“What happened, Luka?” Gav’s voice was filled with concern as he knelt beside me, his brow furrowed with worry.

“We rushed here as soon as we saw the light and noticed you weren’t around,” Eleanor added.

I struggled to respond, my body feeling heavy and unresponsive. Every muscle seemed to ache, and I couldn’t summon the strength to even sit up. All I could do was watch as Gav watched the scene before him, his expression a mixture of confusion and alarm.

“What in the Guardians’ name happened here?” he exclaimed, his gaze lingering on the scorched marks on the ground.

Ari, clinging to Eleanor’s robe, spoke up timidly. “Bad guys in black attacked us. They hurt us, but Luka made them all disappear like magic. I don’t know where they went.”

“Disappear, huh…” Eleanor’s voice trailed off as he examined the traces on the ground, his mind clearly racing with possibilities.

“What?” Ada’s voice was filled with disbelief. “The light was from Lu?”

Gav’s frustration boiled over, his voice rising with anger. “What I want to know is what the fuck were you doing here with Ari, Luka Glynn?”

Struggling to push myself up, I managed to choke out an explanation. “It was my fault, I was playing tag with Ar…” Before I could finish, Gav’s fist connected with my face, sending me crashing back to the ground.

“Do you have any idea what you got us into?” Shouted Gav, his eyes flashing with fury. “You were supposed to protect Ari, not drag her into danger!”

Ada stepped forward, placing a calming hand on Gav’s shoulder. “Stop it, Gav, he’s just six,” she said softly, her voice trembling with emotion. “What matters now is that they are both safe.”

As the tension in the air began to ease slightly, Ada approached me with concern. “Are you injured, Lu? Tell me, please.”

Gav’s blow hurt a lot, but I managed to nod weakly in response. I knew that he was just worried about me. I mean, he probably held me to high expectations and I just… betrayed it.

“Safe? Do you fathom the seriousness of this situation?” Exclaimed Gav.

“I do, the light we just saw was most likely magic, Although I haven’t seen such a spell before. Nevertheless, we probably should escape this place.”

What? Magic? I used it? What the heck is happening?

Gav turned around and approached me. He held me in both his hands and said, “Let’s hurry up and exit the city, we will continue our talk later.”

As we were running towards the gate, I heard Gav say with a soft tone and a worried look, “I’m sorry for hitting you.”

“Shouldn’t we get a holf (horned wolf)?” Ada’s voice wavered with uncertainty as she glanced around at the surrounding chaos.

“Forget about the holf, forget about the belongings, forget everything,'' said Gav, his tone urgent. “We would be lucky to even reach the gate before th…”

Before he could finish, a sudden commotion interrupted him. A group of soldiers appeared, blocking our path, their weapons drawn and ready. At their head rode a man on top of an armored holf, He looked important and powerful.

“Darn it, they’re here already…” Gav muttered under his breath.

The man atop the holf surveyed us with a cold, calculating gaze. “Using magic in the holy city of Crownspire, are we now?” he said.

Ada’s breath caught in her throat as she recognized him. “F-father?” she stammered.

The man’s eyes flickered with recognition as he gazed down at her. “Hello, Ada. I see you’re still alive,” he remarked casually, his tone deprived of any warmth.

“Father, please let us go our way, we will never come back here,” Ada pleaded with desperation.

“A commoner dares to ask me for a favor?” he sneered. “And I can’t really let you go, not before I kill that kid.”

Fear gripped my heart as I realized the gravity of our situation. Ada’s desperate pleas fell on deaf ears, and I could feel the weight of doom pressing down on us.

“Now I don’t know how a madanian can use magic, but I cannot, I Aragon Brimstone, let such filth breathe the air of Madania. Now that I mentioned it, where is that little elf you’re hiding?” said Aragon as he turned his head slowly searching for Ari.

“That must be her” He added as he pointed at Ari. 

I didn’t know how we would escape this dire situation. How could we flee with an army right in front of us?

Suddenly Gav put me down on the ground, turned to Ari, then in an instant,  lunged towards Aragon, wielding his sword. "You won’t take anybody with you" he declared. As he prepared to strike, a larger soldier than Gav blocked the attack with his sword and kicked him. 

I noticed him right away, he was one of the two royal guards I saw at the arena.

The soldier then shed his armor, unveiling rippling, muscular arms painted with black tattoo stripes which began at his neck and back, extending around his waist and shoulders before converging at the center of his abdominals. “You won’t take another step towards our general,” he warned. Gav quickly regained his posture and launched another slash, but his sword unexpectedly broke in two upon impact with the enemy’s chest. He backed away, stunned.

“Surrender yourselves, you cannot escape” said Aragon “You should know you’re no match for my army, so don’t bother struggling”

“Over my dead body” replied Gav.

“You brought it upon yourselves” Sighed Aragon “SOLDIERS ! bring me the woman and kill the rest” 

What? Why would he want to take my mother with him? Fuck this weakened body I can’t do anything. 

As soon as Aragon issued the command, his soldiers surged forward into action. Three of them ganged up on Gav, but they were quickly overpowered. With swift agility, Gav evaded a slashing attack, countering with a powerful elbow uppercut. Seizing the opportunity, he snatched his sword and parried another blow before dispatching the second assailant’s head, causing blood to gush out abruptly.

In a fluid motion, Gav leaped into the air, gashing the sword through the third’s skull gouging his eyes out. Rising to his feet, Gav swung his sword, sending droplets of blood scattering into the air, before directing the blade towards the muscular soldier.