The humans moved fast. They swooped down on their Wyverns near them careful to avoid the large trees.

One of the humans, a man with a moustache, appearing middle-aged was the first to speak, “I don’t recognise you lot, but my friend here smelt something odd, you with those usurpers, Druid?”

She could sense the aggressiveness from the two humans soon after he said that. They really must hate the elves, the Royal Clan in particular it seems, not she could blame them, she was starting to get a good idea they were not the best of characters.

Looked like the only thing holding them back was Arwen’s status as a Druid; being his strength or reputation.

“You know we Druids don’t interfere with politics, we do not fight the wars which our people start, I merely wish to take this girl to safety from those who would wish to use her for their personal gain, which is why I must request you let us leave peacefully, we will not interfere with your Emperors plans.” Arwen said firmly.

The humans looked at them oddly, before they truly took them in for the first time, that was when she noticed their eyes widen as they examined her more seriously.

“Is she a…” one of the humans murmured.

“Got to be one of them, I’ve seen elves who look like that and they are always…” the moustached human replied.

She did not have a good feeling about this, it turns out Althaea noticed as her grip on her seemed to tighten.

The silence was tense but the moustached human came to a conclusion, “Alright Druid, we’ll let you go…”

Arwen was about to move at that moment but the human did not stop, “But first hand over the child, she isn’t even yours, is she? This can all end peacefully if you give her up, we know what she is, no elf with features like that is ordinary, you think our Emperor would be pleased if we let go a…”

“Bind” Althaea silently chanted catching the human off guard as thick vines shot out of the earth and trees wrapping around him and his mount.

The Wyvern screamed, thrashing against its bindings, the human tried to use his weapon to swipe at the thick vines to no avail.

“Sneaky witch” the other human cursed as he gestured to lift his Wyvern up to make space.

Ava on the other hand was watching the scenes with shock.

‘What Magic was that?’ She thought.

‘A dual element mage, surprising, water and wood, what an interesting combination. She’s been hiding things from you she ain’t a mere Tier 3 Mage at all.’ Cense added.

“Wood Spike” Althaea continued chanting spells without pausing ignoring the humans curses.

Big spikes of dense wood shot out towards the human mid air who hurriedly maneuvered the Wyvern in an attempt to dodge, but still failed to escape unscathed as the spikes landed on the Wyvern.

The Wyvern screeched in pain taking the brunt of the spell.

Though it seemed to escape any significant damage as the beasts sturdy scales protected it well.

“You will pay for that” The human cursed however surprisingly instead of engaging further he took that opportunity to retreat swiftly.

‘Smart. Knew he was outmatched the moment he saw her level of magic, a powerful Druid and Mage combined is a formidable combination. Though this may be troublesome now that he can bring reinforcements.’ Cense said worriedly.

Althaea on the other hand was not happy at the human escaping and said, “Damnit, now those humans are going to hound us all the way out of here! Ahhh, sometimes I wish I was an air mage so I can fly and chase down my enemies.”

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Arwen replied, “At least this is now resolved without making us true enemies, attacking one of the Emperors men makes a grudge sure, but killing one, they will chase us until one of us falls. Though we need to leave, if only you gave me the opportunity to negotiate, you know I’m sure a peaceful solution could be…”

Althaea cut him off and said, “Yeah, yeah old man, if I took any longer I may have failed to take that one…” she said pointing at the man still struggling in his bindings with his mount as she continued, “Out of the battle, and you don’t know humans if you think you can get them to back down over self-interest. They’re very stubborn when it comes to benefits, you could beat them up over and over again, yet they’d come back for more if a substantial reward was involved.”

“Hmm. Maybe you got a point.” Arwen thought looking at the human still thrashing angrily in the trees still shouting abuse at them.

“Well let’s head off before the other one gets back with more of them, my magic will hold that one for a while, he’s only a lower member of the hunters, him and his beast are Tier 6 at most.” Althaea said to Arwens agreement, soon enough they kept travelling.

Ava spoke to them both every once and while, but kept quiet mostly. To be honest she wanted to ask them questions, demand answers from them, they knew more about the Royal Clan, even warned her Father about them.

Some part of her blamed them for not acting quickly enough, making them partly responsible for her Mother losing her life, however she was pragmatic enough that she knew this was not the right time, they were still in a dangerous situation, they have yet to escape to safety and screaming, shouting, making accusations right now would help nobody.

She was prepared to wait and was ready to hear their explanation when the right time came. Being a child, one that had to still rely on others made this difficult, but she promised herself when she was strong, mature enough, that she would push Arwen and Althaea to tell her everything about the Royal Clan.

Ava wanted revenge. She couldn’t get out Kais Evergreen and the cold elf faces out of her mind, from the entire time she was present, the elves only referred to the cold elf as ‘Sire’, as if they were unworthy to even say his name.

She would find him though sooner or later, she won’t be able to ever forget his face. Those cold eyes and nonchalance for life are unforgettable, he truly saw the elves who grew up in the tribes as cattle that were to be raised for the service of his own.

It made her think if the Royal Clan would really be affected by the invasions of humans unless they take down their foundations, the capital, but the nonchalance in the cold elves tone despite knowing what the humans were capable off, gave her the feeling that the humans will be unable to truly take them down.

However if she couldn’t rely on the humans, she’d just have to do it herself. She knew power can solve everything, after all the mysterious entity which brought her here shown her the true heights of power, to that being the Royal Clan was nothing, and if he saw something in her it gave her the confidence that she’d be able to tear down the capital that they built one day, bringing the ones responsible to their knees.

This was all talk now though at the moment. All she can do is follow Arwen and see what he has in store for her, he described an Academy, Ava thought that was the first step for her to truly gain power.

They continued moving through the forests at a good pace. Soon enough her Father was awake, he was a bit fatigued from exerting himself too much with the confrontation between the two elves, but was otherwise in good health.

He thanked Arwen and Althaea profusely, breaking down in tears for not believing them. Ava felt her Father was sincere, Arwen was honest where their destination will be, that she will be able to learn under a friend who has an institution that is free for all races to join.

It is the premier Academy in the continent, despite the Royal Clans claims otherwise, it is in between the four continents, the best of the best from each of these continents would make it their dream to be a student there.

The Academy was known as Rarmose Academy, it has the best resources, teachers available to train perspective Mages. It also trains Warriors, but this was not its speciality, it was mainly known for training the best Mages and anyone with good talent would try their best to join there.

It seemed like the most ideal place to go for her in this moment in time. The only drawback was that it would take them over a year to travel there.

It was located at the other side of the continent, the elven lands were in the bottom of the Evergreen continent, whereas the Academy was at the opposite end, located near the borders between the current Human Empire who ruled the majority of the Evergreen Continent and another Empire that was also run by primarily humans.

The other two continents are a mixture of powerful Kingdoms, made up of Beastkin, Elves, Dwarves and a number of different races. It turned out the Elves in the Evergreen continent were known for being reclusive, and an oddity among the Elven community as they have cut off communication and isolated themselves for thousands of years.

Despite the other two continents not being unified like the Evergreen and Ustrun continent are, they are no less weaker, the lands spanning these continents are ginormous, and the Kingdoms are each individually very powerful, they would not be easy for the two Human Empires to wage war with, in fact the Evergreen continent was known to be the weakest of the four, holding less resources and population.

Either way her Father was satisfied by Arwens decision, choosing to not doubt him again, he wanted the best for her and coming from Arwen she had the talent to be among the best of the best there.

Ava was in full agreement. She wanted the Academy to make her strong enough to oppose the Royal Clan and judging by Arwens words they had the means to do so.