Lyna whistled as she walked through the cave with the Bow of Flames in her hands.
"Little girl~ don't hide, that will only make you suffer more." She hummed with a smile while, in the mental plane, she watched Azriel's expression.
"You're very friendly today... aren't you?"
Azriel laughed.
"I've always been friendly to you. It was you, Lyna, who chose to attack before talking." He continued watching patiently.
Lyna suddenly stopped, her ears angling toward a rock, and then she put a wide smile on her face.
"How would you feel if I killed her?" she asked with a sadistic smile. "You'd feel bad, wouldn't you?"
Azriel sighed.
"I'm trying to stay calm... but yes, I wouldn't want her to die and it would hurt me a lot to see her die." Azriel thought deeply about that question and then added
"I see the world from your perspective, Lyna; I see her hiding behind the rock and I will feel your hand sliding across the bow shooting her..."
He then clenched his teeth, tense.
"Honestly, I can't even say what the difference is between you killing her and me killing her with my own hands... And Martin... I don't know how I'll face him."
Lyna laughed amusedly as she saw Lena's shadow trembling behind the rock.
"You can stop me, why don't you try?" she asked again.
Azriel watched silently while clenching his fists and taking a deep breath.
"You are my familiar, you will be with me for hundreds, if not thousands, of years... our relationship is far more important than two ordinary people... even if I hate myself deeply for it... that might calm you a little."
Lyna whistled amusedly; she felt Azriel's mental barrier tremble as his feelings of guilt seeped through and contaminated her.
"You're right..." She lowered her head and sighed with a gentle smile on her face.
For a moment she forgot about Lena.
"Will you hate me if I do it?" she asked him again, and he only tightened his grip even more.
"If I said yes, I'd be manipulating you and you'd get angry... but I won't lie either... however." He said with a resolute look. "I promise I'll treat you well even if you kill her, until I forget the anger and the guilt."
Lyna felt his sincerity pass through the barrier again.
She sighed deeply, a more and more satisfied smile on her face.
"It seems like only now we're understanding each other..."
She kept watching the trembling shadow and couldn't help but notice her heart getting lighter at Azriel's words…
However, words were not enough.
She raised the bow toward the shadow and fired.
BANG
The arrow flew toward the rock and quickly hit its target with precision.
"I'm going to kill her." Lyna said.
Azriel swallowed hard, his face growing gloomy.
He breathed deeply as he watched Lyna's memories, trying to understand her feelings and why she wanted to do it so badly.
But he never stopped her...
He only hoped Nell wouldn't suffer the same fate.
Lyna slowly walked to the rock and looked behind it and soon saw a body writhing in pain...
A black centipede the size of an adult.
Azriel sighed deeply, his body relaxing suddenly.
"Impressive, you really thought it was her and you didn't stop me." Lyna watched the centipede writhe beneath the arrow.
"Fire-fang centipede... a possibility I doubted from beginning to end." Azriel immediately recognized the creature. "They must feed on the crystals here..."
Lyna's eyes suddenly sharpened, analyzing the cave in greater detail.
Even more of those shadows were crawling around there.
"Any mission related to this?" Lyna asked calmly.
"Yes… there were reports of these creatures around here and it's a very important mission. I'll record the location."
Lyna nodded calmly as she walked further through the cave searching for Lena, but she soon gave up.
"She's not here." She saw more and more centipedes clustering through the cave. "She wouldn't have survived and there's no sign of a fight."
Lyna quickly turned and walked outside.
"The heat spreads through the rocks and melts the snow around, a rocky area that doesn't leave clear tracks."
"She went down the river." Lyna laughed amusedly. "She must have run far downstream."
Lyna then walked downstream in pursuit.
Azriel sighed deeply; relief washed over him completely. He could still try to calm Lyna before she found Lena.
However, Lena's heart was the most relieved at the moment…
She had seen Lyna enter the cave and she had seen her leave the cave.
She had seen Lyna go downstream.
She had seen everything from beginning to end…
From the top of a tree on the riverbank.
Lena took advantage of not leaving footprints on the rocks at the edge and looked for a nearby tree by the bank to climb and hide.
At that moment she held her breath while Lyna passed directly below her.
However, Lyna stopped right under that tree. Lena's heart almost stopped in absolute terror.
If Lyna smelled her.
She would die.
If Lyna heard a sound.
She would die.
If Lyna looked up.
She would die.
Lena saw her own hands trembling and then clenched her teeth and her fists.
She took a deep breath, the cold air entering through her nose.
Her eyes froze with repressed emotions as her body stopped shaking.
Still, the scent couldn't be eliminated…
She could only hope the wind would carry her scent away.
Lena watched Lyna standing below with cold composure, while Lyna's ears turned from side to side trying to pick up any sound.
Her nose went up and down trying to smell something.
"She seems to have gone pretty far… I can't hear or smell anything in this forest." She finally sighed and continued walking.
Lena kept watching in total silence as she walked away.
But then…
She stopped again and looked up.
Lena met Lyna's eyes with coldness.
Lyna smiled at her.
Azriel's heart stopped.
"Last words, girl?" Lyna asked, pointing the bow at her.
"You're a pain, you know that?" Lena sighed deeply. "I thought I could get away."
Lyna laughed, amused, a tear running down her eyes.
She quickly wiped the tear away.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you… but now it's the end."
Lyna drew the bowstring.