The Man threw his sword and shield on the table, exhausted from one more day of battle against the annoying Woman who didn't give up. They had battled for over 100 days, and sometimes, they would even rest in the woods and make some fire to rest while the big battle outside the woods continued. The Man was a half-demon and half-human from a place called Paladin Woods from Earth to help the demons protect their people. Meanwhile, the Witch betrayed the Queen of Witches to fight against the angels, civilians, and humans who had come to help prevent an invasion of the demons into Earth. She was giving a hand to Valiant because she had so much empathy for others; she didn't like to hurt or kill other civilians. For a Witch who has betrayed the Queen ruling one of the kingdoms, she was banned and taken in by the king of Valiant to fight against the war spreading like fire everywhere in Valiant.

The Man and the Woman fought against each other daily, with the Witch always trying to keep her distance and using her staff as a weapon. At the same time, the Man, with his sword and shield, had gotten quite a reputation for being able to withstand a Witch who was so powerful. The fight seemed like it would not have any ending at all because it had been going on for the longest in the war. Everything, though, would change in the blink of a moment.

After a new morning approached in Valiant, the Man went to the table and grabbed his sword and shield again to have another day with a fight. While he looked human, nobody was messing with him, especially other demons. Two more giant demons then approached him, intending to help him end the battle once and for all.

"John! Why don't we come with you, and we will hide behind bushes and shoot an arrow to kill the Witch?" One of them asked.

"No!" the Man answered.

"Why not?" The other one asked.

"Because this is a fight between us, nobody is to interfere in the battle. That is why we moved it into the woods for a fair fight until one of us dies!"

The two Demons felt he was disrespectful for not even looking at them when answering their questions like he was possessed. They didn't want to disturb him and walked away from the table, unhappy with the answer that they had received.

The Man walked into the woods and followed a path he had created by mistake by walking back and forth all the time. The area where they battled had no grass left from all the burning and moving around. The Woman was waiting on the file with closed eyes, smiling because she was not struggling as much as he struggled during the fights.

"Welcome to the battle Lark!" The Woman uttered, and the Man couldn't help but smile at her arrogance and confidence.

"The question is not. If I am ready, Trissa, the question is, have you woken up realizing the battle will be over this morning?" The Man commented back, giving her a smirk while seeing her open her beautiful dark blue eyes staring at him.

Both of them went into position for battle, with Trissa's staff glowing up in light blue and Lark quickly putting up his shield in a protective position.

Trissa leaped toward Lark as her staff's edge created a light blue ball. She plunged it towards him, screaming out in the air, hoping he would be distracted by the scream and it would hit his head, but Lark quickly put his shield up to protect himself, and he's both feet slid a little bit backward because of the amount of energy put in the hit. Lark tried to respond quickly by swinging his sword toward Trissa, who quickly and purposely fell to the ground as she had learned his tricks. With a sudden move of both her feet, she kicked Lark in the chest, so he lost a bit of his stance as he tried to go back into protective mode quickly.

Trissa laughed at Lark because he never had any tactics before coming to the battles. He was more like a grunt who showed up and tried to finish the job when she already knew what he would do. Even though she knew all this, she was still surprised by his willingness never to give up. She knew they had gone so far and a long time that she was a little bit hesitant if she would kill him at all the day when he would lose the battle.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

They prepared to go another round until Trissa saw Lark's facial expression ultimately change. Instead of putting the shield up to wait for her attack, he leaped towards her. By surprise, she put the light blue end of the staff in front of her, believing that it would kill him instantly to protect herself; Lark quickly grabbed and hugged her while turning around as something hit him from the back. He fell on his knees and quickly turned around as the two demons emerged from the bushes. Seeing the sword's speed was almost impossible as it hit one of the demons right through the head. Trissa hurried and hit the edge of the staff right into the stomach of the other one as the Demon started to squeal while burning up. She noticed the arrow that had gone through his back, but not entirely through, and she was afraid that it maybe was too close to his heart. She caught him in the air before he was going to fall to the ground, and she felt something inside that she had not felt in a long time. Her heart was beating very fast, and she felt unease with fear catching up. She knew that acting fast now was of the essence; she knew that she needed to save his life, but nobody would take her in from the Valiant because he was a Demon.

Trissa approached a cabin with Lark leaning against her shoulder as she saw smoke coming from the chimney. She approached the door and knocked, and an older man with a very long hat on his head with stars was looking at both of them with a worried face.

"You brought a demon here?" He asked, surprised.

"I had nowhere to go; they would kill him if I took him back to the camp," Trissa uttered with tears in her eyes.

He let them in, and as he saw the arrow on the Man's back, he quickly pulled it out, but he got no reaction from Lark. Trissa put him on his stomach on the table and ripped apart his shirt as the older Man with a green light coming out from his palm tried to hold it towards the injured area. Trissa walked back and forth in the room worriedly, waiting for Lark to heal.

After a moment, the older Man stopped and realized something was wrong.

"Why did you stop? What is wrong, Dendarven?" Trissa asked him.

Dendarven looked at her, surprised at what she had brought to his cabin.

"You know that I can not treat this Man. He is not a full-blooded Demon. No power in Valiant can treat this Man except for his people." Dendarven explained to Trissa.

"What does that mean? Do I have to take Lark back to Hell to get him treated?" She uttered, even more worried now than she was a moment before.

Dandarven smiled and shook his head in denial before he responded:

"This Lark Man is human, with human blood flowing through his body. He needs to get treated by a human on Earth with their tools from Earth. If I remember correctly, the ones healing humans are called doctors. Only the Doctors on Earth can heal Lark." Dandarven explained.

"What can I do about that? How do I keep him alive and safe?" Trissa asked, feeling utterly hopeless about saving Lark as she couldn't stop her tears.

Dendarven understood this; the Witch had no clue she had feelings for Lark.

"How about I give you a cloak, and you take him back to Earth so he can get healed? But it will be hard to return to Valiant because the door is only one-way. You will be wanted and hunted as a breach of the rules in Valiant because you escaped, but you will be able to save Lark. They will hunt both of you. Wanted posters of you both will cover the walls in Valiant and a bounty will be placed from both sides on your heads. Are you willing to do this? If yes, I will send you to a protected place called Paladin Woods for civilians from both sides living in a protected environment on Earth. Though shielded from humans, you must keep yourself hidden because nobody knows who will travel through the doors to Earth. I will prepare a human expert called a doctor who is a friend of Valiant, and I will make sure that you are protected if you decide to leave this war." Dendarven explained to Trissa.

Trissa walked around the room trying to think of something but could not come up with anything. She started to cry loudly, and Dendarven found it annoying because she usually had a cold personality.

"How am I going to train my new apprentice while being gone? She will end up in Samantha's grasp if I disappear. Poor Meldan!" She uttered.

"You need to make a decision now, Trissa!" Dendarven said.

Trissa walked to the table as Lark was still bleeding from his wound, and right there, she took the decision.

"Yes! We will leave Valiant." She uttered.

While Lark was leaning on Trissa's shoulder as they walked in complete darkness, something looked like a door opened before them. Several humans were waiting for them, and a lot of noise was coming from their side. Lark was quickly taken away from Trissa and put in a box that started to roll away; this confused her as she had difficulty grasping what was happening. In the crowd of people, a blue-haired woman showed up with a very revealing outfit in black, and she reached out her hand towards Trissa and said:

"Welcome to Paladin Woods! I am Lady Feffe, the caretaker of this hidden place on Earth. We protect and keep citizens from all worlds safe from demise and suffering. You will be safe here, Trissa Van Polan!"