A pleasant morning breeze graced the Eldemenster Temple compound. The sky was a lovely shade of blue and the sun hung high above. The forest already started its morning as the birds sang to their heart’s content, and the leaves rustled to the cool air.

Everess meditated to maintain and assert her control over her powers, which were showing improvement, though not to the extent she had hoped. Lately, her abilities seemed to be strengthening without any clear explanation. The words of the light maiden in her dreams lingered in her thoughts, but she dismissed her power constantly leaks that she has to keep herself in check at all times to them, considering them a distraction. The challenge now was to rein in her powers, which tended to leak uncontrollably, demanding her constant vigilance.

Despite her struggle, she sensed a gradual enhancement in her powers with each passing day. The enigmatic force within her seemed to have a will of its own, causing her heart to flutter whenever she contemplated it. She attempted to cast a small energy orb, no larger than a marble, which only underscored the growing potency of her abilities. The aura of purple that enveloped the orb moments after its creation only raised her concerns.

Her worries only grew because of it. As if an unseen entity sought to assert dominance over her new-found powers. Opening her eyes, she pondered the unfolding dilemma she had. It appeared that the empire would soon have their formidable slayer in her.

With a sigh, she focused on the present, as she heard her new comrades off doing their own thing. Glaivel was practicing his archery on a nearby tree, and Sevidon sharpened his swords by the keep doors. Graveloth, Kaira, and Ravaen just returned from a successful morning hunt, their bond strengthening despite unease. Meanwhile, she perched atop the keep, immersing herself in the task of maintaining control over her unpredictable abilities.

She had been relaxed ever since the night Graveloth arrived. Grateful for the dependable comrades around her, she felt secure in their support of her goal, and, in turn, their support for her promise to Moselei. Yet, uncertainty lingered concerning Glaivel and Kaira.

Glaivel had already made his sentiments regarding their mission quite clear to her. However, Kaira, embodying the typical cryptic nature of a Tigris, remained enigmatic. And her answers on the night of her arrival certainly did not help either. The Tigriskind often conveyed their thoughts directly, without delving into explanations. A trait that both intrigued and surprised her, especially considering their successful integration into various towns and cities across the empire, specifically to the empire’s military might.

The echo of Kaira’s proclamation, I’m here to save him, resonated in her mind that night. Her furrowed eyebrows betrayed her struggle to comprehend the audacity of Kaira’s claim. Sighing, she acknowledged that, at least, she knew Kaira’s purpose.

Curiosity prompted Ravaen, so he asked. “What do you mean by that, exactly? You’re here to save him?”

Kaira, unfazed, responded. “Is my words confusing? Are you confused by it? Did I word that wrong?”

“No, you didn’t.” Sevidon chimed in. “We would just like to know why exactly.”

Kaira, tilting her head, continued. “Is my words not enough to convey my intentions?”

“No, we understand you, completely. We just want to know the reason behind it.” Ravaen tried to clarify the best he could.

Kaira contemplated for a moment, settling beside the fire and helping herself to a portion of the tereebaas.

“Oh, of course. Help yourself to our food.” Ravaen said with a slightly elevated tone, clearly annoyed.

“Thank you. You have cooked it well.” Kaira acknowledged.

Despite Ravaen’s irritation, she and Sevidon intervened.

“Just let it go. The Tigris aren’t really known to have any deep reasons for their actions. And they have no concept of sarcasm.” She explained as she attempted to diffuse the tension.

“That’s why the Empire is actually happy to have them in their ranks.” Sevidon added, providing further context.

Taking a deep breath, Kaira continued eating, setting a tone that the others gradually followed. As they shared the meal that night, the tension unintentionally created by Kaira was gone.

Sevidon, attempted to break the silence, asked, “So how was your trek from the Middle Kingdom to here, Kaira?”

“It was not bad. It took me eight days to get her.” Kaira replied.

“Wait, eight days? That’s unbelievably fast. Did you ever rest?” Glaivel expressed his surprise.

“I did not make any stop because of the urgency of this quest. But I did make a quick water stop at a town and took short naps along the way. I could’ve been here earlier.” Kaira clarified.

But it did not help at all.

“From Tigeria to here, that would normally take at least two and a half weeks. That’s why we were just surprised at how fast you got here.” Sevidon explained, but Kaira simply nodded in acknowledgment.

“I am the greatest warrior of my kingdom, after all. They don’t call me a warrior princess for nothing.” Kaira stated matter-of-factly, devoid of any boastfulness. Again, a characteristic trait of a Tigris. “Well, unless Tamiron comes back with me, then I’ll be second best.”

Then the revelation came. Finally, they may get a reason as to why she said what she said. “Ah, so Tamiron bested you in battle then?” She asked with enthusiasm.

“Yes. He was the best. No one could beat me until he arrived. The Empire requested my mother, the Mistrell, to have him train with us, and she accepted because she was very impressed. But most importantly, he trained with me. At first, I was very annoyed. Every end of the week after our training session. He made sure my tail is tucked between my legs.”

For some reason, hearing about Tamiron’s triumph over Kaira filled her with pride. She couldn’t pinpoint why, but it instilled a strange sense of confidence in her.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“That’s why, I decided that day on, I need to beat him in order for me to take him as my mate.”

“What?” all of them exclaimed audibly.

But her voice rose even higher, prompting the three men present to slowly turn their heads and look at her. Clearing her throat, she asked, “Take him as your mate. Can you tell us exactly why?” gripping her skirt.

“Well, he was the strongest. Our offsprings would be unstoppable the moment they come of age. It is only natural in the Tigris customs.” Kaira explained to them as she maintained her calm demeanor.

Despite feeling uneasy, she continued eating. “Ah yes, of course. Tigris customs. It doesn’t really work that way with the Empire, but sure.”

Ravaen cleared his own throat and asked. “Wait, so you want to save him because he is a good mate for you, correct?”

“That is what I said. Yes.” Kaira answered with a straight face.

“That’s not how it works, though,” Glaivel said as he shook his head.

“That is the Tigris custom though. Any women or men beaten in a marriage duel will have the opportunity to either decline a proposal or force one.” Kaira explained further.

“Again, that’s not how it works. But okay,” Glaivel said as he continued eating.

“The Empire has a very specific custom for this. You will have to court someone and need to get their permission first. You can’t force someone to marry you.” She quickly exclaimed.

“He trained in our ways. That means he is part of our culture now.” Kaira asserted, beaming a smile. Her grip on her skirts tightened.

For some reason, she felt annoyed every time she remembered that night, much like she was feeling at that very instant. Taking some deep breaths, she tried to blank her mind with the annoyance Kaira gave her and how it made her feel as if ants were crawling on her skin nonstop. The mental image of Kaira besting Tamiron and whisking him away to Tigeria for their supposed marriage lingered in her thoughts.

She opened her eyes and stood up. Her heart’s beat slowed down as she tried to calm herself down. She held her chest, taking deep breaths in an effort to regain her composure.

“You are getting a hang of calming yourself down now, Everess.” Ravaen suddenly said, from behind her, startling her.

“When did you get there?” she asked as she sat back down and she began to float as she tried to continue her meditation.

“About a couple of moments ago. Clearly, you were annoyed by something you remembered.” He said, as he stood beside her.

“Give me some space.” She said as Ravaen quickly walked away from her a few steps. “And I’m just annoyed because even now I’m still having trouble with my spells.”

“You weren’t doing any spell casting, though,” Ravaen said.

She was caught off guard, and she responded, “I was trying to imagine it in my mind first. Even I have trouble doing that.” Attempting to brush it off.

Ravaen chuckled. “You can’t do that.”

She opened one of her eyes a little. “Yes, I could. It’s just too dangerous. Especially now.”

“All right. Show us.” Ravaen said as he quickly rushed towards the ledge. “Hey everyone, Everess can conjure spells with her thoughts and she said she’ll show us!”

“Wait, why are you announcing it to everyone?!” she quickly said as she failed to stop him.

“Come on, we have nothing better to do. Plus you are the only interesting thing here.” He said as he crossed his arms.

She took a deep breath and furrowed her eyebrows, showing her annoyance once more. She then obliged as she thought she could try to practice one of her spells that she was planning to use.

She walked towards the ledge and held her palm forward. She opened her eyes to a circular glyph appearing and drew itself right in front of her. Concentrating her power on it, she still had control over it as it glowed in pink.

Suddenly, she felt a tight grip on her chest as it pulsated loudly. The glyph began to leak some energy.

“Everess, are you okay? You can stop now.” Ravaen said with a sign of worry in his voice.

“I can’t.” she stuttered as her control began to loosen. The glyph slowly turned from pink to maroon to violet. The leak of power became evident as it began to draw more power from her — more than she expected.

“Everess!” Sevidon from below shouted as he quickly rushed towards them.

Her hands began to tremble and turn violet when she suddenly released a beam of raw power towards the sky. Its power felt as shockwaves ran across everywhere. When the beam of dark energy finally subsided, she fell to her knees and Ravaen quickly caught her, with Sevidon arriving.

“Are you okay? Talk to me!” Ravaen said as he tried to wake her up.

She was conscious, but too weak to respond.

“This is all your fault!” Sevidon arrived as he checked on her too.

“She was doing great these past few days with her energy orbs. I thought she was having a breakthrough. I didn’t know she’d fire beam of death!” Ravaen exclaimed.

“Told you I could do it.” She barely said as that finally calmed everyone down.

Ravaen only chuckled as he laughed with relief while Sevidon groaned, because of what just happened.

“Bring her down,” Sevidon said as he made his way towards the stairs, while Ravaen carried her down.

“She’s too dangerous. Are we sure we want to be there when she faces Tamiron?” Kaira asked as she helped take care of her.

“We just need to make sure we are not in the line of fire.” Ravaen joked, but it clearly wasn’t helping.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know. I can’t control whatever that was,” she said as she slowly regained some of her strength. She tried to stand up, but she still couldn’t.

They then noticed a large shadow hovering above. She looked at the top of the keep and then landed hard in front of them.

“I am the High Prince, Aderon Azure. I am here to represent my father, the High King and the High Kingdom of the frozen North. For the quest of eliminating the Trasidian Prince Tamiron Lluch,” he said confidently and boldly.

Aderon walked towards them slowly and stopped a few feet from them. He looked at everyone, still wearing his enormous helmet that resembled an eagle’s head.

She felt the power within the words itself. She was in awe. The last time she felt this kind of chill was with Tamiron. No — she thought she was mistaken. It was the exact opposite of Tamiron.

Aderon emanated an uncomfortable feel of superiority, authority, and power. She felt a shiver run down her spine just from Aderon’s presence alone.

They did not expect his participation. Yet, he came. Aderon removed his helmet slowly and they finally saw his face clearly. His blue eyes sparkled and his skin was fair as those of the elves. His hair was as grey as the snow on top of Mt. Aternor.

Aderon then quickly drew his sword and pointed at her. “You dared try to shoot me down from the sky?”

“What, no! I didn’t even know you were there!” she explained as the others covered for her.

She heard another sword pulled, and it was Sevidon, from the side. “Come on Prince Aderon. She was practicing her spells. She did not do that on purpose.” Sevidon explained.

“Listen to the Karinhawi General, Prince Aderon. We don’t want to greet you like this.” Said Glaivel who already had his bow drawn and ready to shoot at him.

“You dare draw your weapons against me?” Aderon said in an imposing tone.

As she watched the three have a standoff, her head pulsated strongly. She groaned to the pain it gave her as her vision slowly blurred as she began to hear a voice different from the one going on right now. She began to lose control again, and she felt herself float from the floor.

She herself doesn’t know what’s going on.

“Everess! What are you doing? Come back! Wake up!” Kaira called out to her, but she just completely lost control by then. She felt trapped in her own body at that point.

“What is this madness?!” Aderon shouted.

“We don’t know either, okay?! Stop accusing her of things!” Ravaen shouted to Aderon.

“How dare you shout back at me!” Aderon shouted. He moved to strike her but Ravaen blocked his attack.

In front of her, her vision slowly shifted. From her arguing and fighting comrades, who was trying to calm Aderon down, to a sky of endless blue, with a glowing maiden in front of her.

“It is time to take you all.” The ethereal voice said to her.

“No, get away from me! Get away!” she screamed. Then the ground shook harder, and everybody was thrown off their feet. The entire room glowed along with Everess.

The pillars blazed in different shades, some not even in the rainbow, until they were all shrouded and swallowed into one blinding light. The light exploded and shot up to the heavens. In a matter of seconds, the light receded, and the castle was silent again.

End of Chapter XXII