Before Samuel could address that problem, another lizardmen jumped out from a large boulder and launched a javelin at the velelis felling behind. This time, luck had run out for them as the javelin plunged its head right into the velelis’s chest. The poor animal drove down on the ground without much of a screech at the javelin killed it in an instance. instinctively, Samuel’s arms clutched tight to Emma, held her close to his body, Samuel slammed down with a clear “thump” and the man went unconscious. Emma was luckier, for Samuel had absorbed much of the impact, thus she quickly got backed on her feet.

“Challenger! Wake up, wake up, Challenger!” –Kneeled over Samuel, Emma shook her companion tried to wake him up but quickly had to attend to other concern.

The lizardmen just took down their velelis, strode toward them with sabre gleaming in his hand and a smirk on his face. Fear quickly rose, Emma’s body trembled with each step the lizardmen took. She shook Samuel intensively but still the man only gave off some weak wimbles and seemingly won’t be able to come back to his sense any time soon. Emma instinct was screaming at her to run away as the lizardmen drawn closer and closer, sprang back on her feet, Emma bended down to Samuel’s waist instead and pulled the short sword out of its scabbard. With all the might she could muster, Emma threw several wild swings at the lizardmen, sloppy were her swings put it still enough to surprised her attacker and forced he fell back a few steps.

“Brave red head, brave” -The lizardmen sneered, amusingly praised Emma’s defiant- “You really make we find really hard,” the lizarmend spoke with a weird accent and broken common speech.

Emma on the other hand was not so, fingers clutched tight at the sword handle, the princess tried to hide the trembling in her hands, her stomach churned like millions of ants were crawling inside it and her throat all dried and desperately to held down the last meal she had from gushing out. Yet, the princess’s eyes still sheened with great determent, and so she’d stood, blade held high she stood between her companion and an opponent double her size.

The lizardmen mockingly snorted, step to the left, he feinted a charge and the poor princess took the baited easily. Emma brought down her blade but misjudged the distain together with the length of her blade and the lizardmen’s sabre easily parried her attack with a just a twist of his wrist. Turned his body sideway, the lizardmen right leg sprang forth and pain pulsed through every nerve fibre inside Emma’s body as the lizardmen’s kick connected to her stomach.

The princess fell to her knees, bended down wheezing for air and all her strength drained by the pulsing pain.

“No hard feeling, red head, just business” –Raised his sabre high, the lizardmen about to brought his blade down to Emma’s neck but interrupted by the sound of galloping velelis

The lizardmen turned toward the sound just to saw a flash of steel before his head was flung off of his long neck and rolling on the ground. Rays of bloods sprayed to the air as the lizardmen headless body collapsed to the ground, Elesil turned his velelis around asked if Emma and Samuel was alright. Soon after Samuel came back to his sense, after a quick check they glad that Samuel only suffered some minor concussion, thanked to the grass carpet at where his landed

Their celebration lasted not for long, the sounds of dozens of pair of foot stomping on grass and rushing through bushes quickly demand their attention. Dozens of lizardmen fast approached, steel gleamed in their hands, they came with great malice.

“Get her eut of here, quick!!!” -Elesil commanded- “I will delay them.”

“On you own?” –Samuel objected- “Hell no mate.”

“Fret not for me, my power might have weakened but they cannot bring harm to me that easily” –Elesil reassured his companions- “NOW GO!” -again the Elvas commanded whilst charged his velelis forward.

With no other option to considerate, Samuel had to leave Elesil behind and the last image he saw was Elesil deflected a spear flung from the lizardmen and thrust through their formation with his blade gleaming in the starlight.

Feet hasted through the grass, they ran. Heart drumming inside their chest, they dared not to stop. How long they had run? They weren’t sure. Lucky for them, with the moon and supernova light above, traverse the terrain pose not much difficult for them. Unfortunately, Emma’s pace soon slowed down, her stamina waned and no longer able to kept up with the soldier Samuel. Took a glimpsed behind them, Emma saw no lizardmen was in pursuit of them, thus hope flared up in her.

“I… I don’t… see… any of them” –Emma heavily panted- “Y… You think we lost them...”

Her sentence had yet to ended and a sharp pain pulsed on her leg, an arrow shaft dropped from thin air and plunged it head into the back of her calf to remind her of the danger. Although the wound was not very deep and the arrow only hit off to the left of her calf and only bled the soft flesh, but the fact that, that arrow just reach its mark without her assailant be inside her field of view had sent terror flooded her mind. Samuel quickly pulled Emma back up and shouldered her to continue their run.

With each step Emma limped as they pushed up a small shrubbery hill in hope of a chance to hide themselves from the lizardmen, Emma’s calf tortured her with an unbearable pain. And ironically, the very blessing that had help them traversed the terrain with ease thus far, now a hinder, Emma’s trail of blood could be easily seen on the grass and ground under the bright heaven’s light. And the cruel, lady fate, had just add more to the dire situation, the sounds of body dashed through bushes and feet stomp on grass, soon came to Emma and Samuel ears and again struck terror to their heart.

“L… leave me Challenger” –Emma panted in desperation- “Leave me, save yourself,” She said as the sight of three Lizardmen just came out of the vegetation.

“Don’t say that shit to me,” –Samuel kept dragging Emma forward- “We’ll be fine, we’ll be f…” –Thus, was Samuel’s attempt to revive the princess’s morale, another arrow poked its head out from the back to the front of his shoulder. And the pair tumbled down.

Tumbled, tumbled down, through thorny shrubs and it stung their hide, they tumbled, tumbled down.

Tumbled, tumbled down, dirt was full in their eyes and blinded their sight, they tumbled, tumbled down.

Tumble, tumbled down, air rushed through hair and they fell from height, they fallen, fallen down.

Fallen, fallen down, until coldness, until wetness filled their lungs and mind, they plunged, plunged down.

Away, away, the current gripped them with its might, away, it swept them away.

Futile, futilely, fought the river’s might, Emma tried, oh, it was just futile!

Futile, just futile, finally the princess had come to realized.

Realized the hopelessness of her plight of survive.

Survive? only death, she found tonight.

Tonight, to Death, she complied.

Complied?

Somehow, that ember of hope, again ignited, refused to die, it burned one last time and flared up full of defiant. From under the water, a sheen of fiery hair breached the calm surface. Sprung herself up, her lungs starved for the sweet air and wolfed in as much as it could. Hands reached forth, Emma clutched for dear life on a bolder. Numbness was all her felt, coldness wrapped her body, mustered the strength she had no idea she still had inside her, she pulled herself forth. Toward a sandy bank, Emma crawled, lungs sting and heart racing, she pulled herself to dryland.

Huffed and huffed, Emma lied there on the river’s bank gasping for air for how long? she wondered, she not sure and only had a feeling that it was quite some time, but no lizardmen had disturb her yet and that was all that matter to her. She’d escaped, so it seemed.