She was fast, faster than Midhir could follow, faster than he could hope to react. She wasn’t holding back anymore. Within a split second, she appeared before him, crossing the courtyard near instantly.

Their blades met, letting out a clear clang. Midhir felt the force of her strike shake his entire body. She was even stronger than before. This wasn’t someone he could win against. Especially not while trading blows with her.

He leapt back, though the winds pushed him around, threatening to throw him off balance as he landed a few steps away. His right hand still clenched the hilt of his sword, but his left hand was raised, a bright flame burning in his palm.

Instructor Soraya leapt up, she rose in the air carried by the whirlwind of her own making before she dove towards Midhir.

Without hesitation, he slammed the fire in his hand into the ground, recalling the resonance embedded into the stake he had broken back at Lohssa. Crimson flames hit the ground, then burst up like a beam of light before splitting up and forming a barrier around him. The semi-sphere covered him on all sides within a heartbeat.

Instructor Soraya’s blade struck the barrier not a moment later. Sparks flew in the air, and her rather surprised grunt sounded as the barrier glowed brightly, sending her flying across the courtyard. She spun in the air, realigning herself with the ground, and landed on her feet.

Her eyes glimmered. She straightened her back, a smile spread across her lips. She pointed her sword at him. The crimson gem embedded into its guard began to glow. At the same time, she raised her dagger as well, holding it next to her sword, in parallel.

The green gem on its pommel began to glow as well.

Midhir’s lips parted as his heart sank. She was capable of dual casting resonances. His meagre barrier wasn’t going to hold against a resonance as powerful as she was preparing.

Winds gathered around her, tugging at her hair and clothes. Then, her sword burst into flames. A fiery ball surrounded by strong winds began to form at the tip of her blade.

Midhir let his barrier dissipate. His heart raced as he kicked the ground and ran as fast as he can.

How much time had passed? How long had it been since she gave the one minute mark to Alistair? Half a minute? Three quarters? Desperate, Midhir dashed.

He felt power drain from the world around him. It was suffocating, like all air had vanished. Then, it returned with a blast. Or, at the same time as a blast. Something hit the ground where he was a few seconds ago. He heard the sound of breaking stone, shattering slabs, and a howling of the wind that reminded him of the bloodthirsty wolves.

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Pieces of rock, slab, and earth hit him, followed by something else.

While he was running just a moment ago, he was now in the air. It took him a split second to realise what was happening before he plummeted into the lake.

It was cold, so very cold. He didn’t remember the last time he felt so cold. It was dark, too. He wasn’t sure if his eyes were open or closed, he was too numb to feel, and it was too dark to see.

Distant sounds reached his ears. Dozens of footsteps, rushing somewhere. The sound of metal brushing against metal. Something let out a deafening creak, followed by a loud crash that shook the ground below him.

His body was numb, but his mind had begun to wake up. His fingers twitched, and his sense of touch began to return. He parted his eyelids, then immediately closed them again as a bright blue light nearly blinded him.

Something smashed against the ground somewhere nearby. He heard the muffled sound through the walls and felt the vibrations it caused in the ground.

He again tried to open his eyes, this time covering his face with his hand and peeking through his fingers.

Pain struck his eyes, his head felt like it was about to burst. A whimper escaped his lips, that almost immediately turned into a child’s cries. Tears ran down his cheeks as his mind was thrown into disarray.

He shut his eyes, covering them with his hands, pulled his knees to his chest and cried.

“What’s that?” A woman’s voice reached his ears, muffled, like it was coming from beyond a curtain, or a door. “Break that door down,” she ordered. Her voice was filled with authority.

Following her words, something smashed against wood. Again and again, until he heard the door break.

Someone gasped.

He opened his eyes, peeking through his fingers again.

His surroundings were still incomprehensibly chaotic, and just looking at them made his heard hurt. Why were there two things at once overlapping, everywhere? He didn’t know, he couldn’t understand. But he could clearly see the woman.

She was tall, taller than half the men behind her. She wore her long, raven black hair in a braid. Her clothes were black as well – baggy leggings, a long sleeved shirt, and a coat hastily thrown over her shoulders.

Her lips parted in surprise as soon as her gaze landed on him. She covered her mouth with her hand.

“A child?” one of the men behind her asked. “What’s a child doing here?”

The woman didn’t reply. Instead, she approached him with cautious steps, her gaze focused something behind him. He could see the blue light shining on her. “Don’t look back,” she urged him as she crouched before him.

He recoiled as her hand reached for him. Amongst the overlapping reality around him, she was the only thing that looked real.

She took his hand, not letting him retreat further. “I’ll get you out of here,” she promised. Her gaze turned down, to his legs. With her other hand, she touched a metal loop around his ankle. The ring on her finger let out a shine. A golden gem embedded in it glowed brightly for a split second before the metal loop broke into two pieces.

Without hesitation, she picked him up. “Send in the enforcers,” she said as she turned to the others. “Find every last member of this House and bring them to me.” While still holding him with one hand, she stretched the other towards the blue light.

A rift in reality began to close as it was unable to resist against her power. As it closed, he felt his consciousness slip away. His head leaned against her shoulder as the last thing he saw was shapes and silhouettes rushing towards the fading blue light.