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“What happened, Luka?” Gav’s voice was filled with concern as he knelt beside me, his brow furrowed with worry.

“We rushed here as soon as we saw the light and noticed you weren’t around,” Eleanor added.

I struggled to respond, my body feeling heavy and unresponsive. Every muscle seemed to ache, and I couldn’t summon the strength to even sit up. All I could do was watch as Gav watched the scene before him, his expression a mixture of confusion and alarm.

“What in the Guardians’ name happened here?” he exclaimed, his gaze lingering on the scorched marks on the ground.

Ari, clinging to Eleanor’s robe, spoke up timidly. “Bad guys in black attacked us. They hurt us, but Luka made them all disappear like magic. I don’t know where they went.”

“Disappear, huh…” Eleanor’s voice trailed off as he examined the traces on the ground, his mind clearly racing with possibilities.

“What?” Ada’s voice was filled with disbelief. “The light was from Lu?”

Gav’s frustration boiled over, his voice rising with anger. “What I want to know is what the fuck were you doing here with Ari, Luka Glynn?”

Struggling to push myself up, I managed to choke out an explanation. “It was my fault, I was playing tag with Ar…” Before I could finish, Gav’s fist connected with my face, sending me crashing back to the ground.

“Do you have any idea what you got us into?” Shouted Gav, his eyes flashing with fury. “You were supposed to protect Ari, not drag her into danger!”

Ada stepped forward, placing a calming hand on Gav’s shoulder. “Stop it, Gav, he’s just six,” she said softly, her voice trembling with emotion. “What matters now is that they are both safe.”

As the tension in the air began to ease slightly, Ada approached me with concern. “Are you injured, Lu? Tell me, please.”

Gav’s blow hurt a lot, but I managed to nod weakly in response. I knew that he was just worried about me. I mean, he probably held me to high expectations and I just… betrayed it.

“Safe? Do you fathom the seriousness of this situation?” Exclaimed Gav.

“I do, the light we just saw was most likely magic, Although I haven’t seen such a spell before. Nevertheless, we probably should escape this place.”

What? Magic? I used it? What the heck is happening?

Gav turned around and approached me. He held me in both his hands and said, “Let’s hurry up and exit the city, we will continue our talk later.”

As we were running towards the gate, I heard Gav say with a soft tone and a worried look, “I’m sorry for hitting you.”

“Shouldn’t we get a holf (horned wolf)?” Ada’s voice wavered with uncertainty as she glanced around at the surrounding chaos.

“Forget about the holf, forget about the belongings, forget everything,'' said Gav, his tone urgent. “We would be lucky to even reach the gate before th…”

Before he could finish, a sudden commotion interrupted him. A group of soldiers appeared, blocking our path, their weapons drawn and ready. At their head rode a man on top of an armored holf, He looked important and powerful.

“Darn it, they’re here already…” Gav muttered under his breath.

The man atop the holf surveyed us with a cold, calculating gaze. “Using magic in the holy city of Crownspire, are we now?” he said.

Ada’s breath caught in her throat as she recognized him. “F-father?” she stammered.

The man’s eyes flickered with recognition as he gazed down at her. “Hello, Ada. I see you’re still alive,” he remarked casually, his tone deprived of any warmth.

“Father, please let us go our way, we will never come back here,” Ada pleaded with desperation.

“A commoner dares to ask me for a favor?” he sneered. “And I can’t really let you go, not before I kill that kid.”

Fear gripped my heart as I realized the gravity of our situation. Ada’s desperate pleas fell on deaf ears, and I could feel the weight of doom pressing down on us.

“Now I don’t know how a madanian can use magic, but I cannot, I Aragon Brimstone, let such filth breathe the air of Madania. Now that I mentioned it, where is that little elf you’re hiding?” said Aragon as he turned his head slowly searching for Ari.

“That must be her” He added as he pointed at Ari.

I didn’t know how we would escape this dire situation. How could we flee with an army right in front of us?

Suddenly Gav put me down on the ground, turned to Ari, then in an instant, lunged towards Aragon, wielding his sword. "You won’t take anybody with you" he declared. As he prepared to strike, a larger soldier than Gav blocked the attack with his sword and kicked him.

I noticed him right away, he was one of the two royal guards I saw at the arena.

The soldier then shed his armor, unveiling rippling, muscular arms painted with black tattoo stripes which began at his neck and back, extending around his waist and shoulders before converging at the center of his abdominals. “You won’t take another step towards our general,” he warned. Gav quickly regained his posture and launched another slash, but his sword unexpectedly broke in two upon impact with the enemy’s chest. He backed away, stunned.

“Surrender yourselves, you cannot escape” said Aragon “You should know you’re no match for my army, so don’t bother struggling”

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“Over my dead body” replied Gav.

“You brought it upon yourselves” Sighed Aragon “SOLDIERS ! bring me the woman and kill the rest”

What? Why would he want to take my mother with him? Fuck this weakened body I can’t do anything.

As soon as Aragon issued the command, his soldiers surged forward into action. Three of them ganged up on Gav, but they were quickly overpowered. With swift agility, Gav evaded a slashing attack, countering with a powerful elbow uppercut. Seizing the opportunity, he snatched his sword and parried another blow before dispatching the second assailant’s head, causing blood to gush out abruptly.

In a fluid motion, Gav leaped into the air, gashing the sword through the third’s skull gouging his eyes out. Rising to his feet, Gav swung his sword, sending droplets of blood scattering into the air, before directing the blade towards the muscular soldier.

I was truly amazed by Gav's strength. Even during our sparring session, it seemed like he wasn't exerting more than twenty percent of his power. Yet, despite his impressive abilities, I couldn't shake the feeling that it might not be enough to defeat that giant.

Suddenly, a sword came hurtling towards me, but in an instant I was enveloped with a translucent green aura, then it turned into a tornado sending the soldier flying into a wall smashing his body like a crushed moth.

Yet, a spear arced right at us. Eleanor managed to dodge it, however it pierced through the fabric of his hood, revealing his head.

“Now, now, now..What do we have here? Another elf..” said Aragon. “The elves sure have done it now”

“You there” He pointed at the giant “Bring me the woman, then eradicate them”

“Roger that” He uttered as he took a step breaking the ground under him. He lunged at Gav who was amidst a fight against other soldiers. The sheer power of his attack alarmed Gav’s instincts who kicked the enemy in front of him and turned around in a flash to parry the slash, but it was too heavy for him to be able to stand his ground.

As he was still recovering his posture the giant spawned in front of him and grabbed his head, punched his guts twice and threw him to the wall. Blood splattered from Gav’s mouth as he shouted in agony.

The giant approached Ada, who dropped on the ground from fear trying to pick her up. El extended his hands forward. Waves of aura flowed around them and gathered in front of his palms forming arrows of wind, which he launched at the enemy. The hit to the giant’s waist pushed him away.

“Did it work?” I murmured to myself

The giant who was covering his waist, moved his hand away.

What the fuck? His waist..is blackened..Is that…Iron?

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA” he roared

“Is that magic?” I murmured

“No, it’s different. There was no aura around him” said El “This is troublesome”

As El readied himself to launch another attack, the giant solidified his whole body in iron and kicked the ground with brute force making chunks of stone fly up. He then smashed a chunk with his fist sending debris of rocks towards El which pierced through his wind barrier. The shield weakened the attack but the force was strong enough to make him fall.

I turned to my right to check on El, then back at Ada, only to find her on the giant's shoulder, screaming for help.

I wanted to help her but this fucking body had no strength. Ari, who was beside me at the ground, sat hugging my arm and covering her head from all the horror in front of her.

I have to at least protect Ari..but.. FUUUUUCK, Get up me, get up and save your mom.

Am I supposed to just sit here and watch her get taken away?

I started hitting my head continuously “Hey are you there, Come on voice..Help me..Bring out the light again..Help me..please”. Suddenly I felt a hand resting on my shoulder. I lifted my head up to see Gav, his face tainted with blood and bruises “Don’t worry son” He said with a tired smile, then, he turned to Eleanor with a serious look “El, please take Ari and Luka and flee. I’ll keep them from chasing you and go save Ada”

“No, I can’t leave you here alone” I screamed

“Don’t worry, your dad will save mom and come back. And then we can all live together happily again” He replied “El, please”

“Alright Gavin “said El as he held me on top of his shoulder and Ari against his waist.”May the wind guardian watch over you”

“Thank you El”

Eleanor started running away while I kept watching the back. I saw Gav washing his smile away as he turned around and lunged at the enemy killing soldiers left and right till he reached the giant who dropped Ada on the ground and faced him.

At that moment, a memory surged through my consciousness, overpowering my present surroundings. I found myself face to face with a stranger, yet there was an inexplicable familiarity about him that stirred something deep within me. His expression, a smile and sorrow. And then, he walked away. He dissolved into the mist. Alone amidst the gentle patter of raindrops, I felt an overwhelming sense of solitude enveloping me. In that instant, my small, baby hands instinctively reached out into the damp air, as if urging him to come back, to stay, to not leave here alone on the streets.

Then as the fogged memory faded away I screamed “WE HAVE TO GO BACK” my throat strained “WE HAVE TO SAVE THEM”, but Eleanor ignored me and summoned a wave of wind under his leg and jumped high then landed on top of a building.

Suddenly, The air thickened, I went silent as my vision darkened leaving only a spotlight illuminating the horrifying scene before me. The giant was holding Gav with his left hand, lifting him in the air and piercing his sword through his stomach as Ada sat there watching her husband get killed.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO," I yelled, tears streaming down my face.

I began to wiggle my legs and pushed myself away from El, falling onto the roof. "I...I have to save them," I stuttered, barely able to move my legs from the shock.

"Why...Just why... One thing after another. No matter how much I try...Am I destined to live in solitude? I finally got to be loved... I finally got to have a family...And now what? What was the point? Look what happened... Because of me, they... Bec..."

Eleanor approached me and stood next to me

“Maybe it was your fault” He said with a calm tone.

..huh? I turned my head to face him.

“But then again, maybe it wasn’t.”

I kept looking at him without being able to utter a word.

“Look around you..What can you do now?” He said as he looked at Gav. “ He entrusted me with your safety and I obliged. That’s why I can’t let you go back. For now at least”

I turned around to look at the scene before me.

“What is it that you feel?”He continued. “Rage? Pain? Whichever it is, accept it, smile at it, become it. Destiny will only ask you one simple question : Are you worthy of changing me? and it’s up to you to find the answer. However, if you go back now, you would only let his death go to waste”

Eleanor’s words resonated through my being as my eyes lingered at Gav’s body lying on the ground, blood all around it.

My crimson eyes lightened up like red flames in the darkest night.

“Mark my words..”

“I will come back..”

“And when I do, I will kill you all.. Every last one of you..”

“Mom..”

“Please hold on..”

“I will save you..”

“I promise..”

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