“You know, after serving Her Lady for so long, you get a feel of how reckless she can be.” A blonde Knight leaned on the door frame, shrugging as he smirked at the younger girl next to him.

  “Oh, you don't know half of it, Sir Asher,” A girl, fourteen years of age, honey brown hair, and sparkling blue eyes, “sometimes she’d just run off somewhere and I have to roam around goddess knows where just to find her?”

  Asher ughed and the maid stared at him. Her palms are a bit sweaty and her lips quivering. “U-Um, Sir Asher–By any chance are you free this—”

  “TEEERRRRIIII!” A rge yell broke free from the hallway as rge heavy footsteps rang loudly through the hall. “I GOT SOMETHING!”

  Teri snapped her head to her left and saw the Lady running in her dress and heels with a wide toothy grin and smiling eyes. In her hand seemed to be some sort of ring?

  “My Lady?” Teresa was a bit surprised as the young tigress reached the two of them with heavy breaths.

  “W-wait—I need air.” Alejandra grabbed a hold of the maids shoulder as she struggled to breathe.

  “You should work on your stamina more, My Lady.” Asher teased, “perhaps some more time in the barracks can help you?”

  “Shut up–haaah—Asher.” She spat in between inhales.

  “So what is this you wanted to show me, Lady Alejandra?” Teri intently stared at the Lady’s palms, as she folded them open, revealing a pair of silver rings. “What are these?”

  “They're enchanted rings!” Alejandra happily handed one over to Teri, “these are enchanted with protection and tracking spells! As long as we wear this, we know where the other person is, and if one of us is in danger,” She snapped her fingers, “It will turn red to signal the other wearer.”

  “T-That’s amazing.” Teri pced the ring on her finger and she could immediately feel the state of her Lady's health. This was a miraculous gift, “this is way too much for a servant like me, My Lady.” The girl smiled, feeling a bit guilty for accepting such a luxury.

  “Don't give me that,” The young tigress giggled, “you're practically my sister, and I want us to keep each other safe all the time.”

  “Cover each other's blindspots?” Teri raised her eyebrows.

  “Cover each other's blind spots.” Alejandra confirmed.

  “Do you have one for me as well, My Lady?” Asher grinned and Alejandra sighed.

  “Maybe next time, big guy.” She pced her hands on her hips and pointed at him, “for now. You. Me. Barracks. Let’s go.”

  “Ready to lose another time?” Asher crossed his arms and lowered his shoulders. “Shall we make my wins reach the 40s?”

  “Instead, I will make MY wins, to the 40s!” Alejandra procimed, “Teri! Be our referee again!”

  The maid sighed and pushed Alejandra’s pointing hand down, “It's rude to point, My Lady.” Then she smiled, “Let me get you in appropriate clothes first.”

  —

  “Kill.”

  It was darkness.

  “Kill.”

  Like being stuck in the bottom of the intrepid dark waters of the sea.

  “Kill.”

  A voice was speaking to her, it was her own but—a lot more manic—angry—vengeful.

  Alejandra felt cold…she couldn't see much, she was stuck in a fetal position floating in some abyss—it was a familiar experience yet it also felt like the first time she was perceiving this.

  She could feel her body but she couldn't see out of it, hear from it, or move it. It was like she was suspended from her own consciousness, left as the voice at the back of her own head.

  “Who are you~?” A ghastly voice she doesn't recognize whispered to her ear.

  “Who do you think you are?” Another voice she doesn't know called to her.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Where do you think you're going?”

  “What do you want?”

  “What do you want?”

  “What do you want?”

  Alejandra shifted her palms to her ears, endless directionless voices, dozens, filling her brain with a bunch of nonsense and noise. They collided together to form a jumbling collection of unintelligible words that grated her ears like a fork to a ceramic pte. “Enough.” She cried but the voices didn't listen, they grew closer, and closer, until it felt like they were directly inside her head.

  She screamed.

  At that moment, the voices stopped.

  A single echo, the sound of her own lips, called to her. “What do you want?”

  Alejandra started towards the direction it came from.“I want her back.”

  Suddenly a figure appeared before her—it was a small bluish figure. It was humanoid shaped but the back of its head was pointy. It had a small snout-like mouth shape with jagged teeth. Its arms were thin and long compared to its body and its toes and fingers felt interchangeable since they had the exact same length and size. All of this thing could fit in the palm of her hand. The st thing she noticed was sharp insect-like wings that protruded horrifically from its back. “Good Day, Master.”

  “It's you.” Alejandra immediately understood who it was. The voice…the being behind the frost sword, “what are you?”

  The thing whizzed around and flew around her buzzing its quick beating wings like some sort of bee, “What doth thy think? Hast my Master forgotten to use thy eyes?”

  Alejandra stared once more at the figure who snarkily nded on her hand. “You're a fairy?”

  “Indubitably.” The thing nodded. “Thou hath cometh with several names in the past. Often thou is referred to as Mikail. However; thee hath decidedly nameth me as your own.”

  Alejandra stared bnkly at the fairy in her palms. Every step it took on her skin was like a small frostbite.

  “Hoarfloe.” It stopped pacing, “that is thou the utterance of which thy now hath to be.”

  “W-wait before that—” Alejandra took a pause and the fairy, Hoarfloe, buzzed itself up to her nose, “how did you even end up as the te princess’s would be a sword?”

  “Merely perchance.” It shrugged and spun around her head, “Us fae, who's souls hath been pced upon a bde, rarely showeth ourselves.”

  “I see.”

  “Was it naught for mine master’s immense Spirit, thou would simply be a normal bde passed around till thou shatters.” It expined.

  “Why do you show yourself in front of me?” Alejandra worked hard to turn her head around to keep eye contact, “back then, you’d always avoid any direct confrontation.”

  The fairy smiled and sat on her shoulder. “I assume you've heard them?” It’s voice calm and eerie. “The ceaseless voices.”

  “I have.” Alejandra recounted the scene a few moments ago and she already began to hurt just from trying to imagine their different calls.

  “Those are the previous holders of this bde across centuries.” Hoarfloe ughed. “All mine previous masters.”

  Alejandra’s brain suddenly went on arm mode. She felt horrific and scared from the moment it’s words had finished. What does he mean by that? Was she also going to turn into one of them?

  “Do not fret, shall thee keep her sanity and not lose sight of thyself—thy soul will not be consumed.” Hoarfloe hovered just by her eyes, “I trust in thou’s ability to survive.”

  “So the whole time you didn't want me getting close was–?”

  “They wanted mine master's soul and control thy body.” It chuckled, “Of course, I don't intend to stop them if they are successful in doing so—however, I do enjoy thee’s company.”

  “So why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be puppeteering me?” Alejandra asked, “or have I perhaps already fallen to their grasp?”

  The fairy smiled and sat on top of her head this time. “Only a mere moment hath passed since thou began chasing that man.” Hoarfloe’s body suddenly grew colder and colder to the touch that Alejandra could see her breathing even in this empty void. “thou ask thee again, Deareth Master, what doth thou desire?”

  “Kill him.” Alejandra was simple like that. “I want to kill him over and over again. I don't care how long it takes or in what manner I do it. I’ll kill him.”

  The fairy made a sinister smile. “Affirmative.”

  …

  “Are you okay, Your Majesty?” Julian gnced at Ben as he fiddled with the timber in the campfire, “Your face looks sullen.”

  Ben’s eyebrows squeezed together and an uncomfortable feeling washed over him. The tips of his fingers ran cold and the back of his neck tingled with goosebumps, seemingly out of the blue. “I—I don't know,” Ben reached at the back of his neck to calm him down, “Just a bad feeling…I guess.”

  “Maybe you're cold,” The older kid across from him suggested, Vander Bay gave him a charming grin as he stabbed a reindeer kebab on the fire pit, cooking the one they caught earlier, “have some, hunted fresh by me.”

  “That I had to haul alone all the way over here.” Thomas compined again, ripping into the meat in his hand.

  Vander sighed apologetically, “I’m sorry okay?”

  “Brother is way too x when it comes to things like that.” Scarlet, his twin sister, piled on.

  “Not you too, Scarle. You know, I did that to save you.” He pouted but the girl just gave him a bnk expression and continued eating her fill.

  “Family used to say,” Autumn nudged Ben’s shoulder, “Bad feelings can be cured with warmth.” She leaned closer to him as they say by the fire.

  “Hooooh~?” Vander squinted his eyes at them. “Speaking of which, Your Highness. I was not informed of an extra member in this journey, I assumed it would be just us five.”

  “We found her on the way here in the Azaroln Duchy, we decided to help her get back home.” Julian expined, he then sat closer to Autumn to comfort her.

  “A Barbarian in the Northern Duchy?” Thomas raised an eyebrow, “that's suspicious.”

  “Is it?” Ben’s voice turned cold, feeling the turn of the conversation might turn discomforting to Autumn. “Nevertheless, it's my job to lead her home.”

  Scarlet turned her eyes towards the young girl. Her bnk expression being very hard to read, “Do we have any accounts of how she ended up there? You do understand the purpose of this mission, don't you, Your Highness?”

  The Prince pursed his lips as he stared at the emotionless girl, “I do. She’ll lead us to where they are, she knows the locations of the seals.”

  Vander had a smile the whole time, during which, it was difficult to gauge what he was thinking. He spped his knees and stood up, “Enough of that, what harm can another member pose?”

  “Several actually.” Thomas pointed out.

  “Shut up.” Vander clicked his tongue, “Let's prepare to head out after we finish eating, The Kingdom should be making their moves closer and closer.”

  He and Ben met eyes, “Sure.” The Prince stood up and matched the young man’s stride. Vander only smirked at him before turning his back and heading out the mouth of the cave.

  “Where is he going?” Julian asked.

  Scarlet shrugged and turned her eyes to look at Ben, still staring where Vander had long since left, “Probably to survey the area.”

  “Yo,” Thomas pointed to the Knight, “you're done eating right?”

  “Yes?” Julian gnced at the boy’s round cheeks and the gsses asymmetrically flopped at the bridge of his nose, “you want these?” He pointed to the remaining food by Julian’s side.

  The guy, Thomas, shook his head, “I’m done as well,” There was a judgemental gre fired at Julian's direction for a second, “I was gonna ask if you wanted to help me get some more firewood.”

  “Oh.”

  “Asshole.”

  “Sorry.”

  “So?”

  Julian blinked and stammered, Thomas standing up and offering his hand. “U-Uh, yeah sure.” He grabbed the beefy schor's hand and together they waved goodbye to fuel the fire a bit longer.

  Only three people remained in the cave, a naive barbarian girl, The Crown Prince of the Empire, and a mysterious noble dy.

  An odd group to say the least.

  Autumn gnced at the two figures beside her, she found herself in between both of them as the two continued on with their meal.

  “Miss Scarlet,” Ben opened, carrying a benign gentle expression on his face, “I apologize for how we first met, I didn't realize you and your brother saved us from imminent death.”

  “No worries.” She replied with cathartic monotone delivery. Her bronze eyes feeling less and less human-like and becoming more like a machine. Her snowblue hair glittering from the flickering fme, she leaned back and stretched her body like a cat. She then met Ben’s eyes who had been stuck to her this whole time, “you're staring.” She muttered, catching him a bit off guard.

  “Oh—uhmm—sorry.” Ben stammered, he doesn't understand how he could lose his composure around this girl. What could have been causing this—its like he was sent in a trance every time he looks at her—

  He wonders what the Duke feeds his children for them to be like this.

  Autumn pulls on his shirt next to him, she gnces at the boy who only nervously chuckles at her behest.

  The snow haired girl then stood up and cleaned up her pants before making her way towards Ben, “I’d like to ask something while the others are gone, Your Highness.” She shifted her gaze between the two teens. Her voice was like the footsteps in heavy snow, satisfying to hear and a delight to your ears.

  “What is it?” Autumn gulped anxiously.

  She pced her finger on the Crown Prince’s chin and stared at him in the eyes intently. “Do you have anyone you're seeing right now?” Her smile was a drug, her eyes were a spell, both had Ben feeling lost in them, he struggled to articute any of his thoughts if they weren't all in fire from just gazing at her face.

  What was her question again?

  “Your Highness,” A voice seemed to jog his memory but it was an odd one, it wasn't from anyone here but a voice from a long while ago, “I hope you never end up hurting the Lady shall you continue to pursue her.”

  This was a memory from after the ambush in the Capital, a thought he didn't put much significance to.

  “I wouldn't dare,” Ben replied, his mouth shaping into a cheeky smile, “you’d be mad if I did.”

  The owner of the voice furrowed their eyebrows as her eyes peered into him with a hint of annoyance. “Does it really matter what I think, You Highness?”

  Ben blinked and ughed, “Of course it does? You care for her right?” He looked away from her and out at the sky, “I wouldn't want to court someone without considering the opinions of those who care for her the most.”

  He then heard a small giggle from next to him but turned to just see the face that she usually wore. “Did you just ugh?” Ben teased.

  “You misheard, Your Highness.” She shrugged.

  “I know you did, Teri,” He felt a genuine smile peek from his lips, “just be honest and tell me how sweet and considerate I am.”

  The maid…well no, she was a Lady of Montgomery at this point in time. The young Lady of Montgomery frowned at him and sighed, “You really are something aren't you, Your Highness.”

  “Whoa.”

  “Hm?”

  “You didn't get mad at me for calling you ‘Teri’.”

  She gave him a confused look, “We're friends aren't we?”

  Ben stayed stuck on that word.

  Friends.

  He felt another smile creep up as his shoulders rexed. “Yeah…I guess we are.”

  Suddenly Ben’s eyes snapped back into reality, a memory that appeared out of nowhere for some reason. Why did that show itself now? He didn't really know nor had time to think about it?

  “So do you have anyone?” Scarlet was still a few inches away from his face.

  He blinked, getting himself out of that trance. “Yeah, kinda.”

  “Kinda?” The girl repeated.

  “I’m courting the master of this girl so I'm going to stay faithful to my promise to her. Don't know where she is though?” Ben’s heart seemingly settled into a calm. “I don't wanna disappoint the person who expects so much from me.”

  Autumn looked at him again. “Girl?”

  The noble dy also seemed intrigued.

  “I’m courting Lady Alejandra Ramirez.” He answered with a smile, “betraying that trust will rob me of a friend.”

  Scarlet grinned and sat back down across from the Prince. “I see.” She seemed peppier than she was mere moments ago. Autumn was a lot more silent, however. She was quieter and more meek.

  The daughter of Duke Bay went back to feasting on the leftover reindeer still cooking by the fire. She was eating quite a lot but her body seemed healthy and slim. Maybe she's just built that way.

  “P-Prince?” Autumn muttered next to him.

  “Yeah?”

  “Who's your friend?” She probably meant the one he was talking about earlier.

  “Someone who I worked hard to earn their favor.” Ben chuckled, “perhaps you’d enjoy her company one day.”

  Ben thought of Teresa.

  How was she doing now? I hope she's enjoying some tea with Lady Alejandra. Ben closed his eyes and thought of a scene for a moment. He imagined Miss Teresa and Lady Alejandra chatting and just eating cakes together.

  “I wanna see you guys again.” Ben whispered to himself.

  …

  “Sh–She’s no longer responding.” Bou panicked as her hands glowed blue from the water magic, “Her breathing is becoming slower and slower and I can't do anything about it!”

  “Lemme pull it out?” Cavael reached for the arrow but Bou’s father spped his hand.

  “If you do that the bleeding would become hard to control,” Nagged the Elf.

  “Wait, now that you mention it—” Millo knelt next to Bou and Teri, “there's no bleeding?”

  “That's impossible ain't it?” Royce added.

  The rest of their eyes suddenly widened in realization. Millo immediately gnced towards Bou, “Bou, didn’t you say you couldn't find a piercing wound?”

  “Y-yes?” She stuttered trying to understand why that might've been the case, “what if the shot was good enough that it didn't matter?”

  “No. That's unlikely. An arrow would almost certainly produce a gap for blood to flow out of.” Royce expined, “It doesn't carve a perfect hole after all.”

  “Maybe it's because this arrow doesn't work the way normal arrows do.” Millo touched the shaft of the arrow and it felt strange, weirdly cold to the touch.

  “Let me—” Cavael csped his hand around it and he immediately understood what it was—”an enchanted arrow,” He expined, “ye don't usually see this cause ye rarely reuse arrows so enchanting’em with magic makes no sense but this is definitely imbued with a special typa magic.”

  “Can you describe to me how it feels?” Bou’s Father stepped in. “I’ve researched so much about magic, I can probably figure out the spell.”

  “It’s cold to the touch,” Cavael started, “It has both elven and dwarven markings on it. It's carved in jagged lines and in straights instead of curves. There’s also a rough sloth symbol.”

  The older elf thought for a moment before excitedly jumping up and going through his backpack, he then took a notebook and flipped through it as fast as possible. “It's a comatose life drain spell—from the Water and Earth elements being combined! It uses the biting cold in the main snow subsection under ‘Water Magic Intermediate Theories’ and a few spells encoded in the dust spells subsection three under ‘Earth Advanced Magic’.” He ughed in hysteria. “It should've been obvious but the mania earlier had my brain all razzled.”

  “I did not understand a thing he said.” Millo interjected.

  “He means that it's a comatose spell that renders er in a vegetative state and turns em immobile, until the poor man’s life is completely snuffed out.” Cavael expined, “it's an extremely advanced spell that is often used for assassination since the cure for the curse is a bit convoluted.”

  The gardener’s eyes lit up. There was a way to save her. “What do we need to do!” Millo’s face was practically begging for a solution.

  The elf frowned and thought for a few seconds. “I can probably make a potion that can help her get better but—to fully cure the comatose curse—the person affected needs to have a strong desire to live, until then we only dey her death.” He expined, “still—it’s amazing we got this far.”

  “Thanks ta yer mind, old elf.” Cavael lightly punched the elf’s shoulders.

  “Ow.” His hand caressed the part he was punched. “Don’t praise me, it's because of you I figured it out…your dwarven touch really comes in handy.”

  Bou craned her neck to gre at them, “DAD, JUST PLEASE WORK ON THE POTION NOW!” She yelled.

  “AH! Yes! On it!” The elfman rummaged through his bag and prepared to do the alchemical process of potioneering. “Keep healing her with magic, it slows down the life drain part of the spell.” The old elf advised.

  “Got it.” Bou beg began casting the healing spell once more on the motionless body of the maid.

  Millo held tightly on Teresa’s small hands. “Teri, we’re all waiting for you. Alejandra is waiting for you. We need you to wake up…please.”

  Teresa wasn't dead—yet.

  She was barely breathing and her eyes were empty and soulless, almost as if she was hypnotized to die slowly.

  But she was alive—and there was a way to bring her back.

  As the others tried their best to bring her back to life despite all odds. An ominous frigid wind began to blow from the forest.

  Something was happening inside.

  Teresa's hands felt warm and in her fingers the silver ring began to turn slightly red.