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Tibarn blearily stared at Adele, his wings twitching, and then he closed his eyes, concentrating on breathing while the lightly stinging ointment was applied to his gashes and wounds. His breath came sharp and ragged as the berserker helped him out, but the elixir began to work quickly. The Hawk King's more serious wounds began to close up a bit, and the death rattle of his breath faded to a smoother wheeze. Slowly, he opened his eyes back up and murmured, "Th... thank..." He took a deep breath, bracing his arms against the ground, trying to push himself up. Even after the elixir, it was clear he would need assistance to walk. "Gotta... get... house on road..."

He grabbed Adele's arm, in hopes that she would help him to his feet. He was so exhausted, simple thought processes were limited to that which would keep him from simply falling over and dying. "Vah... Ayra..."

"Gck!!" Nils winced, his head slamming against the ground painfully. His hands flew up to his neck, desperately trying to pry away the woman's hands. His head seemed to spin. Breathing seemed to become more and more difficult by the moment. Everything was happening so fast, suddenly turning against him. It was almost too much for him to handle. Somehow, he kept conscious, his red eyes widened with shock, still trying to remove the woman's hands so he could breathe normally again. "Ngh..."

His eyes wandered, from the souls surrounding them to the blood red soul to the woman's cold, golden eyes, back to the blood red soul. He... he was going to be used as a way out? "N...no!!" He managed to choke out. His eyes shut tightly.

There's... there's got to be something I can do!! Nils thought frantically, trying to come up with some kind of plan, anything he could so to save himself. ... I... I don't know... His eyes opened again, and he found himself staring up at the blood red soul, the one he assumed was the woman's "enchanted mistress". The one that was about to use him as a way out of this existance.
Oh, how he wished someone, anyone, was there to help him out. But he was alone, unable to do anything. He bit his lip, going through his ideas in his head.

... He highly doubted he could transform into his true form, even with the assistance of the dragon stone still hanging around his neck. He felt too weak to attempt and his focus was wavering. Plus, if he tried, the woman would surely notice what was happening and stop him. So that option was out.

... The flutes on his belt... well, he couldn't do much with them. He could barely get enough air to even keep breathing. Trying to play would prove to be absolutely useless. And using them as a weapon? Again, the woman would notice what was happening and stop him. And even if he did manage to get a hit, it wouldn't be strong at all. It would be only a slight irritation, one that would provoke the woman even more. That would certainly put him in an even worse position than he was currently in. So that option was out, too.

Is... is there nothing I can do?! Nils thought, angry and frustrated at himself. Tears rolled down the sides of his face. ... Is this the end of me? ... ... Rei... "... I'm... s-sorry... ..."

The boy continued to struggle underneath her. His hands clamps onto hers to pry them out from his neck. She gave another squeeze.

"Give up. Resistance is futile for you to beat me. But don't worry, I won't kill you...... yet." The woman smirked as she continued squeezing the air out of him. She just had to make the boy unconscious. That was all she had to do. What she was ordered to do.

"Now, just close your eyes and sleep." The woman said it soothly, though the situation was different from what the boy had in mind. She was not sure how long would the boy stay in conscious. However, once he was unconscious, the blood red soul would switch place with his soul and take over his spiritual body. Then she and the other souls would be able to escape. As for right now, it was a matter of time before plan would be succeeded.

The woman chuckled. "Sorry, but my glorious mistress doesn't do compromise unless it's in her favor."

The woman continued squeezing the boy's air pipe while the blood red soul hovering her grew big and small, anxious for the boy to pass out. The blood red soul also grew bright and became dim too. It was as if the soul was getting exciting.

When she feel the boy's breath was becoming weak and slow, he let out a dim-lighted aqua blue aura surrounded him. Almost there. The woman thought as she continued to squeeze harder.

Just then, she felt something slashed across her cheek, making her let out of one of her hands to touch her cheek. Though she felt the cut on her face, there was no blood coming out. Instead, a stream of grayish black smoke came out.

What just happened? The woman thought. Turning her attention to the boy, she thought it must be him who did this. Irritated, the woman placed both of her legs onto the boy's arms and continued her assault. But just before she could squeeze his throat, she felt another one slashed her right shoulder. Before she could react, she felt a force punched her in the stomach knocking the air out of her and flew off from the boy's body.

The seven souls plus the blood red souls followed her as if to see if she was knocked out or not. Though the pain she received from her back and stomach had started to fade, the cuts on her cheek and shoulder continued. In addition, streams were coming out of her cuts, making her feel weaker. It was as if the life was escaping from her body.

Pulling herself up, she gave the boy an irritated look before she changed her expression. Surrounding the boy were souls, bright and colorful as if they were shielding and protecting him.

"So..... that's what happening." The woman sneered as she narrowed her eyes. It was not the boy's work who did it, but the souls that were protecting him. This was getting to the woman's nerve.

When the woman stood up, she felt that her balance was slipping out of her as she stumbled toward the ground. The streams coming out of her cuts continued escaping. Could that streams...... be my soul? The woman thought.

Before she could make her decision, the black and paled blue souls came to her. The black went over to her shoulder and the paled blue went to her cheek. The grayish black smokes that were coming out of her body were no longer escape. In addition, she felt the power coming from the souls into her body.

Now strong enough, the woman got up to stand. The blood red soul hovered to her and gave out a beating pulse. Two minutes of silent went by before the woman spoke.

"So you're saying that I'm a powerful Sage and can use any powerful magic?" The woman questioned curiously. A moment of silent took over before she let out a wicked smile. "Yes...... Now, I remember the spells. Thank you..... My wondrous, Mistress Madriana."

Maiara shifted a little closer to the oddball group collecting in the center of the path. She cleared her throat quietly and took a step forward, then flinched back as the mauthe doog on the path began to snarl right in her direction. "W-Wait! Stop!" Maiara yelped, trying not to flat-out shout. Who knew who else could be out here, especially now when everyone was fleeing. Maiara rushed over towards them, where they could visibly see her, keeping one hand over the slitted skirt to keep her left leg covered. When she stopped in front of them, she paused, then sidestepped around the mauthe doog. Lovely, greeted by a snarling dog.

"I come in peace...!" Maiara looked up to Adele, not recognizing the woman, before stepping next to Tibarn. "You look awful," she muttered, removing her Heal staff from her back. She helped him lean onto Adele's body and rested the crystal of the staff against Tibarn's side before concentrating, the restorative magic doing its work. She couldn't tell in this dim lighting if that Elixir had handled everything, and even then, maybe this would help him regain some of his constitution. "You need to get to a bed, and fast. I'd be surprised you haven't already just flat-out gone down, but... this is you we're talking about." Maiara looked over to Adele, then back to Tibarn. "You mentioned Ayra and... Vaherianslyeri. Where are they, exactly?"

The mauthe doog crouched low as the intruder hurried forward. Quick motions startled him, as he was still a creature of instinct. Thus far incapable of recognizing his behavior, he did not reprimand himself but instead snarled loudly at the intruder, ears and tail high. But his show of intimidation did little to repel the human. The beast feared that the human had harmful intent and his growls strengthened in volume with the distance she closed, rattling across the ground threateningly.

But she had merely stepped around him. Confused by yet another human action, the mauthe doog unconsciously tucked his tail and flattened his ears, his growls weakening slightly as he observed. The new human had some object on her back. It resembled a large stick fallen from the trees, but it looked peculiar. He found himself snarling at that stick-like thing instead because he could not identify that it looked cleaner than one's run-of-the-mill twigs and branches.

The newcomer was uttering some of those human sounds that the mauthe doog was so fascinated by. He continued to consider her a threat until the stick-like object began to emit something. He shivered and his hackles rose, but the feeling that washed over was not one of harm. It was strangely soothing. The mauthe doog would have been quelled if it was not so alien to him, so instead his growls subsided into quiet whines and whimpers as he crouched down further.

The others were not attacking. Perhaps she was also a part of their pack. The mauthe doog believed they operated in packs anyway; he had seen it everywhere.

When the wounds were closed and the two souls departed from her, the woman saw the boy stood up with determination in his face. His hand was placed onto the collarbone, as if he had a token that gave him the strength of courage. Maybe that token was a gift from his friend, the woman thought. His other hand was rested onto his hip where his flutes were. Seeing where his hand was laid to rest, the woman let out a chuckling smirk.

"You think those flutes of yours could hurt me?" The woman sheerly questioned. "After what I have told you, don't tell me you've forgotten where we are."

She then began to walk, circling around the boy as if she was a shark preying on a helpless swimmer. The blood red soul and the seven souls with it stayed where they were, unfazed of what was happening. The souls that were around the boy were too stay in the position as if trying to protect the boy as much as possible.

The clicking of her boots continued to make noise as she continued walking with a smirk on her face. "We're in the existence plane where our spirits wander. Meaning that our physical bodies were left in the world of living, either being perished, rotted, or sleep. And if our physical bodies were in the world of living......"

There was a glint of sadistic in her eyes as she turned her attention to the boy. "It means that any physical objects we carried are futile. Observe."

Raising her right arm, a staff began to form in her hand. As she raised her other arm onto a shoulder level, the woman raised her staff over her head and swung her staff arm down onto her other arm. Instead of making physical contact where the staff and arm should collide, the staff went through her arm. It was as if she was a ghost.

As her staff disappeared, she let out a taunting smirk. "Since our physical bodies could not exist in this plane, so were the objects we carried. But I bet you're wondering why we look exactly as we were in the world of living. As I told you before, it is our memories that form our bodies of what we remember. Therefore, we could easily change our appearance whatever we want in this existence.

But I bet you're also wondering if physical bodies couldn't touch, how was it possible that we were able to touch each other? The answer is simple, foolish boy. It is because we're spirits. Since we're made up of energy, we are able to touch each other.

It is complicated, but it is also true," she let out a mocking tone. "So attacking me with your flutes is futile. Our physical objects do not work well in this world since objects are created in mass and matter. However......"

The wicked glint entered her eyes as she raised her hand as a ball of fire began to form. "Magic is a source of energy. Therefore, this will be more painful to you as it is to me. Hohohohoho!"