Three minutes.

One hundred and eighty seconds.

One hundred and eighty awfully short seconds.

During that time he remembered the first advice Marianna said to him: run. Run the farthest away the quickest possible. And he did just that for what seems an eternity. He didn't have the stature needed to fight, nor a great stamina, and his plan was extremely guessable but his survival rate was the highest following the advice. It made him wonder how much his survival rate was. He gritted his teeth to chase the somber thoughts from his mind.

Around him, stood the high rocks of the canyon surrounding him like walls of a prison. Everything was unnaturally silent with only the sound of his rushed footsteps similar to the drumming of his heartbeat.

After what seemed to be fifteen minutes, a sudden pain appeared in his ribs. He stopped and let himself sit on the sand, his hand carefully curled around the handle of a long dagger. His jacket was filled with metal stuffed in any available corner.

Suddenly a branch cracked a dozen meters in front of him.

He leaped to the side as wooden blades stuck themselves on the place he had been sitting only a few seconds ago.

'How possibly sharp this could be?" he thought as he touched his cheek now crossed with a fresh bleeding cut.

Something moved behind him. He gathered his magic and used the metal in his jacket to create a shield. The impact made him stagger, but the sight of his assailant colliding without any hesitation on his protection made him ignore the knots in his stomach. This was a weak effort compared to when he exploded the room back at the Lux Palace. But he still felt the metallic taste of blood in his throat.

'My body still hasn't recovered from when I abused it,' he thought tightening his teeth.

He broke down his shield and threw a small metal spear, only controlling its direction wasn't as costing as manipulating it directly.

The mercenary pushed it aside and kicked his stomach. Frederick fell hard on the ground as the pain ripped him.

"You are even weaker than I thought. The most difficult task will be to fight that b***."

The wizard grabbed a knife hidden in his boot and threw it back at him. The mercenary grabbed it and threw it away. His face was half burned leaving his mouth in a twisted grin where bits of teeth of burned muscles peaked outside.

"After all she needs your head to come back to her guild."

His mouth opened as an intense pain cut through his flesh. A thorn-cut object was now lodged in his shoulder.

Adrenaline rushed into his veins as he summoned a metal sphere that made the mercenary stumble backward.

"You are lying!" he yelled.

He summoned back the metal but a sudden cough broke his focus. His blood splattered on the floor.

The man took advantage and kicked him in the temple. His mind went black for a second, but when he regained consciousness his body had already summoned protection.

"Wouldn't be simpler to abandon against me than against that woman?" hissed the scarred man.

Frederick flicked his wrist and the shield pushed itself on the exterior throwing his assailant on the ground.

"I trust her, and she trusts me. She has faith in my survival," he responded.

He spit the blood flooding his mouth and wiping the scarlet traces on my chin. He was staggering, the pain and the loss of blood were hurting his weak body more than he expected. The killer grinned taking another weapon from his belt.

"She is a twisted liar."

'Summon Luxen."

He rushed toward him rushing, before freezing. Frederick's hand covered by the metal had gone through his stomach leaving a perfectly shaped circle hole.

"You don't know her."

The metal retracted and the lifeless body of his attacker collapsed on the ground. Frederick coughed several times before finding the strength to get up.

He looked at the corpse lying beside him repressing his urge to vomit. He grabbed the weapon lodged in his shoulder and took it from it.

He let out a sharp cry of pain, echoing in the canyon.

"Summon Luxen," he grumbled as metal secured his injured body.

Rushed horsesteps appeared behind him. He turned around to find a disheveled Marianna covered with dirt. Her wild eyes widened when she saw the body next to him. But she snapped out of her dazed when she saw the blood mare at his feet. She jumped off the saddle and ran the few meters distancing her from him.

She grabbed him in a fierce embrace. After a flash of surprise, he tightened his arms around her large shoulders.

"I am alright," he said tapping hesitantly her back.

'I thought she went back to her guild.'

"I was so worried," she confessed. "I was so worried they caught you."

"Won't your guild leader be mad at you? You were supposed to capture me at first. You must be in trouble for organizing this Hunt."

He didn't want his safety to be secure at her expense. Not her.

"I quit."

He jumped back, "You what?!"

"I quit," she repeated calmly. "I am done with them."

"But the man who caught me said that..."

"Jamyle did offer me a promotion but I refused."

He looked at his feet.

"Did you do it for me?"

He heard a light scoff.

"You took some confidence," she laughed. "The main reason is that I want to work for myself and not be the dog of some manipulative as—I mean bad guys."

He felt his cheeks growing hot as he hid his burning face in his hands.

"But please listen to what I am going to say, we don't have much time," she demanded grabbing his shoulders. "You did play a part in my decision. I don't like to turn around the pot so I am going to be direct."

Frederick's heartbeats grew already anticipating what was going to happen next.

"I feel for you in less than a short week. I don't know how or why. Maybe it's fate or pure coincidence but you managed to make your way in my cold stone heart. I don't fully know you. What you like. What is your favorite meal or your favorite color are. But I want to. You got me spinning and I never felt that before. I see magic in your eyes and I love it. I want us two to be together and learn to love each other. Keep me burning for your love."

"I want that too!" he said grabbing her hands with undying happiness. "In my life, I never dreamed for someone to love me as I am. But it was different with you. Every time you call my name, I heat up like a burning flame. You make me laugh, you make me cry. You don't ignore my weaknesses but you help me overcome them. And I know you don't think like me, but for me, you are my sun. My only hope shining and guiding me. You are so bright that everything seems so dull compared to the rest of the world. You are wild, you don't care about people's opinions and you are everything someone could think of when I say freedom. I thought at first that I fell for your looks, then the idea of you. But what I fell for was you entirely. With your harsh tongue, your eternal grin, and loud laugh. I want to be with you, to get to see those moments for the rest of my days."

It was Marianna's turn to be red-faced. They looked awkwardly at each other before laughing. They both went towards the horse, after installing themselves, Marianna gave a quick jab at her ride.

It was absolute madness, a ruthless talented mercenary and a powerful noble wizard. They knew only little about each other but they were willing to jump into more than an uncertain void. Both of them knew the risks and the difficulties that they would face. But again had anything in their life been simple?

When they finally stumble across the corpse of the mercenary, they find horse steps and a ripped scorpion emblem lying on the sand.

({~*Author note*~})

Hi Sunflowers 🌻 (Hi @AprilJester;))

Oh my god.

I did it! On the last day of the deadline! There is still an epilogue next so I am saving my speech, but I just want to say thank you so much for reading it!

*Bonus*: At first Marianna was supposed to save Frederick but then I thought it would ruin his character development about how his time with Marianna taught him to trust people but also himself.

Since this book was created for the TEGSA contest I had to use something from the song 🎵 Abracadabra 🎶 by Steve Miller Band

Did you listen to the song Houdini by Eminem? This song is sample of his.

I used:
🤍 the meaning
🤍the lyrics: "You got me spinning", "I see magic in your eyes", "Every time you call my name/I heat up like a burning flame", "" and "Keep me burning for your love"

See ya next chapter 🙂