"Shannon, what's wrong with you? Don't scare me!" Baldwin quickly picked up Shannon, only to see her face as pale as northern ice, and her eyes tightly closed. The wet tears at the corners of his eyes slowly trickled down his cheeks. "Wake up, Shannon."

He carefully placed Shannon on the bed and knelt down beside her to check on her condition. He was shocked to see that her breathing had become very weak, and her heartbeat was faint.

He jumped up from the bed in a hurry, ran to the door, opened it and shouted, "Someone! Please, help!"

The dual mage wanted to materialize his essence to amplify his voice, so that the sound could spread over a distance of more than ten miles, but he couldn't. Instead, a violent fluctuation got hold of his head as if a Banshee was screaming inside it. But he endured the headache, and kept shouting. "Someone, please come, please..."

A few seconds later, he fell heavily on the ground and lost consciousness. He didn't know how long it took before he slowly opened his eyes. There seemed to be a small bug inside his head, which occasionally wriggles, causing silky pain.

Where was he? Was he alive, or was he dead again? Baldwin shook his head and turned his eyes to the surrounding scenery.

The bright light of the sun, streaked in through the window, illuminating the room. In front of the lit window, were three figures. The light behind them portrayed them with a layer of glow, making them look so illusory.

"Am I dreaming?" Baldwin muttered as he looked at the three people in the rays of lights. After a series of memory flashes, he could no longer distinguish reality from dreams. But upon a closer look, he saw that these three people were clearly his own Shannon, Kaiya and Kiara. But why was it so illusory?

"Baldwin, you are alive." Shannon crouched down to hold him.

Without the bright background, her appearance became real to him. Baldwin saw the tears hidden in her eyes finally flowed down as she stroked his face affectionately with her hands. He moved his body slowly, and sat up. Looking at their expressions, he asked curiously. "What's going on?"

Kaiya took Kiara's hand and knelt down in front of Baldwin's bed. "Baldwin, I'm sorry my tribe couldn't protect you. If we hadn't insisted on keeping you with us for the marriage ceremony, you wouldn't have been in that dire situation."

"Don't say that, Kaiya. It's not your fault that the antherions attacked us." Baldwin quickly recovered himself and struggled to stand up before pulling Kaiya and his wife up. After he pulled them up, he looked at Shannon's pale face again. "What's wrong, Shannon? You don't look so good."

After hearing this, the three of them all turned their eyes away, not daring to look directly at Baldwin's face.

Shannon turned around, poured a cup of water for Baldwin, and replied. "Well, I haven't slept well since you've been in a coma. So, of course my face will look bad. That aside, you need to drink some water."

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Baldwin put the cup back on the table, grabbed Shannon's shoulders with both hands, stared into her eyes and asked. "Shannon, look at me, are you hiding something from me? I saw you fainting, back then. I clearly remembered that. What happened to you? Please, tell me."

"Hey! Baldwin, it's ok. We'll tell you what you want to know." As soon as the door opened, two old men walked in from outside.

When Baldwin saw the people that entered, he realized he knew them all. The two old men were electrum-level mages stationed inside the Ironwood tribe. One was Callahan, the mage who arrived first to rescue everyone. The one who spoke was the second light mage, Hawthorn, who also came to their aid.

When Baldwin saw the two mages come in, he immediately stood up to pay his respect. "Your Mageship, thanks for rescuing us back then, and for saving my life. I'm very grateful."

Callahan quickly raised his hand to stop him. "Don't be too quick to thank us, adept. It's not the two of us who saved your life, but someone else."

Baldwin was stunned for a moment, and quickly asked. "Magus, may I dare to ask who my benefactor is?"

Hawthorn did not answer the question directly, but said. "Kaiya told us about your heroics when the antherions attacked, so we would also like to thank you for protecting our clan. You're supposed to be our guest, but you were injured while trying to protect our clansmen. We are grateful for that."

"There's nothing to my actions, your Mageship. It's due to the effort of all of us." After listening to the words, Baldwin waved his hands in dismissal. "Magus, please, don't say I'm too persistent, but can you tell me about my savior? I want to express my gratitude in person?"

Hawthorn sighed softly and said. "Well, adept, I have to tell you that you've found yourself a good companion."

After listening to Hawthorn, Baldwin felt something a little inexplicable. What did this have to do with the nature of his wife? But after thinking about it, an ominous premonition rose in his heart.

"It's not us who saved your life, but your companion, Shannon."

"Shannon?" Baldwin looked back at his wife's pale face, and the ominous premonition continued to grow in his heart.

Hawthorn continued. "On that day, when you were hit by the dragon's eye of Harbonok, you were bound for death. Although the dark magic attack of the dragonkind was powerful, as long as the treatment was timely, our light-based healing magic would be able to heal it. Usually, light magic can save people's life, as long as the mage is strong enough."

"I'm listening, Magus."

"Unfortunately..." Hawthorn turned around and sighed. "... The Eye of the antherion Dragon was not a dark attribute magic attack, but the innate ability of the dragonkind. It attacks the spirit of the opponent, and If the spirit of the person attacked becomes broken, it cannot be healed with light magic."

"It can't be healed?"

"I'm afraid it can't." Hawthorn shook his head, expressing his helplessness towards Baldwin. "In your case, we came a step late. If not, you wouldn't have suffered this fatal injury. Our healing magic could only preserve your life temporarily, but it couldn't save you. After bringing you back to the city, we could only watch helplessly as your life faded away."

"How come I'm still alive?"

"Adept, you're alive because of your companion. She's a good woman." Hawthorn looked at the way Baldwin and his fiance were holding hands, and sighed softly. "She used the forbidden spell, the Life-Changer to transfer her life vitality to your body. When I felt the fluctuations, and came over, I found you laying outside the house, while your partner was on the floor, inside, with her life hanging by a thread. She saved you from the land of the dead."

"Shannon?"

"Yes, and unfortunately, she's going to take your place. Since we are no divine mages, our healing magic can only keep her alive for three or four months at most. After four months, you will also say your goodbye to her. Adept, I suggest you cherish these four months greatly."

After he finished speaking, Hawthorn signalled to everyone, and they quietly retreated from the room. Only Baldwin, who was standing in front of his partner in a daze, remained.