Year 3988, 25th Day of the 7th Moon
Fraion Forest, Continent of Humana

WHO HAD ever thought that going to the forbidden island was a genius idea?

Apparently, the first prince of Fliamma believed so. Erkhan wanted to strangle that brat the moment he could see him.

'That is if I still can...'

The Fraion Forest was an island no one dared to venture. Seeing that it was in between the borders of Humana and the continent of the demons, it was a no-brainer.

"Why don't you just kill him?"

"Yes, that will solve our problem."

"Not 'ours', his."

The sound slurred near his ear, almost like a hiss with the accent of a toddler. Only a single shadow was spread out on the moist grass but the voices traveled from his left to right.

The more he went further, the louder they became. It rang in his head, making it too hard to ignore. The various inflections and dialogues could make him deaf at any moment. Those voices gathered as if he was in the center of a cheering arena.

"Stop it," he muttered while trying to massage his aching head.

But, of course, they would not listen. Instead, the excitement got worse. For certain, he had invited more 'spawns' to join his herd.

"He can hear us too?"

"But he's a pathetic human?"

"Hush. He can hear you."

"No, he's not human. Look at his ears!"

His skull nearly split in two when those voices ensued their chatter. They talked over each other that it was impossible to comprehend what they were even discussing.

Erkhan tried to adjust his eyepatch but it did nothing to modulate the noise. The leather cloth held a special spell made by his father with the help of his mother. After all, his mother alone could not do anything to help him since fairies did not have the ability to form spells.

Nevertheless, this spell would not work if not for his mother's magic. The light elements she embedded in the eyepatch reduced his contact with those invisible things.

Those unseen creatures were not even recorded in history but Erkhan knew what they were. The 'spawns', as he liked to call them, were the earlier form of Ravids.

Their tones were often children bursting with questions and innocence but when the right time arrived, they would turn to the most insidious beings of Elith. They were the kind of creatures that did not discriminate against their victims and only caused havoc to their world.

"Oh, a trap!"

"A trap!"

"Human, a trap!"

The overlapping voice did not do anything but worsen the situation. He stepped right on the pitfall — freediving all the way — face front.

"Lithine," he called the spirits of light and began the incantation.

To every syllable he spoke, a concave dome of light grew larger underneath him. He flipped midair and the spell enveloped the back of his body.

His muscles relaxed. There was not a slight panic of any kind in the visible scarlet iris, owing to the fact that he was a trained knight for decades. The dense illumination lessened the impact. He landed with ease while thinking when would a prodigy appear and create a flying spell similar to those of bird shifters?

He rose up, perceiving his surroundings. The textured stones filled his view but on his right was an opening, leading to god knows where. The cooling draft of air caressing his skin indicated that there might be another exit there. Glancing at the hazy smoke he created, shadow-like sticks were under the opaqueness of his magic. Some parts were condensed while there were some spots with wide gaps in between.

"Who makes such a stupid thing?" he mumbled to himself before calling the spirits of fire to destroy everything beneath. Another magic circle took shape and sizzling embers echoed in the cramped hole.

"Stupid he says but he falls."

"Right. Humans are so stupid."

"Oh, look! There's another—"

"My lord!"

Erkhan took a second before discerning that it was a real voice this time. But... It was too familiar for his relief.

"Sapphire," he called the woman, who evidently fell into the same pitiful trick as him, standing on the arc opening. "What are you doing here?"

Despite wearing armor, she moved so stealthily, as expected from the Vice-captain of their family's knights. "I saw a sudden glow while I was roaming around. I never expected it to be you, my lord!"

His eyebrows wrinkled. "That's not what I mean. Why are you in Fraion Forest?"

"Oh, that. Lord Hadrien is searching for some herbs and I'm here to accompany him but he got lost."

"You're obviously the one who's lost," he remarked. There was no way his earnest younger brother could be inept like this woman.

"Of course not. I am walking behind him but he just disappears. Thank goodness you are here, my lord. I'm so lucky! Maybe we are really destined by fate?"

He withdrew in an instant. The fall made him forget that this woman was a danger to his existence.

But with that limited space from the magic circle, there was not much distance to retreat. Limbs wrapped his body as she pounced on him. Purple tresses intertwined to his crimson strands when his back flattened to the magic below him. The woman embraced him with no ounce of discretion at all.

He squirmed his way out but his years of being a Royal knight were for naught in front of this woman with inhuman strength.

"Let go, Sapphire," he said, clenching his jaw.

"But I missed you, my lord!" Her voice rose another pitch, obviously out of glee, while his expression soured.

Erkhan heaved a deep breath. He stayed still and when she thought he stopped resisting, he put both hands on her waist. With one swift move, he reversed their positions. He immediately stood up and jumped away from his magic. Sapphire followed right after like a clingy dog to their owner.

"Stay away from me," he ordered.

"But, my—"

"Quiet. I'm revoking my spell."

Fortunately, she did. Erkhan mumbled another string of ancient words. While the fire had already disappeared minutes ago, the first cast was continual. For that type of spell, everything needed to be revoked or it would drain the elemental flow in the body the longer it was cast.

When he finished, the white light, resembling a fog, dissipated. There was nothing left but burnt ashes from the pointed sticks used for the trap. The next time someone would fall, cracked bones would be the most of their problem.

'But for me...' He glimpsed at the woman smiling foolishly, her viridescent eyes seemed so bright despite the dimness of the place.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. His deep-set eyes shut closed while he tried getting hold of his situation.

The prince was still missing while he was out here in some unknown pit with the person he wanted to avoid the most. Then there were the 'spawns' messing up his head, talking leisurely like they were watching a theatrical play the whole time.

'Damn it. Can this get any worse?'