had grown so thick she couldn¡¯t even see through it with her night sense. She was naturally a darkness style special mage, with her past it was what had formed in the magic she wielded in her soul.

    Her senses were spread out across the grounds as far as she could go, which was surprisingly pretty far for her age. She sat down on the inside of the safety of the castle and attempted to figure out what was happening, but it didn¡¯t seem as she would be able to.

    She gasped out as she could feel a large figure approaching the entrance to the welcoming hall. Emily opened her eyes and crawled away from the door as fast as she could as the thing came closer. To her relief, her brother burst through the opening and slammed the door shut behind him. The blood was still dripping from his palm as he dropped his shield next to him before running to his sister and hugged her.

    ¡°Where were you? I was searching all over until Arturo told me you had been training but never came back!¡± James pulled away and looked Emily in the eyes with a serious look in his eyes. Emily looked at the floor and tried not to cry. She didn¡¯t like it when he yelled at her, but she believed in a way that she deserved it.

    ¡°M-my calves...I was sitting on the ground outside but then I realized it was getting dark so¡­¡± The girl looked for the words but gave up when she decided excuses wouldn¡¯t suffice for anything at this point.

    Her brother watched the expressions on her face before sighing and picking up the child and walking her back to where the kitchens held food to help replenish the magic he had used up. James knew his sister ultimately did nothing wrong, but the knowledge that she could have died still shook him to anger. She was his last family member, his last thread of hope for his family line. He was too afraid of having children on the premises that the same fate lied for them as it did for his parents.

    Emily slowly started to fall asleep in her brother¡¯s arms, the rocking motion of his steps breaking down the fear that had overtaken her only minutes ago. James felt his heart sink in the pit of his stomach at the thought of her having to suffer at any moment through life, the innocence on her face to be ripped away by reality.

    Nothing would be able to stop what could happen to Emily, he knew this from personal experience. But the one hope he could muster from the very bottom of his soul as he stepped through the kitchen doorway was that whatever was to happen to her wouldn¡¯t break her more than she could handle.

 Chapter 3: Red as Rose

    ************Ron POV************

    Ron grimaced as more blood covered his half soaked body. He truly didn¡¯t mean to have to go on a full blown rampage, but after almost a full day spent on making his way to see this damned king that happened to be surrounded by more guards than he had expected. With such a sad looking city, he wouldn¡¯t have expected so many bodyguards.

    He was standing in a circle of corpses, each wearing the same emblem for the king¡¯s guard. Thick, thorny vines sunk back into the ground where Ron had called them, disappearing just as fast as they had appeared only moments ago. Using the back of his hand, Ron wiped blood that had started to run down his face and walked to the front doors of the great castle.

    Seeing the hand prints that he left on the two doors was almost humorous. It could be seen as a warning to more guards, but then again so could the dead comrades outside. There was a menacing look about him as he walked through the halls of the grand castle that the king stayed in while his subjects were left to suffer. It only made Ron even more angry when he noticed the gold railings on the staircase that led up to the throne room.

    Without a second thought, he went up the staircase and ignored the blood on the rugs. He pushed open one door and peeked in, noticing all the guards in this room. Ron sighed at how many there were, hoping in his heart that he wouldn¡¯t have to kill as much of them as he did outside. He did happen to notice the different markings on these men.

    Decorated on their cloaks and metal armor were roses. The design was so precise the only way it could have been created was by hand. It was surprisingly beautiful, even to Ron. He guessed that these had to be primary protectors to the king, so either they would be incredibly loyal or hateful to the man they served. Making sure he was fully prepared for whatever would come at him once he entered, Ron pushed the door opened and stepped inside.

    ¡°Halt! You who¡¯s come here and murdered our men, what is it you want and we shall let you go with your life!¡± A man who¡¯s cloak color was different than the others cried out first. It was all very annoying to Ron. He couldn¡¯t understand why these men all thought they even had a slim chance of killing him.

    ¡°Where is your king? I believe we have some unfinished business to attend to, so please move away or your own lives will be the price,¡± he growled. To intimidate them, he let the ground rumble slightly in response to what he said.

    The eyes of the men widened at this, some even shifting their feet in uncertainty. Ron knew full well that the king wasn¡¯t in the room, he could sense him in an underground area nearby. Hiding in an area where plants grew wasn¡¯t the smartest idea to begin with, but of course the king himself didn¡¯t know that. He didn¡¯t even realize who it was that was after him, for all the people there knew he was a powerful sorcerer who had come to take their kingdom from them.

    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.¡°The king has fled. You have no reason to be here. You have seen the city, and you may have all the gold you can carry with you. But leave us be,¡± the leader said. Ron could tell he was strong, and wasn¡¯t afraid of death.

    ¡°Whether I leave with what I want or more, I have already decided in taking his life. You may leave with yours intact, or stay here and die with your king.¡± Ron crossed his arms and stared at the men while this message hung in the air.

    The room was silent. The seconds ticked by, until one of the younger men whimpered and backed away from the group. A few gasps ran through the others as he stepped away and ran to the door, pushing it open and racing as fast as he could to get out of the castle with his life. When the first man ran, it didn¡¯t take long for more to follow. In seconds, there was less than a quarter remaining, all in shock at all those gone.

    Ron waited another minute, sensing the king underground shuffle in his room. When he decided he had waited long enough, he walked forward and stepped in front of the carpet the men were all standing on. Fear raced through the group as they raised their weapons in response and held position.

    That was their mistake. By standing still, they had made sure that Ron wouldn¡¯t miss. Without skipping a beat, he raised a hand in the direction of the men and let his concentration rise slightly. He didn¡¯t need much to complete the thorns that shot up through the ground, penetrating through the thick armor with ease. The look of shock was frozen on their faces as the rugs grew crimson around the freshly dead body.

    Ron strode past the men and up to where the throne was. He could sense the difference in the solidness of the boards when he was tracking the area down, and as he expected there was a door hidden underneath the throne¡¯s decorated chair legs. Lifting up the large throne with ease, he tossed it to the side and pulled the trap door open.

    The scent of roses hit him hard. It was sickeningly sweet, almost to the point where Ron couldn¡¯t help but cover his nose. He slowly started to descend the stairs with curiosity because of the smell. It took a few minutes, but he suddenly was standing in front of a tall door decorated with thousands of roses, each wrapped around the other in a design so beautiful that Ron stared in awe for a few minutes.

    The door was cool to the touch and open with only a slight touch to it¡¯s wood. As it slowly swung open, a sword suddenly appeared in front of of his. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that the man behind was sword was so slow, he might have actually scratched Ron¡¯s face.

    Ron raised his hand and caught the blade before it met its mark. Smiling, he crushed it as easily as he would an apple. The sword collapsed to the floor, the pieces showering the ground like rain. Turning to his attacker, his eyes narrowed in annoyance but the smile lingered.

    ¡°It¡¯s good to see you again, your highness. Now, let¡¯s get to know each other a little more, shall we?¡±

 Chapter 4: With Lock and Key

    ************Emily POV************

    Emily had a plate of food Nicolette had given her. Her brother gave Nicolette an appreciative smile when the plate was handed to his sister, the young girl¡¯s eyes growing wide at how much she was given. Nicolette started laughing when Emily immediately picked up her fork and dug in as quickly as she could, attacking the plate so fast her brother had to tap her on the shoulder to remind her to take her time.

    ¡°Now, what happened? I haven¡¯t seen you so ruffled up since we graduated high school and Jaeson told you about him going to the frontlines of the Fordec Escapades,¡± Nicolette said as she pulled a stool over to the counter where the three of them were. James watched Emily eat a few more bites before glancing back to his childhood friend.

    ¡°Nothing really important. I don¡¯t truly feel like talking about it right this second, but for now I have to go get ready for my date with Terra,¡± James sighed while standing from his own stool. Hearing Terra¡¯s name spoken made Nicolette wince, but James didn¡¯t notice as he grabbed his sword from the counter and ruffled his sister¡¯s hair.

    ¡°Emily, stay with Nicolette. She will watch you tonight, and you can watch tv until nine.¡± Emily smiled through a mouth full of food and hugged her brother with one arm before going back to the plate.

    James turned to Nicolette and hugged her wholeheartedly, then pulled away and brushed a strand of hair that had drifted away from the ponytail she had hastily made when he had walked in with his sister so she could cook something up without it getting in the way. She smiled and managed to hide the blush that threatened to rise, then watched as he walked away and out the doors to get ready.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you tell him? I would love to have you as a sister-in-law,¡± Emily casually said as she used her fork to make swirls in the mashed potatoes on her plate.

    Nicolette turned to face the child in shock, her face as red as tomato paste. No words could come to the surface as Emily gave her the most innocent look she could muster up before giving in and giggling at the expression on her babysitter¡¯s face. Nicolette could only stare at the girl who had guessed what her own brother was blind to.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about! I would never¡­¡± she slowly became silent and stared at the floor before taking a deep breath and burying her head in her arms.

    ¡°She¡¯s so pretty. I could never compare to someone like Terra, her intelligence and looks are just too high for me,¡± Nicolette whined. The clatter of Emily¡¯s fork on her plate shocked her out of her sad state. She turned to Emily, who just so happened to have jumped up on her stool with her hands on her hips to glare at Nicolette.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare doubt yourself! I know my brother, and if you simply told him your feelings that Terra wouldn¡¯t stand a chance!¡± This small speech of Emily¡¯s seemed to hype up the girl. She proceeded to jump onto the counter and threw her fist in the air, a determined look on her face.

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    It was enough to make Nicolette smirk. She had to admit, since she first met Emily her attitude made her feel more appreciative towards life. She seemed so happy about everything, and when she was told she would never walk again after what had happened all those years ago, she still fought to get back on her feet. Seeing her like this even now gave Nicolette hope.

    ¡°You know...maybe I will. Not today, nor tomorrow, but I will at some point,¡± Nicolette said with a laugh. She picked up Emily off the counter and set her down on the floor before picking up the plate and taking it to the sink where she started to clean the dishes.

    Emily watched with a butter knife in her hand, twirling it in her fingers in boredom. As she watched Nicolette do the dishes, she got an idea. Smiling, she lifted her hands and concentrated on the water pressure as well as the bottle of soap. Without missing a beat, she used her magic to make the bottle explode and made the water change directions and mix with the soap in the air.

    Bubbles instantly filled the air. Nicolette cried out in alarm and backed away from the dishes, then realized what Emily had just done. She spun around to see her sitting on a particularly large, magic filled bubble floating in the air. Emily was laughing at the look on her face, almost losing concentration in the process.

    The bubble popped, spitting soap all over the kitchen and covering Emily. She gasped and fell into Nicolette¡¯s arms, both of them so slippery they collapsed on the floor. Giggling, they sat up and wiped the soap off their hands and faces. Nicolette was the first to stand up and turn off the faucet.

    Turning to face the soapy kitchen, she only had to glance at certain points of the walls that was dripping wet for the area to clean itself. Her magic was obviously more advanced than Emily¡¯s, and as the kitchen became clean in a very quick, skilled fashion as the young girl watched with her eyes wide, Nicolette swore to herself that she would protect Emily with each breath she held in her body.

    James stood near the doorway smiling as he heard his sister¡¯s giggling. He knew she loved Nicolette, and little did either of the girls know that his own love for Nicolette would be the reason Emily would find the one she loved herself.

    <hr />

    Hi guys! So I know it''s abnormal for me to update so often, but I''m on vacation this week so I can write all I want since my teachers gave me no homework! OK, slightly lying, I''m supposed to be reading but I can do that during the weekend. Either way, expect some more chapters, maybe about two or three so I can try and catch it up to how many chapters I have in my other two novels, so for once I will be writing quite a bit. I hope you guys enjoy this new novel because I''m having a lot of fun writing this one!

 Chapter 5: A Destiny Foretold

    ************Ron POV************

    Silence. The scent of roses stung Ron¡¯s nose as he stared down the man who had caused thousands of lives to be destroyed. There was obvious fear in Drudard¡¯s eyes at the shattered weapon, but he still held his ground for some reason.

    ¡°My name is Drudard Trugg, King of the Vulgend Mountain. What business do you have to breach my kingdom and murder my men?¡± He glared at Ron as he spoke, keeping his voice calm.

    ¡°It seems you have caused more pain than I thought, your highness,¡± Ron hissed through his teeth. ¡°I will be taking those slaves you keep with you and give them a better life. As for you¡­¡± he trailed off as he noticed the single rose bush that lay in a patch of dirt.

    The scent was drifting from the single bush. It was strangely strong, even with it being held in a room like it was. The most interesting aspect about it wasn¡¯t the smell though, it was the look of the roses themselves. They were red with white centers, and each one seemed to be faintly glowing.

    Ron was so taken by the roses he didn¡¯t notice Drudard as he attempted to slip away. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that he stepped on a half broken tile, Ron wouldn¡¯t have noticed he had disappeared.

    The sound of the tile shifting woke him from this trance. Spinning on his heels, he bent quickly and grabbed a shard of the sword that had broken earlier and threw it at the fleeing king. He didn¡¯t have time to cry out as it buried itself into his back, breaking through the armor like there was nothing there.

    ¡°I have to admit, you almost had me there. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that I¡¯ve been planning on killing you in the first place, I would have let you live,¡± Ron said with a grin, placing his foot where the shard had dug into.

    ¡°I will let you keep whatever you want. J-just let me live!¡± Durdard whimpered as blood started to seep out from his armor and onto the stairway.

    There were no emotions on his face as the light behind Durdard¡¯s eyes died. Ron knew that he could have pleaded for his life all he wanted, but with the shard lodged so deep into his body there was no chance of him surviving in the first place. Kicking the body of the old king aside, Ron strode forward to take a closer look at the rose bush.

    It¡¯s petals seemed to glimmer as he got closer. The scent wasn¡¯t as strong as he has perceived it to be, but it seemed to be concentrated because of the room the rosebush was planted. A slight jolt ran through him as realization took hold.

    ¡°They treat it like a god,¡± Ron whispered in amazement as the image of the chest plates, the emblems, and the flag upon that ship came to mind.

    Truly it was like a god to these men. They had centered their most important artifacts upon this single rose bush, and naturally Ron was curious to find out what had caused them to act such a way. The look of the roses were certainly different than any kind he had ever seen, but what properties made it god-like?

    Knowing there was not much time to contemplate such things, he did the only thing he could do. He used a simple spell to cause the dirt around the rose bush to soften, and as easily as pulling a potato out of a mud pit, the bush was risen from the ground it had once laid in.

    He created a temporary garden in a nest of vines he had grown in the room at will, and when the bush was properly secure in its bundle he sealed the area and left to find the people he originally came for. He could feel their pain far below to where the Earth was as hard as rock. Ron had to concentrate for a few seconds before he pinpointed the location as to where they were, but when he found them his reaction was almost instantaneous.

    Pushing through a side door and racing past what looked like the kitchen area, he found a large set of stairs that obviously led underground. His senses heightened as he recognized the agonizing wails from the people below, sounds that echoed from the very walls of the stairway.

    He ran down each step as fast as he could, taking them almost three at a time. It didn¡¯t take long until he practically ran into a male slave who seemed to be walking up to take his turn as a server from how he was dressed. Obviously nobody had gone down to release them nor tell them of what was happening since the look on the man¡¯s face was one of pure confusion and fear.

    ¡°Come, my friend. I am not here to deliver harm to you, I have come to take you away to a land where you will be safe,¡± Ron said calmly. He reached out his hand, hardly expecting the man to take it.

    The slave looked at Ron, even more confusion on his face than fear now. He glanced at the outstretched hand, then back to the one who was offering it. To both of their surprise, he hesitantly took it before clenching his eyes shut as if expecting to be whipped or killed for his actions.

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    A warm smile spread across Ron¡¯s face as he nodded and shook his hand. Releasing it with ease, he started back down the stairs to find more. The slave only stood in a dazed reaction, then realized where the odd man was running. He quickly started to follow without saying a word.

    ¡°Are the others locked up? Shall I have to break open any type of gate?¡± Ron started asking as he ran around a corner.

    To his surprise, he came face to face with an arrow pointed at his skull. He froze and held his hand out to push the slave back around the corner and out of sight. What got to him the most was that the person holding the bow was a gorgeous woman.

    She seemed to be in her early twenties with an olive complexion. Her hair was in a tight braid down her back, and her armor was the same as the men¡¯s but better fitted. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that she was holding a weapon to him, she might have been the first woman Ron would have fell for.

    Instead, there was a dark annoyance in his heart. He truly didn¡¯t want to hurt this girl, but she was making it difficult for him to not have to cause her some kind of harm. Ron attempted to raise his hand to push the tip of the arrow away from him but the girl had a sharp eye. She kicked out with enough force that Ron hit the wall behind him.

    ¡°My name is Fliour, daughter of Rouflin Salindoor. I wish you no harm, but come no closer to these good people!¡± She screamed in anger. Hatred burned in her eyes as she stared down at the man she had kicked, refusing to take her eyes off him.

    ¡°G-good people? Do you mean those you put behind those bars?¡± Ron hissed back, noticing the eyes filled with fear that gleamed from the shadows behind thick, black bars as large as tree limbs.

    ¡°Fliour! Put away your arrow! This is a good man, I beg of you not to harm him any further!¡± The slave that was behind the corner came into sight and held his hands up in surrender. The woman¡¯s eyes opened wide at the sight of him, but did as she was told.

    ¡°How do you know he is good? For all we know, he could be from some foreign kingdom as an assassin to claim the...you know,¡± the girl growled. Ron watched the girl, and as he looked at her it seemed that his heart had a slight beating that grew slightly.

    ¡°This man didn¡¯t kill me, did he? Well, I think we should trust him,¡± the man said with his arms crossed in defiance. The woman, Fliour, gave him a look of annoyance before lowering her weapon and glaring at Ron.

    ¡°He is right. I am not here to murder any of you particularly, but I am here to take you all away as quickly as possible. My mission from the beginning was to bring you to a place where I hope you will happily inhabit and be free from the troubles this life brings you,¡± Ron said as he knelt before the people before him.

    This was something none of the slaves had experienced before. As he knelt before them, the shock grew amongst the large group until a small boy walked forward in curiosity. A woman, obviously his mother, gasped slightly and stepped forward to grab his arm, but the child was much faster.

    As he approached the man, Ron glanced up and looked into the child¡¯s eyes. He could see the pain and hope that gleamed from them that had grown for many years beforehand. The small boy took his head in both hands and looked at him, then when he slightly trusted him, he kissed his forehead.

    What happened was completely unexpected.

    Without warning, Ron was thrown into darkness. He felt like he was being sucked under a river of black ink, unable to resurface. In that darkness he saw images that confused him more than anything he had ever known. Visions came over him, a young woman he didn¡¯t recognize crying in a room while he watched from a crack in a doorway, the same woman rising from a lake with nothing but her long, brown hair trailing down her back with droplets of water streaming down her body.

    Then screaming. He could feel the panic as what looked like a small town was surrounded by evil creatures all wishing to cause death and destruction. The woman throwing herself into the hands of the man who seemed to have control over the chaos. The tears in her eyes as she seemed to scream one thing, one thing he couldn¡¯t make out as the visions disappeared and Ron was sucked back into the darkness.

    When Ron came back to reality, he was more than confused. He was nauseous after the incident but somehow managed to hold himself together. The young boy stared at Ron in curiosity, as if he knew what he was to see after doing what he did.

    ¡°Who¡¯s Emily?¡± The boy asked after a few seconds of silence.

 OK, Opinions needed

    It seemed there are quite a few confusions going on at this point in the novel. BUT I would like to know what is wrong, so I am putting up a small poll to ask what I can do to fix this confusion. At this point, I had left a few things open on purpose, so certain parts are supposed to be confusing up to (hopefully) the next two chapters.

    So the options for this poll consist of should I add a summary of the chapter every time, do I need to add who''s POV I am doing in the title, do I need to clear things up in the same chapter instead of the next one, and do I need to add more descriptions about what is going on.

    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    If none of these are what is confusing to you guys, it would be incredibly helpful for future chapters for you guys to comment below on this poll so I can make sure to make each chapter the best it can be!

    ^-^ Hope you guys enjoy it so far though! It''s my new favorite to work on, and I am still doing the other two novels of mine, I''m just trying to catch this up a bit first before I update the others. Juggling school and stuff as a graduating senior isn''t the easiest but imma do it for you all!

 OK, Opinions needed

    It seems at the moment there are many people who are confused as to what is going on in the novel. I want to make sure I can make the novel the best it can be. There are some things in it that I am purposefully leaving confusing, it is not meant to be explained until the next two chapters, so I can''t exactly explain those to make it less confusing.  Now, I am posting a poll that has four options.

    What do you guys think will be good? Would a summary at the end of every chapter be good? Or should I stop leaving certain things unclear? Do I need to give more descriptions? Or should I just word things differently?

    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    If the issue for some of you isn''t what I am putting in the poll, please comment! I really want to make this novel the best it can be while working on two other novels as well(what have I done to myself). So please comment and tell me what you think can help!

    ^-^ I am glad that it seems you all are liking it though, this has more followers than either of my other novels combined! Excited to see what you all think should change!

    <hr />

    ;-; royalroadl likes to make laptop wack out if I stay on the site too long so it made me think it didn''t post so sorry for the double posting!

 Chapter 6: A Childs Innocence

    ************Emily POV************

    Emily was lying in bed with a small smile on her face. She had helped clean the kitchen after having caused the mess in the first place, and even when Nicolette had scolded her for doing what she did there were no regrets in her mind.

    A door closed in the other room, signaling to Emily that James had returned home. Temptation bubbled up in her chest to go and greet him, but the low growl her brother gave out was enough to keep her in bed. He was obviously in a bad mood and judgement told Emily not to do anything stupid.

    ¡°James, what happened?¡± Nicolette¡¯s voice was faint, the worry in it enough to tell Emily that the date was obviously a failure.

    ¡°Terra called Emily a brat for having been outside at night, so I left her at the table,¡± James hissed after a moment of silence. Emily¡¯s eyes grew wide in hurt at the memory of her brother running out to save her, but she continued listening to the conversation.

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t let her get to you, she does seem to have an interest so she might warm up to the thought of-¡±

    ¡°The thought of what, Nicolette? Do you honestly think I would go for someone who would say such things about my own sister?!¡±

    ¡°I never said that, I¡¯m only saying that she might have been worried about your wellbeing so she spoke out of context,¡± Nicolette said firmly. A huff came from what sounded like James.

    Emily stared at her bedroom door as she wondered whether or not it would be a good idea to crawl over and press her ear against the frame so she could hear the conversation better. When her brother¡¯s voice started to rise, she decided to stay where she was.

    ¡°Damn it, I can care less about her being concerned with what I do on my own time! I can take care of myself,¡± James cried. Silence filled the room for about a minute until Nicolette replied in a softer voice.

    ¡°Do you care about me being concerned?¡± Again, silence. Emily strained to hear what was going on, and when no sound came she slowly slipped off her bed and crawled over to the door. A minute later her brother replied in a tone almost too soft for Emily to hear, but it was enough.

    ¡°I care about you in the first place, I would hope you would be concerned about me, Nicolette.¡± A small hiccup came from the other room, and the young girl realized that one of them were crying.

    ¡°J-James, do you love me? I mean really l-love me?¡± Nicolette hiccuped. So it was her who was crying, which didn¡¯t really surprise Emily since she had never seen her own brother cry. But the question that she had asked was enough to completely shock her out of her own thoughts. Emily reached up and slowly turned the doorknob and cracked the door open, peeking out to see what was happening.

    What she saw made her stick out her tongue in mock disgust. The five year old girl had opened it the same moment her brother had wrapped his arms around Nicolette and kissed her. It took everything inside Emily not to burst out laughing at the look of surprise on Nicolette¡¯s face as James held her against him. When Nicolette relaxed and closed her eyes and kissed him back, Emily couldn¡¯t help but giggle.

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    Sadly, both of them heard it.

    ¡°E-Emily! What are you doing up?¡± Nicolette gasped as she pulled away from the kiss, her face completely red. James himself kept his arms around her waist but his own color had turned the color of the tomatoes that were lying on the kitchen counter in the room over.

    ¡°Does this mean you two are married? I want you two to be married!¡± Emily giggled, opening the door fully and stepping out into the living room.

    ¡°Not exactly, at least not at the moment. That won¡¯t come for a few years,¡± her brother said with a grin. Nicolette¡¯s face grew even more red at his words.

    ¡°Well, I wanna be the flower girl when you do. And I wanna help pick out cake like I did for Kelli¡¯s wedding,¡± Emily said as she thought back to a year ago when the guild master¡¯s wife had allowed her to go along for the cake taste testing in the guild¡¯s main kitchen area. The guild master was known for his harshness when it came to rules and punishments, but to everyone¡¯s surprise that year he had proposed to a woman who had been notorious for breaking said rules.

    James kissed Nicolette on the forehead before releasing her to walk towards his sister. Emily automatically raised her arms to be picked up, which her brother did with a grin. He carried her back to her bed and laid her down before pulling the covers back on to her and tucking in the small child.

    ¡°Sleep and we will talk about that tomorrow. Right now, Nicolette and i have some things to discuss. No more getting out of bed!¡± He firmly said. Emily nodded obediently and grabbed her favorite stuffed animal from the side of her bed and curled up more under the covers.

    When James left the room, Emily let her eyes close and mind wander. There was no doubt in her mind that her brother would someday marry Nicolette, and as Emily fell asleep the only thing on her mind was cake and flowers.

    <hr />

    I hope the POV thing helps a bit! I decided not to put it in the title since I like how I add the title names instead, so I put the POV at the beginning of each chapter, EXCEPT for the first two chapters since they already have the character names in the title. Also, if it is STILL confusing, only thing you should know is this is leading up to what is gonna happen. So let the confusion sit inside until I finish typing the rest of the next chapter, which should be done today if not tomorrow, so expect double post today or tomorrow! Maybe even three posts I don''t know, depends if I have time, but we shall see!

 Chapter 7: A Helping Hand

    ************Ron POV************

    The young boy looked up at Ron in curiosity. The image of the woman was plastered into Ron¡¯s mind, a woman who seemed to have more intelligence and strength than what most people would think at first glance.

    ¡°Jeremy, come back here!¡± The boy¡¯s mother whispered, holding her hand out. A frantic look on her face made Jeremy quickly walk back to her.

    From the looks of things, groups among the people had formed based on culture. Ron himself had none, for he had grown up in isolation so seeing the different kinds of creatures was almost shocking to him. What caught his eye the most was what looked like a tattoo of a shield on one man. It took up the space of his left forearm, and it seemed he was newly captured.

    Ron wanted to ask him a question about the tattoo but it was the familiarity of it that caught his attention. It took him a few seconds to realize that he saw the same one on the girl that had been in his vision. His memory of her was starting to slip, and even with his level of intelligence he couldn¡¯t hold on to how she looked. It was like water slipping between his fingers, there was nothing he could do but hold a few clips of her for a short time.

    Still in slight shock, Ron had to force himself back to reality as yelling came from upstairs. Terror ran through the large group of people as they realized more soldiers had come for them. There was almost six hundred slaves based off the long line of cages and how many people could sit in each one.

    ¡°If you all wish to live peacefully, in a place where no harm shall come to you, then follow me and I will give you all the kind of life you would wish for your children in the future!¡± Ron cried, holding his hand out to the crowd.

    The yelling was getting louder with each second, footsteps echoing off the stone stairs. The man who had run into Ron in the first place stepped to him with a look of determination.

    ¡°I will follow you,¡± he said. The moment the man said that, others stepped forward as well. The woman with her sword wasn''t sure how to react, so she followed suit. Any feelings he might have had for her was gone in the confusion of things.

    A group of soldiers ran down the last steps and immediately attacked. Ron grabbed the first man and threw him against a wall to stun him. No more blood was to be spilled that day.

    He took a deep breath and created a wall of vines and thorns between the slaves and the soldiers. Cries of surprise came from the other side, but where Ron stood there was no sound. He turned to face the people and found all were in shock at what he had just done.

    ¡°I-if you truly wish to protect these people, then you have my sword,¡± Fliour said and knelt to the ground. There was no more fear in the air as the rest of the crowd followed and bowed before him.

    He wasn''t expecting this kind of reaction. It almost made him uncomfortable, but in the heat of the moment he did the last thing he could think of. He nodded to the group and started to bark out orders as quick as he could.

    ¡°You there, with the tattoo! I want you to follow me and help me with a small project. The rest of you, I will send you to your new home. There is plenty of food and water where you are going, so eat and gain your strength, I will return as quickly as I can,¡± he cried as he waved his hand over the crowd. All but the man was covered in a deep blue light, and in an instant they disappeared from sight.

    ¡°Why did you choose me, sir?¡± The man asked as Ron cast a spell that created a flower on the other side that would let out a gas to cause the soldiers to lose consciousness.

    ¡°You seem to be one of the strongest among the group, and I hope to use your strength to retrieve something with me,¡± he explained as the vines shrunk down. He walked forward with the man trailing behind him.

    ¡°My name is Arturo. I was captured during a mission to take a flower from a special rose bush that lies hidden somewhere in this castle about a month ago. It was the mission that would have proven my worth in my guild, but¡­¡± the young man trailed off. He seemed to be around the age of eighteen, give or take a year.

    ¡°Well then, Arturo. I suppose it¡¯s time you prove your ¡®worth¡¯ now isn¡¯t it?¡± Ron said with a smile as they stepped out into the kitchen area where there seemed to be thirty or forty soldiers waiting.

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    Arturo¡¯s eyes widened slightly. He looked around for some kind of weapon before his eyes laid upon the hammer that was used to hit the large furnace bellow to heat up certain parts of the castle. It was a hefty object, one that no mere servant could pick up. Luckily for him, he wasn¡¯t a normal servant in the first place.

    Heaving the huge weapon onto his shoulder, he ran forward and started to swing. To his surprise, it was lighter than it looked, but it still created an impact. He easily took out five soldiers without help from Ron, but it was obvious that he would need his assistance.

    The two men fought side by side until all the men were either knocked out or had fled. Both were breathing heavily, but felt more relaxed than they had beforehand. Arturo smiled at Ron and stood up straight, then looked at the weapon in his hand.

    ¡°I think I like this kind of weapon,¡± he said with a hearty laugh. Ron laughed with him, then the two walked out and followed the hallways to where the throne room was.

    When they reached the area where the bush was held, it took both men to hold it together while avoiding the thorns. Ron didn¡¯t want to use any more magic than he had to, so he used the rest of what he decided to use for the day to teleport the two men to the island.

    He had a specific place chosen for it. While Arturo gazed at the landscape they were in, Ron started to work on planting the bush. To his amazement, he didn¡¯t have any control to what it would do to the island itself. As the roots took a hold to the dirt, the scent of the roses spread in all directions. The area itself, a circle of trees that surrounded a large area of dirt that once had held an old patch of clovers, had suddenly became a different color completely.

    The ground became a peachy color, and even though the trees didn¡¯t change the grass that surrounded them did. It was like it had suddenly taken on a mind of its own, and nothing Ron could do would change the coloring back to what it once was, nor could he block the strong scent of rose.

    As the finishing touches were put in place to make sure the bush was stable, Ron turned to Arturo. He was staring at the rose bush, and it was obvious that it was incredibly important to him to receive a flower as he had mentioned before.

    ¡°What abilities does it have that makes it so valuable?¡± Ron asked him. It snapped Arturo out of his thoughts, and instead his eyes lite up at the question.

    ¡°It heals all ailments one might have or gain. My mentor has fallen ill himself with a certain kind of poison that only this flower can heal. There is only one plant that contains these, and you not hold it in your possession,¡± he explained with a hint of worry. ¡°If you harvest it wrong, it will turn black and die automatically. The only way to harvest a flower off it is by a special-¡±

    Arturo gasped in shock as Ron simply plucked a flower from its stem and held it out to the man as if there was nothing wrong. In fact, nothing bad happened to the flower at all.

    ¡°If it¡¯s that important to you, take it with you. You may return home or stay with us, my friend.¡± Ron brushed his hands off on his shirt and turned to head towards where the village was starting to be built.

    ¡°W-wait! How do I get home? And how can I repay you for what you¡¯ve done for me?¡± Arturo asked anxiously. Ron started laughing and walked back to the man and shook his hand.

    ¡°You don¡¯t repay me, I don¡¯t wish for anything more than what I have. I will return you to your homeland, all I ask is that you grow strong and don¡¯t forget what kindness is.¡± Arturo nodded, then closed his eyes and followed the directions given to him by Ron. In an instant, he was gone in a flash of light.

    As the tree-man turned to walk along the path to where the newly freed slaves were beginning to build their own village, he began to wonder about the woman he had seen in the vision that boy had shown him. He couldn¡¯t remember how she looked, but he could still hear the screams that had escaped from her lips. The image of the shield was burned into his mind, and he vowed to protect that girl if he ever found her.

    Of course, neither Ron nor Emily would be prepared for the day they met, especially when Ron would be the one who would create the first real battle she had experienced outside of her guild.

 Chapter 8: Born to Die

    ************Emily POV************

    ¡°If you don¡¯t wake up right this instant, you are not going to get to see your new niece!¡± The harshness of James¡¯s voice was enough to wake up his sister from the bottom of the staircase.

    The thought of missing out on seeing her newborn niece caused Emily to immediately throw the covers off her body and stumble to her feet. Her brother and his wife had been trying for three years to have a child and when Nicolette had finally conceived, it was Emily who had become even more excited than the two of them.

    ¡°I swear if you leave me I¡¯ll shove my foot where the sun doesn¡¯t shine!¡± Emily yelled down as she pulled a green shirt out of her closet. Slipping it on while running down the stairs, she almost crashed into her brother.

    ¡°Hurry up, the clinic already contacted me about her being close. Nicolette herself will murder me if I¡¯m not there for it,¡± James said as he grabbed his sister¡¯s hand and pulled her behind him.

    The siblings ran out the front door and past multiple guild members. As James went by, they all bowed in respect to him. He paid no mind to them, and all those around didn¡¯t mind. They all knew where his mind was.

    ¡°What took you so long? Emily, you stay out here until you are called in. James is to come right away,¡± a nurse said from a doorway. James ran ahead of his sister to follow the nurse while Emily crossed her arms and walked the rest of the way to a small room filled with seats.

    The waiting room almost looked like something out of an old movie, with its white tile floor and light brown walls. There was a mahogany table set off on to one side with a few chairs around it, while the rest of the room was almost bare looking save for three rows of newer looking blue chairs that the guild master¡¯s wife thought would be a good choice for the room.

    Emily sat down on one of the plush, deep blue chairs and crossed her legs. The tattoo of her guild¡¯s symbol on her shoulder was covered by the sleeves of her shirt, and the black pants stood out against the chair. She sat there as she waited to be told to go in and see Nicolette¡¯s new daughter.

    She had turned twenty almost three months beforehand, and her training had turned her into a quick-witted, intelligent woman. In the end, her brother was the one who worked on training her in magic. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that she had become a quick learner after the way she was taught, she wouldn¡¯t have become as strong as she was.

    So when the nurse came out in silence after about an hour and a half, Emily automatically knew something was terribly wrong.

    ¡°Your brother has requested you to retrieve Arturo. There is something...wrong with the baby, but she is alive at the moment,¡± she said with her eyes cast down.

    Emily¡¯s mouth went dry as pain raced through her at the thought of losing the child. She had been preparing to take care of Nicolette for the first few years of the baby¡¯s life, but the thought of losing her was more than even she could handle. The chair that she had been sitting in suddenly felt as hard as a stone as she let the nurse¡¯s words sink in.

    Without another question, Emily jumped to her feet and bolted down the hallway. She had a general idea where her old mentor would be, but as she ran outside the meeting hall and to the outdoors she spread a nice bit of her special darkness-infused wind magic to find him. As she thought, he was in the training area.

    ¡°Arturo, James needs you! There¡¯s something wrong with the baby!¡± Emily yelled as she burst through the doorway.

    Arturo, dressed in his famous black and green training suit, turned towards the young woman instantly at the words she spoke. He quickly placed his war hammer against the brick wall near the weapons rack and took off towards the guild¡¯s quarters faster than Emily could even run while using her magic at full capacity.

    Emily followed as quickly as she could while her thoughts were taking over. She couldn¡¯t think of anything to calm herself down so instead she allowed her mind to come up with ways to help whatever could be wrong with her niece. Before she knew it, she was breathing heavily inside the medicine hall with the medical cleric holding a small bundle in her arms.

    ¡°There is nothing we can do, not with an ailment like this,¡± the nurse was explaining to Nicolette, who was laying on the bed with tear stains on her face.

    Emily could only stand and stare at the bundle in the cleric¡¯s arms. The only thing visible about the baby was a small hand, a hand that was covered in small blue veins that almost made it look like the owner of the hand was dead. But to her surprise, the small bundle made a whimpered noise.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with her? Is there anyway to help her?¡± Emily stuttered and held her arms out to take the baby. The cleric shook her head and stepped back slightly.

    ¡°Nobody, not even the mother, is allowed to touch her at the moment. The moment she had skin on skin contact her skin turned blue. We discovered she had a rare disease that only comes from parents who have a large amount of magical quantities built up inside them,¡± the cleric explained.

    Emily had learned about this years ago, back when she was sixteen her brother had explained why it was so hard for any kind of magical being to have children. Magic naturally creates a barrier in both sides, but if a child is born then they tend to be incredibly powerful because of the magic in both.

    There are rare times that a baby is conceived where the barrier comes in contact at the same time. This creates a slow death so painful that when the baby is born, they usually die in a week or two. The barrier cuts off the blood flow in the child and stops its heart in that time period, so naturally most couples who both work with magic don¡¯t attempt to have children at all.

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    In the end, her brother and sister-in-law had ended up with the deadly disease. And it was one that wasn¡¯t curable at all. Except for one thing that could save her, and only Arturo knew about it.

    ¡°There is a way to save her, but I can not do it myself. It will take a bit of teleportation, and in my age I wouldn¡¯t survive the process to go there,¡± Arturo sighed in defeat. Emily glanced at him before grabbing his hand and dragging him out of the medical room.

    ¡°What are you talking about? Is there really a way to save her?¡± Emily asked desperately, hope suddenly filling her heart.

    ¡°Well, only one way. Years ago, back when I was only a few years younger than you, I was sent on a mission to retrieve a flower from a special rose bush set in a kingdom not even I could fight my way through,¡± he explained. ¡°Regardless, I was not as strong as I am now, but I believe you could retrieve it yourself. I am the only one who knows where it is, but it would kill me.¡±

    ¡°Whatever it is, I will find it. It needs to be done as soon as possible or the chances of her living will be too slim. I wouldn¡¯t be able to live with myself if she died,¡± Emily whispered. She didn¡¯t want her brother to hear or else he might leave his wife to find what it was Arturo was speaking of himself. That was the last thing she wanted.

    Arturo seemed to consider this for a few seconds before smiling at Emily¡¯s decision. She quickly turned and gestured for her to follow. The two of them walked to where a small sign with the words ¡®Weapons Hall: Please Ask Permission First¡¯ was written. Without even reading it, Arturo opened up the door and walked right through while Emily followed suit.

    ¡°What are we doing in here? I¡¯ve never been allowed in this room before,¡± Emily said in alarm. Arturo only chuckled and walked to the corner of the room where a chest was laid.

    He easily lifted the heavy lid and reached inside. Emily watched as he pulled out three objects; a lightweight broadsword that she had never seen anyone use in the guild before, a black pouch small enough to hook on to a belt, and a small orb.

    ¡°This is a device I found about six years ago. It''s an object that makes teleportation simple but physically draining. The sword is something that was given to me as a gift, and you will use this bag for the flower,¡± he explained.

    Emily looked at all the items Arturo handed her, then began to feel a bit of hope. The only issue was she didn''t know how to use the orb. She was about to ask when the thought of her clothing made her stop.

    ¡°Give me a few seconds, I want to wear my training gear!¡± Emily quickly left the room before Arturo could say anything against it. She knew she wanted to have her leather chest plate she had the armorman create for her. Other than that she decided wearing black would help her hide herself.

    When she was finished and was back with her old mentor, he made her she was fully prepared for whatever laid ahead. He wasn''t sure if the man he once knew was still in control so he was worried about her.

    ¡°Place your hand on the orb and let yourself relax. I will do all the work but you will be the one who is sent away,¡± Arturo said.

    She did what she was told. Thoughts of what she would see was soon clouded over by the hope of saving her niece. It wasn''t long before it felt like her body was being pulled in all directions. No words would escape her mouth from the sudden decrease in strength.

    Heat overtook her body. Her eyes slowly opened and found she was laying on sand with the orb next to her. Hands shivering, she grabbed the orb and quickly placed it in the pouch. The sword on her back didn''t help with the weariness that had overtaken her, but she forced herself forward.

    It was odd how strong the scent of rose was. She guessed that as long as she followed the scent she would be fine. The issue with that was with how weak she was, the smell was making her nauseous.

    The mission at hand that her mentor had given her was something she had made more important than her own well being. She fought forward through a line of trees, when to her shock a large creature that seemed to be made of a plant rose up in front of her.

    Emily didn''t have time to let the shock sink in for at the creature attacked without warning. She did the best she could to dodge while reaching back to grab the weapon on her back. As the thing turned back to strike once more, Emily infused as much magic into the weapon as possible while she swung it at her enemy.

    The plant creature fell to the ground, chopped perfectly in half. Emily gasped as she fell backward, the strength in her body finally giving out. She was barely able to scream as blackness hit her, and as she lost consciousness she didn¡¯t feel herself hit the dirt floor.

    ************Ron POV************

    Ron held the woman in his arms as her eyes rolled in the back of her head, curiosity taking over as a memory slightly called him from the back of his mind, but with nothing having come up from when he tried to think of it, he simply picked up the woman in his arms and walked back to his cabin to question her when she woke up.

 Chapter 9: Love Struck

    ************Ron POV************

    Ron laid the woman down on the bed in the spare room he had specifically for outsiders set up in his own cabin. He unstrapped the belt she had around her waist to make her more comfortable and instantly recognized the black bag tied to it.

    ¡°I¡¯ve only seen one person carry this, but I have not seen him in many years,¡± he whispered to himself. His first thought was that the woman breathing softly on the bed had possibly killed Arturo, but she didn¡¯t look like the type to do so.

    When it didn¡¯t seem like she would wake up any time soon, he turned and walked away from the room and locked it from the outside. From there he went and poured himself some tea before wandering the cabin deep in thought.

    It had been years since anybody had tried to step onto the island. Since Ron had brought the villagers back from that kingdom long ago, he doubled his protective measures to be certain they would be safe. The fact that someone had managed to get onto it without noticing until they had actually got on it was above even him.

    He had started dinner by the time there was any kind of movement coming from the other room. Ron turned at the sound of the bed creak, so he let the fire burn in the fireplace as the soup boiled and walked to the door. Before he could even press his hand to the wood, the girl¡¯s sword was shoved straight throw and almost got him in the chest.

    Ron fell backwards in alarm. The door was locked, but even with that the girl proceeded to chop her way through. He had never dealt with someone like this before, especially a woman, so when she had managed to cut her way through the door with a scared but determined look he felt slight sympathy for her.

    The sympathy didn¡¯t last too long. The woman ran at him with sword in hand and gave Ron only a few seconds to react himself. He raised his hand and grabbed the blade by the smooth side before twisting it out of her grasp. She seemed to be expecting this, though, since she kicked out at that moment and landed on top of him. She pinned Ron to the cabin floor and held his face there.

    He didn¡¯t want to hurt her, so they wrestled each other until Ron himself had her against the ground. Both were breathing heavily but the woman seemed to be the most out of shape. Blood slightly dripped from her shoulder and forehead as she glared up at him.

    ¡°What is your name?¡± Ron asked, kicked the sword farther out of reach. It was then that he noticed what it was that had cut her.

    Glittering crystal made light dance all over the ceiling and wall. Something had shattered, and it belonged to the girl for she cried out in alarm and terror when she saw it.

    ¡°No! That was my only way back home! My niece will die!¡± She gasped and struggled out of Ron¡¯s grasp. She stumbled to where the broken pieces were and started to scoop them up before hissing slightly and pulling her hand back while more blood dripped from a cut that was made there.

    ¡°You came here for one of the flowers, didn¡¯t you?¡± Ron finally asked after a few seconds of silence. He understood at that point that the girl had come to steal a flower.

    The woman glanced at him sideways with sadness in her eyes. Ron didn¡¯t understand why, but the look in her eyes made his heart beat faster. He wanted to hold her and tell her everything would be fine when he had never felt something like it before. He shook the feeling off and stood up.

    ¡°My newborn niece...she has an illness that is incurable. None of our guild¡¯s nurses or even light magic can help her. If I don¡¯t get whatever damned flower it is I¡¯m looking for, she will be dead!¡± The girl cried as tears started to stream down her face.

    Ron didn¡¯t like thieves, but his mind was slowly forgetting just how much he hated them as the tears hit the wooden floors. He finally gave in and growled in annoyance at the weakness he was showing, but did his best to give the appearance of a strong will.

    ¡°If I give you that flower and send you back home, you must come back within a year¡¯s time. When you do, you will serve under my roof for a full two years. I don¡¯t find stealing to be an action so easy to get away with,¡± he growled. The woman looked up at him with sudden hope in her eyes instead of the horror Ron had been expecting.

    ¡°I¡¯ll do it! I¡¯ll do whatever you ask me to do, just please let me have a flower!¡± The woman was back on her feet in excitement. Ron himself was taken aback and stared at her for a few seconds before picking up the black bag off the floor and went straight to the front door.

    ¡°Come, I will send you home when you receive the bag and the flower,¡± he said as the woman stood up and walked by his side.

    ¡°Emily,¡± she suddenly said. Ron stopped next to a large bush a bit further than she was before turning around to look at her.

    ¡°What was that?¡± The woman¡¯s face went bright red before she glanced at the closest tree to her to escape his eyesight.

    ¡°My name. My name is Emily,¡± she stuttered. Ron stared at her for a few seconds before a slow smile spread across his face unwillingly.

    ¡°Emily. I like it,¡± he said. Emily¡¯s face grew an even darker red as Ron turned and continued walking.

    It didn¡¯t take very long to get to the rose bush. Ron had deliberately placed his cottage fairly close to the area where it was planted so if something happened he would be able to reach it quickly. Emily wrinkled her nose at the scent while Ron walked right up and swiftly plucked a rose from the plant. He placed it in the small bag and pulled the drawstring tightly closed.

    ¡°Here, take it. Your niece will immediately be healed, but let her rest for about three days until she is allowed to see anybody else but you and your family. The stress could make her body reject the flower¡¯s ability to fully heal her,¡± Ron said as the bag was handed to the girl.

    She looked at the bag that was in her hand, then back up at Ron. Her eyes were shining with happiness and hope, then she did something that would make Ron stunned for as long as the woman was gone.

    She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek before she even realized what she was doing.

    Ron¡¯s jaw dropped. The man over eleven hundred thousand years old had been stunned for the first time in his life, and it was by a woman who had come to steal something off his own island. Even Emily was in shock that she had done such a thing, for she stepped back a few paces before bowing and apologizing over and over again.

    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    ¡°I¡¯m truly completely and utterly sorry sir, I don¡¯t know what came over me! I was just so happy that I¡­¡± she couldn¡¯t find any more words to continue what she was saying, so all she did was continue to say sorry.

    ¡°I-it¡¯s fine Emily, but don¡¯t you need to be going home now?¡± Ron asked after he pulled himself together.

    ¡°Oh! Yes! Please, please send me home! I live in a guild, and my teacher Arturo told me to come here and I don¡¯t know how to get-¡± Ron covered her mouth as swiftly as she had kissed him. His memory had kicked in at the man¡¯s name and something else seemed to be calling him, something he couldn¡¯t remember.

    ¡°Arturo? So the young man is still alive, is he? Well, if that is the case then I know exactly where to send you. When you get back, tell him Ron says hi,¡± he laughed heartily before placing his hand on her head.

    He concentrated and allowed his own magic to take full coverage of the woman. As her body faded from view, the memory that Ron couldn¡¯t think of suddenly came full blast into his mind. He recognized the woman, and sudden fear for her raced through his body as the memory of her screams broke through the veil of his mind and filled his ears.

    ************Emily POV************

    Emily gasped as she suddenly materialized on the cold, white tile floor of the clinic. James fell out of the chair he was sitting in near her, while Nicolette was still fast asleep with the stains of tears dried on her face.

    ¡°What the hell, Emily? Where were you?!¡± He growled in his attempt to keep his voice down.

    ¡°I...I got the flower. Where¡¯s Arturo?¡± Emily huffed as she stumbled to her feet. Her eyes were wide as she looked around at the room and spotted the small glass container where her niece was fast asleep. She was obviously dying, the blue color of her skin taking over her whole body and her veins an even darker blue than that.

    ¡°He¡¯s in the waiting room. What flower are you talking about? What¡¯s going on?¡± Emily ignored her brother¡¯s questions as she bolted out of the room and got to Arturo as he was sitting uncomfortably in one of the blue chairs in the waiting room.

    He stood up as soon as he saw Emily run in. She shoved the bag into his hands without a word and nodded, which was enough for him to understand. Arturo turned and walked away with the bag to where the kitchens were located in the back area of the guild¡¯s halls.

    ¡°I can mix this with a bit of baby formula, it will be bitter so anything I can do to make the taste better will be helpful to get her to drink it,¡± Arturo explained as he quickly ran into the cooking hall and straight to one of the large refrigerators that was in the middle of the room.

    Emily ran into the pantry and grabbed a container of powdered formula that seemed to be picking up dust on the top shelf. There had not been many babies born in the past few years, so all types of baby food and formula had been sitting there unused for a number of years.

    Arturo took the formula from Emily and immediately went to work with steeping the flower with the milk. The moment the rose touched the baby milk, the white of the milk instantly became a deep pink. Emily¡¯s eyes widened as the thought of the ground that had surrounded the rose bush itself where the man she had met had brought her to.

    ¡°Arturo, I demand an expl-¡± James fell silent as his eyes fell upon the bottle in his friend¡¯s hand.

    ¡°You will not need an explanation, my friend. For now, let¡¯s save your daughter.¡± Arturo pushed past James and strode down the hall. James glanced at Emily before following, the look that she had been given showing his suspicion towards her.

    It didn¡¯t take long for them to reach the nursery. The baby laid in the glass container, awake and in tears. She curled up her tiny fists and cried as loud as she could without holding back, her lungs strong enough to wreck havoc on the ears of anyone near her. Arturo lifted the glass off the crib and gently placed it onto the floor.

    Nicolette stumbled into the nursery with fresh tears still in her eyes. James immediately ran to her and caught her in his arms before she fell over from having been so weak from the birth. She wrapped one arm around his neck to steady herself before taking a few steps forward to watch what it was Emily was doing.

    The small baby was carefully lifted up into Emily¡¯s arms as she placed the bottle into her niece¡¯s mouth. The taste of it only made her cry more, but after having not eaten anything since birth she accepted her fate and drank as fast as she could just to get it down.

    As the last drop disappeared down her throat, and the now white rose was all that was left in the bottle after having all it¡¯s powers drained into the child, the blue color of the baby¡¯s skin started to change. It turned into an apricot color, and she was finally breathing without pain rattling her breath.

    Emily placed the bottle to the side table that was near the crib and started to rock her back to sleep. When small snores came from her mouth, Emily placed her back onto the soft blue blankets of her crib and lifted the glass case onto the top to help stop any outside noise.

    ¡°What¡¯s her name?¡± Emily finally asked as she watched her niece sleep.

    ¡°We named her Mira,¡± Nicolette whispered in shock. Emily turned and smiled at her family in happiness.

    Later that night, after everybody had fallen asleep, Emily laid on her bed and stared at the ceiling as she thought back to the man. She thought back to what that man had said to her, and a deep blush immediately came to her face. He had said one year, and she expected to use that to her advantage. In her mind, she hoped he would forget about the time and forget about her.

    To her anguish, the year passed swiftly without warning while Emily watched Mira learn to crawl and laugh, and when she herself had forgotten about him, Ron had not forgotten about her.

 Chapter 10: Unenviable Fate

    ************Emily POV*************

    As Mira walked to where Emily sat on the floor reading a book, she didn¡¯t have to look up to know there was someone else in the room. Mira had not grown much, but she had started walking much earlier than most babies. As she reached Emily, the baby was gurgling happily.

    Emily grabbed her niece and stood up, drawing the sword that was strapped to her back and aiming it at the stranger in the room. It took her a few seconds to recognize who it was, and the moment she did her face turned pure white.

    ¡°I told you, you had a single year to come back to me. Did you ignore my instructions, or are you so easily forgetful?¡± Ron asked as he strode into the room. Emily gasped and dropped the sword to hold Mira close to her chest.

    He noticed the baby in her arms, then smiled calmly. He had realized it had to be the child she had snuck in to steal the flower for in the first place, but in the end it didn¡¯t matter much to him. Ron had come for Emily, not the infant.

    James ran in at the sound of shock that Emily had made when she first recognized Ron. When he saw the tall, red haired man standing in the room with his sister staring at him, he quickly drew his own weapon. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that Nicolette and Arturo had run in, James would have attacked.

    ¡°Put away your weapon if you know what¡¯s good for you!¡± Arturo yelled. James froze but kept his sword raised in offense. Ron slowly turned and noticed the man standing there in the doorway.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time my friend, much too long. I wish I could stay to speak with you more about it, but I¡¯ve come to take Emily with me for a few years,¡± Ron said with a slight wave of his hand. Arturo looked from Emily to Ron in confusion, for Emily had not told him about what had happened when she had left.

    ¡°Emily, I think you had better explain to us what is going on.¡± Nicolette walked forward and went around Ron before taking her daughter away from Emily.

    The color had not returned to the woman¡¯s face by the time Emily had finished explaining how she had run into the man and her punishment for trying to steal. Ron stood in the corner of the room with his arms crossed as he watched her speak.

    ¡°Two years, huh? Well, if I¡¯m not mistaken, I¡¯m expecting that time span to have changed. How long has it been, Ron?¡± Arturo asked. Emily kept her mouth shut even though she was silently cursing him in her mind.

    ¡°I¡¯m doubling it to four years. She had a year to come back to work for me. It¡¯s been a year and two months,¡± Ron explained.

    ¡°I thank you for saving our daughter. I am certain Emily will be grateful to help you in the time period allotted. As long as she is not to do anything we at our guild deem illegal, that is,¡± Nicolette said with a smile. Emily opened her mouth to try and speak against what she had just said, but the look given to her forced her mouth shut.

    ¡°I do nothing that would truly harm society, nor would it harm her. I mostly have work for her around my own land, and she will also be of use in the village,¡± Ron agreed. Emily finally sighed in defeat. She knew she had lost, and after thinking it over and seeing the happy look on Mira¡¯s face she couldn¡¯t help but let her mind drift to how life would be on the island with Ron.

    She didn¡¯t realize she was blushing until James poked her in the side with a deadly look in his eyes. Emily glanced up at him and felt her face burn even more before quickly turning her gaze back to the floor. Ron stepped forward and placed his hand on her arm.

    ¡°W-wait! At least let me pack a few things to take with me on the trip,¡± Emily quickly said. Ron looked at her for a few seconds before releasing her.

    Emily ran out of the nursery room and went straight to where the guild dorms were. She picked up a bag that was given to her on her sixteenth birthday years ago and started to pack it with items she wanted to bring. She shoved in a few pairs of underwear, some extra clothing, a dagger, her hair brush, and a small vial filled with sleeping pills.

    Before Emily left her bedroom, she turned and grabbed a necklace off her dresser. In it was a picture of her parents and her brother. It was something she felt she couldn¡¯t do without. Her heart was sad as she opened up the small locket and looked at the smiling face of her father before closing it.

    She had walked back to the nursery when she heard Arturo and Ron laughing together. She caught every other word, like battle and dungeon, but other than that she had no clue what it was that they were discussing.

    ¡°Are you ready to go?¡± Ron asked as she walked back in. Emily¡¯s face immediately threatened to burn up, but in the presence of her brother she managed to hold back.

    ¡°Yes, I have everything I think I need for the most part,¡± she said. Nicolette gave her a worried look as she walked up to Ron and took his hand in hers.

    She felt Nicolette hug her from behind and push something into her back pocket. It felt cold, and she realized it was another bottle probably filled with more pills. For the past month, Emily had been having trouble sleeping because of nightmares that would torment her. She had become accustomed to using sleeping pills to chase the nightmares away, and even though her family didn¡¯t like the fact that she did it, they did the best they could to comfort her when she would wake up screaming at night.

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    Emily said her goodbye¡¯s to her family before Ron had her close her eyes. She felt the familiar sensation of falling, but she still lost her footing when her feet touched sand. Ron caught her before she hit the ground, but the vial fell out of her pocket and gleamed in the sunlight.

    She quickly brushed sand over it to hide the evidence, but Ron had already noticed it. He picked it up as swiftly as she attempted to cover it, then held it up to the light and shook the contents in curiosity.

    ¡°What is this?¡± He asked her as she jumped up and snatched it from his hands.

    ¡°It¡¯s just something I use to help sleep at night. Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± Emily said quickly.

    Ron only watched as she walked forward into the bushes past the sand line. Emily ignored him the best she could, but after five minutes of walking through the forest area she was lost. The scent of rose wasn¡¯t there like it had been before, so there was nothing to follow but layers of trees. Not even Emily¡¯s magic could do anything.

    ¡°Maybe you should stay by my side before you try and wander off?¡± Emily screamed at the sound of Ron¡¯s voice. She quickly turned around but saw nothing. As Emily scanned the area, she realized she was the only one there.

    ¡°Ron, where are you?¡± Emily yelled out.

    ************Ron POV************

    Emily was incredibly stubborn. As Ron watched her start to panic, he felt mixed emotions. Even though it had been over a year since he last saw her, those emotions that he had felt last time had still not gone away. He felt pride that she had finally asked for his help, but also hurt that she was so afraid in his own land.

    After watching her grow more and more afraid, Ron decided it was time to go down and comfort her. He jumped down from the tree he was sitting on and landed lightly next to Emily. He stood with his arms crossed as Emily spun around and saw him.

    ¡°You have no reason to ever be afraid here. I wouldn¡¯t hurt you, and neither would the land,¡± Ron said with a sigh.

    Emily didn¡¯t say a word but nodded instead. She quickly reached out and grabbed his hand, and it was clear she was still shaken. Ron ignored the way his heartbeat picked up at her touch and pulled her behind him. He guided her out of the thick treeline he designed to deliberately make intruders lost. When the land cleared up and only a thin layer of trees decorated the land with bushes thick with berries, Emily let go.

    ¡°For today, I will show you to your room where you will be staying, and then I will bring you to the village and introduce you to my people,¡± Ron explained. Emily nodded and followed him in silence.

    After about half an hour, they reached Ron¡¯s cabin. When he opened the door, Emily stepped in and took notice of the new door on the room she had broke down. She blushed in embarrassment and glanced back down at the ground.

    ¡°You will be staying in that room once more, but I took the lock off the door. You will be able come and go as you please,¡± Ron explained as he walked over to the stove and lite it with a match that laid on the counter.

    He felt her presence as she walked to her new room and opened the door. Ron couldn¡¯t help but smile when he heard her gasp in surprise at the look of the room. He had purposefully brought a few of the young women from the village to his cabin to help decorate the room to help her be more comfortable.

    All the dressers in the room was made from a wood so dark it could have been considered black. A large mirror sat on the biggest dresser, and the bed was made with a handmade comforter and a mattress filled with sheep fur he had received from one of the girl¡¯s father.

    ¡°I hope you like it. It¡¯s nothing special really, but I had help,¡± Ron said as he put a pot of tea on the stove to boil.

    ¡°It¡¯s beautiful,¡± Emily said in awe. Ron glanced sideways and watched her remove items from her bag and saw another vial be removed. He decided to have the cleric in the village help make something to sooth her problems for good. Ron also took notice that she had packed only a few clothing, and many of it were ones that were normally used in battle. The seamstress could help with that.

    ¡°Come, after you have something to eat we will go out to meet the others.¡± Emily walked out of the room and sat down at the small table in the kitchen. Ron turned to the pot of boiling water and added a few tea leaves to it before taking out a few cups he had created a long time ago out of shells from the beach.

    He poured her a cup and sat down with her. As she drank deeply and smiled from the taste, Ron finally had to give in to his emotions. He was falling in love with her, and he was absolutely terrified because of it.

 Chapter 11: Innocent Touch

    ************Emily POV************

    ¡°It¡¯s so beautiful!¡± Emily proclaimed in amazement. She watched as children ran across a street that was paved with glistening shells and thousands of pebbles molded together with a magic Emily herself didn¡¯t understand. The street was smoothed for those who walked barefoot like Ron, and the sunlight made the street shine like stars.

    To Emily¡¯s surprise, there were hundreds of people. Homes were built like apartments and rose up to three stories. People were trading at stalls set up in what looked like a town square of some sort. Men and women alike were working and laughing together, but they quickly fell silent when they saw Ron and Emily approach.

    ¡°Oh good! Ron, I made this for you last week. I was planning on delivering it to you personally but since you¡¯re here I can give it to you now,¡± a woman said with a smile. She started walking in the direction of a group of houses when Emily noticed the sway of her hips.

    It almost looked as if she was flirting. Something clawed at the back of Emily¡¯s mind but she pushed it away and turned her attention to the rest of the village. People had slowly started going back to their business but continued to glance at Emily in interest. Whispers raced through the crowds of people.

    ¡°Here! Just like you asked, but I¡¯m not sure about the measurements. She¡¯s much bustier than I thought,¡± the woman said as she walked back with a dress in her hands.

    She walked right up to Emily and handed it to her. Emily looked at her in confusion, but the girl only smiled and hugged her.

    At this point, even Ron himself was caught off guard by the woman¡¯s actions.

    ¡°Welcome to our home, little one. My name is Analicia,¡± the woman said when she pulled away. Emily couldn¡¯t help but smile and bow slightly to her in thanks.

    ¡°My name is Emily, and I thank you for your welcome.¡± Analicia grinned even wider before turning back to Ron.

    ¡°If you need anything else, don¡¯t hesitate to ask. My door is always open for you, my lord,¡± Analicia giggled before bowing to him and turning just as swiftly to go back to her house. Ron was smiling fondly at her as she ran off.

    ¡°She¡¯s always been very kind about helping others, and when it comes to making clothing she has become the village¡¯s head seamstress. She¡¯s been very excited about your arrival,¡± Ron added. Emily could only nod.

    Ron took Emily all around the village and showed her where everything was and where she would be able to go to bathe and gather vegetables and certain fruit from farmers. With everything coming at her so fast, the one thing that came to Emily¡¯s mind was how badly she wanted to nap.

    By the time that the two of them had gotten back to Ron¡¯s cottage, Emily was beyond tired and hungry. She naturally kept her mouth shut like she was taught whenever her body wasn¡¯t reacting like she wanted and forced herself to pretend like she was normal.

    Emily gave a small squeak of surprise when she felt hands around her waist and shoulders, then she was lifted up off the ground with ease. She held the dress in her hands tightly as Ron carried her into the house and to the table. He used his feet to push a chair away from the table and carefully sat Emily down on it.

    ¡°What was that for?¡± Emily stuttered. Ron¡¯s expression was blank as he turned back to the kitchen and started to take vegetables and meat from the basket he had received from one of the farmers and started to cook.

    Emily sighed when she realized she wouldn¡¯t be getting an answer from him and instead started to examine the dress. It was beautifully made and looked like the top might be a bit snug, but it should fit. It was a powder blue color with lace threaded through the hip area to be tied. The design was simple but perfect to Emily.

    ¡°Here, eat this. There are sleeping clothing for you in the bottom drawer of the smaller dresser in your room,¡± Ron said as he set a plate of food in front of her with a glass of water. Emily felt her mouth water from the meat¡¯s aroma, but forced herself to eat slowly.

    He had made a salad out of the lettuce and carrots he had been given, and the meat was cooked with what tasted like salt and pepper but she didn¡¯t know where Ron could have gotten it from. Ron sat at the other end of the table and ate some salad himself but didn¡¯t take any meat.

    ¡°How did you make this?¡± Emily asked. Ron glanced up and noticed what she was indicating to. He set his fork down and walked to the cabinet above the counter nearest to them. He opened it and pulled down a bottle.

    ¡°Arturo gave this to me before we left. He told me to use it on meat items, so I tried that tonight. Was it bad?¡± Ron asked curiously. Emily shook her head and took another bite. She assumed Arturo had told him about how to use salt and pepper but she still couldn¡¯t tell how he knew how much to use.

    When Emily finished eating, she felt herself grow more and more tired. The first thought that came to mind was how she needed to take her sleeping pill, but when she had finished cleaning her dishes and went into her bedroom to grab a pill, she realized there were none. The vials were gone.

    ************Ron POV************

    Emily¡¯s cry of alarm made Ron jump from his seat. He ran into her bedroom and saw Emily shuffling through her clothing in a panic. She suddenly seemed wide awake by how anxious she was while looking through her stuff. He knew exactly what she was looking for, but he kept the vials hidden under the wooden floorboard in the living room where he also had put her weapon away.

    ¡°Where did it go? I know it was here, I swear I put it here!¡± Ron felt sympathy for her, and as she grew more and more upset he gave in and walked up to her. He wrapped his arms around her and pinned her arms to her side as she struggled in his grasp to continue looking.

    ¡°Emily, calm down. You don¡¯t need them, please just trust me,¡± Ron begged as she continued to struggle. She slowly calmed down in his grasp, which made him notice she was crying.

    ¡°I¡¯m scared to sleep without them, if I don¡¯t I¡¯ll have night terrors and my magic goes out of control because of it!¡± She wailed. Her legs gave out below her, but Ron caught her and lifted her up quickly. He knew she had become addicted to them, Arturo had warned him beforehand about what they had done to her. It was him who asked Ron to break the addiction.

    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    Ron sat Emily on the bed and cleared it of her stuff. Emily was sniffling when it was done, and when Ron laid her down on the bed and dragged the covers above her, he decided he would stay with her to make sure she was ok when she slept. She shivered as Ron tucked the blankets around her and curled her up on the bed before slowly lowering himself down besides her.

    He wasn¡¯t sure if it was the smartest idea to try and break the addiction so soon, he had a feeling she would hate him the next day. The idea hurt him, but he forced himself to stick to it for her own good no matter how much it hurt. Emily¡¯s breathing soon relaxed as sleep forced itself on her. Ron stared at her fast asleep with tear stains on her face, then grabbed her carefully and pulled her into his arms.

    She seemed to sleep better, and as Ron drifted off himself he felt her snuggle closer to him.

    Screaming. Ron was jolted awake and estimated it was around one in the morning. Emily was jerking around in her sleep and screaming uncontrollably. Dark magic was building up around the bedroom, but Ron easily destroyed it with his own. He was exceptionally stronger than Emily in the terms of magic, so when he felt a sudden jolt of magic start to build up he quickly crushed it from escaping.

    ¡°Emily, Emily calm down I¡¯m right here!¡± Ron growled as he pinned her down so she couldn¡¯t flail wildly like she had been. She could only scream at that point.

    It took a few minutes but the screaming soon died down. She was whimpering again but wasn¡¯t trying to move anymore. Ron was sweating from worry, but as Emily slept he calm. Ron sighed and kissed her forehead before laying down again.

    It took a moment to realize what he just did, and a slight panic ran through him as Emily¡¯s breathing changed. To his relief, all she did was turn over and fall into what seemed like a deeper sleep.

    ************Emily POV************

    Emily had gain slight consciousness when she had finally managed to throw the night terror away. She didn¡¯t have the strength to open her eyes or even speak, it was like she was in a forced coma. She could hear Ron whispering for her to stay calm, and the sound of his voice helped immensely.

    She was finally drifting back to a calmer sleep when she felt him kiss her on her forehead. Her heartbeat had picked up at the touch but she forced herself to stay calm. She pretended to be asleep and carefully turned over on her side.

    When her heartbeat had finally calmed down, Emily immediately started to think back to that day when she had first met Ron. She remembered how she instantly been attracted to him by how he was calm and kind to her even though she had marched right into his territory when he could have simply killed her. She even thought back to when she had kissed him and how she felt then.

    Ron wrapped his arms around her and carefully pulled her into his embrace as he fell back to sleep. Emily blushed and forced her breathing to stay normal, but she let him hold her and enjoyed the feeling. She never did date anybody, she had been so carefully focused on her training that the thought had never crossed her mind, so his touch made her feel almost special.

    She decided to let herself drift to sleep, and drifting away curled up in his arms chased away the demons that attacked her mind throughout the night.

    When she had finally managed to wake up the next day, Ron had already woke up. Emily could still feel the warmth from where he had laid, so she stayed in bed for a few more minutes until she decided it was best to get up. On the dresser was some clothing that seemed to be something the villagers wore. Emily looked at them for a few seconds before picking up the light shirt and changing into it.

    Emily folded her clothing before walking out into the kitchen area. She heard plates shuffling and light whistling that came from the teapot Ron kept on the stove, so she knew he was making tea. When she walked out, Ron glanced sideways and saw her. He greeted her with a smile and handed her a cup of tea.

    ¡°Today, I will show you what your job will be each morning and what you will do throughout the day. I didn¡¯t bring you here for nothing, you know.¡± Emily nodded and took a sip from the cup. She relaxed and smiled as Ron cleaned the dishes.

    ¡°Come, you are going to fix something you messed up the last time you were here,¡± Ron said with a sly smile. Emily couldn¡¯t tell what he meant as they walked out to the forest area.

    It took about five minutes to reach the edge of the forest Emily had gotten lost in. She looked up at the thick hedge of trees and smiled at how it suddenly felt safe on the side she stood where it was clear.

    ¡°Here. Stop and look down at your feet,¡± Ron said. Emily glanced down and all she saw was what looked like a tiny flower bud.

    ¡°What am I looking at? What is it?¡± Ron started laughing and knelt besides the small thing before lightly tapping its head.

    The flower suddenly bloomed, but it wasn¡¯t a flower. It was a creature, and Emily immediately recognized it as the same one she had killed when she first came. The difference was it was a baby.

    ¡°I had to regrow it from what was left of it, but I want you to raise it. Teach it how to fight, care for it, and make sure it grows strong. He is yours to care for,¡± Ron said. Emily looked up at him, and then back at the creature. It was making little noises like a baby bird would. It¡¯s leaves were a bright orange and blue, and even though it had no eyes Emily felt like it could see her.

    ¡°I¡¯ll name him Carlin,¡± Emily finally said as she knelt down and carefully stroked the soft petals of the creature. It almost seemed to purr as it rubbed against her palm and made the same crying noise.

    ¡°Here, you can feed him with this. He likes his meat raw,¡± Ron said with a laugh as he turned and started to walk back to the cabin. Emily watched as he left and felt her heart grow more warm to him. It was only the second day out of four years, and she was suddenly excited to see where things would go, but she had a feeling wherever it went, her brother might not like it.

 Chapter 12: Jealousy Kills

    ************Ron POV************

    Ron didn¡¯t particularly enjoy eating meat of any kind, but he knew people like Emily did. He worked on making dinner for her for when she got back, but then he heard a knock on the door. When he answered it, he was surprised to find Fliour standing there with her hands on her hips.

    ¡°Explain. Who the hell is that girl?¡± Fliour didn¡¯t even ask to come in, but simply walked past Ron and sat down at the table. Ron sighed as he watched her sit.

    Ron knew Fliour loved him, but he couldn¡¯t return the feelings. She was easily made jealous, so whenever anyone but Analicia talked to him and she found out about it, she was always at his house the same day to confront him about it.

    ¡°Fliour, it¡¯s complicated. Anyways, what does it matter to you? Could you at least be kind to her?¡± Ron asked as he sat down on the opposite end of the table. Fliour glared at him before purposefully bending over so her cleavage was practically spilling out onto the tabletop. It wasn¡¯t hard to look the other way.

    ¡°You know how I feel about it. It¡¯s like a slap in the face that not only are you talking to someone who¡¯s younger than me, but you¡¯re also sleeping in the same house as her!¡± Ron could sense Emily was sitting outside of the cottage door by this time listening to the conversation while Fliour yelled at him. He didn¡¯t want her hurt, but he also had to calm down the woman in front of him.

    ¡°Fliour, what she is to me is not of your concern. What happened was I caught her stealing and I am making her work for me for four years. If you would please exit, I have things to do,¡± Ron said calmly. He watched as her face grew even more red when he gave her the time period.

    Fliour growled and stood up the same moment Emily stepped into the house and quickly ran to her bedroom. Fliour jumped at the sight of her but watched as the door shut just as fast as Emily ran in. She glared at the door Emily had just closed before she turned and left. Ron let out a sigh of relief as she disappeared.

    ¡°Who is she, and did I do something wrong?¡± Emily asked hesitantly. Ron turned to the door to see it cracked and her eyes peering out into the kitchen area.

    Ron couldn¡¯t help but grin at how silly she looked. From how Emily had fought beforehand, he assumed she had to be at least as strong as Fliour, but Fliour had no magic. If she knew about it, she would know she shouldn¡¯t have to hide like she did.

    ¡°Emily, you have no reason to fear her. She is just jealous of you, that¡¯s all,¡± Ron said simply while he sat down at the table. The word jealous only made Emily look more afraid.

    ¡°A jealous woman is a strong foe. Ron, if she does attack me, please don¡¯t be angry if I defend myself,¡± Emily suddenly said.

    The expression change on Emily¡¯s face shocked Ron. She had gone from the shy, adorable woman Ron knew to a strong hearted one. She even had held herself differently from seconds before. Her back was straight and she had a deadly look in her eyes. He recognized the look as one that all excruciatingly trained warriors had, and it clicked in his head that this woman wasn¡¯t all she made out to be.

    Ron nodded and went back to his tea while he stared out the window. He started thinking of ways to get Emily to work without her running into Fliour. Ron and Fliour had a odd relationship that had branched off from when they used to be a couple years several years ago. He had no feelings towards her but he did care about her wellbeing.

    Emily sat down at the table with him and stared at the floor. She seemed shaken up to him but he couldn¡¯t understand why. He finally gave up trying to read her and instead took her hand and dragged her to her feet. Emily blushed but let him lead her outside.

    ¡°Another thing I want you to do is clean the cabin, but I myself grow a garden out next to the area where I chop wood for winter. I want you to tend to it everyday,¡± Ron explained when they got to where he had been taking her.

    A row of tomato plants were spotted with the beautiful bright red fruit it had grown already, while watermelon were still sprouting as if it had just been planted. Squash were planted in a different patch near the other vegetable plants and already were budding.

    ¡°Emily, watch yourself if you travel alone,¡± Ron suddenly warned. Emily glanced at him but turned back to the plants before nodding in agreement.

    ¡°Am I allowed to go to the village at any time?¡± Emily asked.

    ¡°Yes, but tell me where it is you are going before you leave the cabin,¡± Ron said. Emily grinned and walked over to the tomato plants before raising her hands above it.

    Ron watched in interest as her eyes closed and small black beads of magic rose to her palms. She allowed the dark magic to thread itself through the branches of the plants before the color of the beads changed to a pearly white. The dark magic had transformed into a hybrid of light instead, something Ron had never seen accomplished. The pulsations of darkness were still there but the light type had taken over the color and seemed to make the tomatoes grow into a healthier, darker green color that Ron himself didn¡¯t realize they could become.

    ¡°This woman...she¡¯s something else,¡± Ron thought to himself as he turned and walked back to the cabin to meditate.

    ************Emily POV************

    Her calves were slightly burning. She had stood up for too long and was feeling the effects of it. Emily had finished tending to the plants and was sitting on the ground rubbing the back of her calves and started to think about how she was going to make it back to the cabin, or even explain what was wrong with her.

    ¡°What the hell is wrong with you, girl?¡± Emily jolted in her sitting position and turned her head to see the woman who Ron had been talking to earlier. Emily herself had used quite a bit of magic working with the plants so sleepiness had overtaken her, but when she saw the woman she felt awake almost instantly.

    ¡°Nothing¡¯s wrong, I¡¯m fine. Anyways, did I do anything to anger you?¡± Emily asked curiously. Fliour didn¡¯t expect such a question, and her expression clearly defined that.

    ¡°Y-yes, yes you did! You took Ron away from me, he¡¯s supposed to be mine!¡± She growled when she got her senses back. Emily only looked at her before shrugging and turning away to go back to massaging her calves.

    ¡°Go ahead, but it¡¯s his decision on whoever he loves, not ours,¡± Emily said matter-of-factly. Fliour was silent, out of all things she had expected the girl to at least shoot back at her and try and claim Ron as her own, but instead she threw that out the window.

    ¡°So...so you are not sleeping with him?¡± Fliour finally asked. The memory of being curled up against Ron¡¯s chest flashed into Emily¡¯s mind but she immediately pushed it away.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m not sleeping with him. I haven¡¯t known him for that long, so whether I liked him or not I wouldn¡¯t do anything of the sort,¡± Emily sighed. She carefully stood to her feet and faced Fliour while she fought to ignore the pain that raced through her body.

    Fliour seemed to be examining her before crossing her arms and smiling in satisfaction. Without saying another word, Fliour turned and left the area. Emily watched as she left and decided to do everything in her power not to anger that woman. She could feel the power in the air when she was near, and the intimidation was enough for her to know just how serious Fliour was.

    Emily slowly started to walk back to the cabin with more thoughts racing through her mind. Each step felt like needles shooting through her legs, and before she had managed to get to the cabin she realized she was going to collapse. Emily frantically looked around until she noticed a tree nearby.

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    She mustered up as much energy she could before taking the last few steps her body would let her use, then collapsed into the dirt. Emily gasped out as her hands hit the ground and caught her before her face hit the dirt. She groaned in pain as she used her upper body strength to pull herself over to the tree and laid her back against the trunk.

    Emily didn¡¯t know how long she sat there for. She was mentally cursing herself over and over again until she realized it had grown dark. Emily estimated it had been several hours that she had been sitting against that tree. After moving her legs a bit and feeling the sharp ache shoot through her, she made the executive decision to stay where she was.

    ¡°Emily! Emily where are you?¡± Ron was yelling. She could feel the pulsations of his footsteps as he ran through the underbrush to find her. Emily could only smile weakly at the tone of worry in his voice.

    ¡°Where the hell...Emily, what happened?¡± Ron gasped when he found her.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t realize how long it had been but I forgot to tell you about it¡­¡± Emily muttered under her breath.

    Ron growled in annoyance and leaned down to help her up. The moment he touched her calves she cried out and bit her lip. Ron took his hands away in terror at the sound she made, then finally knelt down and looked her in the eyes.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with your body?¡± He finally asked.

    ¡°I have a...a physical problem with my body. I normally forget about it but if I stand up too long then it completely messes with me,¡± Emily finally said. Ron crossed his arms and sat down next to her.

    ¡°And? What is this problem? How did you get it?¡± Emily¡¯s fists clenched as the memory of being covered in her mother¡¯s blood came to mind. The difference was, this memory wouldn¡¯t go away.

    It was like the question had thrown her into a sea of blood. All she could see was the goblins, ugly creatures with strength that didn¡¯t seem possible tearing apart her parents. Her getting dragged out from hiding and laughter as a man cut open her tendons up to her calves while Emily screamed for her parents.

    ¡°Emily, come back, I¡¯m right here it¡¯s ok you¡¯re safe! Please!¡± Ron shaking her dragged her out of the memory.

    ¡°They died, they died and it¡¯s my fault they died! It should have been me,¡± Emily repeated. Ron could only stare at her as she curled up into a dirty ball and shook all over.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t wake up, I¡¯ll make you,¡± Ron finally growled. Emily didn¡¯t seem to hear him, so Ron picked her up and walked with her in his arms back to the cabin. Dirt covered his body from her clothing but he ignored it as he used his own magic to create a human-like creature made from a tree he decided to change to his liking.

    The tree glowed a dull green as it started to shrink. It¡¯s large branches shrunk to an incredibly small point before it suddenly started to completely change shape. The roots were dragged out of the ground as feet started to take form. The tree branches that were thick with leaves changed to look almost like hair on the head that had finished changing.

    The creature¡¯s face was expressionless as the final touches were created. The tree¡¯s texture started the same, but it wasn¡¯t much of a tree at that point. Ron was satisfied with it, then had it open his cabin door since his own hands were full. He walked with Emily still shivering in his arms with her eyes wide open.

    ¡°Just relax, I¡¯ll go get the clinical nurse from the village,¡± Ron said as he laid Emily down on the table.When he turned to leave, Emily suddenly reached out and grabbed his shirt with a strength Ron didn¡¯t know she had in her.

    ¡°S-stay with me...it will pass...please, please don¡¯t leave me alone,¡± Emily whimpered. Ron didn¡¯t truly understand what was wrong, but Emily seemed to know.

    She was fighting the shivers from her body. This would happen whenever her mind dragged her back to the past even though she knew she was safe. If she thought about her parents in the sense of their death, she would be dragged into the memory of the event and would unconsciously start to panic.

    Emily knew what was happening. She was trained to catch it now, but it was worse when she was younger. Now, she fought it as hard as she could. Emily watched Ron intently as he walked around the kitchen in her attempt to distract herself from what was happening in her mind.

    ¡°Are you feeling any better?¡± Ron finally asked after a few minutes. Emily nodded while she checked her heart rate.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine now.¡± Ron smiled warmly at her when she spoke, but then forced himself to get a stern expression.

    ¡°Well, whatever that was, it seems it happens often enough for you,¡± he concluded. He crossed his arms as he looked over body before shaking his head.

    ¡°It¡¯s a different version of what human¡¯s call ¡®PTSD¡¯. Specific creatures get it differently, but I myself get it in flashbacks and panic attacks all at once, as well as my nightmares,¡± Emily explained.

    ¡°PTSD? I¡¯ve heard it spoken throughout the village with certain people, but I¡¯ve never experienced it myself. Is there some kind of cure?¡± Ron asked hopefully. There were people who have been having problems because of what happened all those years ago before Ron has rescued them, so the thought of them being cured of it was great to him.

    ¡°No, not technically. Just time,¡± Emily said. Ron looked disappointed, but then glanced back at Emily.

    ¡°Then I will help you heal the best I can. But for now, you need to bathe,¡± Ron said with a slight snicker.

    Emily glanced down at her body before realizing just how dirty she was. Without thinking about it, she slid down off the table. The moment her feet touched the floor, pain spiked through her body and caused her to cry out before falling on her knees.

    ¡°Alright, fine. I¡¯ll help you get there,¡± Ron said as he caught her around the waist. He lifted her up and threw her up and over his shoulder. Emily immediately blushed at the mental image that came to mind.

    ¡°Y-you won¡¯t be coming with me, right?¡± Emily stammered. Ron laughed and shook his head no as he walked outside and to the area where he goes to retrieve fresh water.

    Ron carefully set Emily down on the ground next to it before turning to walk away. The moment he was out of sight, Emily raised her hand and muttered a few words. A small ball of light burst forward from her palm and drifted over to the middle of the pool of water. The darkness was coated in the beautiful light as Emily carefully stripped down and slipped into the pool.

    The water helped Emily in the sense that it soothed the ache in her feet. She didn¡¯t have any soap with her, but she knew special kinds of spells that would help with that. When she had finished washing herself, she held her hand out once more and pulled the light towards her more. It casually hovered above her head as Emily rested against a rock.

    She didn¡¯t notice any other creatures in the water except her, so when something brushed against her leg the only thing she could do was calmly pull herself up higher on the rock and sent her senses out around the pool of water.

    When she saw the woman¡¯s face, the shock made Emily black out and fall straight into the water. She had been completely prepared to attack, but when she saw her mother looking back at her from the depths of the pool she had lost all sense. The last thing she saw was a black hand reach down for her as the light went out.

 Chapter 13: Abnormal History

    ************Ron POV************

    ¡°And what were you doing there in the first place?¡± Ron asked Jessica as she carefully rubbed Emily¡¯s temples.

    ¡°I needed somewhere private to meditate. I didn¡¯t mean to scare her, but when she noticed me she just kinda...well, fell in I suppose,¡± Jessica said sheepishly. Ron rubbed his forehead and turned back to get a wet cloth to place on Emily¡¯s forehead.

    ¡°What did you do to make her pass out like this? I¡¯ve seen her during bad times, but this is ridiculous,¡± Ron said as Jessica took the rag from his hand and started to wipe Emily¡¯s forehead.

    ¡°I looked at her! That was it!¡± Jessica whined. Ron watched as she worked and cared for her.

    ¡°She needs rest at this point, after checking through her mind it seems she has had quite a bit of stress placed on her lately. Tomorrow, I¡¯m going to take her with me to the village and make sure she¡¯s ok,¡± Jessica said as she stood to her feet.

    Without another word, Jessica turned and handed Ron the rag before she suddenly burst out the door and into the darkness. Ron watched her go before he glanced back at Emily.

    ¡°She¡¯s strong in strength, but not much mentally. What could have happened to her to have broken her so badly,¡± Ron whispered. He carefully lifted Emily from the chair and walked with her to the bedroom before carefully laying her down on the mattress.

    He laid down next to her before pulling the covers up over the two of them and wrapped his arms around her. Ron listened to Emily breath calmly until he felt sleep overtake his own mind. When Ron was finally calm, he drifted off into a dreamless sleep with Emily in his arms.

    By the time Ron woke up, Emily was already awake. She was carefully getting dressed as quietly as she could, but she seemed to have just started dressing. Ron¡¯s eyes grew wide in shock and quickly closed his eyes. Emily was pulling her bra over her chest but was luckily facing the wall or else Ron would have seen.

    Sadly for Ron either way, Emily noticed he was awake. She quickly squealed and fell to the ground while she struggled to pull her shirt over her head at the sudden knowledge that he wasn¡¯t sleeping.

    ¡°Don¡¯t look!¡± She cried as she finally got the shirt pulled on. Ron yanked the bedspread over his head as his own face turned red from embarrassment.

    When Emily had pulled her pants up to her waist, Ron finally opened his eyes. Emily glanced over her shoulder and blushed before she walked out of the room.

    Ron stood up and walked into the kitchen area. Emily was cleaning dishes that had been left out overnight, but Ron could only stare at her. It was like something had snapped while she was asleep, but he couldn¡¯t tell what.

    ¡°I hope you¡¯re awake and well this morning, because I¡¯m taking you out on an adventure!¡± Jessica suddenly said as she practically burst through the door. Emily turned around with a plate in her hand, but almost dropped it when she saw Jessica.

    ¡°Mom?!¡± She screamed as she fell backwards while clutching the plate firmly against her chest.

    ¡°Mom? Well, I have yet to have children so I don¡¯t believe I¡¯m ready to be called something like that,¡± Jessica laughed. Emily could only look her over for a few minutes before she could finally relax.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry...I thought you were somebody else,¡± Emily said with a hint of a sad smile. Ron watched as she continued to clean the dishes he had left out and considered asking about what happened the night before.

    Questions continued to pop up in Ron¡¯s mind about this woman. He couldn¡¯t understand what it was that she was going through, but it had only been a few days and he had already seen so much of her that he could hardly understand it all. The only thing he did know was his own determination to make sure that she wasn¡¯t hurt again.

    ¡°Jessica¡¯s the name. I want to take you out today, with Ron¡¯s permission of course,¡± Jessica said with a wink in his direction before turning her attention back to Emily.

    Emily carefully set the last plate on the drying board next to the sink before slowly turning to Jessica once more. She was obviously examining Jessica, but there was such a look of fear and confusion in her eyes that neither Ron nor Jessica knew what to do.

    ¡°Last night, I saw you. What are you?¡± Emily asked suddenly. Jessica¡¯s eyes grew wide at the question before hesitating.

    ¡°I¡¯m a water nymph. I was kidnapped when I was ten, but Ron saved me. I had the choice to go back home, but after having spent six years in that godforsaken prison, I decided to stay here. I wanted someplace to go to meditate and relax last night since Gordon¡¯s children were playing in my pond,¡± Jessica explained after a few minutes.

    Emily watched Jessica shuffle her feet uncomfortably before smiling warmly at her. She turned back to the sink and quickly cleaned out three cups before turning back to the cupboard and pulled down some tea leaves Ron had put up there.

    Without a second to spare, she waved her hand in the direction of the stove. It lite almost instantly at the temperature Ron normally set it. Jessica watched in awe as Emily set a pot of water on to boil. It was the first time both Ron and Jessica watched her use her magic in a solid way.

    ¡°What kind of creature are you?¡± Jessica asked as she followed Emily with her eyes. Small beads of light and darkness flittered in the air around Emily as she slightly showed off to break the tension that hung in the room.

    ¡°I¡¯m not exactly a witch, not exactly an elf, and neither am I a faerie. Nobody really knows what my kind is, so we just call ourselves abnormals. I myself am a special unit mage, I expressed high amounts of light and dark magic when I was born so I was trained to fight when I as 3,¡± Emily explained.

    This was enough for Jessica to fall backwards out of her chair and stumble to the door. A look of pure terror was on her face, but Ron caught her before she could make it out.

    ¡°Jessica, calm down! What¡¯s wrong,¡± Ron gasped out as Jessica released her true form into the webbed hands, scaly blue skin and gills on her face. She created a quick jelly substance from the pores of her skin to wiggle her way out of his grasp.

    As Jessica ran off from the cottage with Emily staring in shock at her reaction, Ron could only growl and attempt to stand up. The cottage floor was drenched with the slime that had been created, so each attempt was a failure.

    ¡°Damn it! What did you do to make her act like that?¡± Ron roared at Emily. The magic was gone from the air and had took to the floor to help Ron stand.

    ¡°I...I¡¯m not surprised she reacted that way. My kind...we are feared by many,¡± Emily whimpered as she looked at the ground. Ron had managed to stand up and yanked his shirt off to wipe the goo from his body.

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    ¡°What do you mean you¡¯re feared? I¡¯ve never heard of your kind, I thought you were a human at first if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that you managed to kill my main protector of my island,¡± Ron said with disgust as the slime dripped from his arm.

    ¡°I suppose I should explain. It¡¯s true when I said that nobody really knows when my kind appeared on this Earth, but when we did war broke out. The abnormals were so strong, so powerful in their knowledge of magic that they were kidnapped and forced to do the bidding of their masters.

    In the end, anger had overtaken those of us who were slaves. In an attempt to free our kind, the Elders broke free and started the first Great Massacre. My people...they didn¡¯t mean to go as far as they did, but we were tricked into it. My parents were some of the few who saw through the lies and broke from it, but they paid in the end.

    As an abnormal, we don¡¯t seem to have anything particularly special about us besides our exceptional magic abilities. We are capable of blowing up entire kingdoms of people, but many of us have broken away from the old ways and now work as normal people. We look like...well, humans. But we don¡¯t age after we turn twenty seven for some reason, and we live for as long as we are not killed.

    Those who stuck to the old ways still constantly murder. So when someone hears we are in their presence, it¡¯s normal for them to run in fear. It¡¯s so easy for my kind to kill, and our past shows it, I have had a hard time making friends. Because of my parents though¡­my brother and I are being targeted to be murdered.¡±

    Emily finally finished and sat down with a cup of tea in her hands before placing it on the table and stared at the table with her hands crossed. She had an expression that was as hard as stone, Ron couldn¡¯t tell what emotion that was going through her at the moment.

    ¡°What made it so Jessica would run, in that particular case,¡± Ron asked after a few moments of silence. Emily looked up at him and shrugged before turning her eyes back to the table.

    ¡°Like I said, we are well known for our power, as well as our hostility. My brother raised me differently in the sense that I have none towards anybody, but I will fight to protect those I care about. Jessica must have had some kind of experience with an abnormal that would made her afraid,¡± Emily said.

    The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes longer before Ron stood up and walked out of the door towards the way that Jessica had ran. The slime still covered the ground and her footsteps stood out against the ground, so it wasn¡¯t hard to find her.

    ¡°What the hell were you thinking! That girl¡¯s an abnormal, she¡¯ll kill us all!¡± Jessica screamed from the top of a tree. Ron looked up and couldn¡¯t help but laugh. She still had her gills and everything, but instead of an area of water she had taken to a tree instead.

    ¡°Does she really seem that evil to you? If anything, she seems more afraid of us than she is dangerous,¡± Ron yelled up to her. Jessica only hissed and wrapped her arms tighter around the tree branch she clung to.

    Ron rolled his eyes before he shrunk the tree. Jessica cried out in alarm as the height of the tree diminished at a rate she couldn¡¯t handle and fell off before the distance was safe. Ron easily caught her before she touched the ground, then let the tree go back to its natural height.

    ¡°What if she¡¯s lying to you?¡± Jessica whimpered as she buried her face against his chest. Ron sighed and started to walk with Jessica curled up in his arms back to the cabin.

    ¡°I need you to trust me right now. If she¡¯s telling the truth, then she has quite a few issues that I believe we can help her with. I need you on my side right now, though.¡± Ron whispered. Jessica hesitated before slowly nodding her head in agreement.

    ¡°I¡¯ll help, but until I trust her I won¡¯t particularly like her,¡± she mumbled. Ron let her down and the two of them walked the back the rest of the way to the cabin.

    ************Emily POV************

    Emily¡¯s heart was beating faster than she would have liked. She never had to explain her background before to anybody, so the fact that she had opened up the way she did scared her more than the training she went through when she was a toddler.

    The one thing she was worried about was how Ron would handle it all. He had only known her for a few days and so much had happened in that time period that she couldn¡¯t understand why he hadn¡¯t decided to kill her just yet, or even set her to a hard labor that would cause her excruciating pain.

    After a few minutes passed, she decided to at least start cleaning the floor where slime was slowly starting to dry into a disgusting, crusty substance. She stood up and searched for some kind of cleaning detergent before she threw her hands up in defeat after finding a single wash rag.

    ¡°What the hell am I supposed to get clean with a single rag?¡± She cried out to the empty house in exasperation. Holding the rag in her hand, she glanced back at the slime and shook her head in annoyance.

    Without another complaint, Emily grabbed a small bucket that was tucked under the sink and filled it with some of the clean water from the basin. She turned back to the slime and got to her knees before she started to scrub. To her disgust, it turned back into a thick, gooey substance before it finally started to come off the ground.

    ¡°It¡¯s easier to work with when it completely dries, you can scrape it off the ground that way,¡± Jessica said as she walked into the room. Emily looked up and saw her before she quickly glanced back down at the ground, her face a deep red.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know that, but what do you do after? Where do I throw it away?¡± Emily asked. Jessica gave her an anxious smile when she hesitantly crouched down next to her and took the rag from her with shaking hands.

    ¡°You can dump it next to a tree or something, it¡¯s good as fertilizer,¡± she said. Emily looked up at her in surprise before she grinned.

    ¡°Fertilizer? Then I know just the thing!¡± Jessica was taken aback by her sudden enthusiasm, but went back to her slight polite but fearful attitude.

    Ron stood in the doorway and watched the two of them talk amongst themselves. He was constantly examining Emily, which she noticed, but couldn¡¯t find anything out of the ordinary with her. She was trying to win over Jessica¡¯s friendship, but after she realized it probably wouldn¡¯t happen she just went back to work and kept talking with her normal attitude.

    Emily had hoped to escape from those who were incredibly fearful of her because of what she was, but it seemed she only put herself in a place where it would continue to get worse. She only hoped that what she had told Ron wouldn¡¯t come back to bite her in the end.

 Warning: Changes coming to novel

    Hey guys, So I wanna discuss something with you all.

    As of lately, you would all have noticed that I have been trying to pump out chapters like a madman. The reason for this is that since summer is coming, as well as the fact that I am graduating from high school, I don''t know how often I will be able to update my chapters.

    Because of this, I have done a bad deed. I re-read everything I had posted. And I hate the chapters from 14 and up. I mean completely hate it. It''s like having gone through a dream and not knowing what the hell you''re writing but you do it and send it in and the teacher says "what''s this crap?"

    Anyways, what I want to say is that starting in...oh I would say in two hours, I''m going to DELETE CHAPTERS 14 UNTIL THE RECENT ONE I JUST UPDATED!

    Now, please don''t get upset if there are those who don''t mind the crappy chapters. I don''t like how fast I went on it, and like I said it was like I was dreaming the past few weeks and I just woke up.

    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    I may start doing a new thing, like updating once a week. I am also going to revise chapter 13 a bit before I continue remaking chapter 14.

    Please be patient with me. Like I said, I''m graduating as well as I am going to get a job. My life is getting a bit hectic as well, which doesn''t help my writing.

    Just a heads up! Thank you for staying loyal guys, and a new and improved chapter 13 should be uploaded in a day or two! Other than that, bye bye chapters 14 through 17!

    <hr />

    The deletion is done! Time to work on making better chapters. And also to find a PR. But time to get to work! Again, be patient with me!

 Chapter 14: Merciful Heart

    ************Emily POV************

    It didn¡¯t take long for Jessica and Emily to become better acquainted. Two weeks into their relationship they were practically inseparable with how often Jessica came to visit her.

    On one of these days, Analicia had trailed along to see Emily. It was the first time Emily had seen her since the day she had been given the dress, so when she saw the girl she immediately grew shy.

    ¡°You haven¡¯t come to the village in a long time! Did we chase you away?¡± She asked as she sat down at the table and accepted the cup of tea Ron offered her.

    ¡°No, I just haven¡¯t really had the need to go down there. Gardening and my training has been taking up my time lately,¡± Emily said as she joined her at the table. Even though she didn¡¯t have a place to train like back at the guild, she hadn¡¯t lightened up in the least on building strength and magic.

    ¡°Why would you need to train here? There are no enemies to fight, unless you count Fliour,¡± she giggled. Ron glanced up at her name, but Emily didn¡¯t seem fazed.

    ¡°She¡¯s no enemy of mine. She seems like she¡¯d be a nice person if she wasn¡¯t so¡­¡± Emily trailed off to find the right word.

    ¡°Threatening? Scary? Protective?¡± Jessica added. Emily shrugged and picked up her cup to take a sip.

    ¡°Maybe threatening, but she certainly isn¡¯t scary. I¡¯ve battled stronger people than her, but I just don¡¯t want to hurt her. Broken hearts can deal great damage to the soul before it begins to heal,¡± Emily said simply.

    The two girls nodded sadly but forced their moods back up and smiled once more. The first to stand up was Analicia, who gave a small flick of her hand and produced a needle out of the air.

    ¡°Let¡¯s move onto a topic more exciting, such as making you something you can wear on a daily basis and won¡¯t get...well, torn as easily as your clothing does now,¡± she said with a giggle. Emily looked down at her shirt and noticed the rips along the fabric.

    ¡°Well, I can just sew it up and continue using it. I¡¯m not much of a fashion person, I just go with what¡¯s comfortable,¡± Emily explained.

    Analicia didn¡¯t seem to be pleased with that answer. She tapped her foot impatiently before she stood up and pulled Emily to her feet. Without missing a beat, she lifted her arms out straight and took out a piece of string that she used to wrap around Emily¡¯s chest and stomach.

    ¡°Alright, I have my measurements. Ron, I¡¯m taking Emily and Jessica with me to town! I¡¯ll bring her back when I¡¯ve finished my work, so don¡¯t worry about her!¡± Analicia said as she turned and walked out of the house. Jessica pulled Emily along with a smile.

    Emily looked behind her and mouthed ¡®help me¡¯ to Ron as she was dragged out. He only grinned and waved bye to her as she was pulled out the door. He was picking up a book as she lost sight of him.

    The three girls walked side by side talking about simple things that Emily had never seemed to have time to notice, such as the way the light trickled to the forest floor through the leaves of the trees and the sound of the wind as it carefully brushed through.

    ¡°It¡¯s so...peaceful here,¡± Emily sighed happily. The other women looked at her and giggled, but Analicia froze almost in the same instant and glanced around.

    ¡°Not as peaceful as you may think,¡± she hissed in a low tone. Jessica stopped walking and slowly turned around to see what it was that caused her to pause.

    ¡°It¡¯s been a good month since we¡¯ve had one of those things manage to get here. I haven¡¯t had a nice battle since that time we went swimming last summer,¡± Jessica giggled. Analicia seemed to not hear, but instead started to clench and unclench her fists as they started to change into what looked like claws.

    ¡°Whether or not it¡¯s been awhile, we need to kill it now before any of the villagers can be harmed,¡± she said seriously as her skin started to change shape with her hands. Emily watched in awe as what looked like scales grew all along her skin, starting from her hands to her arms, then down to her legs.

    ¡°Oh, have a little bit of fun Analicia. You know you enjoy this kind of thing,¡± Jessica teased as she clenched her hands into a fist and prepared herself. Emily had to concentrate to realize there were a few roggolets, a kind of bird creature that likes to prey on smaller, weaker creatures.

    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    Emily was more amazed that the roggolets had managed to fly this far out to the island, it didn¡¯t seem like a place they would be drawn to. As the giant birds circled overhead, blocking out light from shining down through the trees, Emily called her own magic to her hands and held them above the three women.

    ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to do?¡± Jessica asked, but before Emily could answer the four birds that were hovering above them had swooped down and attacked.

    To the shock of the birds, the shield Emily had created caused them to bounce right off like rubber.

    Analicia stared for a few seconds before she burst out laughing from relief and amusement.

    ¡°Now that was something unexpected! I wanna see that again,¡± She giggled as she wiped tears from her eyes from laughing so hard.

    Emily did not manage to cause harm to the creatures, but she did make them angry. As the large animals shook themselves off and flapped their wings in anger, Analicia made the first move and burst forward at a speed that turned her into a blur.

    The roggolets were still slightly dazed by the shield, so the first one was killed quickly. Analicia cut its throat with ease while reaching for the next bird.

    At this point, the last four realized what was happening. The biggest one struck out with its claws while the others took to the sky and circled overhead. Emily once again created a shield but captured the birds in the bubble. They bounced around in a state of confusion before they all clawed each other to death.

    Analicia was still dealing with what looked like the pack leader. Since the other ones were freakishly easy to kill, Emily stepped forward and ran behind the last roggolet while she gathered up energy. Before she could even begin to attack, Analicia gave a roar and clapped her hands together.

    Both Emily and the roggolet were thrown to the ground by the pulsations Analicia had given out. The bird was thrown against Emily, but it was knocked out.

    ¡°The others were stupid, but this male seems to be much stronger and more intelligent than the other roggolets that had come with him. If it wasn¡¯t for that damn rose bush, we wouldn¡¯t have this issue,¡± Jessica sighed in relief.

    Emily pushed the roggolet off as she crawled out from under it. The animal was huge, almost twice as big as her. It took all her strength just to manage to get it off her body, but as she stood to her feet she could see blue blood streaming from its nose on the beak of the creature.

    ¡°Why does the bush attract them?¡± Emily asked as she knelt next to it. It was still alive, but sickness was wafting from the body.

    ¡°Well, you know that when they hit a certain age they all become deathly sick from their cores becoming weakened. If they manage to get to the roses, they practically become immortal. It would be too dangerous if they were to be healed, for they grow incredibly hard to kill as well. This one probably brought those four with it to help it gain the rose, but he failed,¡± Jessica explained as she walked towards it with her knife.

    She reached down to cut its throat, but Emily reached up and caught her wrist before it touched the bird.

    ¡°No, not this one. I...I want to keep him. He¡¯s strong and would be a good companion,¡± she said. Jessica and Analicia both looked at her as if she was crazy.

    ¡°It¡¯s deadly! If it escapes somehow, it will go on a killing spree!¡± Analicia finally cried. Emily nodded in understanding as she waved her hand over the roggolet.

    ¡°I know it is, but I won¡¯t let it go free. For now, I¡¯ll take care of it and if it gets too out of hand then I will do the deed. For now, give him a chance,¡± Emily begged. Analicia gave her a look before she glanced back at Jessica for guidance. She only shrugged in reply.

    ¡°Fine, but it¡¯s all on you and not us,¡± she finally agreed. Emily grinned and waved her hand over the creature and created a net of darkness and light magic. The bird was strong physically, but Emily was stronger magically. The three girls canceled their trip to the village and started walking back to the cabin to build a cage for the roggolet.

 Chapter 15: The Seal of Cahal

    ************Ron POV************

    ¡°You¡¯re insane. Completely crazy. What made you think this was a good idea,¡± Ron continued to say as Emily seemed to try and block him out.

    ¡°Well, if you don¡¯t like it then you don¡¯t have to take care of him. Either way, it doesn¡¯t look like he will be waking up for a few hours,¡± Emily said as she crossed her arms to face Ron. He slightly growled before he sighed and raised his arms up in the direction near the cabin and created a cage made of strong, thick wood.

    ¡°He will stay in there. I don¡¯t like it, and you will be the sole caretaker of the creature. Honestly, I wish you would have asked me before doing this but it¡¯s too late now,¡± Ron groaned as he watched Emily carefully set the roggolet down in it¡¯s new home.

    ¡°I will stay here until it wakes up. When that happens, I¡¯ll feed him and see how he feels.¡± Ron shook his head as he turned and started back towards the cabin.

    ¡°C-could you possibly bring me a few pieces of that meat you had gotten from the village last week? And possibly a rose?¡± Ron spun around with anger in his eyes at her words.

    ¡°You bring that thing here, expect me to be ok with it, then ask me for a rose for it? Like hell!¡± He stomped back to the cabin and slammed the door in a fit of anger. Emily stayed where she was.

    Ron clenched his fists and paced back and forth from one side of the living room area to the kitchen. He could feel Emily¡¯s presence unmoving, but he was too upset to care. He knew how vicious riggolets could be, and he had watched one villager killed by the beasts. Ron hated them, and the thought that Emily was being kind to one wasn¡¯t helpful.

    Emily sat outside for about an hour before she went back to work at the garden. Ron was cutting up lettuce when he felt movement outside. He concentrated and could feel her footsteps vibrate through the earth, each one like she was hesitant.

    Almost in the same instant, a roar broke through the silence of the forest. Ron jumped and almost dropped the knife in his hand. He ran to the window near the door and looked out. The riggolet was awake, and obviously very pissed.

    Emily had ran over, looking like she was muttering under her breath. She raised her hands and pressed it against the cage, creating a light so bright Ron had to look away. When it had died away, he looked back and saw the riggolet had its wings spread open wide but had calmed down.

    Emily continued to mutter under her breath and walk around the cage. The riggolet followed her steps before it seemed to run out of breath and slowly sat down. The creature kept its eyes on her, but looked like it relaxed slightly.

    Ron was in a bit of shock at how she managed to work with the animal. He hadn¡¯t expected her to react the way she did, and he couldn¡¯t tell what it was she was saying. The only thing that seemed to stand out was whatever she was doing made him relax as well.

    He finally gave in and turned back to the kitchen. He grabbed the package of meat that sat in his makeshift fridge and walked out with it. He slowly went towards the cage and was halfway there when Emily noticed him. She quickly looked to the ground, but he continued to walk to her. She tensed when he got closer, something that surprised him but all he did was put the meat in her hands.

    The riggolet seemed to grow protective of Emily in a way, whistling in a low pitched way when she had tensed up. Ron avoided its gaze and went back to the cabin.

    Emily slowly turned back to the cage and opened the package. She carefully push a few slabs of meat through the bars of the cage. Ron watched from the safety of the window as the riggolet ate without taking a breath of air. He could feel the sickness wafting from its body from where he stood, but he refused to change his mind just yet.

    After feeding and watering the riggolet, Emily sat down next to the cage and crossed her legs. She had stopped speaking, but instead kept eye contact with the riggolet. It slowly fell asleep as darkness had overtaken the island, night calling the bird to its natural call of rest. Emily sat for another hour before she stood up and walked back to the cabin.

    Ron had kept his senses on her, and when he felt her move he walked to the kitchen and took out a bowl of salad. He placed it at her normal spot before he walked to his bedroom and laid down. He heard her walk in and stop at the table. She had picked up the bowl and placed it back in the makeshift fridge before she walked back to her room.

    Slight guilt ran through Ron at her actions, but he continued to hold firm. He laid in bed for about half an hour before he heard her move in her bed. Without thinking, Ron stood up and quickly walked to her room and carefully opened the door.

    Emily was asleep but had tears fresh on her cheeks. He sighed and walked into the room. Ron slowly laid down in the bed next to her before he wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her forehead lightly and closed his eyes, quickly drifting to sleep.

    ************Emily POV************

    She was dreaming about nothing. She was in a white room and was crying out for her family, her friends, and Ron. She was scared and hated being alone, and even though she had realized she was having a nightmare there was still that fear that boiled in her stomach.

    There was daylight shining through the window in her room when she finally managed to force herself awake. She jolted awake and sat up quickly, smacking her head against Ron¡¯s.

    ¡°Ouch, damnit Emily! Why do you do this every time you have a nightmare!¡± He cried out as he fell backwards off the bed. Emily gasped and jumped forward in an attempt to catch him before he fell off but ended up falling off with him.

    She landed next to him with her head against the dresser. Ron groaned and rubbed his head before he stood up and held out his hand. Before Emily had taken it, a low cry came from outside.

    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    Emily jumped up and bolted out of the bedroom without changing out of her nightgown. She ran outside to where the riggolet was and had to cover her mouth and nose from the smell. Blood drenched the creature where it laid, and the sunlight had made it sticky. Emily walked quickly to where the creature was and knelt next to the cage.

    The riggolet was bleeding from its eyes and nose. Emily opened the cage door and ignored the smell as she knelt down next to the bird. The fresh blood that pooled in the cage soaked into her gown as she placed her hands on the bird and closed her eyes. She could sense the pain it was in, and although she couldn¡¯t heal him she did manage to help the pain a bit.

    When the pain had dimmed down enough and the blood slowly ceased to a dribble, the riggolet raised its head. Sadness overwhelmed Emily at the obvious hurt in his eyes. It cooed before laying its head back down into the blood.

    ¡°What in the world¡­¡± Emily turned to see the shocked expression of Ron as he looked at the scene in front of him.

    ¡°I know you hate him, but please help! He¡¯s going to die¡­¡± Emily stuttered. She had her hand against the animal as he gave up on making any sort of noise and continued to breath.

    Ron only turned and left. Emily felt tears swell up in her eyes as he left into the cabin. She turned back to the bird and could only feel sympathy as she felt his breathing slow. The tap on her shoulder made her jolt.

    A rose was at her shoulder. Ron was knelt next to her with it in his hands, trust in his eyes as he pushed it into the palm of her right hand.

    Emily felt hope bubble in her chest as she quickly accepted it and pushed it into the face of the riggolet. It could barely look at her when she moved, so she took its beak and carefully forced it open. She fed the flower to the bird, and once it was all gone and the riggolet had swallowed she sat and waited.

    The riggolet then took its last breath and laid there in silence.

    ************Ron POV************

    Ron wrapped his arms around the bloodied girl as she gave a gasp of shock and pain at the death of the riggolet. He even felt pain for the poor animal and the suffering it had gone through. He stood up carefully so as to not slip on the blood around the cage, pulling Emily to her feet as well.

    When they had started to walk away, the loudest bird call Ron had ever heard ripped through the forest. He spun around just as claws wrapped around his chest and dragged him straight up into the air. Emily cried out as he was pulled into the air above the island.

    Ron was face to face with the riggolet that had been revived with the flower¡¯s power. It had a look of intense power as it balanced itself in the air while bending its legs to look Ron in the eyes.

    ¡°Why did you save me, man of the island? For thousands of years my kind has come for your roses and yet out of all you save me!¡± Ron¡¯s heart shook as a voice rang out in his mind.

    ¡°Y-you can speak? How did I not know your kind could do this?¡± Ron asked. The riggolet seemed to look humored by his question as it flew a bit higher into the air.

    ¡°My kind has many secrets not even the greatest of kings know. That mistress of yours has been kind, and for that I will forever be in her debt. But you must know that I do not care for you for the murder of my people,¡± it said. Ron glared at it but couldn¡¯t say otherwise.

    ¡°Just know that if you cause any of the people living here pain, I will kill you without remorse. What is your name, riggolet?¡± Ron asked

    ¡°My name is Cahal, son of the great warriors of the northern waters!¡± He practically yelled in Ron¡¯s mind. He winced at the intensity of Cahal¡¯s voice in his mind, but forgot it as the large bird dove down suddenly to where Emily was waiting in fear.

    Cahal set Ron down carefully before he flew next to Emily. He stood up to his full height, about two or three times bigger than the woman that looked up at him. To Ron¡¯s complete and utter shock, he did what looked like a bow before he used his beak to cut her arm.

    Ron stood up to fight the riggolet away from Emily, but then he noticed the riggolet cut into its own wing and let the blood drip to the ground where Emily¡¯s blood had already fallen. Once it had mixed in the dirt, the cut on her arm healed instantly. In the place of the cut was a symbol with four black feathers in the middle of a green circle.

    Emily examined the mark and smiled before she glanced up at Cahal. In three short steps, she burst forward and leapt onto his back. Ron watched as Cahal spread his wings open wide and gave a great caw. He didn¡¯t notice as Jessica and Analicia ran towards Ron in a state of panic from the noise they had heard earlier all the way in the village miles away.

    The two women stopped when they saw Emily atop the bird as he jumped up in the air with Emily holding onto him. Like a beam of sunlight, Cahal¡¯s feathers glistened brightly as the two companions took to the sky for the sealing ritual¡¯s completion that Ron had finally recognized.

    The two of them circled the island in less than a minute, the villagers obviously in a state of shock and panic at the sight of the great beast. When they had landed back near Ron and the bloody cage, a different light was in Emily¡¯s eyes.

    Her normal expression of sadness and shyness had been replaced with confidence and excitement. Her natural craving for battle had taken over her features as Emily held herself up straight and strong. As she slid off Cahal¡¯s back, Emily had a smirk cross her face. Ron could feel her instincts overtake her, and he realized as his heart started to beat faster just how much he loved it.

 Chapter 16: Open Minds, Trusting Hearts

    ************Emily POV************

    The mark on her forearm was still slightly burning, but it wasn¡¯t as bad as she thought it would be. Emily looked up at Cahal before she glanced back at his old cage. It was obvious it would need cleaned up, but at the moment she was feeling the need to train.

    Analicia wasn¡¯t able to speak from the fear that was stuck on her face. Jessica was the only one able to say anything at all.

    ¡°Well, you proved us wrong. But I think you scared the crap out of the rest of the village, and now I¡¯m not so sure how much they¡¯ll like you from this point on,¡± Jessica sighed. She crossed her arms and seemed to be trying to think of something.

    Emily couldn¡¯t think as straight as she wanted, but she understood what was being said to her. She tried to shake herself out of it but it wasn¡¯t working quite well.

    ¡°It may take you a few days to return to your normal self,¡± Cahal said to her in her mind. Emily nodded as she held up her hands and watched how they shook.

    ¡°I need to go train for a few hours. Ron, the smell is going to take over the whole island if the blood is allowed to cook in the sunlight. You don¡¯t have to clean it up, I will later, but see if you can at least direct the scent somewhere else,¡± Emily said as she turned and walked away.

    She didn¡¯t exactly know where she was going, but as Cahal stayed behind with Ron to allow her some space to do what she needed to get the extra energy out of her body. Emily walked out passed the pond where she had met Jessica towards a different clearing about five minutes away from it.

    As an abnormal, Emily needed to use magic often or else it would build up. She had been working to keep the pressurized magic built up in her body at a normal level, so when Cahal had appeared and she was given a chance to release more magic than she had been able to in the past few weeks, naturally she took it. But it wasn¡¯t enough.

    As her instincts were awoken, the stored up magic in her veins was starting to burn. If she didn¡¯t get away she was afraid she could hurt others, and with her heart pumping the way it was she was building more magic at an incredible rate that almost scared her. Emily had to get away and train, as well as release enough magic to be comfortable.

    When she was far enough away to be alone, she knelt down and gathered dirt into a pile in front of her. She had learned this kind of magic when she was young and had practiced enough to where she was able to perform it to perfection. Emily concentrated and formed the shape of a sword in her mind.

    This spell was enough to release some magic, but she was a special case since she was little. She was able to store more in her body than most other abnormals, as well as use up only a little bit with stronger spells. It was frustrating at times for her since she couldn¡¯t stand the build up, and this moment was one of those times.

    Emily picked up the sword and created a type of dummy with solidified darkness and magic. It looked like a crystallized shadow with the sun burning on the inside. She then started to attack it. Because the same elements were used in the sword as the dummy, neither the sword nor the dummy was destroyed.

    She was working on her strength and testing to see how much magic she could put into her attacks to release more build-up. She didn¡¯t notice someone watching her from behind until the man had cleared his throat.

    Emily froze and slowly turned around to face the newcomer. It was obvious he was a villager, but he was much stronger looking than any of the people she had seen when she had gone the first time.

    ¡°To be honest, I¡¯ve never seen anyone control a riggolet in my time, and I¡¯ve been alive for many years. There are rumors that you are abnormal, and now that I¡¯ve seen you for myself I know they are true. I¡¯ve experienced a few of your kind myself, many of which are old friends of mine,¡± the man said with a grin.

    Emily stayed silent but nodded respectfully to him. She wasn¡¯t sure how to react to his words, but he had the air of incredibly strength about him so Emily didn¡¯t want to upset him.

    ¡°I...I didn¡¯t control him. He allowed me to ride him. It was consensual, and if it was any other way I promise he would have died before allowing such a thing,¡± Emily finally explained. The man seemed to think this over before he crossed his arms in satisfaction at what she said.

    ¡°Fliour told me your name is Emily, and that you¡¯ve been sleeping with Ron for the past few weeks. Is she wrong?¡± Emily¡¯s face went bright red at how bluntly he said those words.

    ¡°No! I mean, yes my name is Emily but I have not been sleeping with Ron!¡± Emily crossed her arms, completely forgetting respect and picked her sword back up where she had placed it next to her to take another swing at the dummy. The man only chuckled at her actions.

    ¡°Even if you were, I wouldn¡¯t care. It¡¯s about time he¡¯s found someone who could get him up and force him to socialize. Also, you¡¯re holding that sword wrong, you¡¯re gonna hurt your wrist that way.¡± Emily froze mid swing. She had been so focused on getting the image that the man had put into her mind out that she paid no attention to her hold.

    ¡°So you¡¯re a swordsman?¡± Emily asked as she lowed her sword and turned back to him. He smirked and stepped forward, holding his hand out for her weapon.

    She hesitated but handed it to him. He grasped it hard and walked up to her dummy, then he started to attack it. Emily was surprised to see he had exceptional skill as he started taking quick jabs at the dummy so fast she almost couldn¡¯t see it.

    ¡°I¡¯m only a little bit of one. I¡¯m more of a swordsmith, but to be a good swordsmith you need to be able to use one,¡± he said with a laugh.

    ¡°Do you have any specialties?¡± The man looked at the sword in his hand and thought about it for a bit before he smiled once more.

    ¡°I suppose I¡¯m particular towards broadswords, but I¡¯m also fond of sabers. It just depends on the material given to me and the shape of it. If you would like a sword made, I can make whatever it is you would like, but I would need the material. This sword is good, but could be shaped and balanced better,¡± he explained as he twisted it a bit in his hands.

    ¡°I may take your offer on that. I do have a few questions though.¡± Emily snapped her fingers at the dummy she had made and let it disappear before she did the same to the sword.

    The only issue was that she had forgotten she had created the sword out of dirt and magic, so when she let it disappear only the magic left from it. A large mound of dirt appeared and covered the man from his chest down. Emily covered her mouth in embarrassment and stuttered out an apology as she ran forward and attempted to brush him off.

    To her surprise, he started laughing.

    ¡°Well, Ms. Emily, I must say you¡¯ve surprised me in many ways already. Nothing very exciting happens here, so you¡¯ve helped spice up life a bit. My name is Dominic, so if you ever need something, whether it be a sword or...other, I¡¯ll be here,¡± he said with a wink.

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    Emily immediately stopped brushing him, or just touching him period. This only caused him to laugh harder as he turned around and walked away with a small wave. Her face was bright red, and she didn¡¯t exactly know if it was from embarrassment or utter shock.

    When she was certain she was alone, she fell to her knees and stared at the ground. She was quickly summing up all that had happened since she had been brought back here. Threatened, flirted with, slept in a bed with a man, made friends, and was falling for a man she still didn¡¯t know much about. It was like a headache as she thought it all over.

    After about ten minutes, Emily stood up and started to walk to where she knew Carlin was planted. He had grown to half his old height, and with Emily¡¯s guidance had become stronger than before. She had forgotten about her magic build up after Dominic¡¯s words, and all she wanted was to garden and think.

    It took her a good half hour to get to where Carlin was, and when he noticed her he made a noise like a raven. It was his normal greeting to which Emily replied with a low whistle. She walked up to him and scratched the top of his leaves before she knelt down and started to pull the weeds around him.

    She spent a good hour working before she fed him and left to go back to the cabin. Emily stopped a few hundred feet when she heard more commotion and yelling then there would have been if only Jessica and Analicia were there. In fact, practically the whole village was there in front of Ron¡¯s doorway crying out in hysteria.

    ¡°She¡¯s going to kill us all!¡±

    ¡°Why have you brought someone so deadly here?¡±

    ¡°That woman¡¯s too dangerous to stay here! She¡¯s even got a riggolet for a pet!¡±

    ¡°Fliour was right, she¡¯s evil!¡±

    Emily¡¯s mouth went dry as she listened to what was being said. She could only think of when she was little when the guild members didn¡¯t know Emily and her brother much and treated her the same way as the villagers were now.

    ¡°I must give this time. Maybe...maybe they¡¯ll like me sometime in the future,¡± she whispered to herself as she backed away to the safety of the trees. Emily had her hands against her chest as she finally turned and ran to where the thick tree line started. She could still hear the yelling, the sound echoing in her head.

    She looked at the line of trees that hovered above her head. Tears were running down her face unknowingly, and even when they dripped onto her shirt they went unnoticed. Emily stepped into the forest and immediately the voices stopped. It shocked her out of her crying at how silent the defensive treeline was, and she realized just how strong the magic here was.

    She walked to a tree that had a trunk that was bent up and practically broken and sat down. She curled up and rested her head against the bark. The silence to her was perfect, and it reminded her about the energy buildup in her chest.

    Emily knew it would be dangerous to take of it the way she needed to, but she decided to do it as carefully as possible.

    Knelt in the forest created to confuse intruders, Emily began to meditate and let the energy in her body vibrate out. It would do no damage to the trees, but if anyone walked near her they would be harmed. It was why she did it on a low level. It would take a day to release enough energy, and she could only hope that Ron wouldn¡¯t be able to find her until she was done.

    ************Ron POV***********

    It was hard enough dealing with a large bird in his backyard, but when the villagers showed up as a large mass with weapons and anger he knew he was going to go through hell.

    ¡°She has done no harm! In fact, it¡¯s probably safer that she¡¯s here!¡± He cried as he tried to control the situation. Cahal only seemed to find humor in what was happening.

    ¡°What hasn¡¯t she done? She¡¯s let that thing live, and you won¡¯t let us kill it,¡± Fliour suddenly said as she stepped forward. Ron felt annoyance as she appeared from the crowd, but knew she was beloved by the villagers so he couldn¡¯t talk as he normally would with her.

    ¡°You have done nothing to try and befriend her. It¡¯s not my fault that your stubbornness has blinded you,¡± Ron sighed. He leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms.

    ¡°She really is kind! Please, we ask of you to try talking to her at least,¡± Analicia said. With all the people there, naturally most didn¡¯t hear her, but those that did slowly went silent.

    ¡°What if she kills us all in our sleep? I¡¯ve seen it happen before!¡± One of the older women yelled from the back. Jessica growled in an annoyed manner but kept her attitude cool.

    ¡°She wouldn¡¯t do that, and if she wanted you all dead it would have been much easier to do it earlier on, don¡¯t you think?¡± Jessica cried back.

    It didn¡¯t seem to help. More yelling took place before Cahal seemed to start to get annoyed as well. It took ten more minutes before he had had enough. He gave a loud, deafening screech.

    This of course worked. The whole crowd of hundreds of people went silent. Ron felt grateful for the first time towards Cahal, and then started to speak to his people.

    ¡°You are all misjudging her. None of you decide to speak to her, and yet you treat her that way. Were you not all terrified of me the first few weeks you knew me? And still you gave me a chance. I ask you as a favor from me, please try and get to know Emily. You may be surprised to know who she really is,¡± Ron said.

    Fliour huffed and turned away, but even she seemed to be affected by his words as she thought about it. The rest of the villagers seemed to feel the same way, and after a few minutes one of the women stepped forward.

    ¡°Fine, we will do as you ask. You¡¯ve never truly asked us for something, so we know how much this means to you. If most of us do not like her, though, then you must send her away. For good,¡± she added. It hurt Ron strongly, for he knew how much influence Fliour had on them, but he finally nodded.

    Satisfied, the crowd turned away and left. Only Fliour stayed behind with Analicia and Jessica.

    ¡°Where is Emily, by the way? If...if you truly are not sleeping with her, and you are not in love with her, I suppose I can try speaking to her,¡± Fliour stammered with her back still turned to Ron. He felt hope build up in his chest at her words, but then it clicked in his head when he realized what she asked.

    ¡°Actually, I don¡¯t know where she is. Let me look,¡± he said as he closed his eyes and felt the vibrations of the ground.

    He didn¡¯t feel Emily, but he did feel an intense energy field coming from the forest edge, in the defensive side. It was a power that scared him because of how powerful it was, and Emily was nowhere to be found.

    ¡°Fliour, I need your help. I think she¡¯s in trouble.¡±

 Chapter 17: Love Within the Silence

    ************Emily POV************

    Emily felt excited as her energy releasing technique helped her see into an ability she had been trying to learn. She already knew how to combine the light and dark elements, but she had been wanting to try and work with them separately but at the same time.

    It was easy enough for the combination effect, but when it came to working with the two in different ways, it was a bit more difficult. It wasn¡¯t until she was releasing the energy built up that she realized the energy was releasing in separate ways. Emily immediately stopped releasing it and sat down to think about what she had just realized.

    As she finally started to work on what she had just learned, she continued to release the rest of the built up energy. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that she heard footsteps coming near her, she wouldn¡¯t have been able to stop it in time to save Fliour.

    ¡°Ouch, damn it what the hell just happened?¡± She cried. Emily quickly jumped to her feet and ran to Fliour and Ron. He had his arms wrapped around her and was lifting her to her feet as Emily reached them.

    ¡°Where the hell were you, and what¡¯s going on? We thought you were in trouble!¡± Ron groaned as he lifted Fliour up into his arms. Emily ran over and wrapped her own arms around Fliour¡¯s legs and helped Ron carry her out of the special forest area, then carefully set her down.

    ¡°I was trying to work on my energy build up. It¡¯s dangerous to go near when I¡¯m working on it, but you¡¯ve just caused Fliour damage to her insides,¡± Emily explained as she quickly started to work on Fliour¡¯s body.

    Blood bubbled out of Fliour¡¯s mouth as she fought to breathe. Emily quickly tipped her on her side and let it drain from her lungs as she healed the wounds that had been caused on the warrior¡¯s insides. She carefully examined how deep and deadly they were, and when she was satisfied with her healing Fliour had passed out.

    ¡°Come, carry her back to the cabin and lay her on my bed. I want to keep an eye on her.¡± Ron nodded and did as he was told. He picked up Fliour and carried her to the house. Emily opened the door and shoved Ron out of the bedroom.

    ¡°What are you doing? Why do I need to leave?¡± Ron complained in annoyance. Emily stood in the doorway and crossed her arms.

    ¡°I¡¯m changing her into some of my own clothing, and even though she does seem to love you I¡¯m positive she doesn¡¯t want you to see her naked just yet,¡± Emily growled as she gave Ron a slight shove so she could have enough room to shut the door. Ron¡¯s face went bright red and he immediately turned away, an expression that made Emily giggle.

    She shut the door and turned back to Fliour. She was peacefully laying on the bed in deep sleep, and she seemed to be more built than Emily but there was clothing in her room that would fit her. Emily went to work and went through her dresser until she found the nightgown she was looking for before she turned back to the woman sleeping on the bed in front of her.

    It was a bit difficult to remove the armor off Fliour, but once Emily realized just how it was clipped to her body it didn¡¯t take long until Fliour was finally undressed. There didn¡¯t seem to be any gashes on her body from when she had walked into the danger zone Emily had created, but there were scars all over.

    It was a shock to see the purple, jagged scars etched all over Fliour¡¯s body. They seemed to cover her from head to foot, but since her body was normally fully clothed in armor Emily never knew. Emily covered her mouth in pain and shock as the words ¡®bitch¡¯ and ¡®slut¡¯ were carved into permanent scars over her chest.

    It took a moment for Emily to realize there were tears streaming down her face at the sight. She quickly wiped them away before she lifted Fliour up and pulled the gown over the woman¡¯s body. She laid the armor and weapons on the chair in the corner of the room before gently sitting on the bed next to her.

    ¡°You poor, poor girl. I can only imagine the pain you went through,¡± Emily whispered as she pulled the blankets up over her body. When she had sat next to her for a few minutes, Emily finally stood up and left the room.

    Ron had gone to bed by the time she had left the bedroom. She didn¡¯t realize she had been in there so long, but since she was alone Emily decided to go visit Cahal. She walked out the door to where the old cage was. In its place was a clean, beautiful cage made out of what seemed to be gold and silver. Cahal was awake and looked like he was waiting for Emily.

    ¡°You look horrible. I honestly don¡¯t blame you, I saw what happened to that woman Ron carried back. Why are you not sleeping?¡± Emily smiled and walked to him before she knelt down and sat on the ground.

    ¡°I don¡¯t feel tired. Too much on my mind,¡± Emily sighed as she laid back and looked up. She could see stars glistening through the branches and felt her heart calm at the sight. Cahal gave a small shiver before he laid next to Emily. He tucked his head under his wings and fell asleep after ten minutes or so.

    The only sound to be heard was the wind rustling through the leaves. After hours of staring at those trees above her, she knew she wouldn¡¯t be able to sleep without her sleeping pills she had brought. Annoyance ran through her as she thought about how Ron had hid them from her, but she knew the cabin enough now to know where he had put them.

    Emily stood up and brushed herself off before she walked back into the cabin and walked to where the loose floorboards were. She lifted them up and reached in until she felt the cold, glass vial against her fingertips. Emily grabbed it and looked at the pills inside it. She didn¡¯t want to take them, but she was becoming desperate.

    Two pills were all she needed, and once she had swallowed them the floorboards and vial was replaced in its spot. Emily laid down on the floor and closed her eyes, but it still took her about half an hour to fall asleep.

    Arms were lifting her up from the ground. The pills were strong enough to make it so she couldn¡¯t open her eyes and see what was happening. She didn¡¯t recognize the hands that were on her, but she recognized the sound of her bed squeak as she was placed down on it. It was warm, but empty. Fliour.

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    ¡°Sleep, little abnormal. Whatever it is you took to make you sleep in such a way is dangerous, a warrior must never damper their slumber at times such as these,¡± Fliour whispered in her ear. It seemed like she hesitated to move, but she finally laid down next to Emily and turned her back to her.

    When Emily managed to wake up completely, Fliour was gone. She heard voices in the kitchen, Ron and Fliour talking amongst themselves.

    ************Ron POV************

    ¡°You should tell her what happened, you know she¡¯s going to be curious,¡± Ron whispered. Fliour sighed and buried her head into her arms before she shot back.

    ¡°She shouldn¡¯t have changed me from my armor. I understand why she did so, but it¡¯s¡­.shameful. My body is torn and ugly to behold, the past behind it is worse,¡± she hissed. Ron could detect the pain behind her words.

    ¡°Your body isn¡¯t ugly, Fliour. It¡¯s beautiful, and I myself think the history makes it even more so,¡± Ron said. Fliour blushed and kept her gaze at the table.

    ¡°W-well that doesn¡¯t change the fact that it¡¯s torn up! I have scars¡­¡± she trailed off as Emily stepped out of her bedroom.

    ¡°What happened?¡± She asked bluntly as she walked over and poured herself some tea. Fliour quickly turned her head from Emily and glared at the floor.

    ¡°Do you truly want to know?¡± Fliour whispered. Emily sat down in the chair next to her and nodded.

    ¡°Fine, but you have to promise never to speak of it to anyone.¡± Emily smiled warmly and agreed. Fliour sighed and waited a few minutes before she began.

    ¡°Where I was raised, it was common to raise children in the way that you would consider child abuse. In a way, I suppose it was. It would leave us with deep scars if we would even look at something we weren¡¯t allowed to have. My parents expected me to become a knight when I was born, so they were even more harsh.

    That was only the beginning of the scars. When I went through training at the age of fifteen, it was natural for the women to be used for the men¡¯s own pleasure. I didn¡¯t think twice about it the first time I was taken from my bed. I only changed later. When I had turned seventeen I had had enough.

    One night, when I was four months away from gaining knighthood, I was taken once more. This time, it was the nightguard¡¯s captain, Mariun. He had started off kind when he had come into my bed, but it didn¡¯t take long until I learned his true heart.

    When I was two months away, I realized I was pregnant. Women were not allowed to be pregnant as knights, so in my panicked state I had gone to Mariun to ask for help. That was my mistake. He found it humorous, so in anger I lashed out at him and cut him with a knife that had been on his table that day.

    If you could guess, I suffered for that. In the light of day, I was dragged from training and pulled into the middle of the punishment ring. My peers watched as I was laid bare in front of them, Mariun carving those words you saw on my chest with that very same knife I had used on him.

    The beating I was given that day gave me the majority of the scars covering my body. It also killed the unborn child in my chest. Either way, I was devastated in more ways than I thought possible. I was about twenty one or so the day I decided to strike back.

    The day I met Ron, I had killed Mariun. He had taken another woman and was beating her, but unlike me in the sense that I was a soon-to-be knight at the time, the woman was a slave the king had in his castle. I had snapped and killed him, then decided to set the slaves free that were trapped in the dungeons. Ron had gotten there the same time I did, and saved me as well.¡±

    Emily didn¡¯t seem to be able to speak. She only stared at Fliour in a state Ron could only describe as turmoil. Fliour herself had spoken of the past to Ron only, so the silence coming from Emily was hard for her.

    ¡°I watched my parents murdered in front of my eyes. I was in the dining room, and we had just celebrated my father¡¯s birthday. The memory is still as clear as day, how my mother smiled and laughed at my father¡¯s jokes. The happiness shattered like broken glass in matters of seconds.

    My mom had just placed the dishes in the sink when my father stood up with his sword in his hands. As if on instinct, my mother picked me up and ran to the bedroom. My dad followed and blocked the door as he whispered to my mother. I was pushed under the bed and covered with the heavy comforter that had been on their bed.

    The door was ripped off it¡¯s hinges I believe. It sounded like it, wood off wood. My mother had crawled under the bed with me and had her arms around me. I kept quiet as my father yelled and metal rang. Scratching sounds surrounded us, and then the clanging stopped suddenly. The loud thump of my father falling to the ground is still clear in my head.

    Then my mom was dragged out from under the bed. That¡¯s when I saw the goblins, the ugly creatures as they scratched my mother as she fought against them. I saw a woman in red standing above her directing the creatures, and my mother looked at me one last time before her eyes were gouged out of her head,¡± Emily hiccuped.

    Fliour herself could only stare at Emily. Then she did something that shocked Ron, and it seemed to have the same reaction on Emily.

    She had wrapped her arms around Emily and started to cry with her. Ron didn¡¯t know how to react as the two women finally broke into tears together, like sisters who had found each other after years of being apart. Their cries rang in his ears as their pasts entwined into each other and created mutual understanding and love.

 Chapter 18: Dangers Unknown

    ************Ron POV*************

    It seemed the two had finally started to get along. Ron watched as Fliour and Emily worked together to weed the garden and even take care of the two animals Emily was now in charge of caring for.

    Ron was worried, though. Every night that Fliour would go home, Emily¡¯s attitude seemed to change from happy to one that seemed to be filled with emotions he couldn¡¯t place. She would glance at Ron from the corner of her eye at times, but if he ever looked in her direction she would immediately turn her eyes back to the ground.

    It was one of the most confusing situations he had ever been in. He still wasn¡¯t used to living with someone else, especially a woman, and even though he had more knowledge than most people could even contain in their own brains and remember it all as clearly as he could, he had no knowledge on handling someone like her.

    On one of the nights Fliour had left for home, several weeks after the incident with Cahal and her having accidentally hurt Fliour, Ron decided to ask Emily about it. He felt himself trying to pull him away from asking anything for fear of either insulting or hurting her, but curiosity got the best of him.

    ¡°Emily, come in here. I want to talk to you,¡± he called from inside the kitchen. He had finished making dinner and sat down at the table as Emily walked in from outside. As she had been doing for weeks, she kept her gaze to the floor but still held herself the same way she had always done; strong and prepared for anything.

    ¡°What do you want to talk about? Did I miss anything while working today or something?¡± She asked while forcing herself to look him in the eyes while she smiled. He could feel the worry wafting from her body, and he didn¡¯t want that kind of reaction so he tried to change the mood.

    ¡°First off, no. You¡¯ve done great, and you seem to have become accustomed to life here. There might have been a few hiccups here and there but in the end you¡¯ve done great.¡± Emily couldn¡¯t seem to help but grin at the compliment he gave her, a look Ron¡¯s heart sped up about.

    ¡°Well then, if that¡¯s the case, is there something wrong?¡± Ron himself had to look down when she smiled warmly at him as she asked the question. For the first time in a long time, she had gotten him to blush without meaning to.

    ¡°I wanted to ask you why it was you don¡¯t look at me in the eyes like you used to. What¡¯s wrong?¡± He finally got the words out after a few seconds of struggling to open his mouth.

    Emily was taken aback by his question. Her face instantly went red, and without think she quickly stood up from her chair and took a step back from the table. Ron looked back up at her and noticed the mixture of embarrassment and worry in her eyes.

    ¡°I-I don¡¯t know what you mean! I¡¯ve been perfectly normal lately, there¡¯s nothing wrong or different with me!¡± She quickly stammered. Emily turned and tried to go to her room, but Ron quickly glanced at the door. It shut before Emily could reach it, and from the click sound from inside it had locked.

    Ron sat back in his chair and crossed his arms while he gave Emily a look. She slowly turned and saw the look on his face, then she went back to her seat and sat down with a sigh.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing important. I...I guess I don¡¯t want Fliour getting the wrong idea and losing her friendship,¡± Emily whispered as she stared at her folded hands in her lap.

    ¡°There are multiple issues with what you just said. For one thing, if your relationship with Fliour is based off of me, then what kind of relationship is that? Secondly-¡± Emily raised her hand to stop him before he could begin his next sentence.

    ¡°If you had fallen in love with someone, but you found out your new friend was also in love with them, what would you do? If you are selfless as you seem to be, then you would back off and try and help your friend, wouldn¡¯t you?¡± Emily asked as she herself sat back and crossed her arms.

    Ron suddenly stopped and instantly thought about what she said. He couldn¡¯t help but know she was right, and after a few minutes of fighting his emotions with the images and knowledge that she had stumped him, he finally nodded his head.

    ¡°Ok, you¡¯re right. I would try and help them. But still, your relationship with her sh-¡± Ron immediately froze. His mouth hung open in both shock and true understanding at what had just been said.

    ¡°What is it? Why do you look that way?¡± Emily broke the silence after a couple of seconds and leaned forward a bit to wave her hand in front of Ron¡¯s face.

    ¡°Did you just tell me you love me?¡± Ron asked hesitantly. Silence once more.

    ¡°I-it was a metaphor...nothing more than that¡­.¡± Emily whispered. Ron knew she was lying, but he could also tell she didn¡¯t want to discuss it further by the obvious uncomfortable way she held herself.

    ¡°Want some dinner? I made apple and cucumber salad, along with some bacon of course. Jake brought some down for me while you were tending to Cahal,¡± Ron suddenly said as he stood up and walked to the counter where he grabbed the plates of food and passed one to Emily. She took one but avoided his gaze and thanked him.

    They ate in the stillness, and Emily had retreated back into herself as she had done before. The conversation had gone nowhere, and in the end things had only turned out worse. Ron mentally kicked himself for trying to push her, but he couldn¡¯t help but replay her words over and over in his head.

    After they had finished eating, Emily stood up to go to bed. Ron unlocked the door and watched her leave until the door had clicked shut. The moment she was out of sight, he stood up and washed the dishes. Before he himself went to bed, he gave one last glance at the closed door Emily now slept behind.

    His bed was cold as he pulled the covers up and over his shoulders. It didn¡¯t feel right to be alone in his bed like he was used to, and he realized after an hour of attempting to fall asleep just how much he missed sleeping in the same bed as her. He forced the thoughts out of his head before he finally managed to fall asleep, but the image of her smile remained.

    ************Emily POV************

    She was curled up her blankets and had made a bundle of them to the side of her before she put her back against it. It was comforting to feel like there was someone with her in the room, she wasn¡¯t fond of the dark but she wouldn¡¯t dare call for Ron.

    Emily had gotten used to being heartbroken, but this was ridiculous. She felt just as sick as the day she had watched her parents be taken from her, but this was something she couldn¡¯t even describe.

    ¡°Emily, what¡¯s wrong? I feel you¡¯re stressed,¡± Cahal said inside Emily¡¯s mind. Hearing his voice made her immediately relax.

    ¡°I kinda messed up. I accidentally told Ron my feelings, and I couldn¡¯t get myself to play it off like I should have. Fliour and Ron are supposed to be the couple that everybody sees and loves, I¡¯m just an intruder that will be leaving in little over three years, then I¡¯ll be forgotten about,¡± Emily spoke back with her own mind. She could practically hear Cahal¡¯s dislike.

    ¡°You creatures of such reasoning always confuse me. If you want something, why do you not take it?¡± Emily smiled at his question and slowly started to fall asleep as he continued to rant about how he would have taken what he wanted.

    When she had finally drifted off, Cahal stopped. He could feel her fall asleep, and when he was satisfied that she wouldn¡¯t need him again that night he himself slept as well.

    Emily slept in the next day without meaning to, so when Fliour knocked on her door and woke her up it was like instant panic had set in. Without meaning to, she had kicked the covers off so violently that she had fallen off the bed with a loud thump.

    ¡°Good lord, are you ok?¡± Fliour gasped as she opened the door and ran to her. She helped Emily to her feet before she placed a hand to her forehead.

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    ¡°I just slept in, I¡¯m not sick. I didn¡¯t realize what time it was, so I guess I just continued to sleep,¡± Emily explained. Fliour wouldn¡¯t budge as she checked Emily¡¯s temperature. When she released her and let her brush herself off, Fliour held out a letter.

    ¡°This was teleported in this morning. I don¡¯t know how it appeared, but it seems a great wizard did it with how easily it got here. It¡¯s addressed to you,¡± Fliour said as Emily took it from her. She instantly recognized the writing as her brother¡¯s. Squealing, Emily jumped back onto her bed with the letter in hand.

    At that moment, Analicia walked into the room with a bag in her hand. She looked at the letter in Emily¡¯s hands and grinned at the excitement in her eyes. Analicia placed the bag on the shelf and walked over to where Emily was and sat on the other side of the bed with her.

    Emily opened the letter and looked down at the familiar handwriting. She suddenly felt homesick for her family back at the guild, especially when a picture of Nicolette and her daughter fell out onto her lap.

    ¡°Dear Emily, it¡¯s been over eight months since you left. I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ll get this letter, but if you do then just know that we all miss you here at the guild. I¡¯ve been working more with the council up in the North to try and find ways to bring more guilds together to work as one, so naturally Nicolette isn¡¯t very happy with me not being home as often as I should.

    Mira has grown quite fast. I¡¯ve gotten her little glass trinkets from every place I¡¯ve visited during the meetings I have attended over the past year for her second birthday. I plan on building her a cabinet in her room for them so she can continue collecting them as she grows.

    Anyways, I miss you little sis. If you do receive this letter, then you¡¯ll notice a small marble-like object on the back of the picture I sent you. You may use this to send letters back, and it will also allow you to receive letters as well. Hope to hear from you soon. Sincerely, James.¡±

    Emily turned the picture over and noticed the marble. She grinned and carefully pulled the tape off and held the small blue object in her hand before she placed it on the table. Analicia and Fliour read the letter as Emily walked into the kitchen and knocked on Ron¡¯s door.

    ¡°What is it?¡± He called out.

    ¡°Do you have paper and a pencil of some kind?¡± Emily asked. Ron carefully opened the door and looked out at her. Emily was shocked to see dark circles under his eyes and his clothes and hair a mess.

    ¡°Yes, in the drawer on the desk near the window,¡± he muttered as he pointed out where it was. As Emily turned back around, he shut the door. She wasn¡¯t sure if she wanted to try and bother him, so instead she walked back to the place he pointed out and walked back to her room.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? You look like you just saw a ghost!¡± Analicia gasped as Emily walked back in.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s wrong, but Ron looks like he may be sick,¡± Emily whispered. Fliour immediately froze in place.

    ¡°What do you mean by sick?¡± She asked.

    ¡°Like he didn¡¯t sleep, maybe feverish sick,¡± Emily explained the best she could as she started to write a reply to her brother.

    ¡°...will you guys give me a few minutes alone with Ron?¡± Fliour asked after Emily had finished writing and had placed it on the orb. Emily whispered her brother¡¯s name for the transaction to take place, and within seconds the letter was covered in light and disappeared.

    ¡°What for?¡± Analicia asked as Emily turned back to face the two women.

    ¡°I want to talk to him. Maybe I can help in some way, but I want to be alone without distractions,¡± Fliour said. There was a different expression on her fact than what Emily was used to, and a small tingle raced up Emily¡¯s spin.

    ¡°Sure, but call us back when you are done,¡± Analicia said as if oblivious to the obvious change in Fliour¡¯s actions.

    When the two of them had left the room, Analicia grabbed Emily¡¯s hand and started to run.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Emily gasped as she was suddenly dragged along with her.

    ¡°I know what she¡¯s going to do, and I don¡¯t want either of us to be around when she does it,¡± Analicia growled.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Emily asked as she dodged a low hanging tree branch before it hit her in the face.

    ¡°I mean one of two things are going to happen. Either she is going to fight him to get him back to his normal self, or she is going to use this as an excuse to be in his bedroom. Either way, a fight is going to break out and I don¡¯t care to see how it turns out.¡± Emily imagined a fight between the two of them with weapons and the such and had to shake the image from her mind.

    ¡°Why would she want to be in his bedroom?¡± Analicia giggled as they stopped at the halfway mark between the village and Ron¡¯s cabin.

    ¡°Fliour loves being alone with Ron even if they fight, and she knows Ron won¡¯t go crazy trying to fight back in his own bedroom because of how small the space is. It¡¯s a perfect opportunity for her to try and get him to fall in love with her,¡± Analicia explained as she tried to control her breathing.

    ¡°Is that really possible? Would he fall for her just by being in a small room? That sounds kind of ridiculous,¡± Emily sighed as she sat on the ground, ignoring the jealousy that had awakened in her veins.

    ¡°Imagine. Two people, hot and sweaty from fighting and emotions blazing. What do you think could happen?¡± She didn¡¯t want to think about it, but the images came into her mind anyways. Images that seemed all too possible with the way Analicia described it.

    ¡°When it¡¯s all over, we will go back. Then we will know what happened. Until then, just try to think about something else,¡± Analicia said as she leaned against a tree and closed her eyes. Even though Emily wanted to think about anything but that, she couldn¡¯t help but let the images run around in her mind as she waited to return.

    ************Ron POV************

    Fliour sat on the edge of Ron¡¯s bed with a calm look. He only watched her from the corner of his eye and noticed she had the door under her control where she was positioned.

    ¡°What do you want to where you had to wake me up?¡± He asked as he laid against the bedframe.

    ¡°Fight me.¡± Fliour said with a smirk. Ron narrowed his eyes as he examined her. Why she wanted to fight, he had no clue. But he knew that if he didn¡¯t make the first move, at some point she would. He didn¡¯t want his bed torn to pieces either.

    ¡°If I fight you, then we can do that outside,¡± he growled. Fliour only smiled even more.

    ¡°No, I¡¯ll fight you here.¡± Ron was taken aback by her words, as well as annoyed.

    Before he could say anything against it, she lashed out at him with a dagger in her hand. He caught her wrist and pinned her down against the bed with anger slowly boiling up from deep inside.

    ¡°Why do you always do this kind of thing! You know better than this!¡± Ron yelled as she struggled under his grasp. She suddenly stopped and smiled slyly at him. Without hesitating, she leaned up and kissed him before using her feet and knocking his feet out from under him, giving her control and flipped him over so she was on top and had him pinned.

    ¡°I know exactly what I¡¯m doing, and I also know you won¡¯t fall for me. I¡¯ve tried for years, and yet you still can care less about my feelings. So, I¡¯ll make you love me, and you¡¯ll heal my wounds that cover my body and heart since I was a girl,¡± she hissed as she suddenly dug the dagger into Ron¡¯s side, popping his lung.

    Ron started to blackout from both the popped lung as well as the shock. Fliour was smiling as she wiped the blade clean before she bent down and gave Ron one last peck on the lips before he finally passed out.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, my love. She won¡¯t even have time to scream, and you won¡¯t even remember her,¡± Fliour hissed.

 Chapter 19: Forget About Me

    ************Ron POV************

    As Ron finally managed to wake up, he immediately knew there was something off. For one thing, Fliour was giggling like there was no tomorrow, and he had not seen her in that kind of mood since the first year he had gotten to know her. Secondly, he felt no pain in his side anymore, but no matter how hard he tried there was no way for him to move.

    The last main issue that was on his mind, was the fact that he couldn¡¯t remember anything about the past 8 months or so. He couldn¡¯t even remember why it was he had felt pain in his side earlier.

    ¡°Fliour, what¡¯s going on? Why are you in my room?¡± Ron asked in deep confusion.

    ¡°You had fallen off the roof of the cabin and into that pile of logs you keep on the side of the house. I had the nurse come and check up on you, and she told me it would be best for me to stay with you. You may be god-like in many ways, but in the end you still ended up knocked out like any of us would. How¡¯s your head?¡± Fliour asked.

    Ron attempted to sit up but instantly stopped when he felt a sharp pain race from his spine to his skull. He layed back down carefully and rubbed his forehead with a groan as he tried to come up with any memory of what she had just said. He couldn¡¯t bring up anything of what happened, but what Fliour didn¡¯t know was he could tell there had been a block placed on his mind.

    It was a simple but powerful spell that Ron himself knew how to cast. It was taking it off that was difficult. Ron had the ability to fight it and time to do so was what he needed. He was incredibly suspicious of Fliour at this point, but he decided to go along with it to see what her intentions were by her actions.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go get you some water. You need more from the pond, so I¡¯ll go and retrieve some,¡±  Fliour said in a sing-song voice as she jumped off the bed and pranced off.

    When she left, Ron spread his sense out all along the island to figure out what in the world was going on. To his complete shock, not only did he find a large riggolete on his land, but a woman he both didn¡¯t know, but knew at the same time. No name came to mind, but for some reason his heart and soul yearned for her to be by his bedside.

    He decided to continue to search and watch the woman, for he could also see Analicia with her. His suspicion for something being wrong grew as he sensed Fliour heading for them instead of the water hole like she said.

    ************Emily POV************

    ¡°Do you think we can go back yet? It¡¯s been seven hours,¡± Emily whined. She was hungry as well as worried about Ron. There had been no word from Fliour nor Ron, but since Analicia was with her she felt no reason to really worry.

    ¡°We need to wait until we are told to go back. Unless you want to walk in on something you¡¯ll regret?¡± Analicia teased as she finished making another flower crown. She had been making multiple crowns from the small flowers around them for three hours now, and the pile was growing.

    ¡°What are you going to be doing with those anyways?¡± Emily asked as she ignored her growling stomach and crawled over to Analicia to watch again.

    ¡°In about three weeks, we are having our annual Spring Celebration festival. We celebrate not only spring, but when we were saved from our whips and chains all those years ago. I normally make flower crowns for all the children in town, but I decided to test and see if these would work better than the violets I usually make them from,¡± she explained as she placed one on Emily.

    The two women laughed and worked together for another thirty minutes until Emily froze. Cahal seemed to be panicking for some reason, but she couldn¡¯t tell why. She was too far away to be able to talk to him, but he was flying towards her at an incredible rate until she could hear him.

    ¡°Emily, grab Analicia and run away as fast as you can! You¡¯re in danger!¡± He cried in her head. Emily jumped up as soon as she heard those words and dragged Analicia up as well.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Analicia cried out as she fell to her knees from the hard pull Emily gave her. She only placed her hand over Analicia¡¯s mouth and made a motion to keep quiet. Analicia understood immediately and followed silently under her orders.

    One part of Emily¡¯s training was a type of fighting style that used techniques assassins were known to use. The first thing she did was run a few miles ahead until Cahal caught up with them, then she placed Analicia on his back.

    ¡°Take her back to the village. Stay there. I will take on whatever it is that you speak of,¡± Emily spoke to him mentally. Cahal did as he was told and took off with Analicia giving her a look of worry.

    Once the two of them were out of sight, Emily took to the trees and hide. She could hear someone running quickly but heavily, as if they were quite heavy. Emily immediately recognized the footsteps as Fliour, and as relief flooded her she stepped back out into the clearing to try and save Fliour from whatever was coming for them.

    Then she saw the crazed look in Fliour¡¯s eyes.

    They looked bloodshot, like she was sick and dying. Her face was red from running and from how she looked at Emily, there was an expression she recognized all too well.

    Fliour was heartbroken. Emily remembered when James¡¯ ex-girlfriend Terra had snapped in the same way and how her brother had dealt with it. He ended up fighting Terra to get her emotions back under control, but in the end she still left the guild in an angered fit.

    This seemed to be the same situation in a way, but this time the heartbroken one was wielding a sword. Emily went back into a fighting stance but portrayed a calm atmosphere to try and talk her out of it first.

    ¡°Hey, are you ok? You look tired, almost sick. You need to sit down,¡± Emily coaxed. Fliour only glared at her without moving a muscle.

    ¡°You¡¯re my friend, Fliour. Please, don¡¯t do anything you¡¯ll regret later,¡± she said as Emily tried a different tactic. At that point, Fliour started to laugh.

    It was painful to hear her laugh like that. It only made Emily want to hug her, she hated to see people in pain like that. It was filled with more than just anger; there was a deep pain that was rooted in her past, and it echoed through the woods with the scream of anguish that darted through the leaves of the all trees above their heads.

    ¡°Regret? Oh, you young, innocent, poor girl. Regret is something that died with my child. I don¡¯t feel such a thing anymore. You are the one thing Ron loves; not me but you! You stole the one thing from me that mattered, and you talk to me about regret?!¡± Fliour screamed at her.

    It was no use. Emily knew she would have to fight Fliour, and the odds of winning was low in her case because of how less experienced she was at close combat. She decided the best thing for both of them was to take her down as quickly as possible without killing or causing damage that not even Emily could heal.

    ¡°Please, I¡¯m going to ask one more time Flio-¡± Emily was cut off as Fliour took off at a speed that could match Cahal¡¯s. She barely managed to dodge in time as Fliour¡¯s blade cut her side.

    Without another word, Emily created her own sword from the ground and faced her opponent. The atmosphere between them was filled with both anger and a hint of remorse. Emily had truly tried to make friends with Fliour, but there are always times where the wounds in a person¡¯s heart is too deep to allow themselves to open up when the issue comes to love.

    The two women fought in silence, Emily carefully dodging Fliour¡¯s strong attacks while trying to come up with a spell that would knock out a person of her power. It was just as difficult as she thought it would be, dodging to the side and out of the way with each swing while building up energy.

    At one point, Emily didn¡¯t move out of the way in time to escape the blade. A long, shallow slit broke open her shirt she was wearing and created a bloody mess. The only thought Emily had when it happened was how upset Analicia would be when she saw it, it was one of her favorite designs. The pain didn¡¯t kick in until Emily rolled to the ground and stood back up.

    Emily winced as she got back to her feet and blocked another swing with her own blade. Fliour had tears streaming down her face as she continued her onslaught viciously, and it clicked in Emily¡¯s head that she was capable of being saved.

    ¡°Fliour, that¡¯s enough!¡± Emily yelled as she suddenly thought of a spell that was perfect. She threw her blade towards Fliour, catching her off guard as Emily dropped to her knees and brought the palms of her hands together. Keeping her eyes in Fliour, who was still confused as to why Emily got rid of her weapon, she shouted out the words to contain the woman.

    Fliour realized too late what was happening. She screamed in anger and rushed forward, but by then the octagon-shaped barrier had come together around her. She ran straight into it and fell backward, rubbing her forehead where she had hit herself on it.

    ¡°If you kill me, you¡¯ll regret it! Nobody in the village will care about you, you¡¯re nothing but a freak! Abnormals have no place in this world!¡± Fliour was screaming as Emily ignored her words and continued to chant the containment spell. It didn¡¯t take long to finish it off, and once it was set Fliour knew she wouldn¡¯t be able to escape. In magic, Emily exceeded her in all ways.

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t kill you, even if I wanted to. I don¡¯t kill people unless I¡¯m given direct orders from my guild. And if I do end up with those orders, then those whom I¡¯m sent after don¡¯t know they¡¯re dead until they go down,¡± Emily said with a smirk. Fliour was breathing heavily and held herself tense as Emily walked towards the border of the barrier.

    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    ¡°So what, are you some kind of badass? You don¡¯t seem like one, especially how easily you go down when it comes to your feet,¡± Fliour hissed as she slowly calmed down to speak clearly.

    ¡°I don¡¯t like to think so. But there¡¯s a reason why I rarely go out to battle.¡± Fliour scoffed at this and raised her sword to attack the barrier.

    ¡°Why is that? Scared of fighting others face to face?¡± She cried as she started to slam her sword against the barrier. Emily only grinned as she placed her hands on the barrier and stared Fliour in the eyes as her own eye color changed from her normal blue to a deep gray.

    ¡°I¡¯m more powerful with magic than the oldest witch in my guild,¡± Emily whispered as she created a vortex of sound that vibrated only on the inside of the octagon-shaped prison.

    Fliour¡¯s eyes went wide as she saw the vibrations start at the top of the barrier, a full seven feet above her head. Her mouth slowly fell open in shock as it hit her hard, forcing her to her knees as she tried to scream. No scream came from her mouth, but the sound entered her body and shook her insides.

    It was almost humorous to Emily at how hard Fliour tried to fight back. She wasn¡¯t lying when she spoke of her magic ability. It was why she only trained in her physical abilities when it came to working with others, nobody else could compare to Emily in magic. Even her brother stayed away from her when she would go to her room to meditate.

    It took a full fifteen seconds for Fliour to lose consciousness. When she went down, Emily released the barrier and vibrations. When they were gone, Emily brushed her hand over Fliour¡¯s head and sent her into a coma-like state to be certain she wouldn¡¯t wake up without Emily¡¯s permission.

    Slight guilt crept into Emily¡¯s heart as she walked with Fliour in her arms. She decided to place Fliour into the cage that had been built for Cahal, since it had the bars close enough to hold her in it while being too strong to pull apart by brute strength.

    As she carefully placed the heartbroken woman onto the metal bottom, she heard footsteps behind her. Emily turned to see Ron walking towards the two of them. Emily opened her mouth to ask what happened when she noticed the different look in his eyes.

    ¡°Are you ok?¡± Emily asked in a whisper. She could feel magic building up around her, and she managed to create a new barrier around her before Ron attacked.

    The jolt of energy that raced from the ground towards Emily luckily bounced off the new shield, but it was still strong enough to knock Emily off her feet. She fell backwards and slid across the ground before she hit a tree.

    ¡°What the hell, Ron?! What was that for?¡± Emily yelled in both anger and fear. She knew she was strong, but nowhere near his power.

    Her words seemed to catch him off guard. He stopped walking towards her and cocked his head to one side as he stared at her. Emily glared at him until she noticed the change in his attitude. She slowly stood to her feet and took a cautious step towards him. He took one back and continued to look at her in confusion.

    ¡°D-do you know who I am?¡± Emily finally asked.

    ¡°No...no, I don¡¯t.¡± Ron whispered. Emily felt pain in her throat, as if tears were trying to escape but she forced it down.

    ¡°Ron, what are you doing! Stop!¡± Analicia yelled suddenly. Both Ron and Emily turned to her, and it seemed Ron was relieved for her to show up.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on? I woke up, and it¡¯s like everything¡¯s going wrong,¡± Ron demanded. Analicia stopped running and caught her breath.

    ¡°Fliour attacked Emily, I don¡¯t know why but she did,¡± Analicia explained as quick as she could before she went back to trying to adjust her breathing. Ron looked back at Emily, then to the cage where Fliour was asleep.

    Emily didn¡¯t have time to react when a cell of her own shot upwards from underneath her feet. Tightly wrapped vines and what looked like thin trunks shot upwards and curled around each other above her head. Out of the two women, Analicia was the most shocked.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you?! She did nothing wrong! What are you doing?!¡± She screamed as she ran forward to where Emily was staring in shock at the cell she was in.

    ¡°Until I figure out what¡¯s going on, the two of them will stay where they are,¡± Ron said firmly as he turned back and walked to the cabin. Analicia watched him leave in utter shock before she turned back to Emily.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Analicia whimpered as she fell to her knees. She reached into the cage and took Emily¡¯s hand. Emily only smiled sadly.

    ¡°He doesn¡¯t know who I am,¡± she said. Analicia only stared at Emily in disbelief, but after another glance at the cell she seemed to force herself to accept what was said.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll help you the best we can,¡± Analicia promised as she stood up. Emily watched her as she started to run back to the village, most likely to get help from Jessica. Tears started to stream down Emily¡¯s face as she walked to one end of the cage and curled up with her knees to her chest.

    ¡°I wish you were still here mom...I messed up again,¡± Emily hiccuped. She drifted off to sleep with the image of her mother¡¯s warm, smiling face in her mind.

    ************Ron POV************

    He wasn¡¯t sure why he felt so bad about putting that woman in a cell. He assumed Fliour only attacked her because she was an intruder, but he couldn¡¯t get rid of the nagging feeling in his heart that something deeper was that cause. It was why he didn¡¯t just kill the woman like he had planned.

    As for Fliour, she was the only suspect to his problem in his head. The only thing that hadn''t changed where Ron''s emotions, and looking at Fliour caused his heart to sink out of fear and hurt. The only issue was he didn''t know why. Ron didn''t want to punish her without knowing what she did just in case he was too sever or not bad enough.

    With the other woman, he felt like he knew her, but he wasn''t sure what it was that happened between her and Fliour to make them fight the way they did. Since she didn''t kill Fliour when she had the chance, he decided to just keep her there since the other cage was a good distance to where he could go and check up on the two women in an instant.

    When Analicia had showed up and had put her two sense in, Ron automatically knew that the woman, Emily as she was called, was not there to cause harm. From how Analicia had spoken to him about her it seemed he was supposed to know who she was but he couldn''t tell why he didn''t recognize her in any way but emotionally.

    It seemed she had known him for awhile now from the way she spoke to him, but the only person he had ever had speak to him without calling him ''sir'' or ''lord'' was Fliour, so as he worked to try and remember just her the pain lashed back through him more intensely than he had expected. He immediately stopped at the pain in his head from it.

    Ron sat back in the kitchen and rubbed his head as sharp pain raced through his mind when he tried to think of the day before, or even just sometime in the past few weeks. He didn¡¯t know what was wrong with him, but after a few attempts to think of anything he finally gave up and decided to ask around for help.

    ¡®4 years¡¯ was the only thing that rang out in his head. He didn¡¯t know what it stood for, but it was something at least. After a few hours of contemplating what to do next, he gave up and walked back to bed. Before he reached his room, he glanced out the window to check up on the women. Both were asleep in their cells, but it seemed the intruder was having a hard time sleeping.

    He couldn¡¯t understand why, but he felt an urge to take her out and curl up with her in his arms in his bed. The urge took him by surprise, and the shock from it made him run into his room and slam the door shut. Shivering, he walked to his bed and pulled the covers over his head.

    He laid under the blankets while he forced the thoughts of the woman out of his mind, and instead worked on trying to break the block he had in his mind. The only way he could break it was to try and think about the past. This in of itself was difficult, as well as painful, for each time he tried to force his mind to get through to the past a jolt of sever pain raced through his head.

    This was incredibly unusual, and caused worry in his heart. It was supposed to be easy to break it for him, but as he worked at it for almost three hours he realized the magic placed on him was much stronger than he had thought. The more he worked at it, the more he realized he was wrong about how simple the spell was. This one was fortified with a magic not even he knew of, so it had to be discovered fairly recent.

    After another ten minutes or so, Ron stopped fighting the block. It was late, and he had a throbbing headache. Uneasiness filled the room as he searched the room for any kind of magic that would be left over to hang in the air if a spell was cast on him to place this block, but there was nothing.

    He had no clue how Fliour would have been able to do such a thing to him, but it was obviously going to be harder than he thought, and possibly much longer as well. With the headache growing as an effect from the mind block, he decided to sleep and work on it in the morning before the pain made him pass out instead.

    It took Ron a good hour to fall asleep, and as he slept all he saw was images of the woman run through his mind.

 Chapter 20: Fliours Fatal Mistake

    (A.N. Hey guys, so to hopefully clear up some confusion from the last chapter I made an extra long one this time! I really hope this helps just a little bit! If you guys find some mistakes, comment below and I''ll go back and fix it up, but I swear I won''t mess up so badly like last time where I had to go delete a bunch of chapters and start over! Hope you enjoy!)

    ************Emily POV************

    It was annoying to be stuck in a cage for so long. When Fliour woke up hissing and yelling at Emily from her own cage, it made it almost intolerable. The woman yelled all kinds of profanities at Emily, and with each one that came it grew harder and harder for her to continue to meditate.

    ¡°Fliour, that is quite enough.¡± Fliour immediately stopped as Ron walked out to the two. Emily sighed and stopped meditating and turned around to face Ron. He had kept the two of them in that cage for three days now, and each day was filled with Fliour¡¯s constant yelling.

    ¡°Can I come out now? I need to go clean my house and work on a few chores,¡± Fliour begged, but Ron only glared at her.

    ¡°Not only did you lie to me, but until I can manage to break this damned block in my mind both of you will stay here!¡± He growled. Fliour quickly shut her mouth and turned back to glare at Emily, who in turn kept her back to Fliour and ignored her.

    Ron left the two, and as hours passed with food and water given to the two of them, Emily noticed just how hard Ron fought to get his memories back. She felt bad, but she couldn¡¯t even help him. Only fighting the block himself would he be able to retain anything.

    She couldn¡¯t understand how Fliour had managed to get ahold of such magic to even create a small bit of a block. With Ron¡¯s strength, he should have been able to break it easily. Emily¡¯s suspicions that Fliour was not who she seemed to be had grown over the past few days, for only an incredibly strong mage could have done such a thing.

    That day, Fliour seemed to be in a mood more irritating than normal. She continued to glare at Emily, but instead of frowning at her when Emily would take notice she was doing as such, she would smile. It was the smile that really pulled on her nerves, and after a few hours of it she had finally completely turned her back to Fliour.

    Instead, Emily turned her attention to the cottage. No noises came from it, and she never saw Ron move. She knew he was in the living area in a meditating position while attempting to break the wall in his mind, but with each passing hour she only grew more anxious. She truly couldn¡¯t understand what was wrong.

    A flash of light suddenly burst from the window of Emily¡¯s bedroom. It caused both Fliour and Emily to jump, but Emily noted the look of complete shock on Fliour¡¯s face. It wasn¡¯t like it was dangerous, she knew exactly what it was.

    As Emily suspected, Ron left to see what it was, and it seemed like no progress was made from the confused look on his face she saw through the window. Emily glanced at Fliour and was surprised to see her pressed up against one side of her cage with pure fear.

    It was like a small bomb of realization went off in her head, but with no evidence on her theory of why she was panicking Emily knew she couldn¡¯t truly prove it. While Ron walked outside with a letter in his hand, and Fliour looking more terrified, she couldn¡¯t shake the notion from her head.

    ¡°This came for you. I don¡¯t know how it got here, but since it was in the other room that looks to be filled with your clothing, I had to have allowed it for some reason,¡± Ron said as he handed Emily a letter through the bars of her cage. She perked up the moment she noticed the handwriting and accepted it.

    Ron stood next to her cage, and as Fliour glared jealously at Emily from where she sat she started to read the letter.

    ¡°I¡¯m pleased to hear you¡¯re happy. I know you don¡¯t want to hear it, but because I am your older brother it¡¯s my duty to tell you NO SEX. Not that you¡¯ll listen to me, of course. Either way, I will kill you, both figuratively as well as literally, if I find that you do end up sleeping with anyone there.

    Now, for the reason I send you this letter.

    Since the last time I contacted you, the meeting I spoke of had an attack on it. Three abnormals had come out of nowhere and killed three members from other guilds, and I¡¯m beginning to fear for a second war. If it wasn¡¯t for the two of us being abnormals ourselves, it might have begun already.

    I need you to be ready for anything. From what I¡¯ve gathered from the one abnormal we kept alive, they are creating an army of abnormals and creatures like goblins and trolls. It seems they hunted me down specifically, and if they went after me then I fear they will go for you. Tell that man, Ron if I remember correctly, that he must prepare himself for whatever may be coming.

    Please, reply as soon as possible. I fear that Destamos is coming for you. I won¡¯t allow the same fate to happen to you as it did our parents. I love you, my little sister. Stay safe.

    Sincerely, James.¡±

    Emily¡¯s face turned white at the sight of Destamos¡¯ name. An Elder as strong as Ron was after Emily¡¯s family, and with Ron¡¯s mind block she wasn¡¯t so sure whether or not it would be safe for her to stick around.

    ¡°Who¡¯s Destamos?¡± Ron asked, shocking Emily out of her thoughts.

    ¡°S-she¡¯s someone who will destroy this place just to find me. I need to leave as soon as possible,¡± Emily cried as she jumped to her feet. Ron was taken aback by her sudden jolt of energy, but seemed to not understand what the issue was.

    ¡°If this woman gets close, then I will surely notice and attack accordingly. As I¡¯ve said before, until I can rid myself of this mind problem, both you and Fliour will stay here, whether or not Analicia says you¡¯re not the culprit here. I won¡¯t risk taking chances by letting either of you go,¡± Ron growled.

    ************Ron POV************

    To Ron¡¯s surprise, the woman was not backing down. She stood up and walked right up to the cage¡¯s bars and glared at him in an anger so fierce it may as well have been a look made of razors.

    ¡°At the moment, I can care less about your damn rules. Ron, unless you want every single person on your island to die, let me go home!¡± Emily yelled. Even Fliour was shocked at her reaction to what Ron had said.

    ¡°Do you know who it is you are speaking to, girl?! As long as you are on his island, you will not speak to me that way! My strength is beyond that of yours, I protect all here and not one person can defeat me!¡± Ron cried out as he held himself up tall and proud, trees bending at his will and vines sprouting from the ground to surround him.

    Naturally, he didn¡¯t like showing off. But what that woman said really irritated him to no end.

    ¡°And I acknowledge that! The problem here is that Destamos is just as strong as you, possibly even stronger! If my brother is right, and she truly is on her way to find me, then not only is the island in danger, then so are you. I don¡¯t care how old you are, you don¡¯t know the new ways the world works. You are stuck in the past!¡± Emily growled back.

    The thought of someone being just as strong as him made Ron stop and think. He knew he was strong, and because Emily brought up his lack of knowledge of the present and how things work on other parts of the world for the past hundred years or so, he knew she was right.

    ¡°What do you expect me to do, then? Allow you to leave? If you are correct in what you say, then wouldn¡¯t that put yourself in danger? The letter did say to tell me to prepare myself for battle,¡± Ron added. To both his and Fliour¡¯s surprise, Fliour having been watching in silence, Emily just started laughing with her face turned down.

    When Emily looked back up at Ron, tears were streaming down her face. She was smiling with such sadness, Ron almost opened the cage to rush in and hold her on instinct. He caught himself just in time from doing so, but because of that instinct he suddenly felt a crack in the mind block be created.

    ¡°I understand what may happen to me. What will probably happen to me. Those of us second generation abnormals who escaped the evil ways all live with that, but it¡¯s a reality I need to face. If I die, then I join my parents and the fate that should have been mine a long time ago will take me. But if you die as well, I won¡¯t forgive myself,¡± Emily whispered.

    ¡°I don¡¯t intend on letting you die,¡± Ron said as he knelt down and reached through the bars of the cage to wipe away the tears that left a stain on her dirt covered face.

    ¡°But if she doesn¡¯t leave and this woman does show up and kills us all, then what?! You¡¯ll stand a chance, but we¡¯re like chickens waiting to be slaughtered! Let her leave, if she dies what does it matter?¡± Fliour hissed. This finally set Ron over the edge.

    ¡°Have YOU forgotten the day I took you in? The day I fought for you all? You¡¯ve grown spoiled and lost your mercy. Where did that caring Fliour go that I helped and protected?¡± Ron asked as he crossed his arms and faced Fliour. She glared on back.

    ¡°By the gods, are you so oblivious to anything but the world? You don¡¯t know anything about emotions in that thick head of yours! No, I don¡¯t forget, but you don¡¯t accept my love in any form!¡± Fliour yelled as she kicked the cage as hard as she could, creating a small dent.

    ¡°Yes, I may be oblivious to all others¡¯ emotions except yours! Is it so hard to accept that I don¡¯t love you!¡± Ron cried as he stood to his feet in anger.

    ¡°Fine! Then I will leave the island instead! Maybe then you¡¯ll realize just how much you need me, and I¡¯ll be able to get away from you! Send me somewhere else, somewhere I will never have to see you again!¡± Fliour whimpered as she forced herself to control her breathing.

    ¡°Do you truly wish to leave?¡± Ron asked in a low tone after a few minutes. He didn¡¯t expect this out of her, especially since he knew she loved the island.

    ¡°Yes! Even after giving you that damned potion that woman gave me, nothing about you has changed!¡± Fliour hiccuped as tears streamed down her face.

    ¡°...what woman?¡± Both Ron and Emily asked simultaneously.

    The question made Fliour cry even harder. Ron crossed his arms and waited for her to be able to calm down for her to answer. He knew it had to be her, but he also wasn¡¯t able to truly pinpoint it to her. So with her admittance to what she did, Ron felt relief and hope that he would be able to gain back his memory.

    ¡°A month ago, I had gone back home and found someone who I had never seen before sitting on one of the chairs in my living room. She had a magic so powerful, I wasn¡¯t even able to move fast enough to grab a weapon. Her face was covered, but her figure and voice was that of a female, so I just assumed as such.

    I couldn¡¯t speak, but she herself began to talk and to my surprise she offered me a gift. A potion powerful beyond limits such as yours, one that would allow you to forget a certain period of time it¡¯s owner wanted a person to forget. Like the time you had gotten to know Emily. It was even supposed to make you love me.

    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

    In exchange, I had to bring back Emily¡¯s head on the 34th day as a payment for a potion that powerful. Naturally, I accepted. When you looked sick, that¡¯s when I took action. But all it did was give you a mind block,¡± Fliour growled in anger, as if she had the love part of the equation stolen from her.

    ¡°Who gave it to you? Did you get a name? Anything to show she was here?¡± Ron continued to press on, but fear was beginning to grow in his heart for he didn¡¯t even notice anyone else come onto the island. He was starting to think Emily was right, that there were others stronger than even him.

    ¡°She called herself Gruel. That was all, but the vial is hidden under those floorboards you keep the other medicine under,¡± Fliour explained as she looked around in fear.

    ¡°Today is the 34th day, isn¡¯t it?¡± Emily asked, her own voice laced with fear. Fliour simply nodded.

    ************Emily POV************

    The name Gruel didn¡¯t ring a bell in Emily¡¯s mind, so she assumed it had to be someone under Destamos¡¯ control, or some other Elder. Either way, she knew it was dangerous. Fliour had made a mistake, but at the same time she had a feeling if she had not accepted then Fliour would have died herself.

    ¡°I¡¯m calling the alarm. Fliour, was there any antidote at all?¡± Ron asked as he reached down and grabbed a handful of dirt from the ground and let it slowly slip through his fingers, the dirt changing to a black sand and hardened once it touched the ground once more.

    ¡°No, none that I knew of. You have to fight it, but if she was right about the strength then it will take you quite awhile to break it. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if it took a good few weeks for you to get through it.¡± Ron growled in annoyance at her words, but continued to work with the ground as what looked like a circle of black sand was created around the two cages.

    ¡°I understand you¡¯re upset about your memory, but we need to be prepared to fight,¡± Emily whispered.

    ¡°Fine, but we¡¯re not done here,¡± Ron sighed as he started to walk back to the cottage.

    ¡°H-hey! What about me? Are you just gonna leave me here?¡± Fliour wailed. Emily winced at the sharpness of fear in her voice and felt both pity and sorrow.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be here with you, so you won¡¯t technically be alone. If that woman comes here, then we both go down. You¡¯ll get your wish in a way,¡± Emily sighed as she sunk back down to meditate once more. Fliour turned to glare at Emily, but it seemed even she knew it was useless to try and argue.

    It was at that moment that Cahal and Analicia showed up with Jessica holding a bundle of clothes in her arms. When Cahal landed, with Ron giving him a look of uncertainty, Jessica was the first to jump off.

    ¡°Are you ok? When Analicia showed up with Cahal, we weren¡¯t sure what to think. The village went into a slight panic when they showed up together, and Analicia came to me first. Is it true what Fliour did to you?¡± Jessica asked as she ran over to where Emily had just prepared herself to meditate.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you ask her yourself?¡± Emily said. Jessica turned around and noticed Fliour in the other cage, then she became threatening.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what the hell you did, what you planned on doing, and I may not be as strong as you in most forms but I swear if you try to pull shit like that again I myself will drag you down to the bottom of a lake and drown you,¡± she hissed, her skin shifting to her natural scales before Emily waved her attitude off.

    ¡°Don¡¯t start fighting, you will have more than enough to worry about soon.¡± Analicia took the bundle from Jessica and looked at Emily curiously.

    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± She asked while handing Emily a cloak made of thick, green canvas-like material. As Emily smiled and wrapped it around her neck, Ron answered.

    ¡°Analicia, I want you to go back to the village and tell them to prepare themselves for battle. Have the women who are pregnant or have children go underground, but the rest who can fight are to be fitted and be ready.¡± Analicia looked as if she wanted to question why he wanted her to do so, but she stayed silent and followed directions for once.

    As she climbed back onto Cahal, both looked at Emily with a worried expression. Cahal gave a loud war cry as he unfolded his wings and took to the sky with Analicia holding on. When they were out of sight, Ron turned to Jessica.

    ¡°I need you to stay here and watch the girls. Don¡¯t let them out of the cage, or you yourself will face consequences. This block in my head will have to wait; for now my people need me. If anyone you don¡¯t recognize shows up, and I don¡¯t seem to notice, scream my name. I will come immediately.¡± Jessica nodded at his orders.

    Ron turned and ran in the opposite direction of the cabin.

    ¡°Wait, Ron where are you going?¡± Emily called after him as he ran.

    ¡°To the rose bush! Nobody must touch him!¡± Fliour snorted and laid on her back. Emily and Jessica looked at her in confusion.

    ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡± Jessica snarled at her, still in obvious annoyance.

    ¡°I suppose you can say he cares more for that bush in a way than us. He left us here to die.¡± Emily sucked in a breath at her words and felt disbelief filled her. But as time ticked by, minute by minute, and soon hour by hour, she felt doubt slowly start to replace that.

    ************Ron POV************

    The rose bush was precious to Ron. It was something that the island seemed to depend on now, as if it gave off a life that it thrived on where Ron couldn¡¯t provide for. He barely came upon it when he immediately knew there was something wrong.

    It was why he had run off so suddenly. He had felt something off while dealing with the girls back at the cabin, but he didn¡¯t know what it was. As he came upon the bush, he realized what the issue was. There was someone there, someone he felt he recognized but couldn¡¯t tell just how.

    The closer he got to the figure in red who was knelt by the bush and seemed to be examining a rose, the more fear he felt in his heart. He noticed the look of her, and by the time he realized he had stopped walking Ron knew she had sensed his presence as well.

    ¡°I¡¯m not here to kill you, nor your little group of people who live here. I¡¯m here on orders by Elder Gordon to retrieve the girl you hold captive at the moment. The one who goes by ¡®Emily¡¯. I AM intrigued by what you have here, though. I¡¯ve never seen nor heard of anything like it. I would love to take a rose with me,¡± the woman said as she slowly stood to her full height.

    Long, silver hair draped down her back over the knee-high red dress she wore. Black flats seemed to disappear against the same colored leggings she wore. He could tell she wasn¡¯t a hand-to-hand combat warrior, but one who used magic so powerful she seemed to not feel the need to wear armor at all.

    Even Ron wore armor. Seeing someone who probably dealt in more battles than he had on a daily without caring to wear protective gear made him as cautious as possible, something he had never really had to do.

    ¡°What does your master want with her?¡± He asked slowly as he straightened up himself.

    ¡°She is the daughter of two old...traitors of our kind. Naturally, a punishment needs to be dealt to her for their deeds. It¡¯s like teaching a lesson of respecting your elders. Now, as I¡¯ve said before, if you would just hand over the girl-¡±

    ¡°So you can punish the innocent? No. I don¡¯t know if you know who I am, but I don¡¯t allow such things to happen. Nor do I appreciate someone coming on my land without permission. Here¡¯s what you can do to I don¡¯t kill you. Turn back now, and don¡¯t come around anymore. Or, if you choose not to do that, then I will do as I must to protect those here,¡± Ron said calmly.

    The woman simply laughed and crossed her arms. She shook her head and slowly started to walk towards Ron, who in turn positioned himself in a fighting stance.

    ¡°Of course I know who you are. You¡¯re famous for your wrath on those who harm the innocent. But let me tell you, King of the Island, you may know of the Earth from when you were born, but you have no idea of all the ways it works now. Basically, you¡¯re quite old school. If you truly think you can take me on, then let¡¯s have a go. But you won¡¯t win,¡± she added as she came face to face with him.

    ¡°I won¡¯t give you the pleasure,¡± Ron hissed. The woman stopped smiling and frowned. She cocked her head to the side and seemed to be listening for something, and at the same moment Ron struck out with a dagger in hand as fast as he could the woman caught his wrist and twisted it at a speed much faster than him.

    Ron gasped as she twisted his wrist until it snapped, the bones breaking with a sickening crunch. He dropped the dagger as she pulled Ron¡¯s face close to hers with a smirk.

    ¡°Nice try, but you¡¯ll have to do better than that if you think you can fight me. If you won¡¯t give me the girl, then I¡¯ll just kill the other two who are will her and take her by force.¡± That was what made him snap.

    ¡°No. You won¡¯t. You¡¯ll be dead before I allow such a thing.¡± Vines, creatures made of the earth, boulders shouldering up from the ground to turn into orc-like being, and even the air around the two of them had whipped up into a storm.

    The woman looked around in excitement and awe, as if she had wanted to fight him in the beginning. She then waved her hand and out of the shadows of the trees crawled her own creations; things straight out of nightmares crawled out of them and into the light where they stood and hissed at Ron.

    ¡°Then if you truly care, fight for them.¡± The howls of the creatures from both sides could be heard from all points of the island as clear as day as they clashed, Ron and the intruder both turning into blurs as they battled with magic and weapons.

    ************Emily POV************

    ¡°Dear god, what is that noise?!¡± Jessica yelled over the clanging and howling.

    ¡°Something¡¯s wrong! Let me out of the cage, I can¡¯t use my magic in here!¡± Emily cried back.

    ¡°Don¡¯t do that! Remember what Ron said?!¡± Fliour gasped as she covered her ears. Jessica ran to Emily¡¯s cage and used her claws to break the bindings on the door to it.

    ¡°Ron seems to be dealing with his own issues right now! We need to head to the village, they might need our help!¡± Jessica said as she pulled the door open. Emily stepped out and helped to get Fliour out. When she stepped out, the two women looked at each other.

    ¡°For now, we have a truce. Let¡¯s get to the village, and fast!¡± Fliour yelled over the noise. Emily nodded, and the three women started to run as fast as they could to where their friends lay in wait for battle.

    None looked back as a shadow slowly pushed its way out of the ground from under a tree and started to pursue the unarmed group as they ran.

 Chapter 21: Sacrifice and War

    ************Emily POV************

    The girls ran as quickly as they could, the echos of the battle ringing in their ears gave them all the stamina they needed to keep going. Their progress towards the village was steady, their concentration set on protecting the people. It wasn¡¯t until Jessica was grabbed by the ankles and fell to the ground with a cry of alarm that the women were forced to look at their surroundings, and it was then that they noticed the creature.

    ¡°Get away from her!¡± Fliour cried out in anger as she and Emily slid to a stop to help her. To their horror, the creature started to bubble into a solid form, growing arms and legs until it started to look almost human. Even before it was finished, the girls all recognized it was taking the form was Jessica.

    ¡°I think I like the look of this one, but her figure isn¡¯t all that great,¡± the shadow sighed. It still had a grasp on Jessica, but now it had her by her neck instead of her ankles. Neither Fliour nor Emily dared to move in fear of what the fake Jessica would do. Eyes as black as the dark side of the moon, the creature slinked forward with Jessica being pushed ahead of it.

    ¡°I¡¯ll have you know I am incredibly sexy, I don¡¯t know what you mean by my figure not being that great,¡± Jessica hissed as she was forced to a standstill in front of her friends. The creature didn¡¯t seem to react to her words, but it¡¯s grip tightened on her. Emily was about to draw magic to herself when the shadow growled in warning.

    ¡°Try anything girl and your friend will taste her own blood from her throat.¡± Both Fliour and Emily glanced at each other but stopped making advances. Jessica continued to struggled until the grip on her neck was making her face turn slightly blue. All three of them could see the small strings of darkness slithering up from the shadows that each blade of grass surrounding them had cast on the ground.

    ¡°What is it you want?¡± Fliour finally asked, breaking the silence. The creature looked from Fliour to Emily as a small smile broke across her face.

    ¡°Little Emily. You are as beautiful as Lord Sarium has described. I come with a message from him to my master, which has been sent to me to pass unto you. If you agree to wed him, you will live along with his wives in comfort and treated like royalty,¡± the Shadow said. It kept its grip on Jessica¡¯s neck as it spoke, almost as a threat for if she said no. Emily had heard of Sarium before, a mage who had others do his dirty work and had a thing for younger women, but was nowhere near as strong as the other elders while being the youngest of them all.

    ¡°And if I disagree?¡± The creature grinned and used its hand to draw a line of blood along Jessica¡¯s throat. Emily took the hint and glanced over at Fliour. She was red-faced and had her hand near her sword.

    ¡°This woman won¡¯t be the first to die. Listen, do you hear that sound coming from the north?¡± The girls immediately turned towards the direction the creature had directed. The village was in that area! To their dismay, they could hear screams of fear and pain, confirming their own fear.

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll go!¡± Emily quickly proclaimed. Fliour looked at her in surprise and guilt, but kept her stance in case of attack.

    The shadow snickered and slowly let Jessica go, blood dripping down her face in small streams from where her body had been touched by the creature. Jessica gasped in as much air as she could while she stumbled towards the girls in a panic before turning around to face her attacker.

    ¡°Come, I will take you to your new home. As for this land,¡± the creature stopped and cocked its head sideways almost like it was listening. ¡°The Lord says for us to withdraw from your little village. He is a man of his word, and he doesn¡¯t want a hurt wife.¡± Almost on cue, thousands of shadow creatures in various shapes and sizes appeared around the three women. Fliour¡¯s jaw dropped at one that towered six times above her in the form of an orc.

    Even with this, the sounds of fighting continued in the distance where Ron was.

    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    ¡°What about Ron? I thought you would take all your creatures back?¡± Emily asked as her arm was grabbed, the fake Jessica dragging her away from the other two.

    ¡°Those are not under Lord Sarium¡¯s control. Destamos is responsible for her own creations, we do not serve her,¡± the shadow explained as what looked like a black mirror rose from the ground.

    Emily looked back helplessly at Jessica and Fliour, fear building quickly in her heart as she watched the shadows sink into the ground and disappear. Jessica was being held by Fliour, who in turn kept her gaze to the ground.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let Ron try and save me, I¡¯m not worth your lives! Plea-¡± Emily was cut off by the black abyss of the mirror, cold taking over her body as if in a living nightmare. The shadow had disappeared, and she floated in the cold darkness. Not even Emily¡¯s light magic could produce anything in this place, and when she felt a sucking feeling pulling her what seemed to be downwards she finally allowed herself to scream.

    Even then, she couldn¡¯t hear her own voice, for the blackness covered all sound and sight.

    ************Ron POV************

    The woman seemed to freeze in place. The creatures around her continued fighting, but disappeared the moment a look of anger crossed her face. Ron used that moment to attack directly, but the woman dodged it without another look.

    ¡°Damn you Sarium, she was mine for the taking! I¡¯ll kill you for this!¡± The woman screamed as she flew up into the air in a fit of rage. Ron was taken aback, but continued to lash at her. Hundreds of vines burst from the ground and aimed at the woman. With a quick flick of her wrist, a large sword appeared from the air and cut down each vine with ease. Ron immediately stopped fighting and simply stared in awe at how easily she worked.

    He realized he had been overestimating himself. Ron had assumed he was the strongest, but at this moment he felt a hint of fear in his chest at the woman that stood before him.

    ¡°Keep your damn island, plant boy. You are nothing to me now. My prisoner has been taken from the both of us. Heed this warning, if you dare to go after that girl then you and everyone on this land will die by the hands of the elders!¡± With that, the woman was encased in a sudden last of black light.

    Ron was dumbfounded by the sudden turn of events. He shook himself off and turned to run towards the village, vowing to train to become stronger in hopes to defeat that woman. As he ran as fast as he was able to, he came upon Fliour and Jessica.

    Jessica was a complete mess. She was struggling against Fliour¡¯s grasp crying and screaming for Emily while Fliour was attempting to hold her back and calm her down. When they saw Ron run towards them, Jessica only grew more hysterical.

    ¡°They took her! They took Emily! We didn¡¯t stand a chance, she just gave herself up!¡± She yelled. Ron looked at Fliour as this processed, still confused about what had happened, but reached forward and picked Jessica up. She finally started to calm down as Ron and Fliour ran together towards the village, and by the time they got there she had succumbed to hiccuping.

    At the village, they found Analicia covered in black goo that she was struggling to wipe off, a sword on the ground with the same substance on it. People were in a panic, some holding their children while running towards their houses while others were running around with weapons looking for more monsters.

    ¡°You did this! You brought that girl here, and now look what you¡¯ve done!¡± One person yelled when they say Ron. When everybody else noticed his arrival, they too started yelling in anger.

    Ron kept his composure while he helped Jessica down. She slid to her knees and started to cry once more, but tried to hold it in more. Analicia stopped what she was doing and ran over to her friend to comfort her, but when she learned what had happened through each hiccup she grew angry.

    ¡°Why couldn¡¯t you do anything about this! You¡¯re supposed to be strong! Now Emily¡¯s sold herself away to some man and you did nothing!¡± Analicia yelled while Jessica cried even harder.

    ¡°I tried! Do you honestly think I sat back and let them do this! I was held back by someone else who was after her, a woman who was stronger than myself! I fucking tried goddamnit!¡± Ron finally snapped back. Analicia suddenly stopped, her mouth hanging open in shock that someone could be stronger than Ron, then sat in silence.

    ¡°As for the rest of you, do you honestly think this is time to be acting this way? I will not allow any of you to die such a death, I swore I would protect each and every one of you. Believe me, I am as angry as you all are, but I will not rest until they are paid for what they have done.¡± Ron glared at Fliour as he spoke, who quickly glanced away towards Jessica and Analicia.

    ¡°What do you suggest we do then? What if they come back?¡± A mother asked as she held her children to her chest. Ron started to think, then slowly glanced around the village her so carefully had cared for and protected for years.

    ¡°I want you all to train to fight. Fliour will be your teacher, while Jessica and Analicia will work with those whom are not humans. Preparation is all that can be done. If any of you wish to go to the life off this land, then you will be allowed to leave, but if you wish to stay and protect the land you love then stand by me and fight.¡± Ron proclaimed with a glance at Fliour to dare her to complain.

    Fliour sat on the ground in thought before she stood up and turned towards Ron with a new light in her eyes. With a nod, she took the sword from the ground and wiped it off before raising it to Ron.

    ¡°I will follow you.¡± She said. After a few seconds of hesitation, villagers from all around stepped forward with a different light in their eyes, one filled with hope and determination. Soon, all people were standing behind Fliour. When Ron was sure he had waited long enough, he smiled thankfully at his people and nodded.

    ¡°This is our land, and we shall protect it as such!¡± He cried and raised his fist to the air. The villagers raised their own cry, to which Fliour started giving out instructions. Ron gave her one more look, which she understood immediately as to her not getting off easily, then he turned and started walking back to his home. Jessica and Analicia quickly stood to follow him.

    ¡°What are we going to do? If they do come back, and you¡¯re weaker than the enemy, then what chance do we stand?¡± Ron stopped and turned to face the two girls with an expression they hadn¡¯t seen since he had freed them all those years ago.

    ¡°We will fight. I will grow stronger. Nobody comes to my land without my permission, and after that stunt those people pulled I know now that I was foolish to wait so long before continuing training. Since the day you all came and took part in my life I had slowed to a complete stop in attempting to grow stronger. I let my pride get to the best of me, and now I pay for it. Make sure I am not interrupted for the next three days. I will be training and it will be deadly if anyone comes upon me while I do so.¡±

    The women nodded as Ron left them to train, and as he disappeared from sight they too began to prepare for what they had a feeling would become war.

 Chapter 22: Alliance

    ************Emily POV************

    A garden. Everything green, and the sunlight was almost blinding after having come from the portal she was sent through. Many, many women were surrounding Emily with concerned expressions when she tried to get to her feet. It seemed she was dropped off in the area to await the outcome of her arrival.

    ¡°Did they hurt you, child? You¡¯re bleeding from your forearm,¡± one of the women spoke up while kneeling next to her. Emily winced as the wound was touched, but sighed in relief as it was healed by the woman.

    ¡°Where am I? Why are there so many people, and who are you?¡± Emily asked as she was helped to her feet at last and was able to get a good look at her surroundings.

    It was like being on a whole new island with only women. By the looks of it, there was at least a hundred of them, many obviously pregnant. The realization hit Emily hard within seconds. What seemed to be heaven on earth by the fruit trees, sand, and all the greenery around was actually a place Sarium used to keep his wives in containment. It made her stomach turn in fear and disgust.

    ¡°My name is Muriel. I am the Seventy Sixth Wife of Lord Sarium. I would assume you are the Four Hundred and Fifty Eighth Wife?¡± Emily¡¯s jaw dropped at the number, and for a second her mind went blank as she tried to comprehend how anyone could have that many wives in one setting.

    ¡°I...I suppose I am.¡± Muriel smiled as she brushed Emily off and took her arm. Emily was growing increasingly alarmed as she was walked through the crowd of women. The area was so thickly stuffed with women and new faces that she didn¡¯t even realize it when they had walked to a building a good distance away from where she had appeared in the first place. It had been hidden by the trees, so she had not noticed at first.

    ¡°Where are we going?¡± Emily asked as the doors were opened by two women to allow her and Muriel in what seemed to be the greeting hall. The room was decorated in gold, light fixtures surrounded in jewels and crystals. A creamed colored marbled made up the floor while the furniture seemed to be covered in silk and silver castings.

    ¡°The First Wife will want to meet you. This is her house,¡± Muriel explained as they stepped into a library down the corridor.

    The walls were all bookcases, thousands upon thousands of books filling the room. A woman sat in the middle of the room on a lounge chair with red satin while reading. She looked up when Emily walked in and gave a warm smile before standing to greet her.

    The first thing Emily noticed was her age. She was much older than Emily, the wrinkles and aging marks on her skin signs of possibly being in her early fifties. It made Emily think of how old she was when she was taken to be Sarium¡¯s wife. The next she noticed was her outfit, a blue dress that reached the floor with sleeves to her elbow. She also seemed to be pregnant.

    ¡°My name is Regan, the First Wife. You¡¯re just a darling! It¡¯s no doubt why Lord Sarium would have his eyes on you, he does love beauty in his wives. Please, make yourself comfortable and have a cup of tea,¡± she said as she reached out and took a hold of Emily¡¯s hands. There was a calmness in the atmosphere as the three women sat down on the couch together, Emily continuing to force herself into a tense state and stay ready for anything.

    ¡°What did our husband do to take you as his new wife?¡± Regan asked. The events of the day raced through Emily¡¯s mind, but she wasn¡¯t quite sure if it would be wise to tell them.

    ¡°I mean...he didn¡¯t do much of course, I wasn¡¯t given much of a choice.¡± Regan and Muriel nodded in acknowledgement as three women walked into the room with plates of food for the women.

    ¡°You will find many of us here have come from that, so it does not surprise me. I myself was taken from my first husband many years ago. In trade for his life, I agreed to marry Lord Sarium. Of course, that was when I was sixteen, and here I am at sixty five dreaming about that day!¡± Regan giggled as she took another sip of tea before accepting her plate of food from the girl.

    Emily looked at Regan in shock at her simple natured attitude, but accepted the food that was handed to her as she listen to Muriel speak about her past as well.

    ¡°Oh, that does sound harsh! I was living in poverty, and when my parents died I was stuck with two choices. Continue surviving, or agree to marry Lord Sarium. At the age of thirteen, I didn¡¯t feel I had much of a choice. Of course, now I realize I could have grown but I don¡¯t know much outside this world so I suppose I don¡¯t mind,¡± Muriel said. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    The two looked towards Emily as if expecting her to talk about what brought her to their home, but she quickly bit into a cracker that was on the plate on her lap. They glanced at each other but pretended not to notice and began to eat as well. Emily¡¯s mind turned to Ron and what was happening to him, fear building up at the thought that he may still very well be in battle.

    A half hour later, when Emily had grown to be filled with only anxiety and worry, Regan gave a sigh and clapped her hands together. Two little girls walked into the room and bowed to the women sitting on the couch before taking the plates from them. Emily had forced herself to eat all that was there so as to not be rude and let the women know there was something else on her mind.

    ¡°Well, we knew you were going to be joining us, so we had a place built for you. I do hope you enjoy it. After you meet with Lord Sarium to get...acquainted with him...you will be sent back to us and we will show you your new home.¡±

    The thought of seeing one of the Elders in person made Emily¡¯s heart drop, but she swallowed her fear and nodded in response. There was nothing she could do but agree and do as she was told, for she knew if she did not do so she would be punished by Ron¡¯s island being attacked more. She still didn¡¯t know if there was still war happening there now.

    As if on cue, there was a sudden light near the door. Emily quickly glanced up to see a man standing there with a sour look on his face. By the emblem on his chest, she assumed he was a guard of Sarium. Emily stood with a sigh and walked towards the man, who in turn took her arms and locked them together with glowing string.

    Emily could hear Regan and Muriel gasp out loud at the sight of it, Muriel whispering ¡®abnormal¡¯ under her breath. It suddenly hit her that they had no knowledge beforehand that the new wife would be an abnormal. She couldn¡¯t help but grow sad at the thought, but she held her head high anyways. The guard created another dark portal and pushed Emily forward. It had been an hour since Emily had arrived at her new home, and she was already greeted with fear.

    When the girl came out on the other side of the portal into a velvety bedroom, she wanted to throw up from the horror and realization of what was going to happen. A laugh came from behind her as the portal closed, and when Emily turned to face the person it was connected to she was hit with the aura the man had about it.

    Sarium was sitting across from Emily on a chair next to a dresser with a smile on his face. He was naked with a necklace of a sword dangling on his neck. The two stared at each other for a moment before he stood up and walked towards Emily. She growled and took a step back, the water pot behind her shaking as her magic built up in the room.

    A wave of his hand was all it took to destroy her magic that had gathered. Emily¡¯s face went white at how easily he had done so, all anger gone. Sarium stood in front of her with a grin, one she wanted to replace with an expression agony.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get started, shall we?¡±

    ************Ron POV************

    Training was much more difficult that Ron thought. Everytime he tried to concentrate, his mind would turn to that girl the intruders were looking for and managed to get their hands on. The thought that she had been given up to be some strangers wife seemed to stab him in the chest, and he couldn¡¯t figure out why.

    Ron winced as the mind block stung him again, but he was growing increasingly more annoyed at it. He wanted to remember her, to figure out what it was he knew about her and why his emotions were scattered when it came to her, but she was gone and it was killing him.

    A light suddenly burst from the orb on the kitchen table. Ron stood up and ran to the cabin from where he had been meditating outside to see what it was. A letter was lying on the table with the words ¡®READ OR I WILL FIND YOU¡¯ on it. Ron quickly ripped it open and began to read it.

    ¡°Ron, why has Emily not replied back to me? I expected her to reply, but there has been nothing. If you hurt her, I will hunt you down, god or not. Whether you care or not, she loves you and will sacrifice herself for you. I knew that after the first letter she sent back, but she needs you to make her not do that.

    My guild is at the ready for battle. We all care for her, she has fought for us in many ways and we will fight. I will not be formal in this letter in fear she could be in pain. Wherever she is, we will get her back.

    James.¡±

    Ron stared at the words and considered what to say. It then occurred to him that this James could be of assistance to the safety of his people, and he quickly grabbed paper and made a pencil out of thin air.

    ¡°James,

    This is Ron. A group of people had attacked my island out of the blue, all after Emily. Situations have thrown itself out of the blue and she was taken. We are preparing ourselves for war, but I am afraid we are not strong enough to protect ourselves, even with me here. I underestimated the enemy and was rightly defeated, but the woman I was battling seemed to be apart of a different group altogether.

    The woman I was against called the one who took Emily ¡°Sarium¡±. I don¡¯t know who that is but you may. I request your assistance and that you come so a plan may be made to save Emily and protect my people.

    Ron.¡±

    The blue light took the letter, and in a matter of seconds a new letter appeared. Three words were written in shaky, large letters.

    ¡°On our way.¡±

    Ron sighed and stood up to warn the villagers about the newcomers heading over to help, but a new light brought a different letter. This one was cream colored and had a stamp of a rose over it. Ron hesitated but picked it up.

    ¡°Hand over heart,

    The wife stands strong.

    Husband takes part

    Beyond the light given willingly.

    Sweet scent brings blood

    Water covers all.¡±

    A poem. Ron read it twice more before folding it and putting it in his pocket. He was concerned about who sent it, for he thought only James could send letters with the orb and he knew it wasn¡¯t from him. He decided to ask the boy about it before things got even more crazy. Ron ran towards the village to explain what was going to happen, and as he did the image of Emily crept into his mind once more.

    This time, he didn¡¯t try to ignore it and let the pain of the mind block fill him as he ran.

 Chapter 23: New Friends, Older Enemies

    ************Emily POV************

    A garden. Everything green, and the sunlight was almost blinding after having come from the portal she was sent through. Many, many women were surrounding Emily with concerned expressions when she tried to get to her feet. It seemed she was dropped off in the area to await the outcome of her arrival.

    ¡°Did they hurt you, child? You¡¯re bleeding from your forearm,¡± one of the women spoke up while kneeling next to her. Emily winced as the wound was touched, but sighed in relief as it was healed by the woman.

    ¡°Where am I? Why are there so many people, and who are you?¡± Emily asked as she was helped to her feet at last and was able to get a good look at her surroundings.

    It was like being on a whole new island with only women. By the looks of it, there was at least a hundred of them, many obviously pregnant. The realization hit Emily hard within seconds. What seemed to be heaven on earth by the fruit trees, sand, and all the greenery around was actually a place Sarium used to keep his wives in containment. It made her stomach turn in fear and disgust.

    ¡°My name is Muriel. I am the Seventy Sixth Wife of Lord Sarium. I would assume you are the Four Hundred and Fifty Eighth Wife?¡± Emily¡¯s jaw dropped at the number, and for a second her mind went blank as she tried to comprehend how anyone could have that many wives in one setting.

    ¡°I...I suppose I am.¡± Muriel smiled as she brushed Emily off and took her arm. Emily was growing increasingly alarmed as she was walked through the crowd of women. The area was so thickly stuffed with women and new faces that she didn¡¯t even realize it when they had walked to a building a good distance away from where she had appeared in the first place. It had been hidden by the trees, so she had not noticed at first.

    ¡°Where are we going?¡± Emily asked as the doors were opened by two women to allow her and Muriel in what seemed to be the greeting hall. The room was decorated in gold, light fixtures surrounded in jewels and crystals. A creamed colored marbled made up the floor while the furniture seemed to be covered in silk and silver castings.

    ¡°The First Wife will want to meet you. This is her house,¡± Muriel explained as they stepped into a library down the corridor.

    The walls were all bookcases, thousands upon thousands of books filling the room. A woman sat in the middle of the room on a lounge chair with red satin while reading. She looked up when Emily walked in and gave a warm smile before standing to greet her.

    The first thing Emily noticed was her age. She was much older than Emily, the wrinkles and aging marks on her skin signs of possibly being in her early fifties. It made Emily think of how old she was when she was taken to be Sarium¡¯s wife. The next she noticed was her outfit, a blue dress that reached the floor with sleeves to her elbow. She also seemed to be pregnant.

    ¡°My name is Regan, the First Wife. You¡¯re just a darling! It¡¯s no doubt why Lord Sarium would have his eyes on you, he does love beauty in his wives. Please, make yourself comfortable and have a cup of tea,¡± she said as she reached out and took a hold of Emily¡¯s hands. There was a calmness in the atmosphere as the three women sat down on the couch together, Emily continuing to force herself into a tense state and stay ready for anything.

    ¡°What did our husband do to take you as his new wife?¡± Regan asked. The events of the day raced through Emily¡¯s mind, but she wasn¡¯t quite sure if it would be wise to tell them.

    ¡°I mean...he didn¡¯t do much of course, I wasn¡¯t given much of a choice.¡± Regan and Muriel nodded in acknowledgement as three women walked into the room with plates of food for the women.

    ¡°You will find many of us here have come from that, so it does not surprise me. I myself was taken from my first husband many years ago. In trade for his life, I agreed to marry Lord Sarium. Of course, that was when I was sixteen, and here I am at sixty five dreaming about that day!¡± Regan giggled as she took another sip of tea before accepting her plate of food from the girl.

    Emily looked at Regan in shock at her simple natured attitude, but accepted the food that was handed to her as she listen to Muriel speak about her past as well.

    ¡°Oh, that does sound harsh! I was living in poverty, and when my parents died I was stuck with two choices. Continue surviving, or agree to marry Lord Sarium. At the age of thirteen, I didn¡¯t feel I had much of a choice. Of course, now I realize I could have grown but I don¡¯t know much outside this world so I suppose I don¡¯t mind,¡± Muriel said.

    The two looked towards Emily as if expecting her to talk about what brought her to their home, but she quickly bit into a cracker that was on the plate on her lap. They glanced at each other but pretended not to notice and began to eat as well. Emily¡¯s mind turned to Ron and what was happening to him, fear building up at the thought that he may still very well be in battle.

    A half hour later, when Emily had grown to be filled with only anxiety and worry, Regan gave a sigh and clapped her hands together. Two little girls walked into the room and bowed to the women sitting on the couch before taking the plates from them. Emily had forced herself to eat all that was there so as to not be rude and let the women know there was something else on her mind.

    ¡°Well, we knew you were going to be joining us, so we had a place built for you. I do hope you enjoy it. After you meet with Lord Sarium to get...acquainted with him...you will be sent back to us and we will show you your new home.¡±

    The thought of seeing one of the Elders in person made Emily¡¯s heart drop, but she swallowed her fear and nodded in response. There was nothing she could do but agree and do as she was told, for she knew if she did not do so she would be punished by Ron¡¯s island being attacked more. She still didn¡¯t know if there was still war happening there now.

    As if on cue, there was a sudden light near the door. Emily quickly glanced up to see a man standing there with a sour look on his face. By the emblem on his chest, she assumed he was a guard of Sarium. Emily stood with a sigh and walked towards the man, who in turn took her arms and locked them together with glowing string.

    Emily could hear Regan and Muriel gasp out loud at the sight of it, Muriel whispering ¡®abnormal¡¯ under her breath. It suddenly hit her that they had no knowledge beforehand that the new wife would be an abnormal. She couldn¡¯t help but grow sad at the thought, but she held her head high anyways. The guard created another dark portal and pushed Emily forward. It had been an hour since Emily had arrived at her new home, and she was already greeted with fear.

    When the girl came out on the other side of the portal into a velvety bedroom, she wanted to throw up from the horror and realization of what was going to happen. A laugh came from behind her as the portal closed, and when Emily turned to face the person it was connected to she was hit with the aura the man had about it.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    Sarium was sitting across from Emily on a chair next to a dresser with a smile on his face. He was naked with a necklace of a sword dangling on his neck. The two stared at each other for a moment before he stood up and walked towards Emily. She growled and took a step back, the water pot behind her shaking as her magic built up in the room.

    A wave of his hand was all it took to destroy her magic that had gathered. Emily¡¯s face went white at how easily he had done so, all anger gone. Sarium stood in front of her with a grin, one she wanted to replace with an expression agony.

    ¡°Let¡¯s get started, shall we?¡±

    ************Ron POV************

    Training was much more difficult that Ron thought. Everytime he tried to concentrate, his mind would turn to that girl the intruders were looking for and managed to get their hands on. The thought that she had been given up to be some strangers wife seemed to stab him in the chest, and he couldn¡¯t figure out why.

    Ron winced as the mind block stung him again, but he was growing increasingly more annoyed at it. He wanted to remember her, to figure out what it was he knew about her and why his emotions were scattered when it came to her, but she was gone and it was killing him.

    A light suddenly burst from the orb on the kitchen table. Ron stood up and ran to the cabin from where he had been meditating outside to see what it was. A letter was lying on the table with the words ¡®READ OR I WILL FIND YOU¡¯ on it. Ron quickly ripped it open and began to read it.

    ¡°Ron, why has Emily not replied back to me? I expected her to reply, but there has been nothing. If you hurt her, I will hunt you down, god or not. Whether you care or not, she loves you and will sacrifice herself for you. I knew that after the first letter she sent back, but she needs you to make her not do that.

    My guild is at the ready for battle. We all care for her, she has fought for us in many ways and we will fight. I will not be formal in this letter in fear she could be in pain. Wherever she is, we will get her back.

    James.¡±

    Ron stared at the words and considered what to say. It then occurred to him that this James could be of assistance to the safety of his people, and he quickly grabbed paper and made a pencil out of thin air.

    ¡°James,

    This is Ron. A group of people had attacked my island out of the blue, all after Emily. Situations have thrown itself out of the blue and she was taken. We are preparing ourselves for war, but I am afraid we are not strong enough to protect ourselves, even with me here. I underestimated the enemy and was rightly defeated, but the woman I was battling seemed to be apart of a different group altogether.

    The woman I was against called the one who took Emily ¡°Sarium¡±. I don¡¯t know who that is but you may. I request your assistance and that you come so a plan may be made to save Emily and protect my people.

    Ron.¡±

    The blue light took the letter, and in a matter of seconds a new letter appeared. Three words were written in shaky, large letters.

    ¡°On our way.¡±

    Ron sighed and stood up to warn the villagers about the newcomers heading over to help, but a new light brought a different letter. This one was cream colored and had a stamp of a rose over it. Ron hesitated but picked it up.

    ¡°Hand over heart,

    The wife stands strong.

    Husband takes part

    Beyond the light given willingly.

    Sweet scent brings blood

    Darkness covers all.¡±

    A poem. Ron read it twice more before folding it and putting it in his pocket. He was concerned about who sent it, for he thought only James could send letters with the orb and he knew it wasn¡¯t from him. He decided to ask the boy about it before things got even more crazy. Ron ran towards the village to explain what was going to happen, and as he did the image of Emily crept into his mind once more.

    This time, he didn¡¯t try to ignore it and let the pain of the mind block fill him as he ran. It was almost refreshing to feel it pull on his nerves and wake him up more. It had felt like he was swimming in a dream since he was hit with the spell. He could hear the sounds of metal on metal as swords were being created, the chatter of people mingling within the sharp clanks.

    Ron¡¯s people looked up at him as he approached with a new light in his eyes, and they knew there was news to come. When he came to a halt in front of the gates, one of the children ran to him. She raised her arms up to be picked up, which Ron gladly did.

    ¡°Where is Jeremy?¡± He asked. The crowd looked at each other as if wondering if the man was near them.

    ¡°Here. What is it, Ron?¡± The man who had once shown Ron a vision the first day he met him walked forward with obvious curiosity on his face. Ron quickly walked up to him and pushed the letter into his hands.

    ¡°I need to speak with you later. What is happening is beyond what I had ever thought would be possible in terms of strength. This goes past even my knowledge of the world, and recently I¡¯ve been learning more about things than I ever have in my years of living. Take this, read it, and I will come see you tonight.¡± Jeremy nodded and slipped the letter into his pocket before slipping back into the crowd of people.

    Analicia walked forward and crossed her arms. Ron glanced at her before taking a deep breath.

    ¡°We have allies. It seems the girl Emily had a large group of people behind her, and her brother is on his way with his guild to help us with a variety of things,¡± he explained, much to the mixed emotions from his people.

    ¡°So you¡¯re inviting more people associated with her? She¡¯s the reason we are in this mess!¡± Someone cried out, and it seemed many of the people agreed.

    ¡°I am not able to train you efficiently enough! To be born what she was is not her fault, and we will not make it one. From what it seems, they are strong warriors that I did not know. They will be worthy in helping us. Please treat them with respect.¡± There was a shuffle of feet, a long silence.

    At least until a sudden flash of light burned behind Ron.

    Cries of alarm rang out as the villagers ran backwards towards their homes in fear as people began to pour out of the light. Many of them were quite large, some carrying warhammers across their backs as they walked through.

    ¡°Ron. It¡¯s been awhile, old friend! I would love to catch up with you sometime, but that should wait until after Emily is retrieved,¡± a voice called out as a tall, well built man walked through with a woman strolling closely to his heels, an aura of magical strength wisping around her as she followed.

    Arturo grinned and smacked Ron on the back in greeting. Ron smiled and shook his hand before glancing at the woman. She had a long green dress on that seemed to dance at her feet with each step she took. Gems decorated her neck and fingers, all but one radiating magic. It took Ron a moment to realize why.

    ¡°This is my wife, Celby. She wishes to find those with magic abilities and train them to be able to use it,¡± Arturo explained as Celby stepped forward and bowed deeply.

    ¡°My husband has told me much about you. As he has said, I would like to help train those who can use magic. I am a warlock, and I feel I would be useful in this time of need.¡± Celby snapped her fingers, a large black orb suddenly appearing in her left hand while a book was in her other.

    ¡°That would be incredibly useful, I thank you from the bottom of my heart,¡± Ron said as she slowly walked towards the village.

    More people were walking through what was now obviously a portal. Ron counted people as fast as possible, seeing fifty six people in all. After the last person stepped onto Ron¡¯s land, a woman quickly skipped through and closed the portal.

    ¡°The next time I¡¯m asked to do something that difficult, Celby can do it! Not only did that strain me to a ridiculous point, but I had to make it extra big for the Firefly group to walk through!¡± The woman growled as she walked up to a man who had a very sheepish expression on his face. A group of people off to the side quickly looked away when she glared at them, the Firefly people Ron assumed. He had to admit, they were very big with their weapons all over half their body size.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Nicolette, I thought you could handle it,¡± the man said as the woman walked closer.

    ¡°I handled it, didn¡¯t I? I love you James, but one of these days you¡¯re going to have to learn how to create portals yourself.¡± Ron perked up at the name at the same moment James noticed Ron.

    ¡°Where the fuck is my sister!¡± James yelled as he turned towards Ron. Both Ron¡¯s people and James¡¯ guild went dead silent.

    ¡°I...I honestly don¡¯t know. The woman I was up against gave me the name Sarium, but it means nothing to me.¡± Ron quickly explained. As quickly as he had become angry, James became almost pale with fright.

    ¡°Sarium. That pervert has my little sister,¡± he whispered as he looked around.

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that name before. Isn¡¯t he an Elder? I didn¡¯t think he would take that kind of interest in Emily?¡± Nicolette said. James shook his head.

    ¡°No, this may actually be both a good and bad thing. The bad thing is, Emily will be forced to make love to Sarium. But because of his ways, she will be safe for the time being until Destamos finds a way to get her hands on her. For now, it is best to help Ron in whatever he needs until we come up with a plan to get her back.¡± Nicolette¡¯s jaw dropped at his words, and after clenching her fists and taking a few deeps breaths she managed to gather her emotions.

    ¡°I understand. Emily is strong, as long as she can put up with the constant...pushing from Sarium, then we have some time.¡± Nicolette finally faced Ron.

    ¡°We will do everything in our power to help you. The woman who came here to attack you to get at Emily won¡¯t back down. If she doesn¡¯t get her hands on her, which we don¡¯t think she will, then she will come back here to kill everyone on this island. Even if your people scatter and run, she will hunt them down one by one. As a guild, it is our job to make sure that doesn¡¯t happen. Tell us what to do.¡±