Chapter 100: Chapter 100

Shia tried shaking her feet. It was nice to be able to regain the feeling of her lower limbs like this again.

“You are using wind power, aren’t you, Sister Eily? Let’s see if I can amplify your magic.”

Still unable to stride normally like before, she walked a bit slowly towards the bed where Eily and Khailis were detained.

“Don’t push yourself too far, Shia. You just got a little better a few minutes ago,” Khailis frowned when she saw her walk towards them. She remembered how frail she looked when she opened her eyes earlier that day and requested to see Langrey. It hasn’t been long since that happened, so she couldn’t have recovered her strength in such a short period of time.

“We have to be quick. Sirion is not in his right mind. Who knows what will happen to us,” Shia said in return.

Shia’s heart was quivering in fright not for her own but for Khailis. If what Eily and Gilyan said was right, Sirion is planning to harvest her babies’ energies to do something diabolical. If they don’t hurry, they might not be able to escape.

“I think I can remove this shield and put up a decoy after. Let me try,” Shia said in a hushed tone.

She channelled her magic once again, focusing on weakening the shield rather than cutting at it this time. The shield looked like it wasn’t that sturdy to begin with. If she could push her magic a little more, she was confident she could destroy it.

After giving a final, stronger glow, the magic of the shield quickly dissipated into the air.

“Sister, that’s amazing! You weren’t the originator of this magic and yet you were able to break it,” Eily said in wonder. “How did your magic evolve like that?”

“I agree. That’s so wonderful! Quickly, remove that veil on the commander’s face before anything else. I don’t want to give birth to fried chickens at this rate,” Khailis said as her knight’s instinct kicked in after becoming freed from the shield.

“Yes, right,” Eily said, recovering swiftly from her excitement.

Eily closed her eyes and focused her attention on her hands where she was wielding the power of the air. Once she had gathered enough magic, she whirled it across the commander’s face who was still standing like a pole in their midst.

As soon as he was hit by Eily’s magic, the commander’s body shook as if he was going to hit the ground. The three ladies waited for a loud crashing sound that would result from it, but it never came.

“Argh, I’m out of breath,” the commander said gruffly. “Did any of you ladies hit me, by any chance?”

“Commader Rus,” Khailis said in a hushed yet very thrilled voice. It was a relief that he was finally back to his senses.

“What happened? Why are we here?”

“We’ve been kidnapped by the Ancient Evil, commander,” Shia whispered. “Our lives are in danger. We need to escape from here.”

“Alright, let’s escape then. Fill me in the details while we do,” the commander said in a hush. “Everybody, look around for a weapon you could use first.”

Khailis and Shia nodded vigorously, but Eily only stood, unfazed by the command.

“Uh, aren’t you going to go and look for something,” Khailis pointed out

“I don’t need it. I can wield magic,” she replied calmly.

“Oh, okay... But try to refrain from keeping your head away from rocks. Magic would be useless if you get knocked unconscious once more.”

Eily gave her a look of disgust and snorted at her.

After finding some fire pokers and hiding sharp pieces of glass carefully in their skirts, Khailis and Shia drew closer to Eily and the commander once more, and they formed their plan.

“We’ll exit by the secret passage. I’ll lead the way, and Lady Khailis will stay by the rear. If anything happens to me, Lady Khailis will take over since she knows this place well. Now, let’s get going.”

There was a giant portrait on one of the walls of the room where they are situated. It showed the face of the founder of Gascone, Emperor Juneo Cataris. He resembled Langrion’s and Danterion’s faces very much.

Commader Rus pushed the seemingly heavy portrait on the right side, and immediately, a dark, dingy tunnel showed itself.

“Come on, let’s go,” Commander Rus said.

As soon as they got inside, Shia produced a light orb. She noticed the protruding torch handlers and transferred the bouncing ball on her hand into the torch handler. Just like magic, the rest of the torch handlers lit up one by one along the winding corridor.

“This passage way is infused with magic,” Shia said breathlessly, and Commander Rus nodded.

“The founding father was a wizard after all, so it’s not so surprising,” he replied quietly.

“Why we’re here, can you tell me everything that you know,” Commander Rus asked Shia, who walked at his back.

Shia proceeded to inform him of what happened starting with the time she had been abducted.

“I see... I hope Prince Langrion is feeling alright,” Commander Rus said.

“He is. I’ve spoken to him through my wedding ring, but it got taken away...”

“Eh, my lady, did you mention wedding rings just now,” Commander Rus said in amazement.

“Uh, um, yes, we’re married now... We got married in Teotroly,” Shia said reluctantly. She had forgotten to mention that bit to the commander because she was taken aback by what had just happened.

“Congratulations! From the moment I saw you, I knew you two were meant to be together,” he said so brightly, bringing a bit of cheer in the dark, dismal place they were travelling in. “I always wanted that boy to find someone who would stand beside him like an equal, and I can’t be any happier to know that it is you, Lady Shia.”

Shia smiled. She hoped she could really be someone who could stay beside Langrey for a long time, not someone who would cause him pain, just like how she had unwittingly stabbed him at the time passages.

“How long are these passages? It feels like we’re walking for at least an hour already,” Goddess Eily said, fanning herself. The lack of air at the secret passage made it a hellish place. They were all drenched in sweat, but no one dared to complain except for Eily.

“These passages were designed to be long and winding so that no one could memorize them. Only the knights of the empire are allowed to know them and memorize them should the need to use it arise,” Commander Rus responded.

“Lady Khailis, are you okay? Do you feel tired?”

Khailis was holding herself up against the wall with one hand. Her face was pale, and she was sweating more profusely than the others.

“I-I’m okay... I just feel a little tired,” she said.

“Here, Take a seat, Rahul’s wife,” Eily said, her voice surprisingly gentle and kind. “Your energy must be running out because of the eggs. Rest here a bit.” She held a hand against Khailis’ stomach, and she started to infuse her with her magic.

“Lady Khailis, I’m sad to see you’ve grown so weak,” Commander Rus said, “you used to run here and there in these secret passages when you were still in training.”

“Yeah. I wasn’t carrying eggs back then, commander, so you must forgive me,” she said, smiling weakly back at him.

“Eggs? What do you mean you are carrying eggs?”

Before anyone could speak, Khailis suddenly felt worse. Her eyesight began to spin around, and she lost consciousness. Alarmed, Shia hastily knelt beside her, pinching her cheeks a bit.

“Khailis, Khailis, wake up!”

“What’s happening to her,” Commander Rus exclaimed. He had knelt beside Shia, alarmed that Khails had passed out.

“This is bad. The magic in her body is falling down at an alarming rate. The children in her womb might suffer,” Eily said as she quickly scanned her body for any injury.

“This can’t be,” Shia said feeling horrified. If it wasn’t for her, the protection magic in Teotroly wouldn’t have weakened. Khailis wouldn’t have been dragged by Sirion in this mess.

“Allow me to help,” a voice said from behind.

Commander Rus quickly drew a dagger from his side, and Shia stood with the fire poker in her right hand and a light orb on her left.

“You – what are you doing here?”

“Allow me to help Lady Khailista. You don’t want her to die, do you,” the person before them spoke.

“And what will you do? Weren’t you here to take us back to Sirion,” Shia shouted at him in frustration.

He shook his head. “No, I followed you here for the lady. I am indebted to her. I owe my life to her,” he said back.

Gilyan Freese looked back at them with an earnest look on his face. “My master is adamant to use the lady’s power, and I won’t permit that... I just can’t let her die like that.”

He looked at Khailis’ pale face for a long time before he spoke.

“I’ll help you and Lady Khailista escape from here.”