Akano

I had known Yukina all my life. Since my earliest memories, I had always been by her side. From when we were children running across the courtyards of the Castle, all of the celebrations, all of the memorable moments in her life, and then some, I was there. It was my job to be. But beyond the Association, beyond Zathron's and the King's chess match, beyond any external affairs, she was my greatest friend, and I held her dear more than she knew.

In the days before the start of the Academy, she seemed off—unsure about anything. The note I received from Astrid the day we went into the Capital, told it all and more. I don't think I've ever been more anxious than that day. It was hard to pretend as if everything was fine when I was absolutely mortified on the inside. Then at the clinic, where my worst fears came realized; something was wrong with her. Her mana circuits were fried, worse than anything I had ever seen.

I could still remember the aching feeling of seeing the lifeless circuits spread all over her back. It was gut-wrenching. And then, to top it off, the private conversation I had with Doctor Tera, with her telling me that it was only going to get worse from there; it was just too much. Yukina's secrecy wasn't helping either. She had never been one to lie, especially to me, but the look on her face back then was telling—there was something that she was hiding, and it was serious. The doctor had urged me to try to get it out of her, but I couldn't, or more so, I was afraid to. Even if I had pressed her about it, I knew she wouldn't come out with it, as all it would do was just create asense of mistrust around us, and that was the absolute last thing I wanted.

The only thing that I wanted was for things to have a sense ofnormalcy again, and shortly after that day, they were. The nextmonth and on, Yukina had seemed to regain that drive and airthat I was used to seeing float around her. Seeing her like that made me push everything before that to the back of my mind,irresponsibly ignoring it. I was complacent with how things were, my largest concern being the Academy's coursework andthings of the like. However, it was short-lived, as she sprang theidea of intruding into the Elven Kingdom, withholding her reasons for doing so. And like that, her secrecy had returned,and I wasn't the biggest fan of it. I agreed to aid her because Iknew if it came down to it, I wouldn't be able to stop her; she would've undoubtedly gone alone, and that was absolutely out of the question. As we ventured closer and closer here, I reassured myself, constantly thinking that if I had just kept her close to me, kept her by my side, nothing could go wrong.

But now, I was closer to losing her more than ever before.

Shaking with frustration and anger, I watched as the commander used the Princess as his personal stepping stool. The burning desire to retaliate surged through me, nudging me to kill him right where he stood. My fingers clutched the hilt of my sword so tightly that it felt as though my own blood might trickle down its edges. With every ounce of strength I had in me, I strained to draw it and unleash hell in front of the entire village, but I couldn't. Yukina's order was absolute and it bound me, no matter how badly I wanted to break it.

"Damn it, Yuki. Why? "

She had promised not to do anything reckless, and I was a fool to believe her. I cursed myself, regretting the decision to let her come here in the first place. I thought I would be able to protect her from anything if I just tried my best. But I had forgotten that the most dangerous threat to Yukina was herself.

Still restricted by Yukina's order, my heart sank further as Ihelplessly watched her being tossed into the back of thecommander's wagon. After, just as they had stormed into the village, they stormed out. About a few minutes after they were out of sight, I could feel the weight of Yukina's order release. Wasting no time, I hastily took to the village's skywalks, rushed towards the entrance, and jumped off the ledge, drawing my blade. 『 Tempo! 』I yelled, and in bursts of electricity, Ifrantically began zipping from tree to tree in pursuit of the abductors.

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon..."

My eyes desperately darted in all directions trying to find the wagons as I flew through the forest, ignoring the whipping of dangling leaves across my face, singeing each branch that I lept off of.

"They couldn't have gotten too far!"

Seizing an extending branch, I swung myself around it, propelling myself high above the treetops. Peering down below, my heart raced with hope, praying to catch a glimpse of anything that would lead me to her. Being met with only the greenery of the forest, I was about to lose hope until from the corner of my eye, through the pockets of the tree tops, I caught movement on the forest floor.

"There!"

I cast 『 Tempo 』again and darted toward the area, landing high against a tree, staying out of their sight. As I peered down below, sure enough, there the convoy was. Tallied one behind the other, they were moving faster than they should have been able to, trampling and crushing any loose forest matter in their path. Seeing them again instantly made my blood boil, and the urge to just burst down there and raze everything to the ground started to rise within me, but I knew that doing so would put Yukina in even greater danger, so I kept it suppressed, constantly reminding myself to keep a level head.

Hidden amongst the treetops, I kept pace and desperately tailed them from above, my mind racing with thoughts of what to do next. I assumed they were heading back to the capital. Even by wagon, it was still at least a two-day journey—maybe even three.

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"Should I wait until they rest?"

I quickly shook the thought out of my head. There was no telling if they had some sort of camp set up outside of the forest. If they did, the chance of success would drop dramatically.

"No, I have to do it right here!"

I clenched my fist, ready to act, but landing on the carriages would cause panic amongst the captive elves—not that I cared about them, but the commotion could get Yukina hurt. In addition, I couldn't even tell which one was Yukina, as all of their heads were covered. Finding Yukina out of the mass of them wouldn't be easy. Then a revelation struck me.

"That's right! The commander has her! He must be the lead carriage!"

I had made up my mind. I was going to shoot ahead of them and obstruct their path with an obstacle of some sort, most likely a tree that I'd cut down in their way. It wouldn't matter if the other wagons saw it and diverted in a different direction; all I would need to do is catch the one in front by surprise.

"Just wait Yuki, I'm—"

Before I could complete my thought, a single arrow pacing for my head whizzed toward me. If I hadn't instinctively split it in half, it would have found its target.

"They spotted me?! How?! They shouldn’t be able to see me!"

My heart sank as I locked eyes with the abductors in the trailing wagon, their stares piercing me, with one of them pointing right at me.

"A sensory user!?"

The realization hit me hard. They had sensed the magical residue left by 『Tempo』 and alerted the rest of their crew. Panic surged through me as the convoy doubled its pace, tearing through the forest with its own magic-enhanced speed.

"Shit!" I gritted my teeth. "『Tempo Up!』"

And so, the chase began.

As we blitzed through the forest with no regard for it, a violent game of cat and mouse ensued between us. In hot pursuit, adrenaline surged through me as I darted back and forth between the trees, narrowly avoiding the relentless volleys upon volleys of arrows aimed at me, each wave more accurate than the last. The forest around me blurred as I tried to concentrate on reaching the lead carriage. As I shot through the dense foliage of the forest, my heart pounded heavier with every beat, knowing that with each passing second, the probability of getting Yukina out of there was dropping.

My body began to ache. I had pushed『Tempo』to its limit as the aura of crackling electricity around me had started to singe through my cloak and slightly char the surface of my skin. My lungs were starting to burn as well, and my body's temperature began to rise. Every muscle in my body screamed in protest, but still, I ignored it, as I was moving slightly faster than the convoy and was close to reaching Yukina.

"Just a little more!" I gasped, my voice turning hoarse.

I started to pick up the pace of my relentless pursuit, inching closer and closer to the last wagon in the convoy. Just as I was mere meters away, the convoy began to open up, with the middle and trailing carts swiftly veering off to the sides.

"What's going on?" I muttered in bewilderment.

I didn't know, but it didn't matter. The path to Yukina had suddenly revealed itself to me, and I wasn't going to question my luck. I spiked ahead, blasting through the middle of the two wagons, and was nearly within arms reach until I realized that I had fallen for it. The abductors on the leading wagon began to chant, and their hands started to glow with an ominous aura. My mind raced to comprehend their intentions, but before I could come up with anything, it was too late. The ground beneath us began to violently tremble, and to my utter shock, a gigantic wall of earth instantly surged upwards from the forest floor, separating me and the cart and towering above everything.

My eyes widened in disbelief as the massive barrier erupted before me. My mind raced, frantically searching for a way around the towering obstacle, but there was no time. I was hurtling toward the wall at breakneck speed, and slamming into it as it stood would be a death sentence.

Bracing myself, I crossed my arms over my face and shut my eyes, preparing for the inevitable.

"『Buff!』"

I barely got the enchantment off my tongue before I brutally collided through the barrier. The impact was cruel, and I was flung into disorientation, tumbling helplessly against the ground, my mouth mixing with flavors of grass and dirt. Slamming backward into a tree was what stopped my tumble. If it weren't for the enchantment, my back would've been completely shattered. Gasping for breath, I winced in excruciating pain, my body throbbing with each heartbeat. Through my blurred vision, I strained to catch a glimpse of the cart, but it was already vanishing into the distance. In a state of horror and helplessness, I struggled to summon myself to my feet, but my body refused to obey. I could do nothing but watch with trembling hands as she crossed the horizon and disappeared completely.

Defeated and broken, time seemed to come to a standstill as I lay there, re-thinking the events that had just transpired over and over again, hoping that something would change. But it didn't. I kept reaching the same ending.

I had lost her.

I didn't even remember how I made it back to Everleaf. My mind was a whirlwind of anguish and grief. When I snapped out of my daze, I was standing at the entrance of Sylas's home, and the morning sky had turned into a haunting late afternoon. I entered and saw Sylas and Seraphina at the table. Seraphina still bore the remnants of horror on her face, a reflection of the traumatic events we had all experienced. In the heavy silence, our eyes met, and for a fleeting moment, we simply stared at each other, words unnecessary to convey the pain we were feeling. With a lump in my chest, I walked past them and headed to the room Yukina and I had stayed in the night before. I was solemnly gathering our belongings when I heard Sylas approach from behind.

"Akantha....were you able to..." He asked, his voice trailing off, a sign that he knew the answer to his own question.

I couldn't find the strength to respond; I couldn't look at him, as there was no telling what I would do. I had mixed feelings about the two of them. Part of me blamed them. If he had never fallen into that river and if Seraphina had never gotten dragged out by the commander, none of this would be happening. I didn't care if I was being irrational. If we had just stayed out of this village, Yukina would still be here.

I finished combining Yukina's things with mine and pushed past him, heading toward the entrance. As I was nearly out the door, Seraphina called out to me, causing me to stop and meet her gaze. She had eyes full of sorrow and regret. She opened her mouth as if she were trying to find the right words to say, but no words escaped it. Like me, she was broken.

Without saying a word, I tore myself away from the solemn scene, leaving the home and the village behind. My thoughts were filled with a mix of sadness and anger, and the affection I had started to feel for the village was now replaced with nothing but tragic memories.