“You don’t have to do this, you know?” Henry said.

  Twigs snapping and dry leaves crackling as Kiera strode forward in the woods that had long been swallowed by darkness. An hour and more had passed after dusk. The sun struggled to cast its brilliance as it slowly sank into the horizon. The woods had no fortune of receiving the sun’s st moment of grace. The surrounding mountain ranges cast a huge shadow on the entire nd.

  Without stopping her tracks and without gncing behind her, Kiera responded while keeping her stride. “I do have to do this. My people have done considerable damage to them. The least I can do is to pay for my people’s sins.”

  Henry raised an eyebrow. He followed closely behind her but not too close as to accidentally bump into each other if she suddenly stopped. “You’re not gonna just leave?”

  “And where will I go? I have been to many parts of the world. Rarely were the people so welcoming of a being that holds the power to decimate them all and there’s not a single thing that they could do. The people who do welcome me don’t welcome me out of the kindness of their hearts. They want to exploit me. Ulrum isn’t ideal but it is the best I have got. They accepted you but they don’t see you as a weapon but as their guardian. They don’t exploit you.”

  Henry chuckled inwardly. Rayne’s face came to mind. “Well, not all of them,” he mumbled.

  “If there’s a chance that I could convince the tribes to let me live amongst them, I will take it.”

  “By volunteering for a suicide act?”

  “Do you think so little of me?”

  “They are Arch Knights. You’re just one mage. I don’t doubt your destructive capabilities but unless you pnned to ambush them, I don’t see how you will win this. And you’re clearly not trying to ambush them. You’re walking straight up to them.”

  “You truly think so little of me. I appreciate you coming along but your concern is needless. I’ll be just fine.”

  Henry shrugged. “If you say so.”

  There was a small stream of water by the clearing ahead. There were five individuals taking a breather there. They were lightly armoured. They wore vigint expressions but fear was barely there. Confidence oozed off from them like smoke oozed off from a freshly burnt pile of wood. They were none other than the Arch Knights. They were wary of the threat the woods could pose but they did not believe for a second that they were in any true danger.

  “They sure are being very furtive,” Henry remarked. The two were not far from the clearing but not close enough for the Arch Knights to sense their presence.

  “They have been deceived by their arrogance. Aside from the Syers, there was nothing else and no one else that could challenge them in their might.”

  “But you can?”

  “I can. I have been waiting for this.”

  Henry frowned. “You have been waiting to fight the Arch Knights.”

  “To crush them.”

  “Sounds like you have some grudge with the Arch Knights.”

  “Everyone does. They answer to the king directly. No one can hold them down but the king. They have abused their authority for far too long. This will be their punishment.”

  “Have they done something terrible to you?”

  “I have quite the position in court, fortunately. Nothing too terrible, but the annoyance does accumute. Sadly, the same can’t be said for a lot of others.”

  “So this is vengeance?”

  “Amongst other things. This is also justice and retribution.”

  The moment they got within a few yards of the Arch Knights, the tter group immediately rose to attention and had their hands on their weapons. “Who goes there!? Show yourself!”

  Kiera did not hesitate in showing herself.

  When they saw Kiera, the Arch Knights’ grip loosened on their swords.

  “Kiera, is that you?” asked the Arch Knight standing in the middle.

  “It’s me, Rodrick.”

  The Arch Knight known as Rodrick narrowed his gaze. “...So, it’s true. You have become a deserter.”

  “And a turncoat,” Kiera added.

  Hearing her confession, the Arch Knights immediately drew their swords.

  “Bold of you to confess your sin so easily,” said Rodrick.

  “Sin? Do you really think I’m committing a sin, or is this just a performance you have to show in front of your peers?”

  “My opinions matter not. You have betrayed the kingdom and your king. There will be no clemency. Now, come with us quietly or die by our swords here and now.”

  “I don’t see the difference in those two choices.”

  Rodrick shrugged. “Do you want to die with dignity or die like an animal?”

  “Neither. Because I won’t be the one dying here.”

  Rodrick snickered. “I know you are quite the prodigy, Kiera. Even if those old fools hate to talk about it, they never could stop themselves from inadvertently praising you. You are powerful but you are frail. Mages are nothing without others to protect them while they prepare their spells. You are still far too naive, Kiera.”

  “Do you believe I am here alone?”

  “I know you are alone. No one and nothing can escape the senses of Arch Knights.”

  Kiera chuckled out loud. “I suppose it changes nothing. I, alone, am enough for the five of you or even more.” Without waiting for a retort from the Arch Knights, she snapped her fingers.

  The earth beneath the knights’ feet rose and entangled itself around them, akin to rampant growing vines.

  Kiera waved her other arm and sent a bst of wind at the knights.

  Three of the Arch Knights broke free just in time, but the other two were a second too slow. The winds took their heads along with their lives.

  Kiera did not stop there. She stomped the ground, and spikes shot out from underneath the three surviving Arch Knights. They all leapt away to safety in time, but Kiera was already casting her next spell. Energy gathered in front of her in the form of blue radiance.

  The Arch Knights understood the urgency. No words were needed between them. They exchanged nods, and they rushed at Kiera. Rodrick swung his sword first, throwing a beam of aura bde at Kiera.

  Kiera ceased her chant and unleashed the converging energy prematurely to shoot down the aura bde.

  The two rushing Arch Knights were upon her, their swords raised and ready to be brought down. Their faces were mostly obscured by their visored helmet but their eyes could be seen through the slits. Their eyes spelled their confidence in their victory. However, their confidence was snuffed out when they saw Kiera’s smirk.

  Kiera didn’t have the time to fully dodge the swords but she did have the time to take two steps back. The ground where she had just been standing began to tremble and morph. A rge spike jutted out into the air, into the two Arch Knights who were bringing their swords down.

  The feet of the Arch Knights had left the ground. They had taken a leap to amplify and quicken their strike. That was their grave mistake. They cut themselves off from any path of retreat. The rock spike shot towards them, and they could only watch as their arms and the sides of their bodies were gouged and torn apart.

  The Arch Knights let out howls of agony. Their cries of anguish spread far and wide. However, they were too far away from their camp. The soldiers of the camp remained oblivious to their plights.

  “Kiera!” Rodrick roared. “You dare to defy the king and the kingdom until your very st breath?!”

  Kiera scoffed. “You still think I would be the one drawing my st breath here?”

  Rodrick gnced at his fallen peers. They were gravely wounded, but they were still breathing, though they wouldn’t be of any more use in battle. “One who resorts to tricks and schemes can only win their battles from the shadows. I just need to drag you out of your shadow.” Aura burst forth from Rodrick. It then engulfed him before assimiting into this armour and body.

  Kiera wasn’t idle as Rodrick donned his Aura Armour. She willed the earth to ensnare Rodrick before conjuring bolts of wind. As the Wind Bolts shot towards Rodrick, the Arch Knight dove away, instantly breaking free of the elemental snare.

  More projectiles of the air and earth assaulted Rodrick but he skillfully dodged half of the waves while cutting down the other half that he couldn’t dodge. “Only earth and air? Are you perhaps afraid of giving your position away?”

  “Do you have to ask? Or have you only fought idiots who gave no thought to their surroundings?”

  Rodrick ughed. “I have misjudged you, Kiera. You’re not like the other mages. I have heard of your exploits in battles. I assumed they were exaggerated. Perhaps they are not. You thrived from them. This is rare for a mage.”

  “Enough talking.” Kiera ended the conversation abruptly and threw a jolt of wind at him.

  The wind struck Rodrick, but it only made him stumble and groan. “I’m offended. I won’t be defeated by some meagre parlour trick.”

  Kiera held down her annoyance and hurled boulders at Rodrick.

  The Arch Knight ughed while sshing through the boulders coming his way. The ground shifted once more, and the earth tried to ensnare him, but he easily destroyed the trap with a simple kick. “This is insulting,” he snarled and lunged straight at Kiera.

  The air rippled in front of the Arch Knight and he was sent flying backwards. Spikes erupted around him from the ground. He brought his sword around and sliced away the spikes before any of them could reach him.

  Before Rodrick could throw himself at Kiera, the Magus conjured a whirlwind that enveloped him.

  With a flick of his sword, Rodrick dispersed the enveloping whirlwind. “That would have been lethal for my brothers but not me.”

  Kiera rolled her eyes and clenched her fist.

  The whirlwind returned. It was stronger than before. Rodrick shrieked when he felt his Aura Armour being slowly shredded away by the enveloping whirlwind. “Your conjuration is insane,” he grunted as he struggled to break free, but it only accelerated the rate of his Aura Armour’s destruction.

  “Don’t you ever shut your mouth?” Kiera snorted.

  Seeing her belittling gaze, something snapped inside of Rodrick’s head. He let out a bellow, and his aura exploded. The explosion dispersed the whirlwind. He was free from his impending death. He wasted no time in lunging at Kiera who was just standing still with her gaze trained on him. “Your arrogance will cost you!” Rodrick shouted as he thrust his sword.

  Before the tip of the Arch Knight’s sword could get anywhere close to Kiera’s neck, something stopped his thrust.

  “What is this!? What have you done to me!?” He yelled and thrashed, but something was binding his movements. He could wiggle, but he couldn’t move more than an inch.

  “You talk a lot.”

  “And you are too naive. If you’re pnning to kill me, you should have done so quickly. Instead, you resort to this… attempt at intimidation. If you think you can get anything out of me, then you are sorely mistaken.”

  “Prove it.”

  Rodrick chuckled and began unleashing his Aura in a simir manner to how he escaped the whirlwind trap. However, this time, things turned out drastically different. Instead of breaking free from the invisible whole, his body imploded. Blood and flesh were squeezed out of his orifices. The mangled and disfigured corpse of the Arch Knight colpsed to the ground unceremoniously.

  “Idiot,” Kiera scoffed.

  “What did you do to him?” Henry asked as he stepped out of hiding.

  “I blocked his meridians.”

  Henry raised his brows. “You what? Meridians?”

  “Tiny little holes on our bodies that allow Murux to flow in and out of us. I blocked them with my spells.”

  “You can do that?”

  “It’s a simple trick. Too simple, in fact. It’s useless in most situations. It’s useless on people who don’t use Murux. It doesn’t work on Mages or anyone who has a basic understanding of Murux, as they could easily dispel it. Arch Knights consist mostly of talented individuals that gained their power and strength from their talents. They forwent a lot of tedious yet crucial hard work, which includes the basic understanding of Murux.”

  “Huh… I see. Why didn’t you use that on me?”

  “It takes time to cast and… your Murux flow is far too strong for me to block your meridians. I doubt you would even feel it if I blocked your meridians, which I did try.”

  Henry tittered. “Oh, Kiera. You are making me desire you even more.”