Chapter 39

The muzzle of a large wolf-like creature burst through the rumble and Arya could see that its teeth were about as long as her arms.

Bright, glowing red eyes gleamed evilly from outside and Arya was probably the only one who could fight at the moment as Ezekiel and everyone else were already badly injured and the rolling around must have also done some damage to them.

Assyrian's head was bleeding and he was knocked. Granite had his arms wrapped around Assyrian and it looked like he had been trying to protect him and minimize the damage. Ezekiel was also unconscious as well. 

Arya pulled out her pocket knife-the tiny and pretty one was an elaborately decorated handle-and stabbed that beast in its eye. The beast howled and screamed in pain and it retreated-for now. Arya knew she only had a few seconds at best before that creature attacked again, enraged and in pain.

"Damn it…those freaks found us."

Freya whimpered and buried her face in her hands. She started to cry and shake badly. 

Arya turned her attention to Freya and resisted the urge to snap at her to pull herself together and to prepare to fight but she understood that various people have various ways to cope with fear and stress.

Freya wasn't the brave and heroic type, that was for sure. Great, Arya, thought, I'm going to have to fight who-knows-how-many of those freaks all by myself.

"Swords…I need-AHA!!"

Arya grabbed Ezekiel's twin swords that were abandoned by their owner's side. She silently apologized to Ezekiel for stealing his swords but she didn't have her own right now and there was no way in hell she was going to face off a pack of those ugly freaks with nothing more than a pocket knife and her telekinesis. Well, she could defeat a whole swarm of zombies with little more than her telekinesis but then she would get tired out very easily.

She tied the swords to her waist before detangling herself from the remains of the carriage.

She gave Freya a stern look.

"Look after them until I finish taking care of those freckles, Freya."

Freya nodded.

…

She unsheathed her swords now and quickly started to scan the surroundings, looking for any signs of movement and something caught her attention in the corner of her eye.

Something was going for her on her left side. A blur of black charging from the forest towards her. She flung herself out of the way, tumbled onto the ground but she managed to roll and get back onto her feet to see the thing that attacked her.

It looked like a wolf except no wolf was so monstrously huge that its teeth were as long as a man's arm, its paws looked big enough to crush boulders into rubble, and claws would make excellent swords. Its fur was a pitch black that made it look as if it was made from shadows as it was a creature of darkness. It growled and slowly approached the girl as if it was playing with her.

Arya felt her heart pound so loudly that she felt as if it would burst out of her chest. It was the same monster that chased her and hunted her down that night.

The wolf-like beast growled and bared its teeth at her and lunged at her with the intention of ripping out her throat. Arya only smirked and dropped her right sword.

Arya channeled her powers and the monster stopped in mid-air and froze in place just inches from her throat. It howled and snarled and strained against its invisible restraints but it couldn't move a single inch.

Arya lifted it up into the air with her telekinesis and it started to whine and panic as it floated several feet off the ground.

Arya balled her hand into a fist and the sickening sound of crushing and breaking bones filled the air as Arya broke and crushed every bone inside that creature's body. The monster howled in pain and Arya put it out of its misery by snapping its neck into two pieces.

She allowed the body to fall down hard and heavy onto the forest floor, limp and lifeless as a puppet with its strings cut.

Arya already knew that they were already there. She now knew that she walked straight into their territory without even realizing it. She could only hope that Catalina and ELijah were alright.

More and more of those wolf-like monsters appeared. Each angered and hungry for Arya's blood by the death of their own kind.

They circled her and surrounded her. It seemed like there were 20 of them.

Arya hefted her swords and prepared for a fight.

Three of the wolves attacked her at once but she managed to dodge in time-not not fast enough as her arm got badly scratched.

She countered by slashing down at that wolf only for her sword to bounce off its black fur like it was made from metal.

Well then, Arya thought, that's no problem for me.

She ignored the stinging pain and slashed at the throats of all those beasts. A beautiful light of mana covered her swords and the twin aura arcs sliced through the air and sliced through the necks of all three wolves, sending their heads falling onto the ground before they could even react.

…..

"Oh my goodness!!!"

Arya successfully managed to create her own aura and she had just used it to slice through the wooden dummy, the body falling onto the ground with a loud thud.

The arc of green light flew through the air and sliced through the training dummy and the stone wall of the training ground like it was made of butter. A huge gash appeared on the wall-long but very shallow. 

Arya turned to look at Mr. Elijah.

"What's so special about it? I did poorly, didn't I? It was my first try."

Elijah face-palmed.

"It took me a year to be able to manifest aura and be able to use it. You mastered it an manfasted it in just two months!!"

"So, I'm a fast learner?"

"Not just a fast learner, you're a prodigy, Adelaide. I'm sure of it now. People called me a prodigy, but if they saw you, that title of mine would have been seriously challenged."

.....

The monsters now looked more scared and hesitant to approach Arya now but they didn't need to approach her.

She was a killing machine on the battlefield. Slicing, stabbing, dodging, slashing. 

Those wolves stood no chance against Arya as she beheaded them, stabbed them through their hearts, cut off their limbs, and moved so quickly that they couldn't react at all.

The final monster let out a pitiful whine before Arya ended him with a sword straight through its heart.

Arya was covered head to toe with the black blood of those beasts and it seemed as if more monsters were coming out now to fight her, sensing a danger and threat to them.

But they were also enraged and furious that a mere human dared to fight them.

They snarled and bared their teeth before they launched themselves at Arya.

Arya focused on channeling mana into her sword and she quickly moved out of the way as those wolves landed just moments where she was.

The swords glowed with power and aura and she made quick work of those three wolves, slashing, swinging and cutting away at them, their heads sliced off and their bodies destroyed into little pieces to prevent them from resurrecting.

Another wolf stretched at her and Arya felt a sharp pain explode as three deep cuts on her back appeared.

Arya returned the favor by using her telekinesis to quickly strangle the wolf to death n a matter of second, her telekinesis snapping the wolf's neck in half and she also broke its spinal cord for good measure.

How many were left?

It was hard to tell as more and more of those beasts kept coming out from the woods.

Three, five, seven, nine.

Damn it, Arya was almost reaching her limit. Sure, she could push it and kill off all these freaks but then she would be so tired and exhausted from the effort that she would be left vulnerable to whatever might attack her next.

There was no guarantee that these wolf monsters were the only things lurking around here, waiting for a chance to kill her off.

The wolves circled her like vultures, sniffing and growling, before they charged at her, mouths drooling, teeth ready to sink into her flesh, ready to end her.

Here goes nothing, rather die fighting than die like a lamb to the slaughterhouse.

Arya's body shook and trembled as she drew out what little strength she had left.

The wolves that were charging at her suddenly froze in place, paralyzed. They strained and fought back against whatever was stopping them from killing this human girl but it was as if they couldn't attack her.

Then the sound of nine necks being broken at once could be heard.

All nine wolves dropped dead at once.

Arya made sure they stayed that way, using her aura-coated swords to slice and dice the monsters up into little pieces to ensure that they couldn't resurrect.

Arya was surrounded by pieces of the bodies of the wolf-creatures. Her swords were coated in the smelly black blood of those beasts and Arya was gasping and panting for breath as she leaned against a tree.

"Damn it, I hate these things. The same monster that chased me through the forest that night. But now, I can actually fight back."

Arya collapsed with her back against the tree and the adrenaline high she was all during the entire fight wore off.

Her muscles ached and were in pain, her legs felt weak and numb, the scratches and cuts she got during the fight were painful and the unnerving sensation of blood dripping down her arms, legs and face felt nasty to her.

Arya gathered up her strength and started to cut off strips of cloth from her pants to use as makeshift bandages for the cuts and scratches on her arms and legs. Thankfully, the wounds weren't too deep or infected. It was mainly the bleeding that was the main concern for her right now.

Freya had managed to drag out Assyrian, Ezekiel and Granite from the carriage while she was fighting and she laid them out on the ground underneath some trees.

Arya remembered she had it heal them.

Using the tree behind her and the twin swords, she got up and slowly walked over to where the injured people were.

"Shit, I don't think I have the energy to be able to heal them now. Those freaks did a number on me before I wiped them all out."

Freya nodded and Arya saw that she had ripped off pieces of her dress to use as makeshift bandages. Strips of pale green cloth were wrapped around all three boys.

"Arya, you were amazing out there. Are you sure you have no interest in the throne?"

Arya thought Freya was either putting on a brave face or stupid or a mix of both. Was now really the best time to talk about something like this?

Arya shakily knelt down beside Ezekiel next to Freya.

"No", she snapped, "not at all. Besides, I don't need your pretty words of praise. I need help. I can take care of them now but at this rate, I'm going to wear myself out in a matter of a few days."

Freya looked ashamed and embarrassed and she looked down at her hands.

"You're right, little sister. You shouldn't be doing all the fighting by yourself and I'm nothing but a burden to you since I'm so weak in other people's eyes. I didn't do so well in my training and-"

A flash of pain prevented Arya from responding to the question right away but when it passed, Arya spoke.

"So what?!! Have you ever even tried in your training? Ever put in any effort? Ever pushed yourself? Or did you let what other people say about you and your "weak" ability get to your head? Quit making excuses!!"

Oppss, Arya thought, she didn't mean to snap at Freya but the stress and the pain were getting to her.

She decided to stay quiet and Freya looked like she didn't want to talk either.

Arya felt a little bit of her strength returning to her now but she still felt as if she could only use her twin swords as walking sticks.

She was a sitting duck here and she could only hope that the display of power and the absolute massacre she made of the wolf monsters would scare off any beast who thought she would be easy prey. Along with three badly injured people and a princess who could even fight.

Her healing power…she couldn't draw it out and she must not have the energy to do any healing right now after that huge fight she had.

Arya's stomach rumbled and groaned and Arya was painfully made aware of her hunger and thirst.

It must have been hours since the breakfast of pancakes, sausages, apples and orange juice with Myna.

She clenched a hand to her howling stomach and grimaced.

Wonderful. The last thing she needed on top of being drained of all mana and energy was an empty stomach.

Arya felt a burning sensation, sharp and painful, throughout her entire body and it seemed to be coming from wherever there was a cut or scratch on her. She removed a single bandage from the left thigh and watched in amazement and shock as the cut healed itself in a matter of seconds with a flash of green light.

She ripped off all of her makeshift bandages and saw that all her injuries had been healed and not even so much as a scar was left in their place. Not just healed, She felt her energy and strength returning, rushing back into her body.

Arya felt as if she could take on an entire army of those beasts now. Did she always have this power?

She could not only heal others, but she could heal herself as well it seems.