In all of a sudden, her lips touched upon his skin. However, it didn't feel like Blue's lips. When she popped her eyes open, she noticed it was Blue's finger stopping her lips from getting close.
In that brief moment, Blue's and Celina's eyes were close, only few inches away, they both awkwardly exchanged stares.
"That won't be necessary." Blue said, throwing his manly and warm breath upon her cheeks.
Celina lurched away with a screech, she sat and noticed the floating skulls were already gone. "What's going on?" She said.
The old man laughed heavily as he hugged his stomach. "Sorry for that, I just made it up, those spirits are actually harmless."
Celina sprang up annoyed, she stomped her foot. "I can't believe you fool us Uncle!" She hissed.
Blue snickered. "I can't believe you were actually gonna kiss me if I haven't stopped you."
Celina's cheeks blushed heavily, her face was visibly red, a heavy blunder smacked her chest, she could feel herself melting away from embarrassment. "Whatever, I am done." She leaped over the boat, dipped into the waters and swam across the lake.
"Hey, you're going in the wrong way missy." The old man said, correcting her direction.
***
The dark clouds loomed under the city of Raxin. Loud grumbling noises engulfed the outer stony walls of the city, on the ramparts were archers with their bows nocked and ready, they aimed their weapon to the throng of demons on the base of the walls. The demons below battered the iron gate with their clubs and bats, thus far they only inflicted several dents, but anyone could tell it won't hold for long. They then fired to dwindle their numbers, however they were stubborn.
The lanky demons crawled upon the walls, they were shot down by mages and archers who kept an eye above the ramparts. The army of demons were pushing their way through, climbing like ants upon the high walls, one or two often gets to clamber successfully but they were taken care by the knights on standby.
A confident looking captain of Raxin, his face still as a rock with his burly posture, walked to and fro behind the line of archers, giving commands and strengthening their morale, but there was a shred of anxiety written on his face, and it was well hidden.
The demon have started their attack this early morning and it was now noon, sadly enough the demons showed no signs of tiredness.
His men however were turning sluggish, then out flung a rain of spears skewering the archers infront of him. One almost hit him, it flew close to his chest.
"Enemy reinforcements!" One man yelled
The captain quickly crouched behind the rampart walls, he peeked over and noticed a seperate approaching demon army from the distance. They looked like an incoming swarm, merging with the army they were currently battling, swelling the population size of their enemy even further.
"Captain Shugart, what should we do?" A soldier approached his side, then stooped to hide.
Shugart snorted in displeasure. "Where are the crusaders? I heard they will arrive today?" He said in frustration.
The man infront of him turned anxious. "Actually, I just recieved a message, the crusaders was delayed because they were ambushed by a demon forces."
"What!" Shugart bursted a word. He turned his eyes to the vast army of demons, they were hurling a shower of spears that dwindled his men on the ramparts. It pierced through their flesh, some fell from the walls, while most of his men collapsed like bowling pins, blood spurting out on the stony rampart.
He noticed his men's posture were turning unsteady, their morale were wavering.
"Men, hold them! Do not falter." Shugart hollered.
Shugart cursed and clenched his fist, he took a bow, some arrows and fired upon the demons. It struck him bad when he realized, him joining won't change the tide of the battle.
Several demons managed to scale the walls and land upon the rampart, Shugart unsheathed his sword then sliced them down quick. The mages and archers could no longer keep up with the numbers of the demons crawling up.
Most of the knights have joined the battle, they engaged the battle against the demons upon the ramparts.
"Elite demon!" A man warned them.
Shugart halted, he turned his anxious face into the open landscape, surveying the chaotic crowd of demons. He gritted his teeth when a demon with slightly different in hue, advanced forward. It stood out from the other demon with its composed gait, and its movement had some hint of grace.
It was a tough looking demon, with a broad torso, its skin seemed dense and hard judging from its smooth texture, since there were no creases found on its skin as well. Its head had a horn like rhino, it then crouched as it eyed the iron gate. The demons stepped sidewards, creating a path for the elite demon.
Upon sensing the intention of the demon, Shugart widened his eyes.
"Shoot it down, quick!" Shugart commanded.
With his voice echoing through the walls, most of the archers directed their aim upon the elite demon. Arrows rained down upon the elite demon, most that struck its skin were either snapped or deflected, giving them an idea its skin was rock solid.
Seeing it was no use, he sneered.
The demon lunged itself forward like a rhino with its head first, then it slammed upon the gate, with a heavy clang, the gates got bent and fell apart, making a path for the huge demon army to enter the city.
The demons cheered with their arms rose up.
Shugart slammed his fist upon the wall. "Damn it! The city is now done for." He spat.
A man besides Shugart took a monocular telescope and peeked through it, he then gasped in surprise after what he just saw. "Captain, the reinforcements have arrived."
Shugart felt relieved. "How many?"
"Two." He replied.
"Two? Then how will that change anything?" Shugart said confusingly.
The demons mirthly celebrated when the gates were brought down, however they got hushed quick when a layer of ice crawled across the battlefield, it ran across the throng of demons petrifying them and turning them into ice sculptures. The ice magic expanded outwards transforming the entire landscape into a glistening, icy surface.
The men on the ramparts fluttered their eyelids, they blinked one more time just to make sure they weren't dreaming. The army of demons below were turned into ice statues, and the noise got quelled in an instant.
"Captain, it's Skylar the third Pillar!" Said a man shocked.
On the distance, was a jet black haired young man who wore a grey shirt, he crouched and touched the ground with his arm. "Absolute Zero!" Skylar declared.
Right beside him was a girl in fancy red robe, she had a long, smooth blond hair fluttering freely on the open the air. She had a bright cheeks, her face was young and shy, glimmering tiara affixed with bright rubies was found on her head, she was clasping both of her hands infront of her as though unconfident. The entire land was encased in ice, except for the ground where she stood. Her name was Herana.
Skylar chuckled and rose himself up. "Let's go Princess." He said.
Princess Herana nodded, she then scampered to his side.
Her eyes were sunk to the ground as she clung unto him. "Skylar, the demons scare me." She said.
Skylar smiled. "Don't worry Princess, I'll protect you."
They weaved though the field which was filled with demon sculptures, she could tell they were still alive beneath the ice since their eyes were actively darting. Her grip upon him became tighter.
The knights near the walls quickly took care of the demons who weren't caught by the ice. The soldiers poured out from the gates then took the opportunity to slay the demons while they were defenseless as statues.
One demon broke out from the ice, shattering it to pieces, as they recognized it was the elite demon from earlier, it snarled from frustration and mowed down the soliders infront of it. It then turned its enraged face to the calm Skylar, it was distant but Skylar could feel its oozing bloodlust.
"How dare you human!" It roared, and crouched on the ground readying itself to attack once again.
Skylar patted Herana's shoulder. "Princess, could you stand back for a moment."
Herana nodded and went to a safe distance.
The demon charged itself like a train heading to Skylar's direction, it heavy and pudgy body gave an impression it was unstoppable.
However, Skylar stood still unperturbed, he stooped to the ground, when the demon got close enough, "Ice spear!" after the cast, tilted ice spikes were conjured from the ground heading to the demon, it jabbed the demon's body, yet it didn't penetrate through its skin, the demon continued breaking through Skylar's ice.
Skylar smirked. "You're not bad, then how about this, Ice wall."
A broad several layers of walls of ice rose up from the ground, on the first or second layers of ice it broke through fine, breaking it into pieces, but when it reached the seventh layer it turned slow, until it lost its momentum completely upon the last layer.
Skylar strolled towards the demon who were recovering its stance, when he was on point blank range he touched the demon chest. Upclose the demon loomed over him, it's grotesue face, and buldging muscles would send some fright on anyone's skin.
The demon growled and rose its giant fist, then when it thrusted his fist towards Skylar's undettered face, the demon's arm were halted on the air as though it stopped itself. The knuckles of the demon were only few inches infront of Skylar's face, yet no signs of fear were emanated by his expression.
There was no signs of ice on the demon's body yet it got petrified, it couldn't move an inch of its muscles.
Thin shards of ice were slowly forming atop its skin. The demon groaned as it shivered hard, its mouth were releasing a puff of cold mists, as though its innards were being frozen. It's skin turned pale blue as though it was a corpse.
Skylar gripped the demons arm, and with a gentle tug, the demon's body fell apart and shattered into pieces like a fragile ice, its body parts were like a broken vase, scattered into pieces on the ground. "Ice Break!" He casted, with a cold, unforgiving eyes.
***
"Bye younglings." The old man on the canoe said, waving his arm upon the two.
Celina and Blue finally left the lake and the foggy area, Celina crossed her arms with her face away and tilted up, displaying an irritated expression. She was obviously pissed from their joke earlier, and still haven't moved on.
Blue had dried her clothes again, as much as he wanted to help her, the thought of being reduced to a cloth drier was starting to get on his nerves.
Both silently walked on the hard packed dirt road, besides their path was a vast and lush pastures gently swaying by the breeze. The mountains on the horizon carved an outline upon the clear blue sky, upon a glance on his front, the road they were on seemed endless as it stretched further even beyond his eagle-like sight can see.
The sun was almost sinking, however he can stay the night anywhere he wanted, he still haven't experienced any signs of drowsiness, so he had no need of sleep yet. The woman however were his concern. He pointed at her. "Hey woman, you should hurry before night fall."
Celina snorted wildly, she went on first and ignored him completely.
At least his ears was quiet, the whispers of the nature sounded better than her annoying squeals. He can breathed in more calmly.
"Blue, next time I'll double the embarrassment you caused me." She said aggressively.
The peaceful and silent atmosphere he just felt were quickly broken. "I prefer going with you when your mouth was shut." He said.
Celina jolted her arm in anger. "What happened earlier will continue to hunt me in the future, especially everytime before I sleep." She said.
Blue laughed, scoffing her. "Was it that bad? Or did you rather prefer if I didn't stop you?" He said.
Celina flushed a bit, she hastened and trudged her steps. "Geez, whatever." She said.
She slowed down and her anger went away when she noticed a village on the distance. There were paliside walls surrounding the village, with a tall wooden building near the gates, which seemed to be a watch tower. The tall and thick trees nearby somewhat concealed the village. It seems even the smallest settlements were prepared against any demon attacks.
Since the night was coming they could probably find somewhere to rest in this place.
The tall palisade walls with its pointy tips soar up at tree's length, inside was a tall watch tower that protruded over the walls. The man on standby in the tower seemed to have noticed them, he gestured to someone directly below him.
Then a moment passed, the tall, wooden gates swung open in a slow pace, when it got opened wide, they noticed the gates were being heaved by a group of men.
Seeing they weren't suspicious of any humans, their defenses were obviously focused on demons alone. Blue and Celina strolled and entered the village gates.
The men behind the gate stared at Celina surprised. "You, are you the Light Wielder?" A middle aged man said.
Celina nodded.
They then gazed at each other with amusement, then back to her. "What is an important person doing in this place?" One man said.
"Well, I'm thinking of resting in here for the night." Celina said.
The men pushed each other as they asked for her attention. "Miss, you can try my inn."
"No. I have an extra room, I can offer you for free." Another butted in.
"Wait, try mine, we will offer you free food." One jumped in.
Celina winced a bit, weirded out, she moved several steps backwards and chuckled in a friendly manner, hoping she won't be rude. She grabbed on Blue tightly, then dragged him with her. "Blue, let's go." She whispered. Then they went away. "Sorry, guys but I'd like to turn down your request."
They went away, and when she got far enough, she panted to rest herself. Blue narrowed his eyes upon the environment they just entered.
One assessment of the village, it was composed of casually designed wooden homes with twatched roof, most had a porch on their fronts. The village was a small one, the other side of the palisade gate were already within their sight, the houses that surrounded them were countable. Inside, they could clearly see the broad palisade walls enclosing the entire village, somewhat blocking the view of the woods.
The sky seared in red, the fluffy couds were burnt in hot crimson, even with the sun absent from their sight they could still guess it was already sunset. Stars glow faintly upon the dark-red sky portrait, revealing half of its glow while most of the stars were still hidden awaiting the full force of the night.
While Blue spaced out as he surveyed the village, Celina tapped his shoulder. "Hey, we need to go and find an inn, I'm getting hungry. Can you come with me?" She said.
"What are you five? Go on by yourself." Blue blurted.
Celina gave an irritated gasp. "Geez Blue, I have no time for jokes, we need to move now."
Using his own arm, he motioned for her to go away. "You can go on first, I'd like to roam this place for a while." He said, then spun away.
She rose her lower lip, she lurched forward and grabbed hold of his arm, and then dragged him with her. "You know that I have a bad feeling about this place, you can't just leave me here." She said assertively.
Blue smacked his lips, he retreived his arm away from her clasp. "Fine woman." He said.
Celina yelped in excitement. "Yey, so let's go Blue." She went on first, strutting away.
Blue sighed in defeat. "Your annoying presence might kill me before your magic can." He whispered.
Outside the inn, they stepped upon a wooden stairs that led to a porch that was slightly elevated from the ground, infront of them was a double door, they could peer through the gap between the doors. They could hear the rowdy and rough noises of the men inside, Celina pushed the doors and entered, the room was fairly lit, she then sifted her eyes, appraising the room's interior.
Rotund, grimy tables filled most of the spaces of the room, they were seated by brawn men, who seemed to be the villagers, none of them were fighters, except for one table on the corner that were striking on firat glance. It was seated by five men with swords draping on their waists.
On their front was the front desk, and behind it was the inn keeper, who kept on puffing some smoke as he bit the tip of the tobacco pipe on his lips. He was a middle aged bald man with a scruffy beard.
The two gaited across the room, the people around snuck a glance upon them, Celina could feel a prickle on her skin, it was obvious for her even if they tried to hide their stares. Celina gulped as she probably sensed some malintent from the strangers, regardless, she continued until she reached the front desk.
The innkeeper stood up, he leaned forward and dropped his weight upon the desk. "Is there something you need?"
"How much for a room?" She said.
The innkeeper breathed in his pipe then blew out some smoke. "Every room is occupied, you have to try the other room."
Celina sighed in dismay.
A voice reached their ears coming from behind. "Hey, miss Light Mage care to join us." A man said.
She whirled to check it, she saw three men who casted friendly smiles to her, she sensed no malevolence or deceit behind their faces, they were probably sincerely kind. She was reluctant at first but due to their persistence, she was forced to nod at some point. She then faced Blue, "Hey Blue come with me."
Blue narrowed his eyes upon her. "This again woman?" He said then spun, and trotted away. "I'm tired of your nonesense."
Celina hugged his waist causing him to stop. "Please Blue, I would feel uncomfortable being alone with them."
Blue grunted. "Then, just refuse."
"I can't, I already said yes." She said, tightly locking him on place.
Blue growled and couldn't decide what to do at this point, he complied eventually, they were given some seats as they joined in on their table.
"I was surprised to hear that the light mage came to visit our small village." The tallest man said.
The burly man nodded. "Yeah, definitely."
Atop the table was a metallic grey brazier which held a candle, it illuminated their vicinity. Around it were the mugs of men, the ale frothed inside it, pluming an alcoholic stench on the air.
Celina chuckled aa she tried to force herself into the conversation. "Well we came here by chance." She said.
"So where do you plan to go now Miss mage?" The bearded man asked.
"To the north west." She said.
The tallest man seemed excited. "Then, are you gonna stop his highness?" He said.
Celina sighed. "Maybe at some point." She said with a voice only stronger than a whisper.
The burly man grunted, he slammed his fist on the table, startling anyone close, he growled as he glared upon the tallest guy. "Don't you dare call that pig his highness, call him a swine. Everyone suffered because of his selfishness, that bastard." He blurted with a flushed cheeks, it was obvious he was already drunk.
The tallest man chuckled and let his bursting words brush by over him. "Calm yourself, if any loyalist were to to hear you, you might dig a grave for yourself."
The burly man huffed in rage. "Let them come and get this fist." He said stubbornly.
Celina forced a brief laugh, the bearded man slid her a clean mug of ale. "Miss mage, do you want some drink?"
She shook her head. "No, I prefer wine."
The bearded man hollored across the room. "Hey, she wants some wine!"
A waitress came to her side, her clothes were stained as though giving an impression she had been working non stop from the collective ale spilled upon her. "What would you like?" She said to Celina.
"Well, any good wine will do." Celina said.
The waitress nodded. "The most expensive is two silvers, the cheapest one we got is one silver and ten bronze coin."
Celina stroke her chin, she recalled Don's words not to spend profusely, but anyway who cares, Don wasn't here. "I'll take three bottles of the most expensive wine you have."
The men around her were astonished and had a bit of worry written on their faces. "That's a lot of money Miss mage." The bearded man said.
Celina felt assured when she checked the money inside her bag, she still had a lot of money so splurging several silver coins won't affect her that much. But one silver coin was enough to feed oneself for a week with a good money management.
The waitress scampered away and went to the front desk where the innkeeper was.
The bearded man pointed at Blue. "Hey sad guy, maybe you want some ale?"
The tall man chuckled. "What are you brooding there for, join us." He said.
Blue grunted. "Shut your traps, I'm not in the mood right now." He said harshly, turning the air around them cold.
Celina hit his head. "Blue, behave yourself." She then turned to the men. "Sorry, my friend here is just suffering from depression. I hope you can understand."
They were silenced, and when they returned to their senses, they forced a laugh to maintain the mood.
"Oh, don't worry, one day he'll be happy." The burly man said.
The tallest man sighed. "Maybe, I can cheer him up."
Blue smirked. "Don't bother, I already heard every joke there is, nothing will surprise me anymore." He said coldly.
The burly man laughed. "Pretty bold of you to say that, sounds like you're challenging me, ha ha ha."
The slim wine bottles were delivered to her, she was given a glass as well. Celina turned to Blue, she was slightly vexed when she saw he was the only one who didn't have a drink. "Hey Blue, do you want some?"
"I don't drink." He said.
"Then, what do you want?" Celina said.
"Human blood." Blue said coldly.
Celina frowned, creasing her face. "Except for that one." She said somewhat annoyed
Upon noticing his throat was a bit parched, he thought he might need to consume some liquid. "If you bring me some milk I might consider drinking it." Blue said.
The men nickered. Celina sealed her lips as she was about to burst into laughter.
Blue eyed them irritated. "Is there something wrong with that?"
Celina giggled beside him. "I didn't know you have a cute side, Blue."
The bearded man could barely keep his laughter, he called the waitress. After she went to their side she waited as the bearded man spoke. "Can we order a milk for our little guy here."
The waitress chuckled. "We have ran out of mugs for now."
The bearded man proceeded. "That will be fine, you can just call his mother so he can suck on her breast."
The other men bursted into laughter. "What is he? A toddler" The tallest man added.
Celina laughed heavily as well besides Blue. "Good one uncle, let me try." She cleared her throat, their attention gathered to her. "No wonder why he's so pale." She chuckled, expecting a laugh.
It was answered by an awkward silence, she fluttered her eyelids as embarrassment boiled up on her face. "Get it? Because, he has the same skin color as a milk?" She said with a fading voice. Sweat started to drip on her face.
Blue bursted a fake laugh that echoed across the room. "Hahaha, I find it funny, you're a true comedian woman."
Celina got irked, she then stomped upon his foot, which caused him to wince and cease laughing. She snorted as she looked away.
The men laughed. "Missy, leave the jokes to us, ha ha ha." They slammed the table with every laugh they got.
The men continued scoffing. "He's probably just sad because he hasn't had milk for years." They spout a jeering laugh. Celina was incited to chuckle as well.
Blue gritted his teeth as he grunted, he glowered upon them, flaring his sharp, raging eyes. "Okay, I had enough of you fools." He spat.
The men nervously chuckled, they held out their arms gesturing Blue to stop. "Sorry for that, we're just kidding haha." One said.
Blue sprang up from his seat and oozed out a strong bloodlust throughout the room, it sent some jitters on their spines. Celina pulled him to sit down. "Blue that was just a joke, calm down. Don't take it seriously, geez." She said.
Blue sighed, vebting his frustration on his words. "Yeah, the joke earlier even caused you to stay silent for hours. Tell me once again straight to my face about taking jokes seriously. Hmmph, stupid woman."
Celina stuck out her tongue, she grinned snarkily.
He returned on his chair, his keen ears picked up something odd, he focused his hearing on a certain table on the corner. Lately, one table have been eyeing Celina since she came went inside the room.
***
On a table found on the corner, Five men drew their face close to each other as though they were in a meeting, every minute or so they cast a glance upon Celina's table. Then the double doors slid open, a person with a dark cloak stepped inside the room.
The men became uneasy when they noticed the approaching dark cloak person. "It's Grim." One said anxiously.
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