Creative Heavens

One could barely see the sky from within the forest. The sun's rays were nonexistent. The group slowly treaded through the forest. Only the sound of their footsteps and rain could be heard. The captain gave a slight cough as he shook himself awake. It was cold. They were almost there. The only had to escort the princess to the village up ahead. At their current pace, it shouldn't take more than a few hours. They would make it by nightfall. Though, considering the current weather, and the sheer thickness of the tree canopies, it may as well be late evening.

Her Highness, Millia, was a young girl, dressed in a simple gown and a cloak to ward off the rain. She travelled with five soldiers and two of her Royal Guards. Her father, the King, had asked her to bring more men with her, but she refused. A day's journey to a village shouldn't be that dangerous. At worst, they would only encounter a band of thieves or bandits. Nothing they couldn't handle. But today… Something was different.

The forest was dead in silence. There were no sounds of wildlife, no chirping of birds, no sounds of insects. There was only the sound of the rain, and howling of the wind.

Two of the group were lagging behind a bit. Princess Millia's Royal Guards. Leah, and her subordinate, Kael. Leah was middle aged woman clad in silver armour, and a red cape with the insignia of the Eamonian Crown. One of her swords was sheathed behind her. Her other sword was by her hip. Kael was dressed in a similar manner, but he had his sword, a keepsake of his father, by his side, and a shield strapped behind him.

"Leah…" whispered Kael.

Leah gestured him by moving her head. Her eyes were focused on other matters – their surroundings.

"Something isn't right…" Kael said without hesitation. He felt a sense of unease since he entered the forest.

"I know." replied Leah, still keeping her attention to the trees. "I've been keeping an eye out on our backs since we entered… But there's not a soul."

She couldn't shake off the uneasiness either. Her arm was gripping onto the hilt of her sword. Even though she couldn't see anything, her instincts were screaming that someone, or something, was watching them.

Then, it happened.

"Hello your Highness…"

It was a voice. Hollow, cold, and made everyone dead in their tracks.

In that instant, a black shadow that was reminiscent of Death itself swooped past them, and floated in front of the group. A figure materialized.

A man with long silver hair, with the red eyes of a devil, stood in the shadow's place. He was wearing robes, with red rubies studded at various points. It was clear who this person, no – demon was.

"Ja – " stuttered Leah.

Before she could finish saying his name, his words, his spell, echoed through the air.

"Dias Ftifor"

The words could not be understood. He did not perform magic, that was what magi did. He was a warlock. His skill surpassed magic. It was more appropriate to say that it was divine intervention. An action that no human - magi or not, could perform.

The rain intensified, and a howling wind came. Then, screams were heard as the princess's escorts, the captain and his troop, were swallowed by Death itself.

The princess was backing away, shocked and terrified. While Leah and Kael were advancing to cover Her Highness. They were unharmed as they were at the back of the group.

The rain and wind died down, but didn't stop completely. The Royal Guards were in front of Millia now. Their weapons raised, even though they knew they were no match for him.

He was around 15 metres away, and the princess was 5 metres behind them. Even if he ran, Leah should be able to intercept, and keep him occupied enough for Kael to bring princess to safety... Even though the chance was slim.

And in an instant...

The warlock was gripping the princess's hair. He was no longer in front of them.

Leah had no time to contemplate how he did it. She just swung her swords at the warlock on reflex. Her arc would decapitate him, with her speed and power. She was sure of it.

Then she coughed up blood mid-swing. Her eyes lost focus as she figured out what was wrong. The warlock was in front of her, smiling with the princess in hand. She then noticed that there was something solid protruding out from her chest.The tip of a lance.

She tried to look behind her, but all she saw before she lost consciousness was her subordinate, Kael, metres away to her left, clutching his bleeding left shoulder.

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Kael was stunned for a moment when he a saw a shadow pass the warlock. He was no longer there. Then a scream from behind him, and he saw Leah swing her twin blades with a pincer attack. He was about to turn as well, but his instincts took a hold of him as he instinctively raised his shield to block an incoming attack.

He couldn't see it, and he felt a sharp pain on his left shoulder. He could see the weapon now, as it had pierced his shoulder. It was a lance, and it went through his shield. Before he could swing his free arm, with his sword, at the attacker, he had the wind knocked out of him as he felt a sudden blow to head. A roundhouse kick, straight to his temple, that blurred his vision and sent him flying metres away.

He lost the grip on his blade as he was sent flying. The sharp pain on his shoulder was the only thing keeping him conscious. As he numbed the pain with his mind and kept pressure on his wound, his eyes only met with the sight of Leah being impaled by the wielder of the lance.

He was helpless. He couldn't even stand now, and all he could do was see his teacher die in front of him. In his mind, he knew he would probably meet his end here as well. A group of five trained soldiers, and the princess's Royal Guard. Wiped out in a matter of minutes, no – seconds, by two... Only two individuals.

Kael was biting his lip to stay conscious. He would not black out there, not in this situation. The lance was dislodged from Leah, and her lifeless body dropped onto the wet ground. Now that Kael noticed, the lance wielder was a woman, barely older than himself. She had short dark green hair, and it parted in the middle. He knew who she was.

"Vynn..." Kael coughed, blood trickling down his chin. "Ilia..."

The girl turned to his direction, and readied her lance once again, to pierce his heart then and there. As the lance was about to strike his heart, she stopped. Kael could see the tip of the lance clearly, there were faintly glowing red symbols engraved on the blade itself. It was clearly no ordinary lance. It could even penetrate his shield without resistance.

Her eyes met his, and it seemed that she saw something.

"Why didn't you finish him off?" asked a hollow, lifeless voice. "Its not like you to leave survivors."

"I believe we need to send the Eamonian Kingdom a message..." she answered bluntly. "And he's the perfect messenger."

"Hmph." scowled the warlock. "Do what you will, I will not be responsible if the Emperor beheads you for leaving survivors."

Vynn ignored his comment, and turned to Kael.

"It will do you well to remember this." she began. "Your princess belongs to us now, and if you try to recover her..."she trailed off. "Well, you won't make it in time either way."

Before Kael could even nod or say anything, she gave him strong kick to his stomach. Kael's consciousness was fading... Before he blacked out for sure, he could only hear the voice of the princess... Crying for help.