Chapter 4 Mistress of Flame

"My sword!" Captain Hamlin gritted his teeth and bravely advanced toward

Sollel, thinking that Sollel still hadn't

recovered.

"Give it back, you witch!" Sollel did not listen. Instead, she spun

the sword around her hand like an

expert warrior before gripping it

tightly again and using its sharp blade

to cut her other palm, letting her blood

soak the sharp edge of the sword.

Standing in the center, surrounded by

the soldiers and Captain Hamlin, Sollel

slowly closed her eyes to concentrate

before muttering under her breath,

"Blood of flame, come forth and burn

my foes."

Sollel opened her eyes and saw how

her blood on the sword turned into

flames, gleefully dancing. Now the

sword was eagerly covered with fire.

It was blazing and blistering hot, but

Sollel wielded the flaming sword as ifit

were a part of her, spinning it around

her hand as she moved to annihilate

her enemies.

Sollel was like a demoness

wielding flame, and the fire burned

fiercely as she mercilessly slashed and

burned her foes, precisely moving her

flaming sword like she was performing

a piece of art, not sparing a life, but the

captain's.

Seeing how his soldiers were easily

defeated, Captain Hamlin started

backing away. His mind was planning

to escape and come back with a

moonrite stone, but before he could

take a step, the Mistress of Flame

wielding a flaming sword appeared in

front of him.

Immediately, Captain Hamlin dropped

on his knees and begged pathetically,

"Please don't kill me! I'm just following

orders. It's not me! It's General Adri.

Please spare me. Please! I'm a nobody!"

Sollel didn't think twice or hesitate.

With a single slash of her flaming

sword, Captain Hamlin's head was cut

off from his neck and flew. When it

dropped on the ground, it rolled down

a couple of times before it stopped,

Hamlin's face facing the ground.

Instead of blood dripping from his

head, it burned; the flame mercilessly

devoured it.

Seeing her dead enemies, Sollel

dropped the flaming sword. The

second the sword left her hand, it

melted in a heartbeat.

Looking at the melted sword, Sollel

remembered her war blades-a twin

Sword made of lava and fire stones

blessed by deities. It was the only

weapon that could withstand her blood

of flame and would not melt. But it was

taken away from her; she didn't even

know if it still existed.

Sollel stopped looking at the melted

Sword and turned her head to her right when she felt Cira's presence.

"The moonrite stone?" Sollel asked

when she saw Cira.

Cira showed Sollela leather pouch.

"In here. This is a sealing pouch. Don't

worry. It won't leak."

Sollel just nodded and silently walked

past Cira. It was Sollel's way bidding

goodbye, hoping that their paths would

not cross again. She knew she'd end

up dragging Cira to her problems, but

then, Cira ran after her.

"Who are you really?" Cira demanded.

She had her doubts and wanted to be

certain.

Sollel didn't answer. It's better for Cira not to know.

"Don't you think I deserve to know the

truth after I lied for you and my life

is now ruined?" Cira was just saying

anything that came into her mind to get

an answer from Sollel herself.

Sollel stopped on her tracks and turned

to face Cira. "We have to part ways

here, or you'll be in constant danger."

Cira hid the leather pouch in her

satchel and looked at Sollel sternly. "I

don't care about the danger. I want to

know who I risked my life for."

Sollel remained silent, so Cira

continued asking.

"Why are the Infernal Empire soldiers

Looking for you? Why are they so

desperate to capture you?" Cira asked,

not giving up on getting an answer from Sollel. "Are you really a wanted

criminal like they say? I saw you

wielding a flaming sword..how could

you do it? A halfling Ytherian couldn't

possibly wield such a powerful flame.

Does that make you a pure-blood

Ytherian? But that's just impossible!

Even pure-blood Ytherians can't turn a

sword into a flaming one!" She looked

into Sollel's eyes. "Your name...is that

really your real name, or did you lie to

me about it?"

Sollel shook her head quietly.

"You were really named after the

Mistress of Flame?"

Sollel looked into Cira's eyes and

answered, "I am she."

Cira wanted to laugh at what Sollel

said. But seeing Sollel's earnest

expression and recalling the event that

had happened-her scabs and wounds,

her unusual hair and eye color, the

Infernal Empire soldiers, the moonrite

stone, and the flaming sword-Cira

finally accepted the truth that she

had been doubting since she saw the

Woman.

"I thought... you're dead." Cira was doing her utmost best to remain calm.

A sad smile appeared on Sollel's lips as

she conjured a small ball of flame in

her hand. "I maybe weak considering

how I was caged and tortured for more

than a century, but I'm pretty much

alive, Cira."

Cira's jaw went slack, and her speech

became erratic as she understood

what was happening. "T-that's why

the I-Infernal Empire is 1-looking for

you! Th-they want to r-recapture you!

Oh, my deities!" Cira's hair on her skin a bedtime story among halflings and

non-humans!"

Sollel's face darkened. "Tell me the

story."

Cira nodded and immediately told

Sollel the story she knew too well.

"According to the story, after the

siege, you, Queen Sollel, the Mistress

of Flame, was taken by the Infernal

Empire.

Queen Astrid, the Mistress of the Wind, was imprisoned in the

Kingdom of Caelum. Queen Gatria, the

Mistress of Nature, was imprisoned in the Kingdom of Treterra. And

lastly, Queen Aenwyn, the Mistress

of the High Seas, was taken to Nayale

Archipelago."

Sollel's rage toward the four kingdoms

doubled, but she controlled her raging

anger and spoke to Cira calmly. "Thank

you. I have to go-

"Are you going to save the other

queens?" Cira could guess what Sollel

was thinking. "Let me accompany you!

I can be your guide, Queen Sollel."

Cira looked too eager, gone the

indifferent elf who gave Sollel an

essence.

She would never let an opportunity like this pass. To travel with the Mistress of Flame would be Cira's greatest honor. "I have traveled far and wide after I was banished from the sacred forest. I know everything

there is to know about Azitera."

Knowing that she couldn't stop Cira

and leaving her here was dangerous,

Sollel nodded and accepted Cira's offer.

She indeed needed a guide indeed. It had been

more than a century. She knew that

Azitera had changed over the years

that she was imprisoned.

"Where to?" Cira was smiling happily

because Queen Sollel accepted her

offer.

Sollel took a deep breath and chose

the nearest presence she could feel.

"Gatria..."

Cira immediately faced north. "To the Kingdom of Treterra then."

THUNDEROUS SOUNDS of footsteps

from combat boots could be heard

from the great hall where the lord

of the castle was sitting on his black

throne chair. The great hall was a

rectangular-shaped room with a thick

red carpet, a high ceiling, and glass

windows with chairs on both sides. In

the top-middle was the black throne

chair that only the lord of the castle

could occupy.

At that moment, the lord of the castle

had his chin propped on the back of

his clenched right hand, his elbow

resting on the armrest, and his eyes

closed while listening to the incoming

footsteps.

Alone in the great hall, it only showed

how confident the lord of the castle

was on his combat ability that he thought he didn't need the protection of

his right-hand man, the commander of

his warriors, to receive their uninvited

guests.

Even after the door to the great hall

opened, the lord of the castle didn't

open his eyes to greet his uninvited

guests. His eyes remained closed.

Without waiting for the lord of the

house to greet them, the head of the

group that just entered the great hall

introduced himself as he knelt on one

knee, simultaneously bowing his head.

"I am General Adri of the Infernal

Empire, requesting an audience with

the warlord."

With his eyes still closed, the lord of

the castle, the warlord, spoke, his voice

deep and callous. "Speak."

General Adri immediately revealed

the purpose of his visit to the warlord's

castle. "A prisoner of the empire has escaped, and the empire is seeking for

your assistance."

"Oh?" That piqued the warlord's

interest. "How do you think I could

help? Do you want to borrow my

warriors?"

General Adri answered without a

thought, "The empire would appreciate

it if the warlord lent us his warriors,

but the empire would appreciate it

more if the warlord himself would

hunt the prisoner."

The lord of the castle chuckled coldly

at the audacity of the empire to order

him around. "You can borrow my

warriors, but I'm afraid I must decline

the empire's request to personally

hunt down the prisoner.

I have more important matters to take care of."

General Adri gritted his teeth. He

would do anything to get the warlord's

help, so he divulged a secret that he

knew I would get a positive response.

"The prisoner who escaped is none

other than Sollel, Yther's Mistress of

Flame."

The warlord's sharp black eyes opened.

"The Mistress of Flame?"

General Adri nodded. "Yes. She escaped

with a traitor's help, and we found her

outside Beastrela. Unfortunately, she

escaped again and burned our soldiers

until they couldn't be identified

anymore.

But even so, the empire believed that the Mistress of Flame is still weak. and after spending all her energy fighting our soldiers, wherever she is now, she's an easy prey. The warlord straightened his body and looked at the general. "There are strong warriors inside the empire. Why come to me?"

"Because you're one of the seven

remaining descendants of Sappher,"

General Adri answered eloquently.

"With your strength, weapons, and

combat prowess, you could easily

defeat the Mistress of Flame."

The warlord gritted his teeth because

he's one of the people who knew

the real history of Sappher with the

Ytherians. The Kingdom of Sappher was known for their proud warriors

and their arcane weapons that could

grant its owner an ability that only

the owner could wield.

And as proud as they were, the warriors of Sappher declared war against the Ytherians to show the whole Azitera their strength, and it was a miserable defeat that caused the decline of Sappher, to

the extent that only seven families

remained. He came from one of the

seven families.

After the decline of Sappher, the

seven remaining royal families of

Sappher scattered throughout Azitera

to strengthen themselves with a vow that someday, they would gather again

to defeat the Ytherians. And three

generations later, the warlord still

hadn't met a descendant of Sappher

other than his traveler good friend,

Xeke.

The warlord took a deep breath. "Very

well. As one of the descendants of

Sappher, I will hunt her down, but I

will do it alone. You and your soldiers

will only slow me down."

The warlord's arrogant tone did not

sit well with General Adri. He, too,

was a warrior and shouldn't be looked

down upon. Not only that, but the

warlord was also much younger than

the general, and the general believed

that young warriors should pay respect

to their elders.

But even though he felt insulted by the warlord's arrogance, he

still nodded and agreed. The emperor's

order was clear, and that was to ask the

Warlord's help io drag the Mistress of

Flame back to her prison.

The warriors looked at General Adri's

retreat as he leaves the great hall. When

the general was finally out of his sight,

he called Gabin, his right-hand man

and the commander of his troops.

"Your excellency."

Gabin bowed his head and reached out his hands that were holding a simple set of garments: a cloak, EwO unappealing blades, and slightly worn-out combat leather boots.

"Everything is ready." The warlord got up from his chair and accepted all the things Gabin was holding out to him. "I will leave

the castle to you, Gabin. lf anything happened, you know how to contact

me."

Gabin bowed his head. "Yes. your

excellency. May the deities bless your

travel."