Rebecca and Artiel were in the forest surrounding Erivia. It was pitch dark and Rebecca was on a horse while Artiel leashed two others. They seemed to be waiting for someone.

- "Are you sure he will come?" Artiel asked.

- "With all the information we have received from him, do you still doubt his honesty?" Rebecca replied.

- "He looks suspicious ..." he resumed.

- "You look more suspicious than him," retorted Rebecca with a small smile.

During the last few days, Rebecca and Artiel had managed to gather a fairly large amount of economic, political and military intelligence through Iracuz.

On top of that, they got closer and closer to him. They were beginning to understand his character. Despite appearing to be a bit of a paradox in helping them spy on his own kingdom, he was quite thoughtful.

He understood very well the threat that Isaac posed. So, the decisions taken by the Governor to request troops from the Viscount and conquer the sanctuary by force were quite stupid to him.

Among the information collected, he had also told the two teenagers of their allies among the nobility and aristocracy.

The two apprentices didn't even need to meet the merchants and nobles. Instead, they used Iracuz as an intermediary. It's not that they didn't want to, but it was safer to limit their interactions. They could always spy on Iracuz during his meetings, even though the latter would likely be able to see them, the nobles and merchants wouldn't.

All of their "allies" had a common goal: They wanted to kick the Governor out. And for that, using the influence of an Archmage was an ideal way.

Iracuz had previously wondered why the nobles and merchants didn't try to sympathize with the governor rather than oppose him. Things would be much simpler that way.

But things are never this straightforward. From what he understood, the reason was simple. As a Baron, Yves Leatrix was already quite at a disadvantage compared to other nobles such as some distant families from the Viscount or even from the Count.

Why had the Viscount not chosen a member of his distant family for the post of Governor? Because he was afraid of them and didn't trust them.

The tensions over his succession were numerous, the Viscount had succeeded in reaching this rank at great cost. Bribe, assassination and many others, he had paid dearly and his enemies resented him greatly.

Thus, all over the Viscount, small "wars" were born. Cousins, uncles, aunts and even the little brothers and sisters of the Vicomte were plotting incessantly.

Erivia was just one political battleground among many. Using the influence of an Archmage was just one more tool available.

Rebecca and Artiel communicated with them through Iracuz. They had not made any promise to them, since they could not make a decision for their master, but they had agreed to share their proposals to him, which was enough for the nobles.

Land, wealth and titles. Many gifts to bend Isaac's decision had been offered. Today was the day that Rebecca and Artiel would return to the sanctuary to report their findings to Isaac.

Iracuz had been chosen as negotiator. Despite being a peasant, he was much more educated than most of the people and above all, he had received the gift of magic, although he was weak.

But the main reason he was chosen was because he was the only one that was allowed to go by Artiel and Rebecca. Artiel for his part especially did not want to deal with a bourgeois or a haughty nobleman, he preferred Iracuz a thousand times. As for Rebecca, she was not sure that a noble would behave properly with her master. And given the last interview Isaac had with humans, she wanted to be sure that everything was going well.

Iracuz was a safe choice.

The two teenagers had been in the forest near the city's front door for two hours now and their guest had not arrived when they were due to meet an hour ago. Something didn't seem right.

They had therefore drawn their weapons and were on the lookout, ready for a possible attack.

Another hour passed and Artiel was really starting to lose patience when an explosion sounded. Intrigued, they turned their eyes to the origin of the explosion: The city gates.

More precisely, on the ramparts and where there seemed to be fighting soldiers and a hooded man. Rebecca wasted no time and increased her vision with her mana before uttering a slight cry of surprise.

- "It's Iracuz! He's fighting against soldiers" she announced to Artiel, arching an eyebrow.

Without waiting, Rebecca raised her wand. Her eyes suddenly began to glow a brilliant blue just before three icicles formed.

Artiel got back on one of the horses after having hung the reins of the other one to a tree and then galloped towards the ramparts.

In the distance, Iracuz wasted no time. He had to leave before reinforcements arrived. So he decided to jump from the top of the two-meter ramparts.

The young man landed delicately on the ground, cushioning his fall with his legs and hands, and lifted his face up the walls before seeing two bendy bows pointed at him.

"Shit !" he thought.

Iracuz barely had time to move when an arrow landed on the ground, right next to his foot. He had been lucky and as he was expecting to take a second arrow, nothing happened.

"Huh?" thought the young man. "Where did it go?"

The answer reached him quickly. Moments later, he heard two thudded noises to the right of him. The young man then turned before widening his eyes.

Beside him, the bodies of the two archers were laying on the ground, an icicle of ice sunk into their torso.

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"What…"

Surprised and amazed, it was the gallops of a horse that brought him out of his trance. In front of him, Artiel stopped and held out his hand, his expression impatient.

- "Come up!"

Without waiting, Iracuz took the rider's hand and mounted the horse before galloping off together. Rebecca for her part also set out and came to join them before they could leave for the plains.

- "What is happening ?!" the young woman asked Iracuz.

- "No time !" he replied, pointing back.

Behind them, the city gates opened before a score of horsemen rushed out quickly to pursue them.

- "We cannot stay near the city or the whole garrison will be on us" declared Iracuz.

They only had one place to go.

- "Quick! To the sanctuary" Artiel thundered before accelerating.

None of them were in a condition to fight twenty horsemen. Ten at best maybe. What's more, Rebecca was not in peak form and neither was Artiel after this week and the hours of waiting while staying alert. Iracuz, who had obviously just fought, was no better.

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Throughout the night until dawn, the two groups kept their distance. The cavalry led by Raphael were fixed on their objective and did not seem willing to give up.

For their part, Artiel's horse was starting to tire. With the weight of two men, it was predictable.

The horse only lasted half a day before totally weakening and falling to the ground, dragging its riders.

- "Artiel!" Rebecca shouted, stopping.

Immediately, the distance separating them from the cavalry quickly diminished. A few miles ahead of them was the large rock formation on which the sanctuary stood. They were so close.

- "Don't worry about me! Rush to the shrine" Artiel asked, getting up painfully.

The young woman was out of breath from the frantic race. She hadn't been able to take any rest to finalize their departure. Despite the tiredness, she shook her head negatively.

- "There is no way I'm leaving without you"

- "Go!" Artiel repeated, trying to insist.

- "Shut up! The master should be there soon" she finally said.

She had a point, but Artiel wasn't completely convinced.

- "Try to reduce their number" declared Iracuz, taking blades out of his sleeves.

Without waiting any longer, the young woman grabbed her wand and pointed it at the group of riders a hundred yards away.

A fireball appeared in front of her and then shot forward.

Alas, it had very little effect. Rebecca was too far away and her fireball was too slow, giving the horsemen enough time to dodge the fireball by changing direction.

The latter struck the ground and exploded, leaving a crater of fire at its point of impact.

- "Shit !" shouted Rebecca.

For their part, the cavalry raised their guard several notches. They didn't expect to have to face a practitioner of magic.

- "Encircle them" thundered one of them.

Without waiting, they started to turn in circles and surrounded the small group.

Seeing her fireball ineffective, Rebecca summoned three lances of ice while trying to contain her irregular breathing.

Once the icicles were formed, they immediately flew into the air. Two came to hit their target in the shoulder and in the arm, the third missing its target. Aiming at the two archers on the walls was much easier than targets on horseback.

The two riders immediately fell from their horse which stopped and began to trot slowly around.

- "Archers!" Raphael thundered.

Immediately, a dozen horsemen stopped before taking out their bows and bandaged them.

- "Fire!"

A wave of arrows was immediately fired, bursting through the air and heading straight for Artiel, Rebecca and Iracuz. They had no place to take cover, no refuge or obstacles, and they definitely lacked the abilities to slice arrows in flight with their swords.

While Artiel and Iracuz were preparing to be hit by the arrows, Rebecca then hit the ground with her hand, inhaling heavily.

- "Lockdown!"

A rune appeared at the feet of the small group before a barrier formed around them, blocking the arrows. Artiel and Iracuz sighed in relief as they saw the arrows bounce before hearing a thud.

- "Rebecca!" shouted Artiel.

Behind them, the young woman was on her knees with her nose bleeding. She looked weak and pale. The barrier disappeared as soon as she hit the ground, making them vulnerable again.

The Lockdown rune was a spell she had learned from her master but couldn't use so easily. Unlike her master who traced his runes otherwise, the young woman had to expand her mana vessels to summon the barrier.

On top of that, she had never practiced this rune before. So, she had overused her abilities and caused a big backlash against her mana circuit.

The operation had a lot more impact on her, but it was the only spell she had to protect herself from a rain of arrows.

She wasn't a fan of wind spells, so they were much weaker than her fire, earth, or ice spells. A wind spell wouldn't have been as effective and some arrows might well have passed his vigilance. After all, she couldn't create gusts that were both strong and wide.

In such a situation, she had no other choice but it had cost her a lot more than she thought. What's more, with the build-up of fatigue, her circuit was already almost at its limit.

Seeing Rebecca fall to her knees, the riders were quick to draw, ready to move forward. Artiel then drew his sword to protect the young woman.

Iracuz suddenly came throwing one of his knives in the direction of the horse of one of the riders. The knife sank into the flesh of the animal, which screamed in pain and reared, knocking its rider down.

Raphael frowned seriously at this and raised his hand high above him.

- "Archers!" he thundered again before turning his gaze to Artiel and Iracuz.

Again, the archers drew their bows and aimed at the small group, ready to release their arrows with a slight smile.

- "Shit" pushed Artiel.

They were surrounded. They definitely weren't able to withstand another burst of arrow or fight twenty soldiers. With Rebecca out, they were at a complete disadvantage.

Artiel turned to Iracuz, his expression furious.

He was pissed off and frustrated. Their mission had gone without a single hitch. Till today. Because of this little b*stard.

"Where is he ?!" he thought. He was waiting for Isaac, but the latter didn't seem to be coming. Most of the time, his Master was very quick to react when intrusions happened. Something wasn't right.

"Did something happen to Isaac ?"

Seeing that his Master wasn't responding, Artiel only had one option. He slowly raised his hands while dropping his sword before looking directly at Raphael.

- "We surrender ..." Artiel announced reluctantly after a short time.

If it was still dark and they were under cover of the shadows of a forest, they probably would have had a chance to get away with their shadow gifts with only twenty soldiers. But here, in broad daylight in the middle of the plain, their chances were much lower.

The only nearby forest that stood in their way to here was the one surrounding Erivia, but with the proximity to the town, the chances of them getting surrounded and reinforcements arriving were too high.

Raphael finally stepped forward and approached the group, a sad and angry look on his brother. After a moment he came over to sigh.

- "Take their things and tie them up. Treat the wounded quickly, we are going back to Erivia" he said simply as he left.

The soldiers therefore began to tie the hands of the three young people before treating the wounds of the two wounded horsemen.

- "Our Master will make you pay for that" suddenly threatened Artiel, putting a poisonous look on the soldiers.

He hardly had time to finish his sentence when a punch fell into his stomach before he leaned forward in pain.

- "Shut up" then retorted his attacker with an arrogant little smile.

In response, Artiel came over to spit in the soldier's face before giving an amused chuckle just as another punch came, this time in his face.

- "Enough! Put a tissue in his mouth to silence him" Raphael pushed, looking at them.

The soldier sighed lightly before placing a thick tissue in Artiel's mouth with difficulty. After a few more punches, he finally managed to silence Artiel who kept looking threateningly at his opponent.

- "Tsk" pushed the soldier before walking away.

While Artiel was getting the attention of the soldiers, Rebecca took a little rock out of her pocket and discretely dropped it on the ground, making it as if it was natural and left it there while injecting a weak amount of mana inside.

Once the first aid was administered, the group did not wait and turned around. Rebecca and Artiel both watched the sanctuary grow smaller and smaller on the horizon, unable to do anything or call for help.

In the sanctuary, a window was floating before the meditating Isaac seated on his flying rock. He didn't move or react as the cavalry disappeared over the horizon.