A striking and dashing figure, donned in a simple white shirt beneath a black overcoat and matching pants, completed with long boots, strolled into the room with casual grace. In his right hand, he held a sheathed sword, his entrance undeterred by the moonlight filtering through the window.
His piercing brown eyes surveyed the room, sweeping from the unconscious form of Arlan and settling on the enigmatic figures within. Among them, one was familiar, while the other remained concealed beneath a shroud of dark fabric, concealing her entire fra, not a glimpse of her face in sight.
His objective was crystal clear, his gaze fixated on the shrouded woman who likely still grappled with the shock of his sudden appearance.
"Who are you?" the witch inquired.
Before the man could respond, Oriana interjected, "Haven’t you just questioned the source of my confidence in successfully evading your trap? He is the answer." Oriana then turned her attention to the man. "Commander Sanders, I’m deeply grateful for your tily arrival."
In return, Calhoun Sanders, the vigilant guardian knight in service to King Drayce, also known as the Slayer of the battlefield, locked eyes with Oriana. "Are you alright, Miss Oriana?"
"Yes," she replied before adding with a touch of annoyance, "though I must admit, I’ve grown rather uncomfortable and fatigued standing here for an extended period, listening to the nonsense spewed by this unpleasant witch."
"It won’t be much longer," he assured her. The two conversed as though no one else occupied the room, as if there were no imdiate peril in their midst.
Were these two individuals openly underestimating the evil witch?
Slayer smoothly withdrew his sword from its scabbard and leveled a mocking gaze at the witch. "Have you finished playing gas?"
The witch was taken aback by his brash deanor. She could discern he was human and not any supernatural, but the mystery that confounded her was how he had breached the formidable barrier of black magic.
"Impossible!" the witch muttered, her disbelief evident. "You are undoubtedly human. How did you breach this room?"
Slayer fixed the witch with a bored and frosty stare. "Is that really the pressing concern right now, rather than attempting to save your own skin? I don’t usually harm won, but this ti, I might make an exception."
"Commander, she’s nothing more than a repulsive, otherworldly being. You need not even consider her as human," Oriana remarked.
Slayer’s gaze shifted from the unconscious Arlan sprawled on the floor to the witch. "You certainly don’t warrant any rcy," he retorted, his once warm brown eyes now darkened by anger.
The witch, roused from her initial shock, steeled herself. "It seems you’re determined to et your end by barging in here so recklessly. I’m not certain what trick you employed to breach that door’s barrier, but one thing is certain: you won’t leave this room alive."
With a swift incantation, the witch unleashed a formidable onslaught of her dark magic at Slayer. Oriana’s voice pierced the tense air, "Commander, please be careful!"
Yet, Slayer remained rooted in place, as though nothing had occurred. The wave of black magic dissipated upon contact with his body, passing through him like a feeble gust of wind that couldn’t even ruffle a single hair on his head.
"What? How can this be?" The witch recoiled, her panic evident. She launched another assault at Slayer, this ti with her most potent attack, yet the outco remained unchanged. It couldn’t even graze Slayer’s form.
Even the mightiest of individuals would have displayed so hint of trepidation when facing her onslaught, but this human standing before her appeared entirely immune to her sorcery. What was unfolding was beyond her comprehension.
"Who are you?" the witch asked in panic.
"Your demise," Slayer intoned as he raised his sword and gazed at its gleaming blade. "For the first ti, my sword shall be tainted with rotten blood." In the blink of an eye, he lunged toward the witch, sending his sword hurtling through the air with lethal precision, while he kept rooted to his place.
Thud!
The blade lodged itself firmly into the wall, pinning the black cloth with its sharpened tip, but there was no sign of the witch. It was as if beneath those shrouded garnts, there had never been a body, only an epheral presence.
The dark magic that had perated the room dissipated, and the magical circle Oriana had been standing in vanished as well.
"She managed to escape," Oriana observed, a hint of resignation in her voice, while Slayer nodded, unruffled by the witch’s elusive departure.
"Let her savor a few more days of her existence," Oriana muttered as she hastened to Arlan. Kneeling by his side, she grasped his hand to check his pulse. "It’s feeble. That accursed witch has inflicted severe harm upon him."
Footsteps resounded in the room as two more figures made their entrance, approaching Oriana.
Drayce knelt on the floor, carefully inspecting Arlan. "He’ll recover by tomorrow," he assured.
Oriana turned her gaze toward Drayce and expressed her gratitude, "Thank you for arriving in the nick of ti, Your Majesty."
Drayce t her eyes with a reassuring smile, "You need not thank . It’s my duty to save my friend, as also the woman who is destined to be his wife."
Oriana remained silent, her focus returning to Arlan. "We should take him back," she suggested.
"King Drayce, you can assist Oriana in tending to Prince Arlan. I will take my ti examining this room," Yorian proposed.
Drayce agreed with a stern reminder, "Keep Slayer with you. This is that witch’s lair, and her prison. She may return here at any mont. With him present, her powers will be severely limited."
"I won’t dally," Yorian assured.
Oriana couldn’t help but feel a surge of concern upon hearing Drayce’s words. "That witch, she took so of my blood."
Drayce swiftly reassured her, "She didn’t," and with a flick of his hand, a small vial materialized. "I recovered it."
Relief washed over Oriana. "I should never worry when Your Majesty is here."
Drayce employed his magic, and the vial dissolved into nothingness, vanquished from existence.
"We should depart," Drayce suggested, and Oriana prepared herself for teleportation, her powers encircling Arlan’s frail form to shield him from the teleportation’s effects.
With a fond smile, Drayce teleported alongside Oriana, witnessing her unwavering protection and care for Arlan.
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