The twittering of some bird woke Zane the next morning. When he opened his eyes he nearly jumped up from surprise. Right in front of his face was Mira's, lying on her long red hair as if it was a pillow, both of her tender arms still wrapped around him, not letting go. Her mouth was slightly open and Zane could feel the movement of her chest as she breathed. Zane could also feel the soft feeling of one of her nine, nearly snow-white tails on his cheek.

It's times like these where I will really regret what I said yesterday.

Zane continued to stare at Mira's face, at her lips and her smooth skin, not a single hair on it.

They must have put a lot of effort into her looks . . . these types of weddings are way too high maintenance. Making yourself look extra pretty just for that one day . . . marriage is such a useless thing. If you want someone to be a part of your family then just make that someone a part of your family, no need for some big ceremony.

As Zane was thinking he found himself unable to look away from Mira's face. He had never been this close to her. What made the situation even worse was that she was pressing into him, making his heart beat faster than usual. He again heard the loud twittering of some bird outside, it was as if it was singing, or calling for something.

"Mira," Zane whispered. "Wake up."

Mira let out a loud groan as if she was responding to him and Zane could feel her grip around him tighten. She was now pressing herself against him even more for a few seconds.

"Mira," Zane whispered again.

She groaned again, but this time she slowly opened her eyes. For a second two sleepy eyes, one light blue and the other yellowish stared at him. Then they suddenly opened wide with shock and Mira practically jumped up, falling back onto the mattress quickly since her arm was still stuck beneath Zane's body.

Zane stood up now, allowing Mira to do the same. She looked at him with an embarrassed look on her face. Her eyes were directed at the ground, trying to avoid him at any cost.

"S-Sorry . . . I didn't mean to . . . to do that," she said.

"Don't worry," Zane said. "Let's just eat and then leave, if we hurry we can reach the next hut by nightfall."

"Yeah, right, good, let's do that," Mira said.

Both of them walked over to the table, on which the container with the dried meat was, and sat down. Zane opened the container and took out a piece. Mira did the same and they began eating. After a while, Mira suddenly stood up and walked out of the hut.

"I'll be right back," she said while walking past him.

Zane continued eating while looking out of one of the small windows in the walls of the hut, watching the hanging branches of the trees around them swing side to side in the morning breeze, sun rays shining through them. After a while, Zane heard a loud scream followed by a familiar voice.

"Hey Reaper, I've got your little friend! If you don't want to see her head on a stick then you'd better come out now," a familiar voice shouted.

Zane, too angry to think, jumped up from his chair, knocking it over in the process, and stormed out of the small hut. What he saw made him even angrier. Mira stood between the trees, standing behind her was a tall figure. The man wore an eyepatch, had a black top-know, pointy ears and tanned skin. He wore leather armour with some steel-plated parts and some blue decorations on it. In his hand, he was holding a longsword that was currently resting against Mira's throat.

"Regal," Zane said as he glared at the man.

"You remember me, great, that makes things a lot easier," Regal said with a wide smile on his face.

"What do you want?" Zane asked.

"What do I want? Oh, it's simple really. What I want . . . is your head, chopped off, and stuck on a pike!" Regal shouted. "You know, I was really happy when I finally heard about your whereabouts when I heard that you were in Kalwa. So you can probably imagine my disappointment when I arrived yesterday and found out that you had run off somewhere, that you had disappeared. But I found someone who knew where you were. Had to pay him a hefty sum to tell me but the rest was easy."

Damn you, Hugo!

"You see, this new ability of mine is really useful for hunting my prey . . . or should I say for hunting you!"

Ability? Oh right . . . shit. This might get ugly really fast.

Zane looked around. The only things he could see were the trees and some other plants, and the shadow they cast over them.

What could it be? Has he already used it?

"Let me show you," Regal said, his already wide smile widening even more.

As soon as he finished talking he was engulfed by a black mist which quickly dispersed and he was gone. At the same moment, Regal disappeared Zane felt pain in his right shoulder that made him gasp for air. Regal had appeared behind him.

Teleportation . . . from Erebus? That's impossible . . . or is it?

Zane chuckled.

"Shadow Teleportation eh?" he said.

"Already figured it out huh? But that won't help you much when you're already as good as dead." Regal said.

He was again engulfed by the black mist which dispersed, making him disappear. At the same time, Zane had channelled aura into his gauntlet, generating an air shield right in front of him. A "Tch!" coming from Regal told him that it worked.

"Ability or not, you're still a mediocre swordsman," Zane said.

He quickly flipped open one of his satchels and took out a small vial, filled with a purple liquid. Zane drank the liquid. It didn't burn his throat as normal healing potions did but it tasted even worse than the normal ones. Once he finished it he felt the wound on his shoulder closing by itself and his entire body felt refreshed, every slither of sleepiness was gone.

These things really are great, should have asked Vin to make me some more up on that mountain.

Zane drew his katana with a confident smile on his face as he stared into Regal's one brown eye that was filled with rage and hatred.

"Don't think one petty trick will help you win against me," Regal said.

Once again he was engulfed by the black mist and disappeared right before his eyes.

Behind me.

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Zane turned around as quickly as he could, keeping the air shield in front of him at all times. And again the tip of Regal's sword hit right into it. Zane smiled at him as he moved the shield side in a bashing movement, moving Regal's sword with it, creating an opening he used to thrust his katana forward. With the sharp side of the blade, he cut right through Regal's leather armour. When he pulled his katana back it had blood on the sharp side.

Regal looked at Zane with even more rage and hated than before as the mist engulfed him and he disappeared again.

The sides? The back?

Zane instinctively moved the air shield behind his back without turning around and defended his right left arm with the katana. The metallic sound of two steel blades connecting told him that he had made the right move. He looked over to his left side where he saw Regal, who had swung his sword right against Zane's katana from above, with a desperate look on his face. Zane couldn't help himself but smile at the half-elf.

"Don't you dare look down on me!" Regal shouted as the mist began to engulf him.

Zane moved his left arm back to the front hitting the currently disappearing Regal with the air shield, knocking him to the ground.

So that's the weakness of his ability then . . . good to know.

Zane used the opening to concentrate on the aura around him. It was much more clearly than it had been before, it was as if he could see it. As if he looked into a dark room with two flames, one small and one massive. He felt the aura that emanated from Mira and the aura that came from Regal, it was far more than he had at the moment. A nervous smile crept across his face as he felt Regal's aura spread throughout the entire area for a moment before it concentrated on his right side.

He quickly turned, moving the air shield in the way of Regal's attack before he repeated the move from before, creating another opening and brought his katana down on Regal, all with his eyes closed. He felt the resistance of hitting something followed by a groan of pain. Regal's aura spread throughout the entire area again.

I can't beat him like this . . . I need to be able to do this with my eyes open.

Zane slowly tried to open his eyes while still concentrating on the aura around him, but as soon as he even opened his eyes a little bit they disappeared. He also felt pain in his side. When he looked down he saw that Regal's longsword hat grazed him, cutting through his armour.

A "Tch!" escaped Regal's lips as he pulled his sword back.

Zane grit his teeth.

Alright, what can I do to win this?

He looked over to Mira who had sunken to the ground and was watching the two fight each other with tears in her eyes.

I can't afford to lose this one. But without feeling his presence I can't win . . . and I also can't win without seeing him. What to do, what to do, what to do? Wait! That might work.

Zane closed one eye and began concentrating on the aura around him. And there it was. With one eye closed, he could faintly feel it, the presence of Regal, who had disappeared again, all around him. He could feel the aura coming from the shadows at the same time as he looked at them. A smile crept across his face. The dark room, he could see it again through his closed eye. He could see the flame that was beginning to appear behind him.

Zane turned around as quickly as he could, one eye still closed, and blocked Regal's attack with his air shield.

"Are you mocking me Reaper!" Regal shouted as he disappeared again.

Zane could see and feel his presence manifest behind him again. He turned around to block the attack but at that exact moment it disappeared again and he felt something on his feet. Zane fell to the ground, losing his concentration. He saw Regal stand above him with a grin on his face.

"Don't think I'm going to go easy on you!" he shouted.

Zane felt pain in his left shoulder as Regal rammed his sword into it. He screamed out in pain. After a moment he felt the sword disappear along with Regal. Zane used the short moment he had to jump up and run to the single sunny spot in the small clearing the hut had been built in.

Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! What do I do?

Zane had lost all feeling in his left arm, even when if he channelled aura into it he wasn't able to move it. He reached into his satchel to use the other healing potion Vindictus had given him but at that moment he noticed Regal's sword reflect the sunlight in the corner of his eye and jumped forward to avoid the attack.

"And to think you called me a mediocre swordsman! How does it feel to lose to one!? How does it feel to lose to a mediocre swordsman!? Tell me Reaper! Tell me!" Regal shouted with a crazy look in his eye.

Zane grit his teeth again, powering through the pain as he saw Regal disappear again.

Shit!

Zane hectically looked around, waiting for any sign of Regal appearing. But when it didn't happen he closed one eye again, trying his best to ignore the pain in his left shoulder, and concentrated on the aura around him again. At that moment he already knew something bad was about to happen when he felt Regal's presence jumping towards him. Zane turned around, not even trying to block, hoping he could avoid the hit, and swung his sword down from above as he stepped to the side.

There was a moment of relief when he felt his sword connect with Regal's left shoulder when he saw the blood gush out of the wound. But the moment of relief quickly turned into one of terror when he heard Mira scream. He looked over his shoulder, or rather where his shoulder had been just a moment before. Part of his shoulder along with his entire left arm were missing.

What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? What? Where is it? Where is it?

Zane's left eye began twitching as the pain began to kick in. The pain was so bad that he lost all concentration and his vision became blurry as he fell to the ground, pressing onto the wound with his remaining hand. He looked around for Regal. The one-eyed half-eld was standing above him, his sword pressed against Zane's neck. Tears began running down Zane's face and his entire body began shaking violently.

This can't be. This can't be! I don't want to die! I don't want to die! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! Not here! Not like this! I can't die! Not here! Not . . . not like this! I don't wan-

It became harder to think. Zane looked up at Regal. Even though his vision was so blurry that he could barely see a thing he could see Regal's face clearly before his inner eye. The wide grin, the happiness in his one remaining eye and the shaking of his upper body in anticipation.

"Don't you dare!" Mira suddenly screamed.

He felt something push against him but since he was laying flat on the ground it didn't affect him, unlike Regal who was hurled into the nearest tree, dropping his sword. Zane looked around but his vision had become so blurry that he couldn't see a thing. He could now also slowly feel his consciousness fade.

Mira had gotten up from the ground and used her armring to push Regal away from Zane.

"Don't you dare!" she screamed at him.

Her heart was beating faster than ever as she looked at Zane's shaking body, his left arm lying on the ground beside him. She charged towards him and grabbed the sword that Regal had dropped. With a crazed look on her face, she jumped at Regal, again using her armring, shattering the tree trunk and forcing Regal onto the ground. He coughed up blood. She brought down the sword but it just pierced the ground. Mira looked around hectically but couldn't see Regal anywhere.

"D-Don't think . . . don't think this is over!" Regal yelled from somewhere.

Mira had no time to waste on looking for Regal, dropped the sword and turned around. She ran to Zane and leaned down to him.

"Zane, Zane? Please don't die on me. I won't let you die!" Mira shouted.

He must have some healing potions . . . right, the one he drank earlier. That one healed the wound on his shoulder before. Maybe it can help.

Mira quickly reached for his satchel and rummaged through it. After a short while, she finally found what she was looking for, the small vial with the purple liquid in it. Mira took Zane's head and put it on her lap, just like she did after the fight with the dire bear. She opened his mouth and poured the potion into his mouth. For a short moment, Zane opened his light green, crystal-like eyes again. Mira saw how the blood stopped gushing out of the wound and a thin layer of skin began quickly forming over the wound.

What the hell is this potion? Where did he even get it? This is nothing like the one we used for my cut off hand.

Mira looked down at the stiff metal hand she had in place of her left one and then back at Zane, who was not only missing his left hand but also his entire left arm and a majority of his left shoulder. Mira carefully grabbed Zane and began dragging him back into the hut. He was heavy, way heavier than she expected but she somehow managed to drag him all the way into the hut and lay him down on the mattress. She then quickly went outside and picked up his arm from the ground. When she saw the blood gush out of the limp she immediately dropped it and puked all over it. Tears began running down her face. She quickly grabbed the gauntlet off of the arm and went back into the hut without looking at it.

Mira went back and sat down next to Zane, feeling his face. His body was getting colder.

Oh no . . . what should I do?

She looked around the room and saw the fireplace. With long steps, she quickly went over to it and found a red crystal on a small cabinet next to it.

Thank goodness.

Mira activated the crystal which emitted a spark and lit the fireplace, heating up the entire cabin but it still wasn't enough.

What else can I do? Body warmth!

She went back to Zane and began undressing him taking off his cloak, his leather top and the shirt he wore beneath it. Then she took off what she wore until she sat next to Zane in only her white, see-through undergarments. Her face turned red but she slapped herself and lay down next to Zane, pushing her body against his, wrapping her arms, legs and tails around him and using the clothes she took off as blankets. After a while, Mira fell asleep.