Ili remained on the back of the horse, tied up, with a blindfold covering her vision. Closing her eyes, she was able to concentrate on feeling her surroundings using mana. She sensed the 10 horses surrounding her, each with a soldier on it.
"If you feel even the slightest bit colder, kill her." a soldier told the one she was next to. "From what she did to the slums, there's no telling what she would do to us if she gets the slightest bit of leverage. Be careful."
"I know," the soldier spoke calmly, not seeming too worried.
Ili suddenly felt another presence around them, higher up, probably on the roofs of the buildings around the road. And then,
"Watch out!" a soldier shouted, but not fast enough.
An explosive bottle was thrown on the road. The explosion threw fire on the horses on the left, making them panic and jump into the others, a few falling over from the explosion itself, crushing the soldiers on top of them.
"We're under attack! Weapons out!" the commander screamed, as the soldiers stopped their horses.
Ili felt a person appear next to the horse she was on. The next moment, the horse got up on two feet, letting out a roar of pain. She fell on the ground, on top of the soldier she was on the horse with.
A ceothar (1) was thrown in the center of the soldiers, engulfing the whole area in smoke. Ili felt as the people from the roofs jumped down into the smoke, killing the soldiers. She tried to get up, but then, she felt another person behind her, wrapping his arm around her waist, before being pulled back on the roofs by a rope.
1 - A small ceramic object that produces an explosion of smoke when thrown on the ground.
"Are you alright, Apl?" the man asked as they were being pulled up. "We came as soon as we heard you were captured."
Not after long, her feet touched a solid surface, making it on top of the roof. The other people started to retreat from the fog, as the last soldier fell. There were about twelve people.
"Let me help you." another said, cutting the ropes around her body with his sword, freeing her. He then got closer to Ili, pulling off her blindfold. But at that moment, they all stopped, taking out their weapons.
"Who the hell are you?!"
With the blindfold off, she could finally see the men clearly. They were all dressed in white cloaks, the same as New Heaven. Even so, they didn't seem nearly as strong as Rash'aa. They must have been simple members, if anything.
"She's not Apl," another one said. "What do we do with her now?"
Another person approached her, with a soft smile on his face.
"Hello there, girl. Sorry to frighten you. My men don't really know good manners."
Ili looked at him, placing her hand softly over the hilt of her invisible sword.
"Who are you?" she asked, deciding to listen to what the man had to say, at least for now.
"I'm Theresis, and these are my people. We are part of a peace driven organization, known as New Heaven."
Ili looked to the side, as the smoke started to clear from the road, at the dead soldiers. The man raised a hand to block her view, still keeping the smile on his face. "Don't worry about them. They will all be reborn in the New World."
"The New World...?" Ili looked at the man. She had a weird feeling in her chest, a feeling that something was wrong...
"The New World. A world of absolute peace and beauty. A perfect world..." The man looked at the sky as he said those words. His eyes were filled with a weird, mad awe. "Let me ask you a question, girl." He turned his head back to her, looking deep into her eyes.
"What's your impression of the Gods?"
"Who are you?" the white haired girl asked, holding the ice dagger at Vella's throat.
Zephyr clenched his teeth, looking up at her. "Let her go!"
"I'll ask you again. Who are you, and why are you following us? What do you know?"
"Who am I? I'm nobody! And what do you mean 'following us'? I don't even know who you are!"
The girl's eyes narrowed angrily. She opened her mouth again, her voice colder and more threatening.
"Liar! Answer me now, or I'll kill her! Why are you after us?!"
"We're not following you! We weren't following you in any way! We want nothing to do with you! I swear, I don't know anything! Just let her go!"
"Alright," the girl said coldly, letting the knife down from Vella's throat. Vella looked back at her, shaking and confused, but just before she understood what was happening, she was pushed off the roof.
Zephyr's attention immediately turned to Vella, whose wings were frozen, falling towards the ground. But then, he saw something shiny with the corner of his eyes. He leaped forward, barely managing to avoid being pierced by an ice shard shot his way. Looking up, he saw the girl's cold gaze, as more ice shards were forming around her, pointed towards him.
He ran towards Vella, and with another leap, he barely managed to catch her before she hit the ground. In the same moment, he created a crystal platform over their bodies, held onto the building, to block the ice shards and give him enough time to break inside the house before it shattered.
The girl on the roof scoffed, seeing them enter the house. She bent down, placing her hand on the roof.
Looking around, Zephyr noticed the walls starting to freeze, hearing cracks all around them.
"Let's go!"
Zephyr quickly took Vella's arm, running towards the door on the other side of the building.
They barely got out before the roof collapsed over the house, shattering through frozen walls. The girl looked at Zephyr and Vella as they ran away, calmly standing on top of the rubble. "How annoying..."
The two ran away, quickly turning left through a narrow street, getting out of her sight. She calmly got down from the rubble, shaking the dust off her clothes.
Zephyr continued to run. His head was turning in all directions, trying to spot the girl. He took a turn right, then a left, and another right. He continued to run through the streets and roads, but suddenly, his way was blocked by a massive wall of ice. He tried to change direction into another street from the road, but that way was immediately blocked by a block of ice as well. Turning around, he felt a chill down his spine, as he saw the white haired girl at the other end of the road, walking towards him, before stopping. She looked around for a bit, before turning her attention back at him.
"Really honorable of you, making me follow you and letting your friend get away. But don't worry, I'll catch her too right after I'm done with you. So, any last words?"
The girl raised her hand, as tens of ice shards started to form around her, pointed towards Zephyr. But then, another voice was heard from behind her.
"You let your guard down."
Suddenly, she was tackled to the ground from behind, with a crystal dagger at the back of her neck. The ice shards around her broke and fell to the ground.
She looked at the 'Zephyr' she had cornered, seeing him change his form, turning back into its original shape of a succubus. It was Vella. The girl turned her head back at the one pinning her down.
"You..."
Zephyr held her tightly on the ground, with the knife at the back of her neck. Without letting loose, he turned his head to Vella.
"Go! I'll handle things here."
Vella nodded, running away through another building, disappearing from sight.
The girl softened her muscles, not struggling anymore underneath Zephyr's hold. "What now? Are you going to kill me?"
Zephyr looked down at her, keeping his hold as strong as before. "Unlike you, I'm not really in the habit of killing strangers. But you have so many questions you need to answer…"
"You're kind..." the girl looked at Zephyr, letting out a soft chuckle. But then, her smile dropped. "But stupid…"
The light blue circle in the middle of the girl's irises expanded, as three more circles appeared from the middle, with cracks like ice.
Zephyr barely managed to dodge out of her sight as that happened. In the sky, a group of birds that was hovering over them instantly turned to ice, falling to the ground and shattering.
"What the..." Zephyr's breath caught in his throat.
"You dodged it..."
Zephyr tried to get his grip back on her, but suddenly, he felt another presence next to him. Before he had enough time to turn around, a massive fist hit his body, throwing him far into a building.
Spitting some blood, he fell on the ground, with rubble falling over his body. He looked in front of him, as the girl slowly got up. Next to her, a massive white beast standing on two legs. It was a demon... The demon looked at Zephyr with dark red eyes, but then, his eyes shifted color, turning brown, with a dark iris in the middle, looking very human-like. The demon turned his head to the girl.
"Apl, take care of the boy and get back to your mission. I don't have time and mana to waste on summoning demons to take care of you," the demon spoke.
Zephyr was completely stunned... A talking demon? He never thought that was even possible, much less without the use of anything else to replicate talking.
"Yes, Mephisto." the girl said, shaking the dust off her body. "I won't disappoint you again."
The demon nodded, his eyes turning back to red. As soon as that happened, the demon growled and tried to attack the girl, but was soon crushed to death by a massive block of ice. Apl turned her head to Zephyr, her eyes colder than before. He felt a chill run down his spine. This wasn't good…
He looked at the girl, creating a crystal dagger in his hand.
Around the girl, tens of ice shards started forming, as a wave of freezing mist started to form around her and everything else.
He gripped the dagger tighter. The only way he was going to leave this place alive… was to kill her...
The room of the treaty was silent, as the diplomat continued to read its contents.
A bwovnine soldier from the formation looked to the right, at the one next to him. He was shaking slightly, groaning silently.
"Shzerghe, are you alright?" he asked his colleague, quietly.
The soldier turned his head towards him. "Yes, I'm alright. Don't worry about me. I'm just a little tired, that's all."
"Hey, Shzerghe, since when are your eyes brown? Weren't they blue?"
"What are you talking about? No, of course not. Did you hit your head or something?"
"Alright, sorry. I could have sworn your eyes were blue. I suppose this atmosphere is really getting to me. I must be more anxious than I thought." he chuckles.
"Yeah, you must be." Shzerghe chuckles as well, but quickly loses his smile, turning back towards the podium, where the diplomat and the Sangv'dhinaes stood, reading the treaty.