15. Priestess of Avalon_The Castle in the middle of nowhere.

When Marie heard an explosion she trembled but after that, she took it calmly. She was in Avalon so nothing could seriously threaten her and even if something dare to try, she was already level sixty. But when she heard King Theon calling her name in a scary tone through his bond with everyone serving his will, she felt true fear.

"Stay!" she ordered the small wolf who sat obediently.

She sunk into her own shadow, leaving Idna's pup alone but Idna would understand. She emerged in the King's shadow not sure why King Theon was angry at her, but when she saw what was left of the Magic Tower she was shocked. King Theon was holding the barely alive Irene who coughed blood staining King's robes. He didn't even notice, so focused on holding Irene and trying to help her breathe.

"My King!" That was all Marie was able to say.

"Can you bring Priestess Lanka here?" Asked King. Marie focused and felt the distant presence of uncles Verni and Ragnar. Lanka should be with them or somewhere nearby.

"Yes, my King!" And Marie jumped right back into the shadow summoning Mr Fluffles.

She landed softly on the broad back of her wolf who darted forward running as fast as he could. Shadow movement is quick but only looks like teleportation. At very short distances it is almost instant but the further you want to go the longer it will take, but thanks to Mr Fluffles, Marie could cross vast distances in no time.

•••

"Hold them! Don't let them come close to wagons!" Knys ordered his party. "Fucking goblins!"

"There's too many of them Knys!" yelled Ori bashing four goblins at once with his round shield and piercing another one with a spike on top of his hammer.

Archers were shooting in every direction trying to thin the horde numbers, but it was hopeless. Worse, they start running out of arrows. Mages used all their mana but as powerful as they were, they couldn't do much against numbers.

Fencers pirouetted in the green mass but if they kept it up longer they would run out of stamina so they hid from time to time behind their tanks to rest for just a moment. Verni and Ragnar attacked with ground-shattering power and fury but despite their high levels, they couldn't turn the tides of this battle. Verni sent his familiar eagle to Avalon in the hope that the King could send them help, but they knew they must hold and stay alive until and if reinforcements arrive.

They used wagons as half of a ring to cover their backs and their tanks formed the front wall. They put horses inside which wanted to join the battle and couldn't understand why these people didn't allow them. Nearby were children and other people who couldn't fight but they were trying to protect them regardless. All others picked any weapon they could grab and used it from behind tanks to stab any goblin trying to come closer.

Druids and shamans fared a little better than mages. They focused on buffing allies and casting weak area-of-effect spells that shredded weak monsters. But the party had only four of them.

The tanks still held the line huffing from exhaustion, some of them already at their limits. When their stamina is depleted the tanks will falter.

And then they will all die.

Goblins are not powerful or even cunning monsters but always attack with overwhelming numbers wearing their opponents to finally kill them. A child could kill a single goblin but goblin hordes destroyed entire villages or even cities.

"We were so close!" Whispered Lanka who could swear she saw the Walls of Avalon in the distance. She was preparing herself to cast an ultimate spell she learned when she devoted herself to Eriar. Her Walls of Avalon will drain her entire mana but she could hold them for about fifteen minutes. They had fought for three hours now, hoping to kill enough goblins to break their will but to no avail. In situations like this, you just have to kill goblins until you kill enough to make the rest retreat. She hoped that fifteen minutes longer could change that.

She saw Knys looking at her and she prepared a spell when they all suddenly felt dread of impending doom and heard a familiar voice. The goblins looked terrified.

"Shadow Frost Barrage!"

The hail of arrows hit the goblin horde from all sides- the effect was terrifying. Wherever the arrow hit the frost exploded covering all nearby goblins in ice and freezing them to death. The arrows were coming and coming in waves always from new and changing angles. This finally broke the spirit of the horde and made them flee from the battlefield. Marie was sitting on Mr Fluffles who gently held Lanka by the back of her robes in his mouth. With a swift turn of his head, he threw her on his back and Marie helped her sit behind her.

"LANKA!" Terrified, Marie yelled right into the Priestess's face. "King needs you now!"

And like that, they disappeared.

•••

I gently put Irene on the mattress I created using my dungeon powers and looked around in panic.

"Where are you, Amber?!"

I closed my eyes and tried to use my building mode, cursing myself that I had made Avalon this big. I spent three minutes that felt like hours looking around the tower when I heard the scream of pure fear. I opened my eyes and saw Marie mounted on her wolf with a frightened Lanka right behind her.

"Lanka, heal Irene! Quick!" I ordered with a hoarse voice closing my eyes once again. I groaned when the building view showed me once again the entire Avalon, but then I saw the precious marker. I was looking for it this entire time and teleported away leaving behind Marie, Lanka, and Irene.

Amber was lying unconscious on our bed bleeding horribly but still alive, covered with soft warm light. As gently as I could I picked her up and teleported back to Lanka. Irene was now asleep and judging by her health bar and status she will live. Lanka gasped horrified when she saw Amber's injuries and without waiting for my orders she started healing Amber.

"Great Heal!" She shouted over and over again but Amber's health bar did not even budge, however, her wounds closed and she stopped bleeding out.

Lanka was drained and tired. I saw sweat covering her forehead and dripping down her face but she forced herself to cast Great Heal almost continuously. She finally sat heavily on the ground panting exhaustedly.

"I... I can't..." She was barely able to speak.

I quickly nodded to Marie who disappeared into the shadows once again. I focused and grabbed all three women teleporting us away from the ruins of the magic tower to my bedroom where I delicately laid Amber back to bed. Lanka was too exhausted to be scared or excited. I grabbed a jug full of juice made from the mix of all fruits in my garden and poured a full glass for Lanka.

"Drink this," I ordered looking at Amber's status nervously.

Lanka took a glass from me with shaking hands but drank it without a question. I saw her mana and stamina bars filling slowly and noticed her shock when she understood what she had just drunk. She stopped shaking, took a deep breath and tried to stand up but I held her.

"Miss Lanka, take it easy. You are my only chance to save Amber. For now, you managed to save her and it looks good but the crisis is not averted yet." She nodded, still tired. "Thank you Miss Lanka you for coming so fast."

"Well... Miss Marie just grabbed me after she fended off goblins that ambushed us on the road back here." I saw a pale smile on her face. "But when she was taking me here goblins were running so my party should be on the road once again."

"Goblins?!" I closed my eyes and couldn't find Marie inside Avalon. She must have returned to the Lanka's party to aid them. "Arani! Take your eagles and find Verni, Ragnar and the adventurers' party that is protecting them, if Marie is with them, protect them on their way back to Avalon. If she's not with them, find her and bring her home."

An ear-piercing eagle scream tore the air as Arani and other Storm Eagles left to carry out their mission. Lanka looked relieved to hear my order and drank one more glass of juice. I sat near Amber and held her soft hand thinking about the woman I had known for just a bit over two weeks. She was breathing shallowly and slowly.

"My King..." I heard Irene quietly moan and saw her trying to stand up. She coughed up her blood once more and barely whispered. "Cure wounds..."

I saw her recover as soft yellow light covered her. She still was looking bad but all her statuses returned to normal. She could move quicker now and looked at Amber.

"Oh no..." I saw tears in her eyes as she examined Amber. "My King... I... I can't save her. I don't even know how she survived in the first place. I..."

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I froze terrified, looking at Irene who was crying holding Amber's other arm. Lanka stood fearfully nearby and I heard shattering glass as it slipped out of her hands. Irene looked at her and I saw hope in her eyes.

"My Lord! Where is Stella? With Lanka here, we might be able to save Amber but we will need Stella's power!"

"Stella died. She will respawn but I don't know exactly when."

"No!" Irene was about to burst into tears again.

"You said you both need more power? Do you mean mana?" I asked very gently, letting go of Amber's hand.

"Yes, but only Stella can channel her mana through us..."

"Not only she can." I closed my eyes and tried to channel my mana toward Irene or Lanka but it was rejected.

I exhaled. Focus. Focus! What can I do now? A True Name. I looked at them and I hoped that the system would allow me to pour my mana into them. Irene and Lanka looked at me with anticipation.

"Don't choose anything you don't want my Ladies. I'm a little desperate here but I don't want to impose anything. Irene. Will you allow me to call you Irene?"

"What...?" She started but paled and gasped when she saw the system pop up. I allowed her to choose for herself and turned toward Lanka.

"Lanka, will you allow me to call..." I felt a headache and looked at the pop-up.

Fuck you! In that case... "Allow me to call you..."

"I can do this, my King." I heard the firm and calm voice of Irene who was now standing over Amber.

I saw golden circles forming around her and the biggest one under Amber. Irene's eyes were shining with a deep bright gold and blue light. I saw as she struggled to harness her new power and I held my breath.

"SAINTESS MIRACLE!"

She shouted and passed out like a marionette with its strings cut, landing next to Amber who suddenly tensed then straightened her still unconscious body. Then she took a deep breath and I saw healthy colours returning to her face.

A soft thud reminded me that Lanka was still here. I turned around once again and calmly smiled at her when I saw how tired she was from all the healing she performed.

"Thank you, Miss Lanka. I'm in your debt." I said and she just mindlessly nodded, overwhelmed by her exhaustion. She was so drowsy I gently picked her up and put her to bed near Amber. From the wardrobe, I took out three soft blankets and covered each one of them.

"Thank you..." I uttered towards the skies and took a few deeper breaths.

"My King?"

Sebastian was standing nearby and I saw one of the maids just dissolved pieces of glass as she absorbed all the grime into some sort of gooey-looking puddle that seeped from under her feet. Damn effective.