Once breakfast was over, Ellava went through her wardrobe trying to find something suitable to swim in, and she sighed.

            So much for that, She wanted to say out-loud.

            Gareicht was waiting by the open door to her room, leaning against the wall, "Any luck?"

            "No," She whimpered, "I guess I'll have to wear one of these."

            "But the water will make them heavy and they'll stick to you, I don't really recommend that." Gareicht countered, and then was left with his thoughts, I guess I could maybe buy her one but I don't know her size and going in there would be pretty embarrassing.

            "I don't know if we have the materials...but maybe I could make one?" She pondered.

            "Oh do you know how to sew?" He blinked, surprised.

            "Yeah they taught me a bit at the monastery, but I self-taught myself for the most part, because sometimes when I clean my clothes end up ripping..."

            That doesn't surprise me, He wanted to say out-loud but he refrained, "I could go into town to get the materials if we don't have them, I just need to know everything that we'll need."

            "Okay, let me search for some materials, if not I'll write them down for you." She smiled.

            "Alright, I'll wait in the lobby." He walked off, and left her to her own devices.

            She came out about an hour later and handed him a list, "I only have 1 out of the 3 things I need. So I wrote the missing two on here, thank you."

            "It's not a problem Ellava," He smiled at her, I am running low on funds though, my poor wallet.

            They both waved to each other as he walked out. As he was in town, she got some visitors at the cathedral, they were of course after the spear.

            "I'm sorry," She told them, "But I do not have the time to deal with the likes of you today." She grabbed tightly onto her spear and ran towards them.

            Magic spells and physical attacks went back and forth like banter, and eventually she was declared the victor, a super-tired victor, but still a victor. Once this group was out of the barrier, she collapsed on her knees and then rested for a bit.

            But she felt more magical presences nearby.

            Why're there so many of them today? She gasped, and forced herself back up, she wanted to save her mana, but she needed to restore her health a bit, so she didn't have much of a choice.

She could sense the second wave coming, and got herself prepared, the first attack was a long-distance magical attack, go figure. She blocked it with her spear, but felt something gripping onto her from behind. It was a binding spell using tree roots, more burst out of the ground to bind her free arm and legs.

            "Ugh," She moaned, trying her best not to fall.

            One of the assailants came up to her, holding onto her chin, "Hand. Over. The. Spear." She stayed silent, keeping a tight grip on her spear, "Did you not hear me little girl. Hand it over!"

            "No." She remained defiant, and called her spear away, "And now you'll never know where I put it."

The assailant clicked his tongue, and punched her in the stomach, he pulled onto her hair, "Call it back."

            "No." She remained defiant, her voice while pained was rather clear, he punched her again, but because of the wood bindings, she didn't fall back, until he kicked her.

            "Why be so stubborn, if you just handed it over, this could've been avoided."

            "There's no point in handing over something you can't even touch." She managed to get out between raspy breaths.

            "The nerve." He kicked her again.

            Something's wrong...why is the barrier not kicking in...has it...abandoned me? If that won't work, I only have one more choice left, one that'll shorten my lifespan. She got back up, and spoke an ancient spell, one with a blinding light that went off like a bomb.

                                                                        ***

Gareicht held the items in hand, on his way back, he saw the brightest of lights, and heard what sounded like a bomb going off.

            "Ellava? ELLAVA!" He began to race towards the cathedral and saw smoke coming out of the now broken windows. He saw unmoving bodies--unsure of whether they were unconscious or dead, and a part of him didn't care. He ran into the cathedral, the ground floor and walls were burnt and caked black, the smell of smoke was practically unbearable, and then he saw Ellava lying down in the middle of it. He ran over to her, and gently picked her up.

            "Ellava. Ellava. Ellava!" He kept calling her name, but to no response, he noticed that her magic-mana was depleted, and her lifespan-mana seemed pretty weak as well. Her body felt pretty cold, "If you need mana, I'll give some of mine."

            He gently caressed her cheek, bringing their faces closer and closer, and he kissed her, to transfer the mana over. She felt warmer, so that was good, and he heard the weakest of moans coming from her throat. He parted from the kiss, and held onto her gently.

            "What happened...?" He said out-loud to himself. It looks like a bomb went off in here. He just sat there, holding her, never taking her eyes off of her, until the next morning. No matter how weak his mana was now from transferring it over to her, he refused to let himself fall asleep.

Once he noticed that things have quieted down, there were no more assailants to speak of, he started to let his guard down and he became more tired, his eyes beginning to close continuously even though he did his best to keep them open.