************Emily POV************

The girls ran as quickly as they could, the echos of the battle ringing in their ears gave them all the stamina they needed to keep going. Their progress towards the village was steady, their concentration set on protecting the people. It wasn’t until Jessica was grabbed by the ankles and fell to the ground with a cry of alarm that the women were forced to look at their surroundings, and it was then that they noticed the creature.

“Get away from her!” Fliour cried out in anger as she and Emily slid to a stop to help her. To their horror, the creature started to bubble into a solid form, growing arms and legs until it started to look almost human. Even before it was finished, the girls all recognized it was taking the form was Jessica.

“I think I like the look of this one, but her figure isn’t all that great,” the shadow sighed. It still had a grasp on Jessica, but now it had her by her neck instead of her ankles. Neither Fliour nor Emily dared to move in fear of what the fake Jessica would do. Eyes as black as the dark side of the moon, the creature slinked forward with Jessica being pushed ahead of it.

“I’ll have you know I am incredibly sexy, I don’t know what you mean by my figure not being that great,” Jessica hissed as she was forced to a standstill in front of her friends. The creature didn’t seem to react to her words, but it’s grip tightened on her. Emily was about to draw magic to herself when the shadow growled in warning.

“Try anything girl and your friend will taste her own blood from her throat.” Both Fliour and Emily glanced at each other but stopped making advances. Jessica continued to struggled until the grip on her neck was making her face turn slightly blue. All three of them could see the small strings of darkness slithering up from the shadows that each blade of grass surrounding them had cast on the ground.

“What is it you want?” Fliour finally asked, breaking the silence. The creature looked from Fliour to Emily as a small smile broke across her face.

“Little Emily. You are as beautiful as Lord Sarium has described. I come with a message from him to my master, which has been sent to me to pass unto you. If you agree to wed him, you will live along with his wives in comfort and treated like royalty,” the Shadow said. It kept its grip on Jessica’s neck as it spoke, almost as a threat for if she said no. Emily had heard of Sarium before, a mage who had others do his dirty work and had a thing for younger women, but was nowhere near as strong as the other elders while being the youngest of them all.

“And if I disagree?” The creature grinned and used its hand to draw a line of blood along Jessica’s throat. Emily took the hint and glanced over at Fliour. She was red-faced and had her hand near her sword.

“This woman won’t be the first to die. Listen, do you hear that sound coming from the north?” The girls immediately turned towards the direction the creature had directed. The village was in that area! To their dismay, they could hear screams of fear and pain, confirming their own fear.

“Alright, I’ll go!” Emily quickly proclaimed. Fliour looked at her in surprise and guilt, but kept her stance in case of attack.

The shadow snickered and slowly let Jessica go, blood dripping down her face in small streams from where her body had been touched by the creature. Jessica gasped in as much air as she could while she stumbled towards the girls in a panic before turning around to face her attacker.

“Come, I will take you to your new home. As for this land,” the creature stopped and cocked its head sideways almost like it was listening. “The Lord says for us to withdraw from your little village. He is a man of his word, and he doesn’t want a hurt wife.” Almost on cue, thousands of shadow creatures in various shapes and sizes appeared around the three women. Fliour’s jaw dropped at one that towered six times above her in the form of an orc.

Even with this, the sounds of fighting continued in the distance where Ron was.

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“What about Ron? I thought you would take all your creatures back?” Emily asked as her arm was grabbed, the fake Jessica dragging her away from the other two.

“Those are not under Lord Sarium’s control. Destamos is responsible for her own creations, we do not serve her,” the shadow explained as what looked like a black mirror rose from the ground.

Emily looked back helplessly at Jessica and Fliour, fear building quickly in her heart as she watched the shadows sink into the ground and disappear. Jessica was being held by Fliour, who in turn kept her gaze to the ground.

“Don’t let Ron try and save me, I’m not worth your lives! Plea-” Emily was cut off by the black abyss of the mirror, cold taking over her body as if in a living nightmare. The shadow had disappeared, and she floated in the cold darkness. Not even Emily’s light magic could produce anything in this place, and when she felt a sucking feeling pulling her what seemed to be downwards she finally allowed herself to scream.

Even then, she couldn’t hear her own voice, for the blackness covered all sound and sight.

************Ron POV************

The woman seemed to freeze in place. The creatures around her continued fighting, but disappeared the moment a look of anger crossed her face. Ron used that moment to attack directly, but the woman dodged it without another look.

“Damn you Sarium, she was mine for the taking! I’ll kill you for this!” The woman screamed as she flew up into the air in a fit of rage. Ron was taken aback, but continued to lash at her. Hundreds of vines burst from the ground and aimed at the woman. With a quick flick of her wrist, a large sword appeared from the air and cut down each vine with ease. Ron immediately stopped fighting and simply stared in awe at how easily she worked.

He realized he had been overestimating himself. Ron had assumed he was the strongest, but at this moment he felt a hint of fear in his chest at the woman that stood before him.

“Keep your damn island, plant boy. You are nothing to me now. My prisoner has been taken from the both of us. Heed this warning, if you dare to go after that girl then you and everyone on this land will die by the hands of the elders!” With that, the woman was encased in a sudden last of black light.

Ron was dumbfounded by the sudden turn of events. He shook himself off and turned to run towards the village, vowing to train to become stronger in hopes to defeat that woman. As he ran as fast as he was able to, he came upon Fliour and Jessica.

Jessica was a complete mess. She was struggling against Fliour’s grasp crying and screaming for Emily while Fliour was attempting to hold her back and calm her down. When they saw Ron run towards them, Jessica only grew more hysterical.

“They took her! They took Emily! We didn’t stand a chance, she just gave herself up!” She yelled. Ron looked at Fliour as this processed, still confused about what had happened, but reached forward and picked Jessica up. She finally started to calm down as Ron and Fliour ran together towards the village, and by the time they got there she had succumbed to hiccuping.

At the village, they found Analicia covered in black goo that she was struggling to wipe off, a sword on the ground with the same substance on it. People were in a panic, some holding their children while running towards their houses while others were running around with weapons looking for more monsters.

“You did this! You brought that girl here, and now look what you’ve done!” One person yelled when they say Ron. When everybody else noticed his arrival, they too started yelling in anger.

Ron kept his composure while he helped Jessica down. She slid to her knees and started to cry once more, but tried to hold it in more. Analicia stopped what she was doing and ran over to her friend to comfort her, but when she learned what had happened through each hiccup she grew angry.

“Why couldn’t you do anything about this! You’re supposed to be strong! Now Emily’s sold herself away to some man and you did nothing!” Analicia yelled while Jessica cried even harder.

“I tried! Do you honestly think I sat back and let them do this! I was held back by someone else who was after her, a woman who was stronger than myself! I fucking tried goddamnit!” Ron finally snapped back. Analicia suddenly stopped, her mouth hanging open in shock that someone could be stronger than Ron, then sat in silence.

“As for the rest of you, do you honestly think this is time to be acting this way? I will not allow any of you to die such a death, I swore I would protect each and every one of you. Believe me, I am as angry as you all are, but I will not rest until they are paid for what they have done.” Ron glared at Fliour as he spoke, who quickly glanced away towards Jessica and Analicia.

“What do you suggest we do then? What if they come back?” A mother asked as she held her children to her chest. Ron started to think, then slowly glanced around the village her so carefully had cared for and protected for years.

“I want you all to train to fight. Fliour will be your teacher, while Jessica and Analicia will work with those whom are not humans. Preparation is all that can be done. If any of you wish to go to the life off this land, then you will be allowed to leave, but if you wish to stay and protect the land you love then stand by me and fight.” Ron proclaimed with a glance at Fliour to dare her to complain.

Fliour sat on the ground in thought before she stood up and turned towards Ron with a new light in her eyes. With a nod, she took the sword from the ground and wiped it off before raising it to Ron.

“I will follow you.” She said. After a few seconds of hesitation, villagers from all around stepped forward with a different light in their eyes, one filled with hope and determination. Soon, all people were standing behind Fliour. When Ron was sure he had waited long enough, he smiled thankfully at his people and nodded.

“This is our land, and we shall protect it as such!” He cried and raised his fist to the air. The villagers raised their own cry, to which Fliour started giving out instructions. Ron gave her one more look, which she understood immediately as to her not getting off easily, then he turned and started walking back to his home. Jessica and Analicia quickly stood to follow him.

“What are we going to do? If they do come back, and you’re weaker than the enemy, then what chance do we stand?” Ron stopped and turned to face the two girls with an expression they hadn’t seen since he had freed them all those years ago.

“We will fight. I will grow stronger. Nobody comes to my land without my permission, and after that stunt those people pulled I know now that I was foolish to wait so long before continuing training. Since the day you all came and took part in my life I had slowed to a complete stop in attempting to grow stronger. I let my pride get to the best of me, and now I pay for it. Make sure I am not interrupted for the next three days. I will be training and it will be deadly if anyone comes upon me while I do so.”

The women nodded as Ron left them to train, and as he disappeared from sight they too began to prepare for what they had a feeling would become war.