"Aine…?" Konrad asked again.

"Stop putting on a brave face and sit down." I told him sternly, tugging at him gently and pressing down on his shoulder to make him sit.

Bewildered by her actions, Konrad obliged, sitting down next to the broken carriage.

"Aine, we can't stay here much longer. Fion can handle them."

"No, he cannot." I replied as I racked my brain for the proper healing circle and activating it.

Three white magic circles rotating in varying speed clockwise and counter-clockwise appeared beneath him, bathing him in its warm light.

I hovered a hand over his side, making a smaller version of the circle and has more concentrated ether in it to heal the worse of his injuries.

I was probably too concentrated on my work that I didn't notice Konrad ogling at me in surprise.

"Damn it!" We heard Fion yell angrily as he was thrown back and hitting the carriage with a resounding thud.

His clothes were now in disarray, with several cuts and dirt mixed together; a small trickle of blood ran down the corner of his lips.

Struggling to get up, he was surprised when the same healing circle appeared beneath him, and he looked down at the ground stupidly.

"Have you forgotten how to be a magic swordsman, cousin?" I asked from the other side of the broken carriage that serves as a makeshift shield. "If you did, I'll give you a hint on how to be one again. Those horns serve as lightning rods and if overloaded with the right power, it will buy the others time to deliver their own attacks without fearing for their lives too much."

Fion gaped even though he couldn't see us. "Why are you still here?"

"His Highness is hurt."

"Then please leave as soon as you can." He said as he stepped out of the healing circle.

"Don't forget about the lightning rods."

Fion left to fight again, avoiding the knight one of those mad dogs had pierced through with their tail and flung towards him.

"You—you—" Konrad finally stuttered out, staring at me wide eyed.

"Me?"

"How did you…?"

I created those things, I grimly thought. Of course I'd give it a weakness that Allen could exploit later.

"Your Highness must have forgotten due to your blind devotion." I told him as his wounds finally healed up and I cancelled my magic. "I am a daughter of the Carran family,  before I became a Holy Maiden or a Saint or whatever the Church wants me to be…"

I stood up, brushing down my skirt. "Granted I don't have enough field experience like my brothers, nor did they allow me to hold a sword or spear, but I've always wanted to be their tactician. No one else knew this of course."

I stopped, frowning and inclining my head to the side as I recalled entries from the diary I’ve read. "No, I think I told Clarisse before."

Shrugging, I walked over to the side of the carriage and poked my head out to check the surroundings, missing out on the subtle change in Konrad's expression when I mentioned Clarisse.

The mad dogs are still alive and barely injured, while the royal knights are getting killed or severely injured left and right.

Fion and Kieran don't seem to be doing well either.

"That stupid and prideful little…" I muttered, glaring at the back of Fion's head, and I hoped that my glare sent cold shivers down his back.

I turned around to look at Konrad, hands on hip. "Your Highness, since you're now healed, shouldn't you help them?"

Konrad continued to stare at me before shaking his head as if to clear his mind. "No, we have to leave. At most, we have to ask for reinforcement from your family."

I blinked at him, before pulling out a single feathered charm made of white gold with a bright blue stone in it.

Supposedly this was the item crafted for us siblings  to use to immediately let them know where we are when we need help.

Allen and Darius never used theirs, nor did they ever wear it.

The original Aine must have used it when she snuck out and that accident that brought me here happened.

Using this will make my sneaking out moot but we can't really take on four grown mad dogs.

Also, Allen has his trusty plot armor that will protect him until the end of the story so I might as well use him as my sword when needed; coincidentally, Konrad's plot armor also worked earlier when he was stabbed.

The rest of us here don't have it so I have to pull them into fighting those dogs off or else I'll meet my death early without being able to do anything significant.

Channeling some of my ether into the charm, the stone glowed bright.

I'm not sure if it can only serve as a marker for them to find us quickly or if I could also send a short message to them.

Ah, it doesn't matter. I need their help or else we'll be dog food.

I was jerked out of my concentration when Konrad pulled me back into his arms and jumped up high in the air, his teeth gritted tightly.

"Don't space out like that." He scolded me as I noticed we were floating up in the air, with a considerable distance from those dogs' reach.

Subconsciously, I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and hooked one leg over his, burying my face in the crook of his neck while holding tight onto the charm that is still pulsing with my power to serve as a beacon for my brothers.

I don't have anything against heights, however the realization that being up in the sky like this is like being in open waters, with predator creatures waiting below for their food.