Gaspard gripped his sword with both hands and stumbled to a standing position. The blue crystal laid on the floor between himself and the woman. It was the last one he had on him, so he had to make retrieving it his highest priority.

“I imagine that doesn’t matter to you. Your group isn’t well known for just letting people go,” he said in hopes to distract her from seeing the crystal.

In the state he was in, there was a low chance he would win. The woman’s appearance and the flag he’d seen earlier told him without a shadow of a doubt who he was dealing with. She was part of a group known as the Rings of Eternity.

They were a savage group whose goals were known by only the people in said group. All anyone knew was that they traveled from place-to-place terrorizing small towns and villages. They killed everyone and took their weapons, materials, and anything useful they might find.

As expected, the group was made up of proficient fighters. This woman would be no exception.

“Heh-Heh, not one for casual chit-chat, I see,” she creepily turned her head sideways, “At least I take it you should be strong—coming all the way out here and all that.”

Taking a single step forward, she then bent over, knocking Gaspard’s heart rate into the stratosphere. The woman picked up the blue crystal and brought it up to the pale moonlight.

“A mana crystal. Well, you won’t be needing that,” with a crunch, the crystal burst into tiny shards of glass under her fist. As she opened her hand, a semi-transparent orb was left in its place, breathing a light blue color. With a smile, the woman placed her palm, and the orb, against her chest.

She glowed blue for a second before returning to her grimier look.

Shit.

“Now…” she laughed, “let’s get this started.”

Raising her crossbow, she shot, not a hint of hesitation in her eyes. The bolt cut through the air, zipping the space between the two in an instant.

Crchnk!

The flat of Gaspard’s blade narrowly caught the tip of the bolt, shattering it into fragments. Gaspard’s reaction time was fast, but it took everything he had just to raise his sword. The impact was still strong enough to launch the weapon straight out of his hands.

The woman closed the distance, thrusting her halberd straight toward his chest.

He painfully turned his body sideways. The tip of the halberd scraped against his chest plate, shooting sparks as it passed by. In one fluid movement, she stomped to a stop, craned her body sideways, and swung the halberd mid thrust towards Gaspard’s torso, jabbing the blade on the side of the polearm into his armor.

“Urgh!” he let out as the vibrations reverbed throughout his body. The shock wasn’t pleasant, but luckily enough, the blade hadn’t reached his body, missing it by only a centimeter.

She pulled off the halberd from his armor, ripping it apart in the process.

Another shot rang.

A sharp sting ripped through Gaspard’s shoulder. Blood gushed from the wound, piercing right through, and jabbing itself onto the ground.

“Argh!” Holding his shoulder, he dropped to the ground, curling over in pain.

This pain—it wasn’t normal. Gaspard had once been part of an elven squad that was sent on missions throughout the country. In these missions, he’d been shot, stabbed, and hurt in many ways. But none had hurt as badly as this.

It was like his arm was being melted from the inside out.

Immediately, the woman kicked him in the wound, flipping him around to face her.

“Ever been shot by one of these? Probably not,” she laughed as she shot his other shoulder. The same excruciating pain welled up in that arm too. “It might not seem like it—” The woman twirled her halberd before dropping it directly onto his thigh. “—but this…I don’t derive pleasure from it. If people like you didn’t get in the way, I wouldn’t be forced to do this.”

The fiery sensation crawling through every limb left Gaspard unable to speak. His vision was blurry, and his head was swirling.

“Well…if it’s any consolation,” the woman continued, “You’ll be the last person I’ll ever kill—for a while at least.”

Why the hell would that be consolation?! He wanted to yell, but his throat wouldn’t produce any noise.

She sighed, “I kind of wished this would’ve been more fun. Well, I guess we can’t win them all.” The woman pulled her halberd out of Gaspard’s thigh. With another twirl, she aimed the tip of the blade toward Gaspard’s head.

“—!”

Rshing!

Another gush of blood sprouted into the air—but it didn’t come from Gaspard.

“AAhh!” The woman yelled, dropping her weapon with a clang.

His heart rate was beating against his ears. With every thump, more blood spilled from his wounds. A faint breath came up to his side, almost as heavy as his own.

Small cold hands pressed against his skin.

A string of words drifted into Gaspard’s ears, but he could only hear the last one as his full consciousness came back to him, “…heal…”

Disappearing into nothingness was, not only his wounds but the overwhelming exhaustion that had once plagued his body. His vision became still again. The moons high above became clearer than he’d seen them all night.

He turned his gaze to the heavy breathing to his right. There, he found a young girl with dark skin, pointy ears, and short purple hair. Her eyes were emerald-green, wide, and with tears filling her eyes.

“…I-It worked…” she smiled.

Before he could even thank her, another voice ripped his attention away.

“You…You…”

Standing before him, in between himself and the woman, was another figure. It was small, had short hair, and there were bandages wrapped around their head, a pair of horns sticking out from the top. Sharp nails extended out of the tips of their fingers, dripping with a red liquid.

“…You…filthy creature…” The woman screeched.

Gaspard jumped to his feet, bringing himself next to the small figure. He picked up his sword that was nearby and pointed it at the woman.

He glanced once at the girl. His eyes widened the moment he realized her eyes were bandaged, but he quickly turned back to the woman.

“…A Terranyx…didn’t expect to see one of those things here…” the woman held the right side of her face. Blood spilled from between her fingers. “The fact that not only one elf, but two would even stand near one of those…things.”

“She’s not a ‘thing’!” A voice yelled from behind Gaspard. The young girl that had healed him ran to the other side of the horned girl, holding the halberd that the wounded woman had been using. The elf girl’s hands shook, and her teeth were gritted.

The woman snickered. “Who do you think you are talking to like—”

“Are you sure you’re in any position to make threats,” Gaspard cut her off, “The way I see it, you’re quite outnumbered…and I’m almost full strength too.” He grinned.

Furrowing her brows, the woman looked at the three of them. After a few seconds, she smiled. “Very well then. I agree with your assessment.” She shrugged, “Are you sure that killing me now wouldn’t be for the best?”

Gaspard nodded, “Probably, but I wouldn’t want to put these kids in danger if I don’t have to.”

The small elf girl turned her gaze at him, a hint of surprise lying in it.

“I see,” The woman took a step back. “You’re really trying to play the hero, huh? Let’s see how far you can take that.” With that, she turned and began walking away from the trio. The woman’s hand that’d been covering her face lowered. “By the way, I’m Krista Ridson. Remember that name, for I won’t ever forget your face.” She turned her head, exposing the large gashes running across the right side of her face.

“Are you okay, Lia?”

“Mh-hm.”

“Are you sure? You better not be hiding anything.”

“Mh-hm.”

“I swear, if you get sick after this, I won’t be healing you!”

Gaspard looked at the girl’s conversation as he sheathed his sword. The elf girl seemed like the older sister of the two, inspecting the horned girl, whose name was apparently Lia, for any wounds.

Her emerald eyes then turned to him, turning her worried frown to a gentler expression. “Thanks…for clearing out the fire. We probably would’ve died without you.”

“Oh, no problem. I’m glad I could help.”

The elf girl bowed, “I’m Eleanor Reine.” She put a hand on the horned girl. “And this is Za’Lia.”

The family name “Reine” sounded oddly familiar, but Gaspard couldn’t pin down why. As for the other girl, the name alone told him everything he needed to know about what a Terranyx was doing in these parts of the country.

“Gaspard. No family name. Nice to meet you.”

Eleanor’s eyes widened for a second, but she quickly nodded.

Not having a family name was an oddity for an elf. It was no wonder she’d be surprised about it. In reality, Gaspard technically did have a name, but he didn’t associate with it any longer.

“Hungry.”

Both Eleanor and Gaspard turned to Za’Lia. She held her stomach as it rumbled on cue.

“Um, you wouldn’t happen to have any food on you?” Eleanor awkwardly smiled.

“No…but…”

They weren’t that far from the place he was staying at. It wouldn’t be that hard to go get something before they planned out what to do.

“…if you don’t mind going back to my place, I could cook something up.”

Eleanor furrowed her brows. She probably wasn’t too keen on going to some random person’s house.

Thinking it over for a few seconds, she finally nodded, “Fine, but you better not try anything.” She tapped the dagger sheathed on her hip.

Gaspard laughed, “I swear I won’t.” She probably wouldn’t be much of a threat to him, but he decided not to mention that.

She grabbed Za’Lia’s hand and pulled her close. “Okay then. Let’s go.”

With a simple exchange of words, the lives of the trio would be forever changed. How they would be changed, that was something none of them would’ve known at the time. Especially not the fact that they’d be living together for years to come…