Flame Mistress

EMPEROR Gabrien Faberion's

harmonious and peaceful breakfast in

the empire's garden was ruined by the

news reported to him by General Adri,

one of the empire's war overlords. The

news came from Baron Arnott, the

overseer of the moonrite prison.

"Sollel, one of other's queens, the

Mistress of Flame, has escaped her

moonrite prison."

When the emperor heard the news, his

hand that was holding the cup of tea

trembled in anger.

"Imbeciles!" He angrily threw the cup

of tea on the general's leather boots.

The cup broke and scattered, but no

one moved to pick it up, afraid of the

emperor's anger to fall on them.

The emperor, known for his vicious

temper, Screamed, "Search all the land

and drag that woman back to prison!

I will not let that harlot or any of you

sully my name! For two generations,

that woman is our prisoner, and I will

not let her escape. Not in my reign, do

you hear me?"

The general who was kneeling on

one knee and looking at the ground

nodded. "Yes, Your Highness."

Calming himself so he could think of a

better plan to drag that woman back to

prison, Emperor Gabrien tooka deep

breath while his lips were twitching

in anger. "How did she escape? That

prison is made of moonrite their

weakness. And from the report I

received, that woman was weak and

immobile. How come she could escape

that prison?"

General Adri answered with a low

voice, hoping that his answer wouldn't

anger the emperor more. "We believe

that someone helped her."

"A traitor?!"

"We believe so, Your Highness," said

General Adri. "All the guards in the

moonrite chamber had been killed. No

one was left alive. And the door to the

prison was destroyed."

The emperor couldn't help his surprise

while anger still boiled inside him.

"The moonrite chamber has a hundred

guards! Who could kill them all?!

We have the strongest weapons, an

impenetrable stronghold!"

"We do not know, Your Highness."

General Adri was scared to say the

words I don't know in front of the

emperor, but there were really no

words to explain what happened.

"As of now, we are investigating and

looking for the traitor and the woman.

We believe that they are together."

"And?"

"Still no report, Your Highness."

In a fit of anger, the emperor's plate

made of porcelain was smashed in the

general's head, but the general did not

even flinch. "Useless fools! Without

the moonrite, that woman is powerful!

Make sure to find her while she's still

weak, or I will have your head together

with the baron's!"

The general's head remained low. "Yes,

Your Highness."

Letting out an angry breath, the

emperor ordered, "Alert the imperial

army on every station all throughout

the empire to be ready, just in case

that mad woman appears. Tell them to

ready a moonrite weapon to subdue

her. No one is allowed to kill her. Just

weaken her." Emperor Gabrien knew

how important that woman's blood

and presence to the empire were. He

couldn't afford to lose her. Not while he's the emperor.

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Leave and don't come back without

that woman!"

General Adri lowered his head even

more before he got up to leave the

garden. On the other hand, the

emperor had already lost his appetite

and couldn't even take a single bite of

his breakfast.

"Sollel, the Mistress of Flame," Emperor

Gabrien whispered. His voice trembled

for a moment when he remembered

how his father warned him about her.

Fear consumed him for a second before

He discarded it. "What can that woman

do? She's nothing now but a slave to

the royal family, my slave."

The Infernal Empire and its citizens

were very proud of their indestructible

weapons: they had been the leading

kingdom when it came to farging

such tools.

The emperor did not

want to admit or believe it, but his

father and grandfather treasured

Sollel, the Mistress of Flame-the

reason she was captured instead of

executed, Her blood could make any

weapon stronger, more powerful,

and unbreakable. And not only that-

her presence alone could strengthen

the kingdom's defenses, making it

impenetrable.

Considering that, it was

understandable that the Infernal

Empire was the wealthiest of all the four human kingdoms reigning Azitera

Emperor Gabrien did not fully believe

the tales of Yther's queens. He believed

that their weapons were indestructible

because they were skilled in making

them, not because of some woman's

blood. Maybe because Emperor

Gabrien was a third-generation

emperor years since Sallel, the

Mistress of Flame, was capturedthat

he did nat believe such tales,

After all, he was just keeping her

because the nobility faction would

see him as incompetent if she died

or escaped during his reign; because

just like his father and grandfather,

they also believed that the Mistress of

Flame was the reason of the empire's

prosperity.

But Emperor Gabrien did not believe

that. The empire's prosperity and

Wealth was because of him, because of

his hard work, Because he was a good

emperor. A brilliant leader that even

deities would compliment. He would not accept that woman was the

reason.

It was because of him. Him and

him alone, And not someone else!

Overcome with resentment, Emperor

Gabrien threw al the food on the table

and even beat up the guard nearest

1o him to release his anger. And when

he finally calmed down, he left the

garden, leaving the half-dead guard on

the ground.

"WE HAVE TO KNOW who did this and

their location," said the baran after

hearing what General Adri reported to

the emperor, "If we couldn't find her,

the emperor will not hesitate to execute

Us."

General Adri nodded before looking

at the destroyed door to the prison.

"Whoever did this is strong and

capable."

"Do you have someone in mind?"

General Adri shook his head. "Only

a handful officials knew about the

existence of the Mistress of Flame,

and all of them could prove their

innocence."

"Maybe a member of their family?"

"We're still investigating," said the

general. "Based on the information

we have accumulated, the Mistress of

Flame is already outside the kingdom.

We asked the guard's gate if someone

left late last night, and they said a

gryphon flew fast the gate, but they

didn't give chase."

"A gryphon?" The baron was surprised because he knew someone who owned

one. "You think it's him who took the

Mistress of Flame?"

General Adri shook his head decisively.

"Aside from having no knowledge of

the Mistress of Flame, we have a peace

treaty with him. The warlord would

never break the treaty. He is, after all,

the emperor's nephew. And it was not

the first time he flew fast the imperial

gate with his gryphon."

The baron couldn't help agreeing. "If

the Mistress of Flame already left the

kingdom, where could she be now?"

"Do not fret, Baron Arnott." General

Adri sounded confident. "I already sent

a wanted poster all over the empire,

even to the small villages outside. We

will find her before she regains her

strength, and we will drag her back

where she belonged--a nutrient to the

empire."

The baron put his fist on his chest and

muttered solemnly, "Long live, Infernal Empire."

General Adri did the same, more

solemn than the baron. "Long live."

A HUNDRED kilometers from the City

of Faberion, in an apple woodland

next to the small village of Mistvale, a

woman with dark red hair was lying

on a wooden bed inside a shack, her

eyes were half-open, and a thick dark

red cloak was wrapped around her

body.

The woman was Sollel. Alone in the

shack, in the apple woodland.

It had been days since she was brought

there. The person who took her from

prison left her in the run-down shack

-alone. She didn't even see her freer,

given how weak she was.

After her freer left, no one entered

the shack. She was all alone, which

she preferred. She didn't need food

every day to live, so not eating for a

whole week since she was freed had no

effect on her body. What she's focused

on right now was getting back her

strength.

Now that there was no moonrite

near her, she's slowly recovering her

strength. But even after a week of

recovering, all she could conjure was

a small fire in her palm. If it couldn't

even light the whole shack, then all

the more was it not enough to burn

a trespasser to bring her back to her

moonrite prison.

And that made her feel tense and

anxious. If she couldn't fight, if she

couldn't unleash her destructive flame, she'd be dragged back to her prison

again. Back to that hell. Back to being

a nutrient to the empire. Her escape

would be useless!

Sollel knew that it would take time

to recover her previous strength and

power. And all she could do was wait

and hide until she got her strength

back.

Wait and hide. What a useless thing to

do after escaping prison and swearing

to get revenge. But Sollel knew that to

get her revenge, she had to wait and

hide to recover her strength.

Looking at the full moon through

the small crack on the roof of the

run-down shack, Sollel thought of her

comrades, her sisters-in-arms the

other queens who reigned with her

back when other was still a grand and

respected country. The last time they

spoke to one another was before they

were sieged at the Yther Primal Hill

Temple.

Even though it had been so many

years, Sollel could still feel their

presence. They're still alive, but weak

just like me, she thought. I'm too weak

to even pin down their eXact location.

How many years has it been? Sollel

had no idea. The only information she

knew that could help her calculate the

time was the current emperor now.

He was the third generation to rule

the Infernal Empire since her capture.

That means a century had passed.

I have to get stronger.

Pushing herself up to sit on the wooden

bed, Sollel looked around in the

darkness. It was silent, and only the

sound of insects at night can be heard.

Closing her eyes, concentrating, Sollel

thought of her freer. Who was it? Who

wants me out of prison? And it looks

like that person had been looking for

me. Why? It's been centuries, weI

have already been forgotten by time.

The only long-lived race were the

Elves, but Sollel was pretty sure that

they wouldn't rescue her. They care for

their sacred forest too much to leave

and sacrifice themselves for her.

Even when the Ytherians were sieged

and betrayed, no one came to help

them. No one stepped forward to save

them. After all the protection and help

they had given to every race, when

it was time for them to need their

protection, no one came.

No one.

Before, Sollel believed that kindness

could change the world. Oh, how maïve

she was. Their kindness was repaid

by betrayal. And now, there was no

kindness in her anymore. All she

wanted revenge. That's the only

way for her to live.

Revenge. I must have it, or I will die

trying.

Sollel's thoughts were interrupted

when she heard multiple footsteps

nearing the shack. And she instantly

felt her strength draining.

Sollel's eyes widened in panic when

she realized and felt that familiar

feeling. A moonrite is nearby!

Horrified even in her weakened state,

she hurriedly put the hood of her cloak

on to hide her face and left the shack,

and then she started running. She ran

away as fast as she could, but she was

still too weak too slow, but she didn't

give up.

No! I won't be captured again! No! I will

never be caged again! Sollel continued

running barefoot and strengthless.

Behind her, she could hear the soldiers

running with their torches, shouting

for her to stop or she will be harmed,

but Sollel did not listen.

She ran, uncaring if she was weak.

She pushed herself to flee while trying

to conjure a flame in her hand, but

nothing. The flame she could summon

couldn't even harm a fly.

But the soldiers would not let Sollel

escape. Never. Using their bows and

moonrite-tipped arrows, they shot at

the fleeing woman to weaken her.

Sollel immediately felt herself

weakening. She looked back over

her shoulder while running, her eyes

widening in panic when she saw a

dozen arrows with moonrite tips aimed

at her.

Sollel stumbled, fell to the ground, but

hurriedly got up and started running

again, doing her best to run in zigzag

to avoid getting hit by the arrows. But

just when she thought she was safe, a

moonrite arrow pierced her shoulder.

The pain was enough to make

Sollel's head ache, and her strength

immediately dropped to almost

nothing. But she didn't stop moving

her body to flee even when she was literally dragging herself and crawling

on the ground just to escape her

pursuers.

She would never let those scums

imprison her again. Never!

Just when she was afraid the humans

chasing her would send another

volley of arrows, she heard clashing

of weapons sounds of swords and

blades clashing against each other.

Then she heard grunts and screams of

pain, as if someone was fighting and

killing the soldiers.

But Sollel couldn't care less who it was.

She forcefully pulled out the arrow

from her flesh and threw it away and

then started running again. Stumbling

and falling to the ground a lot of times, Sollel continued to rush in the middle

of the darkness without care where she

was going. Her mind was focused on

escaping that she didn't realize she ran

into a cliff...until she fell.

Sollel was already ready to accept her

fate, that her body would soon break,

but instead of feeling the hard ground,

she felt herself sinking, followed by

suffocation.

Before Sollel could figure out where

she fell, her consciousness was already

robbed from her by lack of air.

Meanwhile, from atop the cliff where

Sollel fell, a man was standing there,

looking at the flowing river below

while holding his war blades covered

with the soldiers' blood. His eyes were

focused on a certain part of the river.

And when the man didn't see Sollel

resurface, he left the cliff and vanished

into the night.

GENERAL ADRI was speechless

after hearing the report early in the

morning. His fear for his life was

increasing day by day. As long as

Yther's Mistress of Flame was roaming

free and not back to her prison, his

head was in a great risk of being

separated from his neck. The emperor

already told him that he'd have his

head if the Mistress of Flame was not

caught, and now that it had been a

week with no good news, General Adri

was starting to become desperate.

"The soldiers that were sent to Mistvale

Village has not yet returned. After

investigating, we found out that all the

soldiers had been slain. No one was left

alive. And after further investigation,

we found out that whoever took the

woman from prison was the same

person who killed the soldiers. It was a brutal killing, just like what happened

in the moonrite chamber a week ago."

Captain Hamlin, who was reporting

to the general, looked up from bowing

his head down to ask, "General, what is

your next order?"

General Adri wanted to massage

his forehead out of frustration, but

he chose to show the captain of his

soldiers in front of him that he was

not a bit shaken by the news. He was a

general; if he showed weakness, then

What would his soldiers say? "Prepare

five groups with a dozen soldiers each.

We will hunt her down!"

Captain Hamlin was stunned.

"Y-you're hunting with us, General?"

The soldier was surprised because it

was uncommon for a general to hunt

down prisoners. Even at war, generals

position themselves behind the soldiers

to command. They were not known to

fight on the front line.

"Yes. That woman must be recaptured,

or I will die trying!" General Adri

swore, and Captain Hamlin felt an

admiration toward the general.

Unbeknownst to the captain, the

general would really die if he couldn't

capture the Mistress of Flame. "Tell

the soldiers that whoever captured the

Mistress of Flame will receive honor

and reward."

General Adri wanted to take matters

into his own hands. He would capture

the Mistress of Flame and be in the

emperor's good graces again. He

worked hard to get his position; he will

double his effort to keep it. Besides,

to stand behind the emperor was the

greatest honor for a general, and he

Swore to support Emperor Gabrien

until the very end.

So early that morning, General Adri

and his elite soldiers rode their horses

toward Mistvale, moonrite stones and

chains ready.

SOLLEL knew she fell from the cliff

and almost drowned, robbing her

consciousness away. So when she woke

up and saw a run-down shack with a

thatch roof, she immediately got up

and winced when she felt a searing

pain from her shoulder. The wound

caused by that moonrite arrow.

Discarding the pain, Sollel became alert

as she looked around. Where am I?

Just when she was about to leave the

bed made of dried straw, the door

opened. Sollel immediately grabbed

the knife she saw from the old table,

ready to defend herself, when she saw

a beautiful young woman entered.

She was petite and tall, maybe as tall as

Sollel. The woman was wearing a dark

green tunic dress that did not reach her

knees. It covered her arms and had a

leather cincher around its waist. She

also wore black leggings underneath

the dress to cover her legs and black

leather boots, with a bow and arrow

strapped on her back.

But it was her ears that caught Sollel's full attention.

An elf? What is she doing outside

their sacred forest? Sollel had a deep

frown, still tightly holding the knife,

ready to kill. Solel did not care if the

woman didn't kill her while she was unconscious; she did not even care if

the elf took care of her while she was

weak. She had suffered enough to

know that no one can be trusted, not

even those who extended their hands

to help.

"Take it easy," the elf woman said as

She entered the house. "I'm not going to

hurt you."

Sollel opened her mouth to answer, but

her voice did not come out as she was

expecting. It was raspy and small, and

she could not create a coherent word.

It's been so long since she closed her

mouth and did not speak a word.

Maybe this was a consequence of that.

Sollel closed her mouth and used

the knife to write something on the

ground.

Where am I? Who are you? These were Sollel's questions.

The elf answered forthright, "This

house is just outside the Beastrela,

a place where halfling resides." The

elf woman put the vegetables she

gathered in the woods on the table

and continued, "Even though they are

half-human, the humans still don't

want them and decided to put the

halflings in one place to control them

and make them work in the mine,

mining iron for the Infernal Empire's

weaponry."

When the elf didn't continue, Sollel

used the tip of the knife she was still

holding to tap her other question: Who are you?

"I'm called Ciradyl," the elf answered

while inspecting the vegetables. "You

can call me Cira. If you're wondering

why I'm outside the sacred forest, the answer is simple. I was banished for

not adhering to their rule, which was

to stay inside.

I heard about this place, So I came here and became Beastrela's

healer. I saw you floating in the river.

I thought you were dead, but whenI

dragged you out of the water, you were

still breathing, so I took you here and

nursed you."

Sollel took a controlled, deep breath.

Ytherians were a long-lived race. Still,

just like any other race, they could be

killed. But as Yther's Mistress of Flame,

a being blessed by deities, Sollel had an

indomitable body. As long as her blood

of flame flowed inside her, it would

replenish her body with strength to

live. That's why she was so weak now-not only because of the moon rite

prison but also because of blood loss. It

would take time to recover it all back.

"I won't ask you questions.

You can leave if you want, I won't stop you,"

said Cira before handing a small vial

with clear liquid inside. "Here. Drink

this. It'll heal your throat and other

injuries."

Sollel did not accept the vial, so Cira

had to drink a small drop of liquid

from the vial to show Sollel that it was

not harmful.

"See? It's a medicine, not poison."

Sollel stared at Cira for a long minute

before accepting the medicine.

"Give the medicine twenty-four hours

to heal you and you'll be able to speak,"

said Cira before putting the vegetable

in an old pot, and then she went to the

back of the house to start a fire so she

could start cooking the vegetables.

Sollel looked at the small vial in her

hand, and then she used the knife

to cut the tip of her finger. She put

one drop of her blood inside the vial

to purify it. Her blood could purify

anything, detoxifying any harmful

substances. Just in case.

After her blood entered the vial and was mixed with the clear liquid, that

was the only time Sollel drank its

Contents. Then she went back to lie on

the bed made of dried straw.

When Cira returned inside her house,

she was relieved to see the woman

lying on the bed again, resting. Cira

moved silently while cooking the

vegetable and the little meat she had to

not disturb the woman.

While cooking, Cira kept on glancing

inside the house. She couldn't stop

thinking about the woman inside. Even

though she looked pale, the woman

was still gorgeous with her dark red

hair and eyes. Though those color

combinations were uncommon in

Azitera.

Not uncommon, Cira corrected herself.

She knew a race that had such hair

and eyes, but they were now extinct.

But there were still halflings around,

Cira thought because of the color of the

woman's hair. A pure-blood Y therian

had a more vibrant hair and eye color

compared to the halflings who had

muted colors, just like the woman.

Halfling Ytherians were known as a

slave to royalties in human kingdoms.

There's only a handful of them alive,

and that made them rare and valuable

goods to slave traders.

Cira entered her house after cooking

vegetables and meat. While setting

the table, the woman got up, her eyes

alert and ready.

Cira sighed. "Take it easy. I'm not going

to hurt you."

Cira could see that the woman did not

believe her, so she just let the woman

and gave her food.

"This is not poisoned, just so you

know," Cira said after giving the bowl to the wWoman, who accepted it after a

a few seconds of hesitation.

And when Cira turned around to

return to the table, Sollel used her

flame to detoxify the food just in case

-before digging in.

It had been so long since she tasted

good food that Sollel didn't realize she

was wolfing down the food too fast

until she finished everything in less

than a minute. Seeing that, Cira gave

Sollel a second serving and a soup to

pair with it.

It was Sollel's first hearty meal since

her capture, and it was satisfying. But

knowing that she couldn't stay to enjoy

another bowl disheartened her.

Sollel knew she had to keep going, or

she will be captured again.

Using the knife that Sollel was still

holding, she wrote something on the

ground.

How long have I been here?

Cira answered while eating on the

table, "Three days now."

Thank you for taking care of me. I need

to go.

Cira shook her head in disagreement.

"I won't stop you from leaving, but you

have to recover your full strength first.

Give me a weak to heal you, then you

can leave."

What Cira said made sense. Sollel

knew how weak she was at the

moment. Maybe if she accepted the

elf's offer since elves' essence were

known for their healing properties, she could recover even one-eighth of

her strength. With this, she'd be able to

fight her pursuer. She might not be able

to raze hell yet, but Sollel was certain

she could at least damage and kill her

enemies while fleeing.

Sollel nodded at Cira, and then she

wrote on the ground again: I don't have

anything to pay you.

Reading that, Cira shook her head. "It's

okay. You can just help around the

house while I'm healing you. You can

cook, get some water in the stream, or

clean the house." Cira had a feeling that

the woman would be more wary of her

if she told her to just do nothing and

rest.

Sollel swiftly wrote on the ground with

her knife: I can't cook, but I can get

some water or clean the house.

Cira frowned at Sollel. "How sheltered

are you?"

Sollel wrote on the ground as her reply:

Imprisoned.

Cira's eyes widened. "How long have

you've been imprisoned?"

Half Of my life.

That silenced Cira. Then she took a

deep breath. "Very well. Just do what

you can,"

Sollel nodded. Silence fell on the two

until Cira asked, "What's your name?"

Sollel wanted to lie, but to show her

gratitude for the hearty meal, she told

Cira, her real name: Sollel.

When Cira read that, she smiled, like

She remembered something good.

"Sollel, the Mistress of Flame."

That made Sollel eyes widened in

surprise, but when Cira added, "Your

parentS must have liked the Mistress

of Flame for them to named you after

her."

Sollel calmed down. You know the

Mistress ofFlame? Sollel wrote and

asked Cira.

Cira shook her head. "Only from

stories. My parents have seen the

Mistress of Flame after visiting Yther.

They said that when she's enveloped

with her flame, she shines brighter

than the sun and more dazzling that

any being in Azitera."

Hearing that, Sollel felt her heart

tightened and ached. The humans took

everything from her, even the flame that she was so proud of.

"You must be a Ytherian halfling,"

Cira continued. "Only a Ytherian

could have such hair and eye color. So

when you leave here, I suggest you use

the hood of your cloak to cover your

hair and hide your eyes. That way,

slave traders won't chase you.

"

Slave traders? Sollel's hold on the knife

tightened. Her blood was boiling with

rage. Ytherians were peace-loving,

always offering their help. But now,

they had been reduced to nothing but

slaves!

I have to regain my strength, Sollel

thought. She knew she could only

take her revenge after her strength

recovers. To burn them all and raze

hell, I need my full strength.

Are there any pure-blood Ytherian

left? Sollel wrote and asked Cira. She

wanted to know if a small number of her people escaped.

Cira sighed and pushed the bowl with

food away; she lost her appetite after

reading Sollel question. "Some escaped,

but they had been hunted down

and executed by humans, while the

not-so-powerful halflings are sold as

slaves. Maybe there are still pure-blood

Ytherians out there, but they're well

hidden. So if you are planning to look

for them, I don't think you can find

them."

Sollel felt a little happiness after what

she heard. Some escaped the siege. Her

people were still alive!

The more reason that she had to get

stronger.

The only reason they lost before was because of the moonrite-their weakness. It sucked their strength

and power. Not only that-they were

betrayed by the humans they nurtured

and protected.

Can you start healing me now? Sollel

was so eager to get stronger and look

for her people.

Instead of answering, Cira went to

sit on the dried straw bed, in front of

Sollel. "Give me your hands."

With hesitation, Sollel slipped out her

hands from the cloak. She flinched

when Cira held her hands with her

Own.

It was Sollel's first skin contact, No,

it was not. Sollel corrected herself

when she remembered the person who

brought her out of prison. That person

held her waist and even embraced her body.

"I can only do this for two hours a

day," Cira spoke, taking Sollel out of

her reverie. "I can concoct medicine

for you, but It'll take too much time,

so I can only heal you by passing my

essence to your body. After that, I'll be

weakened for more than half a day, but

that's irrelevant."

Sollel wanted to ask Cira why she was

helping her, why she was doing this.

Elves always hid their healing essence,

but Cira spoke with sternness, not

giving her time to ask.

"Let us begin."

Hearing that, Sollel cleared her mind

and closed her eyes to accept Cira's

essence flowing through her body.

The moment Cira's essence entered

Sollel's body, Cira felt as if she were hit

with ferocious and blistering flame,

almost knocking her out. But Sollel

grabbed Cira's hand as Sollel controlled

the raging flame inside her.

Her flame was very protective of

her, so when it felt a foreign essence

entering her body, it immediately

tried to destroy it. But Sollel already

calmed it down, and now all Cira could

feel was warmth. Gone the ferocious

blistering flame. Cira felt like the flame

had been tamed.

blistering flame. Cira felt like the flame

had been tamed.

Unbeknownst to Cira, only Sollel could

tame the flame. Sollel was its mistress

after all.

As Cira's essence was passed, Sollel

could feel the blood she lost slowly

being replenished by Cira's essence.

Just a little more, and I will be able to

fight back, Sollel thought as she felt her

blood boiling with rage...and more.

CIRA'S RECOVERY EXPECTATION was

nothing but a mistake. She calculated

that she would recover in half a day,

but that did not happen.

She only gave her essence to Sollel for two hours, and

The consequences were severe. She was

spent, like her whole essence had been

drained from her. Cira felt weak; she

couldn't even move a muscle, and she

stayed on the bed for days.

Cira was grateful that even though

Sollel already looked better, she stayed

and cared for her. Though she couldn't

comment about her cooking -it was

awful. But she had to stomach it, even

though it made her stomach hurl.

As Cira lay on the bed, she couldn't help

thinking back to when she was healing

Sollel. She felt as if she were filling an

enormous empty cauldron, and that

cauldron felt like an abyss. It couldn't

be satiated by her essence alone, and if

she tried, she'd die without a doubt.

Cira turned her head on her house's

door when it opened and saw Sollel

carrying a bowl in her hand. She

flinched. Cira was sure that it was

another one of Sollel's horrible dishes.

And Cira was right. It was, indeed.

But Cira did not complain, since Sollel

was feeding her diligently. She was

actually delighted, but she didn't show

it. At that moment, Cira was still having

doubts about Sollel's identity.

The days passed by with Sollel's

horrible dishes as Cira's nourishment.

Finally, after a few couple off days, Cira

was now able to stand, and the first

thing she did was cook.

"Just go get some water," Cira said

when Sollel offered to help. Cira wanted Sollel to be away so she could

think clearly.

Sollel listened and silently went out,

holding a wooden basin. When she

arrived at the riverbank, she filled the

basin with water, but instead of lifting

it back to Cira's house, Sollel stared at

her hands.

She didn't mean to drain Cira's

essence. It was her flame that wanted

to devour everything to recover its

former strength, but she still felt

guilty. If she didn't stop her flame, it

would've devoured all of Cira's essence,

including her life. dry, starting with Cira. But such way

of recovery was brutal and dark.

She would never be like the humans

she loathed, sacrificing other lives to

alleviate their Own.

Sollel heaved a deep sigh and clenched

her hands when she remembered what

she gained after Cira's essence entered

her body. Cira's essence was drained,

but her strength was only raised a little

a bit. Not enough to gain back one-eighth

of her strength, but close enough.

At least with her strength now, she

could deal with her pursuers-only if

their numbers were low since she was

still weak to fight a dozen of soldiers.

She could damage them at most, but

killing them? It would take a lot of

time.

Sighing, Sollel picked up the basin and

started walking back to Cira's house,

but before she reached Cira's home, she

felt her strength being drained.

Moonrite!

Sollel clenched her teeth and was

about to run as fast as she could and

hide when she remembered Cira. She

was weak at the moment because of

the essence she had given her. What if

the empire did something to her?

Sollel couldn't stand the thought of

her healer suffering because of her.

Therefore, with everything she got, she

fixed her dark red cloak and put on her

hood before walking to Cira's house,

leaving the basin in the middle of the

forest.

Slowly inching closer to Cira's house

and hiding behind trees, Sollel saw

more than a dozen soldiers outside.

Cira was forced to kneel, her face

pressed on the ground while being

interrogated.

"I am Captain Hutch Hamlin of

the Infernal Empire. Some of the

Beastrela's residences said you saved a

woman. Where is she?" the head of the

soldiers asked.

Cira didn't answer. Captain Hutch

Hamlin put his left foot on Cira's head

to press Cira's face to the ground.

"Answer me or we will execute you for

assisting a wanted criminal!"

Cira grunted in pain as the captain of

the soldiers pressed her head harder.

She could feel that it wouldn't take long

for her skull to be crushed, but she

couldn't open her mouth to tell them

where Sollel was. She didn't want to.

"Where is the woman?!" Captain

Hamlin asked angrily. "Speak or I will cut your tongue, you impudent elf!"

"I..don't...know..." Cira answered

difficulty. "S-she already left j-just this

morning."

"Where?"

"N-north." Cira was squeezing her eyes

tightly while feeling the weight of the

captain's feet on her head.

Satisfied with the information he

gathered, Captain Hamlin took off his

left foot from the elf's head and kicked

her away from him. Then he ordered

his men, "Tie her up. We're going north.

If we didn't see the Mistress of Flame

on the way to the north, we will kill her.

For now, feel free to have your way

with her."

The soldiers who heard that snickered

and licked their dry lips while eyeing

Cira hungrily, especially her long,

slender legs that were banned because of

her torn clothing.

Cira was scared. She wanted to scream,

but she knew no one would help her

but herself. These were the Infernal

Empire soldiers. Whoever dared to

go against them would be considered

traitors.

While feeling hopeless, she was

thankful that she lied. Cira had a

feeling that even if she told them the

truth, what was about to happen to

her now would still happen to her.

She couldn't escape, but at least, Sollel

could.

But before the thought of Sollel escaping eased Cira's mind, a ball of

flame, two times larger than Cira's fist,

was thrown from the forest. The ball

of flame looked weak that the soldiers

even started laughing when they saw

it. But when it reached the center of

the soldiers' formation, it exploded so

massively that Cira felt a ringing in her

ear.

In the midst of the fire and confusion,

someone grabbed Cira and pulled

her to run. But before they could run

toward the forest and escape, Captain

Hamlin saw through the fire and

confusion and blocked their path while

taking out the moonrite stone.

Sollel, who was holding Cira's arm,

immediately felt her strength being

sucked away. She dropped on her

knees, weakened by the moonrite. From Sollel helping Cira, now it was

Cira helping Sollel.

Seeing the Mistress of Flame on

her knees, Captain Hamlin laughed

maniacally, already imagining the

honor and reward he would receive

for recapturing the Mistress of Flame.

Captain Hamlin already forgot about

Cira; his sole attention was focused

on how to maximize the power of the

moonrite that he began advancing

toward Sollel, his hand holding the

stone stretched to its limit, He was too

focused on weakening the Mistress

of Flame that the captain didn't see how Cira's elven eyes glint with

understanding while looking at the

stone that he held.

Sollel's body was about to fall to the

ground completely when she suddenly

felt her strength slowly coming back.

She looked around and saw Cira

running away with the moonrite stone

she grabbed from the captain's hand.

When Cira realized earlier that the

stone was weakening Sollel, she

immediately made a plan to grab it

and ran away, hoping that it would

give Sollel her strength back.

Cira didn't even know if what she did made sense; she didn't even know if running

away with the moonrite was the right

thing to do in their situation. She just

went with her gut feeling. Using one of

elven strengths, speed, Cira stole the

moonrite stone and ran away.

"Don't bother with that elf," Captain

Hamlin clicked his tongue, his

voice was confident seeing that the

Mistress of Flame was still kneeling

on the ground near him, like she was

groveling before him. He felt elated.

"We already have what we came here

for. Tie her up while she's still weak.

Then, we will regroup with the others and celebrate our catch of the day."

Captain Hamlin was beaming with

happiness, his lips twitching in delight.

He couldn't stop thinking about all

the honor and the reward he would

receive.

The captain's greedy eyes

glinted in delight after seeing all the

soldiers under his command readied

the chain made of iron to tie Sollel,

who they thought was still weak. But

unbeknownst to everyone, Sollel had

regained one-eighth of her strength

now that there were no moonrite

stones to weaken her.

In a heartbeat, before the soldiers

could lay their hands on Sollel and

before the holy iron chain seized her,

Sollel's hand swiftly grabbed the

captain's sword, pulled it out of its

sheath, and made two turns on her

heel to put a distance between her and

the captain.