(Time skip 7 years)

“Are you ready?” Elizah grinned as she raised her sword.

“I sure hope so,” Adria said and she steadied her stance. 

“You may begin,” Levi raised an arm and Elizah charged forward to land a hit that Adria blocked perfectly.

Elizah shared a laugh with Adria over the clanging of swords. Micah’s wife Adria had wanted to learn self-defence from Elizah after she had arrived in Lysna, and so Elizah had started training her in the time she got. The two loved duelling in their free time, and Levi often was the spectator of the match. Elizah was the one to win most of the time, but there were some surprising upsets when Adria was perfect.

Adria’s fiery red hair waved in the wind and her green eyes were keen, she tried to push Elizah off, but Elizah was rooted into the ground.

“You can do it, mama,” there was a cheer from the side, and Micah and Adria’s son Varian, stood watching the duel alongside Emmeline.

“If my mama wins you’ll have to give me your sweets from lunch for a week,” Emmeline said as she turned to Varian.

“You’re on, but if mine wins you have to give me your sweets,” Varian said and shook hands with Emmeline.

Varian and Emmeline were around the same age so they got along very well with the two of them betting and arguing on almost everything. Initially, when Micah and Adria moved to the palace, Varian was scared of Emmeline, but the duo got along quickly.

“So now we both have a reason to win huh,” Elizah said with a small laugh, without moving an inch.

“Why did you make my training even harder?” Adria asked as she grunted and Elizah only laughed. Elizah leapt back only to catch Adria off guard as she charged forward again. But this time Adria took advantage of her situation and pushed Elizah towards her right side, which sent Elizah stumbling backward. 

“This is barely anything compared to the sparring I’ve done with Jayden. This is just the beginning Adria,” Elizah said and she steadied herself and pushed Adria away within a moment. But Adria didn’t back down and instead charged once more, almost knocking Elizah over. Elizah was surprised, and by pure reflex found a way to put her sword at Adria’s neck, but in the meanwhile, she hadn’t realised Adria’s weapon was at her throat.

“Tied. Again,” Levi said and they laughed, “I guess neither of you wins huh.” They looked over at Varian and Emmeline who had started bickering.

Adria and Elizah both lowered their swords and shook hands. “You’re still leagues ahead of me,” Adria said as she sat down in the grass and sighed. 

Elizah was truly a warrior queen and was even a deadly beauty when she fought. Despite the scar that disfigured both her face and neck, she still had a beauty to her which always surprised Adria.

“How did you ever learn to fight like this?” Adria asked as she panted, out of breath.

“Circumstances,” Elizah said with a sigh.

She only had learnt duelling from Jayden, but after her coronation, she’d gotten more skilled in her tactics and techniques. The multiple assassination attempts she had faced had caused her to learn more and keep her thirst for a fight constant.

“I’m going to take a breather for a moment. Care to join?” Adria asked as she walked over to the palace, with the two kids.

“No you go on,” Elizah said as she sat down cross-legged on the ground.

While to others, rest would be a stroll or a breath of fresh air, to Elizah it was just lying in the grass.

She closed her eyes and focused on the energy around her, and couldn’t help but marvel at the beauty of the glow of life around her.

The energy no matter the number of times she observed it, there was always a hidden beauty to it that made the entire thing seem new each time.

She just watched the peace that was spread around her and slowly lifted her right arm to see if she could find a way to feel her arm again. 

Despite the fact that so many years had passed since the time that Noxaura had wounded her, the wounds on her arm and face wouldn’t heal, making it impossible for Elizah to transfer energy or heal anyone with her right hand.

She observed the way that things lost the light from them when she touched them with her right hand, but there was no way for the opposite process to occur.

She sighed as she took in the relaxing energy that pulsated around her, but suddenly noticed a strange disturbance.

There was something coming towards her, a mix of both darkness and light, a person, but they had a strange radiance to them. Elizah immediately stood up and opened her eyes to search for the person who seemed to be coming after her.

She picked up her sword from the ground and was in her stance to counter any attack that she was going to face. She skirted the area looking for the person, but instead chose it best to show the intruder that she didn’t know about their arrival.

She relaxed and made her way behind a tree as she wondered who it could possibly be.

Was it another Scintillian spy of some sort? Or an unsatisfied citizen?

Within a few moments there was a rustle of the grass and leaves and there was a blade at Elizah’s neck and she only smiled as she opened her eyes.

“What are you here for?” Elizah asked as she stared right into someone’s intent blue eyes that looked identical to Elizah’s own.

There was a middle aged man with brown hair and bright blue eyes. His face was serious but worn and mildly tired.

“I want an audience with the king and queen,” the man said simply as Elizah took his wrist and twisted it instantly.

The man winced in pain and his blade fell to the ground instantly.

“Well you’re with the queen already,” Elizah said with a glare.

The man gave a look of confusion and looked unbelieving at her words and his eyes still looked like he could pierce daggers through anyone.

“You have to be lying,” the man said and his hands touched the scars on her face.

“There’s no way a scarred creature like you could be the queen,” the man said as he tipped his head back and laughed.

Elizah gritted her teeth as she slapped his hand off her face.

“You dare say that again,” Elizah said under her breath and she was ready to prove him wrong.

“There’s only so much that one can lie. Keep up the good act,” the man said with a small smirk.

Elizah lost her temper at that and immediately pressed a point on his neck to knock the man out.

“Guards. Take him to the cells now,” Elizah said with clear frustration in her voice before she stormed into the palace with her fury clear on her face. 

Noxaura paced through her leader’s home as she was worried about her comrade. He had risked himself in such a stupid way that it was quite obvious that he would get caught as soon as he entered the palace.

You don’t need to worry. That creep is getting what he deserved.

She heard voices in the back of her head telling her to stop pacing. But she was clearly worried. 

There was a sudden knock at the door and Noxaura almost leapt into the leader’s arms.

“Is he alright?” She looked pleading and was surprised at her own emotions. Her leader only gave her a mildly astonished look as they looked to the ground.

“Nox, your feet are on fire,” the leader stated nonchalantly as they still stared at her in confusion.

Noxaura looked down and was surprised herself. Her magic had been uncontrollable and crazy lately but this was quite strange.

She immediately relaxed a bit and the flames doused.

“I didn’t realise it, I was worried,” Noxaura said sheepishly and her leader only rolled their eyes.

“He will be alright. Stop being so worried and practise your control,” her leader said with a sigh and could only wonder what would happen if the last member of their trio would make his appearance in front of Noxaura. They pulled up a devious smile on their face momentarily before they turned around to help Noxaura train.