CHAPTER 34

THE SCORCHING flame surrounding Hakkeran would surely burn him alive if he left it be. He knew that much, so he drew his swords from his back and slashed the flame in front of him. The slash manifested air pressure strong enough to put out half of the circle of fire, and Hakkeran stepped out as if the flame were nothing, his eyes never leaving the Mistress of Flame.

Then Hakkeran stabbed the tip of his war blades on the ground and put his right hand on his chest, the left one on his back, and slightly bowed.

"Your Majesty, Queen Sollel, Mistress of Flame." Hakkeran looked like he was showing respect before introducing himself. "I'm Imperial Warlord Hakkeran Adral. Would it be too much of me to ask you to come back to the empire with me?"

All the flames on Sollel's body disappeared. She smiled, her ethereal beauty that took the warlord by surprise gleaming against the moonlight.

"Will you imprison me again?"

Hakkeran became slightly flustered by the queen's voice for a moment before pulling himself together. "I'm afraid so, yes."

"Then I'm not going back," said the queen.

"Then I'm afraid I have to capture you, whatever it costs, Your Majesty. I apologize in advance."

Sollel raised her hand to her chest as flames danced on her fingertips. "I have a question before we start, Warlord."

"Pray tell."

The queen's bloodred eyes looked at Hakkeran. "Are you human?"

"No. I'm a descendant of Sappher."

"Then why are you helping them? Descendants of Sappher are noble warriors, and humans are far from being noble."

"A promise was made," the warlord answered, and he tightened his hold on his war blades. "And the emperor is my uncle, so..." Hakkeran shrugged and smiled leisurely like nothing serious was about to go down.

Sollel nodded in understanding and slightly turned her head to the dumbfounded Zassia behind her. "Step back, Zassia."

Zassia, who was too dumbstruck at what she just heard, stepped back mindlessly. Her brain was not functioning well as she looked at her teacher's hair and eyes. She froze and couldn't utter a word while her mind was screaming The queen!

And in that instance, everything made sense to Zassia. The blessing she received, why her flame seemed different, and why her flame was fiercer than others...

It was...it was a direct blessing from the Mistress of Flame! Not a flame essence awakening like I thought! A direct blessing!

Zassia's eyes blurred as tears fell from her eyes. "Oh, my deity..."

Even with her back on Zassia, Sollel could hear Zassia crying as if her most precious wish had just been granted, but Sollel had to tune out Zassia and focus her attention at the warrior in front of him.

Imperial Warlord Hakkeran Adral was strong. Sollel could feel it. He was not even masking his presence. It was overwhelming. One wrong move and she'd be dragged back to the empire, and she couldn't let that happen.

Sollel reached for the war blade on her back, clutching the hilt tightly and unsheathing the sword. It was one of the things she asked Cira to buy from the dwarves before leaving Sarnau.

Just one war blade.

It wasn't enough, she thought, but it'll do.

"Come at me then, Warlord," said Sollel like she was inviting someone to tea.

The warlord bowed his head slightly, like a gentleman apologizing. "Then please excuse me, Your Majesty. I cannot let you get past me and reach the Hallowed Valley."

As fast as a blink of an eye, the warlord pulled his war blades from the ground and attacked. Sollel immediately raised her sword to block, and her other hand conjured a ball of flame and thrusted it to the warlord.

But Hakkeran was able to dodge the ball of flame by turning his body out of the flame's way, with his swords still clashing against the queen's blade.

It happened in only a few seconds before the two intensely had crossed swords. Two war blades against one.

Hakkeran moved his blades as if they were an extension of his arm, slashing, thrusting, flipping, and turning them easily to take advantage of the queen's openings. But instead, every time he attacked, the queen's flaming hands would block his strikes, and the ball of flame would attack him out of nowhere.

Hakkeran hissed. With his full force, he slashed his sword at the queen's and was about to use his other sword to thrust, but the queen unexpectedly blocked his first attack. She dropped her sword due to the strong impact, but that didn't slow the queen down; she even dodged his second attack.

She's fast, he thought.

With her flaming hand, Sollel conjured the largest ball of flame she could summon and thrusted her palm against Hakkeran, which Hakkeran blocked by crossing his swords in front of his chest, pushing him meters away from the queen.

Hakkeran knew he shouldn't feel this way, but he admired the queen's strength. To fight me at close range and be able to dodge and block my attacks and push me back with only one sword and her flame...she's really the queen of flames of Yther.

Hakkeran smiled. "You're amazing, Your Highness."

Sollel smiled with a shrug. "You're not too shabby yourself, Warlord."

Seeing the warlord in a fighting stance again, Sollel used all the seconds she had to observe him before he attacked.

Warlord Hakkeran Adral was a strong warrior. His fighting ability was not something to scoff at. Seeing him wielding his war blades, Sollel was certain that he was not the one who hurt Cira. If not for her flames that could be used in a short range, she would've been defeated already. The way he wielded his war blades as if they were an extension of his body was mesmerizing.

Well...his face is mesmerizing too, she thought. Maybe if he was not an enemy, Sollel would gladly enjoy his looks. Though the warlord was an enemy, Sollel couldn't deny that he was an enemy who was easy on the eyes.

Sollel hurriedly raised her sword to block the warlord's attack, and the strength shocked him. It was stronger than his last attacks. As his swords clashed against hers, Sollel was forced to back away to escape the warlord's relentless strikes.

Sollel cussed when she realized she was being pushed back even after utilizing her flame to attack and blocked.

I'm so weak!

Sollel frustratedly dropped flames on the ground and willed them to surround the warlord to give herself a room to breathe, but the warlord just smiled dazzlingly and said, "Sorry, Your Majesty. That's not going to work on me again."

And true to his words, the warlord was able to subdue her crawling flame with one slash of his war blade.

His attacks continued.

The clashing of swords echoed in the forest. Sollel continued backing away as she blocked and dodged.

I can't keep backing away! I have to put some distance between us to give myself room to attack. With that in mind, Sollel dropped her sword, and in a blink of an eye, before the warlord's war blades slashed into her, a wall of flame suddenly erected between the warlord and Sollel. She used half of her strength to push the wall of flame against the warlord, who immediately stepped back to protect himself.

When Sollel could no longer sustain the wall of flame, it vanished into thin air. What the warlord saw next made his lips part in astonishment.

The queen picked up her sword that she dropped on the ground with her foot and caught it when it was in midair. She used its sharp edge to cut her palm. As her blood dripped on the sword, he heard her spoke like she was enchanting.

"Blood of flame, come forth and burn my foe!" It was Sollel's only trump card.

When Hakkeran looked into the queen's eyes, molten lava swirled inside her iris at the same moment the blood on her blade turned into a scorching and blistering flame, devouring the sword up to its hilt and turning it into a fiery flaming sword.

Ah, shit. Hakkeran knew he was at a disadvantage upon seeing the flaming sword in the queen's hand. He was using his second-best sword; maybe if his own flaming swords were present, he had a chance to block it and survive, but with his current weapon? She's going to torch me and melt me to death.

And just then, a man came out of the forest, running away from five people chasing him. Hakkeran watched the man ran toward the center of the clearing.

"My lady!"

"Hakken?"

Sollel was about to ask how he knew it was her when Hakken grinned.

"I know there's a pretty woman underneath that cloak, but I never imagined you'd also be dazzling, my lady."

Sollel gave a sarcastic "really?" look at Hakken. "Not the time and place to be flirty, Hakken." Then her eyes lingered at the five people chasing Hakken earlier and warily approaching them now. "Who are they?"

"One of the empire's forces, I think. They have the empire's seal on their armor."

Sollel's eyes moved to the warlord. "Your allies?"

The warlord sighed while still looking warily at the queen's flaming sword. "I have no idea why they're here. I want to fight you alone."

Sollel was about to express her desire to fight the warlord alone too when, from the corner of her eyes, she saw massive fireballs raining down on them. The caster was none other than one of the five people chasing Hakken.

A flame sorcerer? And a strong one too.

"Get Zassia to safety," Sollel ordered Hakken, and he listened without question. He moved swiftly, saving Zassia at just a nick of time the same moment Warlord Hakkeran jumped back before the massive raining fireballs hit Sollel and the ground around her.

Amidst the flame explosion and the flame roaring around Sollel due to the flame sorcerer's attack, she remained unmoving and just watched her burning surroundings.

Meanwhile, Radus, the high flame sorcerer grinned at the effect and destruction his raining fireballs had caused. He was grinning proudly at his handy work upon seeing that he hit the target enemy. The more the flame roared and exploded, the more his grin widened. He just took out the prisoner, who wouldn't gloat?

The other members of the Wraith just watched Radus, shaking their heads hearing Radus's maniac laughter. They were already used to his sadistic way of attacking.

"Lura, get ready to heal," said Radus who looked gloating. "After my raining fireballs, I'm sure she's already toast. We have to drag her back to the empire, after all."

Lura, the elf, sighed. "You shouldn't have toast her. We can capture her normally, Radus."

Radus clicked his tongue. "I just want her to taste my flame. What's wrong with that?"

"Your flame is very weak."

Radus's eyes widened upon hearing the voice coming from the inside of the roaring flame he unleashed. Not only Radus but also every member of the Wraith pointed all their weapons at the roaring flame that seemed to reach the sky.

"But maybe to human standards, you can be considered strong," the woman's voice continued with a mocking tone.

"W-what...wh-who's talking?!" Radus's eyes were searching. "Who's talking?!"

To answer Radus's question, the woman he just tried to burn walked out of the roaring flame, unscathed.

"I-it can't be..." Radus was unnerved. "I burned her! I burned her!"

"Yes. We saw," the water sorceress, Oxar, whispered, while eyeing the woman who nonchalantly stepped out from the hellish flame created by one of the strongest flame sorcerers in Azitera.

Infuriated at the woman's mocking voice, Radus summoned all his flame attacks.

Fireball. Fire bolts. Fire beam. Firebomb. And firestorm—his strongest attack. All aimed at the woman.

But to his dread, no strong attack of his worked. Every attack he unleashed hit the woman, but nothing was happening. Nothing!

I-It c-can't be...can't be...my strongest attack, the firestorm, was nothing to her!

Radius's mind couldn't wrap around the fact that his most powerful attack meant nothing to the woman, who even yawned gracefully while accepting his flame attacks. She was not even doing anything to block his flame! And the way the woman looked at him—as if he was the lowest life form in Azitera who didn't deserve anything in this world—sent shiver down his spine. When the woman took a step closer to them, an alarm rang in Radus's head.

Dangerous. She's dangerous! "Back away—"

Radus's warning to his team was already too late. Flame dropped from the woman's hands, and that small drop became a three-foot-tall flame crawling on the ground, slithering like a snake, with a speed of light. Before the Wraiths could get ready, a circle of flame appeared around Radus who was trembling in shock and fear.

Connecting the circle of flame to the woman was a path made of raging flame. But the flame was different from Radus's. His flame was orange with a hint of red, but the flame before him was pure bloodred, and he instantly knew it wasn't his.

This woman! Who is she?! Radus was ransacking his brain to remember a powerful flame defense, but he was too terrified to summon even a single flame upon seeing how the woman walked on the flame, like the flames were happy to be stepped on, levitating the woman as if the ground didn't deserve to be walked on.

Radus was already out of his wits, but the other members of the Wraiths were doing their best to free Radus from the circle of flame. Oxar, the water sorcerer, was releasing water with his water essence to purge the flame. Onyll, the wind sorcerer, was releasing wind blades after wind blades, adding wind waves to put out the flame, but his attacks couldn't even get past the first layer of the flame.

"What the hell is this flame?!" Oxar snapped in anger as he poured all his water essence to purge the flame.

"It doesn't seem like a normal flame!" Onyll hissed, seeing how his sharp wind blades couldn't penetrate the flame.

Dandrev, the only warrior member of the Wraith, stepped back and protected Lura who was manipulating her essence to seep through the flame to reach Radus and heal him. But when her essence went near the raging inferno, a horrifying scream let out from her mouth, and then she vomited blood.

"What happened?!" Dandrev cradled Lura in his arms as she convulsed.

Even when it would cost her her life, Lura told Dandrev what happened to warn him. "B-burned...h-her f-flame b-burned my essence..." She coughed up blood again. "R-run...r-run. W-we're no match f-for her. S-She's the qu-que..en..."

Dandrev's eyebrow furrowed in confusion and anger. "What queen?! Lura! Keep your eyes open!"

"Qu-queen..." Lura continued vomiting blood, "Qu-queen of f-flames...the M-Mistress...of F-Flame."

Dandrev was confused; he didn't know what Lura was talking about, but he still conveyed this to his team. "It's the Mistress of Flame!" Dandrev shouted at everyone. "According to Lura, she's the Mistress of Flame!"

Hearing Dandrev shout, Oxar and Onyll stopped at what they were doing and stared at the circle of flame with wide eyes.

The woman—the Mistress of Flame—already reached the frightened Radus, and even with the raging flames, they heard her voice clearly.

"I blessed your ancestors with my flame." The Mistress of Flame's voice was euphonious and enchanting. "And now I want them back."

As she spoke the last word, a ball of flame filled with pure essence came out from Radus's chest, and Radus immediately felt all his strength disappear, reducing him to a normal, powerless human. If one could see clearly like Radus's wide eyes, the ball of flame was wiggling and jumping, as if it was happy to come back to its master.

The Mistress of Flame smiled as the tip of her finger touched the ball of flame, Radus's flame essence. "Miss me?"

The ball of flame engulfed the Mistress of Flame's fingers then hands. It traveled to her arms then straight to her heart before settling in the very core of her being—her glowing red soul.

And the instant Radus's essence fused into Sollel's essence, she felt a part of her strength coming back. One-fourth of her power was back.

"You have a strong flame," the Mistress of Flame complemented Radus, but Radus was too far gone, frightened beyond belief. To come face-to-face with the woman who blessed his ancestors' flame...how foolish was he to fight her! He should be bowing his head and worshiping her. But alas, it was already too late as the Mistress of Flame said, "Thanks for the meal," and the fiercest flame Radus had seen devoured all of him.

Seeing Radus being reduced to ashes in every second, Dandrev shouted, "Run! Let's run!"

With Lura in Dandrev's arms, he started running back to the forest together with Oxar and Onyll. The people running after Hakken earlier was now running away from someone. They didn't turn around to see Radus one last time and just kept running; only escape was on their minds. Everyone was afraid that the Mistress of Flame would give chase.

But contrary to what they were thinking, the Mistress of Flame didn't give chase. She had no essence container to suck the essence from those water and wind sorcerers; it was useless killing them.

With the flames now extinguished in the clearing, Sollel turned around to see if everyone was fine, and the first thing she saw was Zassia kneeling in front of her, tears falling from her eyes and bowing her head like a zealous worshipper.

Then Sollel's eyes landed on Hakken, who's in an intense battle with Warlord Hakkeran. And as their war blades crossed with an intent to kill, Sollel was in a dilemma.

My bait...didn't work? 

CECELIB | C.C.