*With a smile, a tall elf, with snow-white hair and blue eyes stand before them. he is wearing a black armour shaped like a crow, with metal feathers and all. The armour was even if expertly crafted to be protective, allow agile movement and still be pretty pretentiously detailed.”

Drake: ”L’on se revois de nouveau, Félix. et tu as avec toi une damemoiselle. Qui est-ce, cette fois ci?.”

Eleonore: Did you understand what he said?

Felix: Could you speak common like everyone else Drake? The princess doesn’t understand elvish, and I do NOT want to have to translate everything.

! See the targeted compendium on how langages work, link in the serie description !

Eleonore: Wait so you know that guy?

Felix: Yes, he is my enemy, my opposite, my adversary, my…

Drake: Such flattery Felix. I'm simply his rival your highness.

Felix: I'm guessing you're here for the deal?

Eleonore: A deal?

Drake: Yes, whoever wins gets to use the other one for stuff like help for a contract for a week. I win if I kill him since he can resurrect anyway. He wins if he knocks me out. But this time, I want something else. I want the princess.

Eleonore: So you are with those two elves from earlier?

Drake: Oh please, just because I'm also an elf doesn’t mean we are working together, we simply have the same target. But worry not princess, I am not here to kill you like those two.

Eleonore: Any plans to avoid him?

Felix: I accept the offer.

Eleonore: What!?

Felix, softly: Have no worry’s princess, I do not plan to lose. Even if I did lose, I won't abandon you. We could use the extra help, I fear that now that they know I’m protecting you, those who want you dead will be forced to use better tricks.

Eleonore: ... Don't lose then!

Felix: I promise.

*The two men are facing each other. slowly, they come closer, to arm's length. They pull their sword and cross them in the air, symbol of starting a duel. When their swords touch, they proceed to take one step back and ready their battle stance, it begins! Felix starts with a forward swipe, but as his sword approach Drake’s chest, he transforms into a swarm of crows, and the sword pass through like he was made of liquid. Dashing forward, Drake is now in Felix back rematerializing. Felix is just quick enough to block his up-strike.*

Drake: Still falling for my old trick?

Felix: I just thought you wanted to show-off in front of the princess.

Drake: Tss…

*Every time that Felix manages to pass Drake’s defence, he turns into his swarm of crows. It is quickly clear that Darke is agiler than Felix. Drake manages to strike him once on his chest, leaving a bleeding cut.*

Drake: I grew stronger since our last fight, behold my new move! 

*Drake once again turns into a cloud of crows and move 20 meters behind him, and starts an incantation*

Drake:“Mana, écoute moi, et tranforme toi! Devien Fil et bois. Un arc tu deviendra, et mon adversaire tu vaincra”!

*After the incantation, a large quantity of mana turns into the shape of a bow. After a second, the mana turns into wood and string, and takes the aspect of a real bow, while having a faint gaseous blue glow.

Felix: *laugh* what kind of incantation is that? Sounds like a kid bedtime song! 

*Drake, Offended shoots 3 arrows towards Felix. One of them scratches Felix's leg as he tries to dodge in Drake direction, to reduce the distance between the 2. Felix Jumps in the air, holding his sword with both his arm, his weapon catches on fire, and add power to the swing. Drake as just enough time to drop the bow, who turns back into mana, and draw his sword to block Felix attack. Felix smashes violently on Drake sword, which makes him uses a lot of energy to absorb the shock. Then, Felix quickly let go his right hand from the sword to do a fiery punch. He hits one crow directly, which make it disappear, while a good amount of the flock is hit by the fiery deflagration.*

Drake: Urkk

*While one crow dying can easily be replaced, the fact that Felix hit many of them does some serious damage to drake, who is starting to show signs of tiredness, and a little bit of blood comes from the elf mouth. 

Felix: "Te confugio erupturam igni"

Drake: "Je te lance un corbeau explosif!"

* While both men are still a meter away from each other, Felix lobs a fire grenade in the direction of Drake, while Drake shoots a dark energy crow at Felix. Both of them are hit by the explosion coming from the other attack. They step back, facing each other, trying to figure out the other next move, while trying to catch a breath. Both of them starts to show signs of exhaustion*

Drake: I have no choice but to use my trump card. "Que le ciel s'obscurcise par mon armée de corbeau, plongeant le champ de bataille dans les ténèbres!"

*At his command, an army of crows exits Drake’s arm and rushes high in the sky. Soon, their black feathers absorb all the light, and it is now pitch black even in the middle of the day.*

Drake: remember this move? Its the one that beated you last time!

Eleonore: Felix!

Felix, thinking: I may not know where he is, but I know where he must go.

*Felix closes his eyes, focusing on his other senses. He waits to sense Drake’s presence nearby. When Drake's lounges for an attack, Felix quickly starts to say his incantation.*

Felix: now! “Dimittam magna moles industria Orcorum tenebrarum, blazing quis tam insipiens est quam accedere me”

*Flames erupt from Felix, causing a large fiery explosion. The fire creates enough light to let the princess see Drake getting caught by surprise. His crows are no match for the explosion as they are all hit at the same time. Due to the strength of the explosion, Drake is knocked 5 meters back before violently hitting the ground. He spits a bit of blood on the ground. Drake seems to be in no condition to fight anymore*

Felix, Terribly exhausted: I think... *huff* That means I won *cought*

*The princess rushes to Drake's side, helping him to stand up, forgetting for a moment what the man said before the fight. Felix falls on the floor, he spent a lot of energy in this battle.*

Drake, a bit of sadness in the eyes: A deal is a deal, (whisper: thank you, princess), I shall follow you through your journey. I suppose you're going to your lair?

*Felix doesn't answer, he is now lying on the floor. The silence is broken when his body starts to combust*

Drake: I was really THIS close to beat you? If only I had managed to last a little longer.

*Felix rise once again from his ashes, and continues the previous conversation like nothing had happened*

Felix, straightening his clothes: That’s right! We need to train the princess before we can investigate the rumours about king Bertrand.

Drake: I believe he is currently the one in control of the princess's kingdom right now. I heard he said it was to keep it safe until the princess's return. I heard only good things when people spoke of him. 

Felix: I am still not convinced.

Eleonore: News goes faster than I thought.

Drake: Oh, right, sorry milady, I forgot that you must still be grieving. It was yesterday after all.

*Eleonore was hiding a great sadness inside caused by the death of her father. She had not felt as much sadness for the death of someone since her mother died. Her heart had created an armour of stone to protect against the weekly mortalities of those around her. But the arrival of Felix had given her hope and had managed to open a door to her damaged heart. She felt like his presence help her digest the hard events better.*

Eleonore: It's okay sir Drake, we must focus on more pressing matters.

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*They journey toward the opposite side of the hill. The elf had fled after seeing its prey disappear through the earth. Only the horse of the dead elf remained, eating the grass. The princess approaches the horse and masterfully tame him with her natural kindness. They now each have their horse, and journey back to Felix’s destination. The princess, remembering that she didn’t like Drake, decide to confront him while Felix lead the group far in front*

Eleonore, angry: Why did you want to take me as… some sort of prize!? Is it for a larger bounty? Did you want to bring me back alive? I don't know why Felix trust you, but I don't!

Drake: You are mistaken milady, I didn’t want you for myself, I wanted to keep you far from him.

Eleonore: What?

Drake: It is dangerous to venture with him your highness, he has many enemies… Powerful enemies. He lost people he hold dear because of those enemies. I remember when he had a sidekick to join his adventures. They were looking like they were happy together. But one day, the sidekick disappeared. When I tried to ask him about it, he refused to talk about it, and he was back to treat me like an enemy again. He was the one who came up with that “deal” thing by the way.

*Drake felt a melancholic sadness, the one you feel when sad memories affect your mood. The princess’ anger melted away, he was not the pretentious prick that she thought he was*

Drake: I worry about Felix, I want to help him but I can’t. I just didn’t want you to be caught up in all of this, so this is why I tried taking you away. I wanted you to be safe, away from him. You should leave his side before it is too late.

*Eleonore remembered that she had told those same words to Felix before the ball, and the tough put a smile on her face*

Eleonore: Do not worry for me knight Drake, I trust that you shall both be able to ensure my protection. Also, I am stronger than you think.

*Drake was gonna object to be called a knight when he realized it was the princess's way to tell him that she was now trusting him.*

Felix: We arrived!

*They were facing a large cliff, with an imposing metal door big enough for a dragon. On it was carved a large symbol representing a bird made of flames. About a hundred meters up, you could see some sort of plateau made of stone. A dwarf-sized lizardmen come out of the door and come to greet them*

Lizard… thing?: Welcome back, Master.