The Antagonist's Full Moon

41. Light Lines

"Aghhhh!!"

Melian continued to fall through many sharp branches and leaves around her. Frode fell next to. Until finally they both stopped, stuck in one of the big branches. They were saved by the existence of uninhabited trees.

Melian felt dizzy from falling from a height of a hundred meters like that. His arms and legs were full of abrasions due to rubbing against sharp branches. However, he was still lucky to fall on a branch. If he had gone straight to the ground, he would have been dead.

Next to Melian, Frode fainted after falling with her. Maybe his head hit something, Melian doesn't know. What is clear is that the girl is currently releasing her magic power to kill Frode's life.

From the palm of Melian's hand, a huge round of magic radiated, which was directly directed at Frode's chest. The man flinched. His old vital organs were unable to withstand such great force, then died on the spot.

Seen from the sky, the soldiers found Melian on top of a tree. Melian clucked in annoyance. The soldiers did not becus all against three people, moreover one of them was human. Some soldiers helped Melian down from the tree. As soon as he set foot on the ground, Melian called out to her hawker bird that had escaped.

"What about Liv and her friend?" melian asked about the situation when she fell.

"They both managed to escape, Miss, towards the Nautabu mountains. Forgive us!" said a soldier.

Upon hearing that, Melian immediately scolded, "Stupid! Just don't becus! Free for you to pay!"

The whole army was shocked. They had never seen the usually meek and kind mistress turn so rude like that.

"But some of us are still trying to follow them, Miss---"

"Free!" melian shouted, cutting off the soldier's defense. "They're going to Lileathhof. Only those with great power could break through the temple's defensive layer. You guys should have prevented them before they got to Nautabu!"

From behind Melian, a soldier came down with Frode's lifeless body, and asked, "You want this corpse, Miss?"

"Waste it anywhere! Such a figure is not important to me!" sahut Melian riled.

The soldier gasped. It is traditional that any elf who dies, his remains will be sunk to the bottom of the lake, as the symbol is returned to the Goddess Lileath. Even after the war, all casualties from both friends and opponents were treated with respect. Drowned in the lake or buried. Throwing it in any place is like insulting the Goddess.

"But, Miss, later the Goddess will be wrath--"

"ah! It's noisy! Just obey my orders!" Without waiting for any more rebuttal, Melian immediately boarded her hawker, preparing to go to the Nautabu mountains. The Themaris soldiers followed. Their feelings were mixed, wondering why the eldest miss could turn into such a violent one.

***

Meanwhile, Dean and Liv have arrived at the Nautabu mountains. The journey that should still take up to two days, it can be shortened to less than a day.

The sky is so dark. The atmosphere of the forest in the Nautabu mountains is quite gripping. The two got off the wagon and started walking towards the northwest. Dean took a branch he broke in two, to become a torch for himself and Liv. Liv's magic power is enough to ignite a torch fire even without a wick.

Dean and Liv walk in silence, not knowing the fate of what Frode has experienced after falling with Melian from such a height. Before long, Liv's sobs sounded. He still did not expect Frode to sacrifice himself like that.

"Liv ... is ... ." Dean tried to calm the elf girl down. But her crying was still heard.

"Uncle Frode .. he ... "

"I'll change the story later from here. I promise," said Dean.

"Will Uncle survive if I do that?" ask Liv.

Dean shrugged his shoulders at the sign of not knowing. "Obviously, I'll try. Already, wipe your tears."

Dean wiped away the tears left on Liv's cheeks. The elf girl then realized that the wound on Dean's wrist had already closed completely. Liv checked Dean's hands thoroughly.

"Ah, you're healed. Thank goodness!" liv exclaimed, smiling widely when she realized Dean was fine.

"Come on, it's gotta be midnight. Are you tired?" dean asked, considering today is pretty solid. Early in the day Melian was arrested and thrown into the castle prison. The afternoon had escaped and chased until late like this. "If you're sleepy, we can find a place to rest for a while."

Liv shook. "Not at all. I want us to be able to arrive at the temple soon." Suddenly, Liv remembered something. "Oh, a minute."

From the girl's two hands, a white magic light emanated, then taped onto Dean's chest. The human man instantly felt a new flow of strength and stamina. The whole feeling of tiredness and swelling is gone, like just waking up long enough.

"I forgot that my magic is strong. I can restore stamina and delay hunger, hehehe!"

Dean chuckled, saying, "Right, we're too busy to run away, forgetting to eat anything all day. Then, you need your magic too."

Liv bewitched her own body with the same spell. Now they both are fresh. "Come, Melian must be catching up."

"You have to pull out a guiding arrow that can lead us all the way to the temple" Dean said. Liv scrunched her forehead and asked, "Land of the guide?"

"Try to form an arrow from your mist." Dean gave instructions.

Liv took her magic back. Suddenly a white mist came out of his body and glowed, hovering in front of Dean and Liv. The fog formed a long line towards the front with a taper end, like an arrow. The line points in a direction.

Dean said, "The Lileathhof temple has an optical illusion. With this, we cannot be lost. This line will move fast once ordered, so we'll have to catch up to it."

Lileathhof Temple is hidden behind a protective layer. The lining will trick the eyes, as if the temple does not exist. Anyone looking for the existence of the building will only go around in the forest. Liv's fog line helped them not to be fooled by the optical illusion. Dean recalls this scene in his novel, when Haldir was helped by priests using the same magic.

They both get ready. Liv casts extra magic on her body and Dean to make it lighter than usual. The magic is useful to make it easier for them to jump high for at least an hour.

Before long, Liv ordered her haze line to show the way. The next second, the line shot out like an arrow coming off of a bow. Dean and Liv immediately ran to follow, watching the ground they were walking on to avoid tripping over.

It's a good thing Dean and Liv have recovered some stamina. The two of them actually ran nonstop in the middle of the forest like this. Occasionally have to jump over large roots and hang on large branches. Liv's additional magic made the bodies of the two seem to float throughout the journey. Their faces were wet with dew that had started to appear on the surface of the leaves they passed.

That line of fog continued to move at the same speed, not stopping at all. Sometimes the line turns suddenly, causing Dean and Liv to change course and almost fall. The line chose the shortest path, even though it had to break through the bushes once.

After a full hour of running, the line suddenly disappeared, like it had pierced through an invisible wall. Spontaneous Liv stopped, then looked around for the line of fog.

"Disappeared?!"

Dean stopped next to Liv, pointed forward and said, "No, but go in that direction."

Liv walked closer to the point where her fog line disappeared. He felt the air in front of him. Suddenly, Liv's hand disappeared like the line just now.

"Perhaps, this is the coating? Am I allowed to just walk in like this?" ask Liv to hesitate. "Only those with great magic energy can enter, right? How're you? Did I go in first, then tell the priest to open the lining for you?"

Dean approached Liv, and felt an invisible wall before her. "Yes, your proposal is good as well---o-loh?!"

Dean was surprised, when his hand also managed to penetrate the layer of the wall. "Eh, can I come in too?!"

"Well, do you have great magic energy as well?!" Liv was surprised. Dean shrugged both of his shoulders.

"Not to think about it, let's just go in!" exclaim Dean happily. Liv also stepped up her legs, entering past the boundary of the protective layer of the temple. Dean followed after. They both thought it was a good first step.

But they are wrong. As soon as Dean and Liv's entire body was already inside the layers, a magic spear had been pointed in front of the face. About ten white-clothed warriors prepared to attack, using spears each towards Dean and Liv.

"Stop!"

***