Through what Kai believes to be unwilling and draggy footsteps, Lancaster and Lloyd slowly disappear, Lloyd grumbling about something he can't make out. He is only able to faintly make out some dark trees overhead through the opening, but by listening closely, he knows the two has set off.

"Those two don't get along or something?" he raises a brow, turning his face slightly in the direction of Alaina but never taking his eyes off the opening of the hole, their only escape, as if he's afraid something might cover it and burry them alive.

Kai finally draws his eyes away from the opening when he realises Alaina is no longer beside him. He doesn't get a reply from his previous question, instead, she suddenly knocks into him lightly, her back against his.

"Hey, don't touch --" he says, taking a quick step forward, away from her.

"Kai."

"What?"

Her eyes still sticking to the darkness ahead, she backs further away from it, only to be back to back with Kai again. Hearing the same dirt scratching, growling noise for at least the third time now, Alaina no longer believes it's a mere hallucination or imagination of her mind.

Something shifts in the dirt, and Alaina holds her breath upon hearing louder growls. She finds and grabs Kai's gloved hand from behind her without even realising it, and holds it tightly with her sweating palm.

However Kai feels about her sudden, unpredictable actions only flashes by briefly and doesn't linger. He doesn't even have the time to blurt out 'don't touch me' like he usually does -- in fact, it doesn't even cross his mind.

He, too, notices the strange sounds ahead, where Alaina's gaze is fixed.

"We have a problem."

Heart beating fast, he grips Alaina's hand tighter as he finally turns around to face the darkness. Taking a step forward, he stands in front of Alaina as he ignites a flame on his free palm.

However, the moment he lights it, he extinguishes it almost immediately as he stumbles backwards, pulling Alaina with him. Unfortunately, they hit soft dirt behind them as they back against the dirt wall of the hole.

With no where to run, Kai is still reluctant in believing his very own eyes. What he'd seen is too absurd.

Faces of men.

"Did you see anything?"

"Stop fooling around," Alaina says sharply, yanking Kai's arm for emphasis. "Those are manticores."

There is another faint growl. Holding his hand tightly, she pulls him and breaks into a run along the dirt wall of the hole, just as something smashes into the dirt behind him. "Fire, Kai!"

Snapping out of it, Kai pulls Alaina back and makes sure she's safely behind him before flinging off his gloves and brandishing a wave of flames, covering a large radius before them. Now that the flames are flickering on the ground dividing them and the manticores, the creepy faces are clearly illuminated by the fire.

Yet the faces aren't attached to normal human bodies; they are attached to bodies of lions, with venomous looking scorpion tails.

Watching the manticores from behind the fire, Kai says, "well, this oughta be fun."

*****

Heavy footsteps echo through the quiet forest, shaking the ground. Lancaster and Lloyd run as fast as they can, sprinting for their lives, away from the threat closing in behind them.

"How," Lloyd pants, trying his best to keep up with Lancaster speeding ahead, "does one so gigantic run so fast?"

"You think its size matters? The minotaur crushes anything in its sight -- you shall be next if you do not pick up the pace with those clumsy legs."

Immediately after Lancaster's comment, Lloyd jumps and skips a few steps forward just as the minotaur behind him slams its horns into the tree beside him, barely missing him. Lucky for him, because of the minotaur's careless actions, it is stuck in the tree, allowing them to run ahead.

He hates to admit it, but Lancaster is right -- though he could have used better words.

Lloyd knows very well this isn't the right time to start another fight, but he can't control himself. He feels the need to defend himself. "What do you expect? I'm not a bird that can fly so freely and effortlessly away, I'm human; yet I'm not like you, gifted! Talented in swinging that sword of yours without even trying hard... Born with a spark or even better, a fire that's already burning within! Unlike others, you --"

"What?" Lancaster says suddenly, stopping abruptly ahead of Lloyd, making Lloyd bump straight into him.

It is only then Lloyd realises he's been ranting breathlessly, because he inhales deeply, both from running and from talking nonstop without a pause. When he finally replenishes the air lost from his lungs previously, he straightens himself, ready for another rant.

Unknowingly, Lloyd has unleashed his envy towards Lancaster. He's always felt overshadowed. Lancaster is always one step ahead of others, more skilful and more talented than anyone. He's a natural born genius.

Lloyd opens his mouth to say something or perhaps to even complain about the forest and their dire situation in hopes of trying to cover what he'd just said, but he realises Lancaster isn't even paying attention. He's trapped in a daze, deep in thought.

"Lancaster?"

The voice lingers in the air. Lancaster has other words occupying his mind to notice anything else. Clyde's words swirl endlessly in his mind as reality begins to betray his senses.

An uncaged bird is one that flies the highest, towards the sky and beyond.

He shuts his eyes.

Caelus, ruler of the skies and deep within; amidst the skies there's a heart of fire, and the spark lies within.

Why are the words so familiar? Other than the words belonging to the Anthem, Lancaster swears those words do actually ring a bell, now that the memory is brought to him suddenly.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Heart of fire -- amidst the skies -- spark --

He doesn't have more than a short moment to think, though, as Lloyd jerks him by his collar, bringing him back to reality.

Lancaster tries to push him away, but Lloyd insists on pulling him, hard. With a huge amount of effort, Lloyd yanks Lancaster from his position and the both of them stumble to the side.

"What is your deal?"

"Do you have a death wish? I just saved you, you're welcome!"

Lloyd's eyes are wide, sharp. Lancaster turns to follow his gaze, only to find the same minotaur staring at them as it gets ready for another charge.

Both of them exchange glances, and they need not say another word to each other to know they would have to run.

And they do. They take off just as the minotaur charges, speeding through the forest but not drifting from their trail.

The minotaur is huge, and they both know it's only a matter of distance before they lose it. But as they put up speed, Lloyd is suddenly interrupted by a small figure, a blur of brown -- speeding towards them and finally knocking directly into him.

He falls and rolls in the dirt, but he hasn't the time to look around for the minotaur, for what comes to sight first surprises him enough to lift his previous fear and panic.

"Rose?"

Lloyd's heart races at Rose's blank stare. He stands and composes himself, helping her to her feet.

They only have a few seconds of stability, though, as without warning, Lancaster pushes them both aside, away from the charging minotaur.

The minotaur seems to have learnt its lesson, for it doesn't simply charge into tree ahead like before. It makes a turn towards them, before it charges again.

But Lancaster is more than ready. With a swift, yet heavy swing of his sword, he slashes the minotaur right before them. Howling in pain, the minotaur retreats and disappears.

"Consider that a repayment," Lancaster says to Lloyd, "now we are equal. I no longer owe you."

"You could've done that earlier and save us the trouble!" he exclaims wearily. Lloyd takes a few short breaths before opening his mouth to complain again, but then his eyes drift to Rose's hair, where a streak of green hair lies amongst the fringe of her normal brown hair.

With only the dim moonlight clouded by most of the towering dark trees, it might've been impossible to make out even her brown hair. But with the fire in the distance, the green streak is rather obvious in her brown hair.

Squinting his eyes for a better vision, Lloyd asks, "what happened to your hair?"

Rose only looks at him curiously. "What happened to my hair?"

She dusts herself as Lancaster, too, notices the green streak on her hair. He opens his mouth to question as well, but when his eyes lay on something else scattered all around the ground, his mind instantly pauses, conflicted on what he should be asking as Rose begins to pick up the strange objects.

The glowing, glittering tiny objects are of uneven shapes and sizes, scattered from around where Lloyd and Rose had collided to Lancaster's feet. They must've fallen from Rose's possession when she'd knocked into Lloyd earlier. Only at the sight of one or two of them coincidentally laying under the light of Kai's wall of fire in the distance, Lancaster and Lloyd realise they're flowers.

Beautiful, ethereal flowers -- a kind they've never seen before. Almost transparent other than the glow and glitter of various shinning colours, they seem fragile and might just disappear at the simplest touch.

Lloyd bends over and helps Rose pick them up, his mind bursting with curiosity. "What are these?"

"Beautiful, aren't they?" Rose smiles, seemingly impressed with her findings. "Found them deeper in the woods. They're Opuxes."

"Another species I've only encountered through books before; this forest is certainly enchanting!"

Gently picking up the Opuxes one by one, Lloyd observes them passionately. Lancaster picks the ones around his feet. "Are you actually intending on bringing them home?"

"Careful with them. Opuxes, I've heard, can cure the deadliest diseases, but they can also bring the deadliest toxin." Carefully, Rose peels a petal from an Opux. The petal disappears immediately once it's detached, and on the inside from where the petal used to be, shiny bluish-purple spots bounce about as if they're alive. "See? This one's toxic. Poisonous."

She hands it over to Lloyd for him to have a better look. "Pretty things sure are the deadliest," Lloyd comments, before handing it to Lancaster, who seems to be deep in thought, thinking of something else.

"By the way, where are the other two? I followed the fire, thinking it must've been a signal or something from you."

"About that, we need your help. They're that way --" Lloyd trails off as a sudden darkness blankets them all.

Even Lancaster, who's been distant from their conversation, snaps back into reality.

They're close, but not close enough.

The magnificent wall of fire in the distance disappears, leaving darkness as their only friend yet again.

"This can't be good."

*****

"That should keep them away, I hope," Alaina says, watching the manticores from behind the fire. "Just watch out for the tails, they're --"

"Careful!" Kai pulls Alaina out of the way just as one lunges at them suddenly, extending its bat like wings. Its front lion paws barely miss them as they dodge out of the way, Kai pushing Alaina to a corner.

There's a hot, sharp sting in his arm, but when Kai briefly examines the source of the pain, he finds nothing. He shakes it off.

He turns quickly to the manticore that'd just flew over the fire, and sends a heavy blow of flames towards it, knocking it several feet backwards. In the distance, he briefly hears Alaina's voice, and he turns around only to face a manticore about to dive straight into him.

On instinct, Kai uses his arms to shield himself, shutting his eyes and preparing for the blow. However, the strike he was expecting doesn't come. A few inches before the manticore hits him, it drops to the ground, growling in pain.

"Care to take your own advice and be careful?" Alaina asks from the corner.

Kai's eyes advert from the fallen manticore to Alaina, who's removing her boots. She reaches for the two daggers in her boots she'd insisted on keeping despite the king's repeated warnings to stay away from any weaponry. Observing the manticores from her corner, she realises only some of them have wings. They'd have to watch out for those.

As Alaina pulls out the daggers, Kai stares at her in bewilderment.

"What?" she asks when she notices his stare, and pulls him back to the corner where she's standing. "When you're done dreaming, you can help me out by raising the wall of flames, to keep even those that fly away from us."

"Aren't you a princess from one of the kingdoms?" he states bluntly, letting Alaina pull him by his bandaged arms without any complains as he remains baffled.

Sighing, she shoves a frozen Kai to the corner before aiming a dagger at one approaching them. The dagger pierces through its front paw, and it falls limply to the ground.

"Nice throw," Kai compliments. Wiping sweat off his forehead, he continues to stare curiously at Alaina, watching her.

He has no clue how a princess who's supposed to be a gentle, delicate figure manage to aim and throw a dagger with perfect accuracy and full confidence; just as how he has no clue why he's sweating intensely out of nothing. The minutes tick by as he sweats more.

Turning to Kai who's still staring at her, she says, "are you helping me or not?"

Blushing and snapping out of his stupor, he increases the flames quickly, sending most manticores backwards and away from them in a safe range.

When he knows it's safe, he turns back to Alaina, who's still vigilantly scanning the area for remaining manticores. Blinking away cold sweat around his eyes that are beginning to make his vision blurry, Kai drags his feet to the corner where she stands, now more curious than ever about her.

Of course, he'd realised when they met that she's a princess. Although she didn't introduce herself formally, her companions did address her properly as a princess, and Kai didn't fail to notice so.

Alaina watches the manticores retreat behind the line of fire, unable to proceed to attack their prey. A surge of relief washes over her, and she settles down in the corner. She sits, hugging her knees close to her. Despite the fire burning few feet away from her, the cold night wind makes one shiver.

She can see through Kai; he approaches her with questions ready in mind. Instead of letting him go with it, she stretches a palm in front of him to stop him from questioning.

"Lancaster taught me some basics. I urged him to sneak some daggers from the armoury back in the castle for my safety -- and after I learnt archery in secret, he knew I had a good aim, and is rather convinced."

"Impressive," Kai says earnestly. He makes his way to her, but she's only a blur. Blinking more frequently than usual, he wonders why she's seemingly so far, even though he's been dragging his feet to her all this while, struggling to lift his somewhat heavy body over.

Sweat trickles down his forehead, down his neck, and everywhere else on his body. "Do you feel the intense heat?" he asks, but his voice is soft and weak.

Dark spots begin to cloud his vision. The sight of Alaina before him starts to blur.

A voice begs to be heard in his ear, but Kai's senses fail him. He shuts his eyes.

The fire dissipates suddenly.

Before Alaina has a chance to realise the disappearing flames, Kai collapses before her.