Sneaky Seal Bearer

Asuren and Ayhan followed the trace that Juliann left for them. He left tiny marks on the trees that only his friends could see. The long and winding trail led them to the edge of Lavender Forest, just right next to the Deadly Barrier.

Standing there, waiting for them, was a tall fairy. Beside him was a monster similar to the one Asuren and his friends had encountered earlier but bigger. It was tightly gripping in its hands Juliann and Calix who were both bleeding and unconscious.

The rage that Asuren managed to shove deep within him was once again swelling up and clouding his thoughts.

"The rumors are true. You finally managed to get out of the Nightgloom Fortress," an annoying smile curved on the lips of the tall fairy. "You have reliable friends, Asuren. But can your friends rely on you?"

The tall fairy spread his wings and soared through the Deadly Barrier without getting burned. The monster beside him had followed but, unlike the tall fairy, it burned together with Juliann and Calix.

Asuren quickly spread his wings but before he could enter the Deadly Barrier, Ayhan jumped in front of him, shoved him away from it, and pinned him down to the ground.

"Calm down, Asuren!!! Let's find another way to reach Daybreak Realm!"

Asuren stopped struggling and said, "Juliann and Calix are dead. You saw them burn."

"I told you to listen to what others are saying!" Ayhan was still yelling. "That fairy asked if your friends can rely on you. If he kills Juliann and Calix, how can he get an answer? And…" his voice softened up a bit when he asked, "Will you give up on your friends that easily?"

"I…" Asuren closed his eyes and cried, "What should I do?"

^##############^

After decades of trailing confusing traces, Riz finally followed one that led her closer to a seal bearer. It was only a few meters away from her. She made sure that her presence was well hidden to avoid startling the sneaky seal bearer. She watched her target closely and thought that seal bearers had hideous appearance like that of a monster, but it looked just like any other fairy.

The sneaky seal bearer was tall and wearing black clothes from head to feet. His face was well covered. All Riz could glimpse was his eyes, which were as black as his clothes. His hair was also black and ponytailed high at the back of his head.

The seal bearer stopped walking and checked his surroundings before reaching his left hand to the Deadly Barrier separating Daybreak and Nightfall Realm. He did not get burned. 

"I'm sorry, Thea. I cannot wait any longer," Riz came out of her hiding spot, summoned a flaming spear and tossed it between the seal bearer and the barrier.

She succeeded in taking the attention of her target away from the barrier. The seal bearer summoned two silhouettes with a flick of his fingers. Both looked identical to him. With a slight wave of his right hand, the two summoned silhouettes attacked.

Extremely annoyed, Riz evaded their daggers and summoned another flaming spear.

"I told you not to engage in a fight!" Thea arrived and stood beside her friend. She waved her hands and released gusts of wind that trapped and paralyzed the two summoned silhouettes. "Is that the seal bearer?" She glanced at the fairy in black standing near the deadly barrier. "Is he planning to cross it?"

"He touched it earlier. He was not burned," Riz attacked the sneaky seal bearer.

Thea tried to finish the two silhouettes within a few minutes but all that she managed to do was trap and paralyze them repeatedly for a few seconds. Even though they were only silhouettes, their power overwhelmed Thea. Her hands trembled each time she enveloped them with wind gusts. They were struggling hard until they could break away from her grasp.

Each time they were freed, they would rush towards Thea with daggers in hand. She evaded them every time, but her strength was starting to deplete. She could no longer paralyze her enemies in succession. One of their blades passed through her defenses and grazed her left cheek. There was a wisp of wind that seeped from the blade of the silhouette and the sensation it left on her felt strangely familiar, but she could not remember where she had sensed it. She quickly shrugged off that chilling sensation and soared away from the two silhouettes.

In her haste, Thea had hit a branch and plummeted to the ground. The two silhouettes moved in unison. They raised their blades to stab her heart, but both their daggers had been caught by water whips and disintegrated before hitting their target. Sel had finally arrived.

The two silhouettes did not stop on their offensive. They tried to manifest another set of blades.

Thea immediately raised her hands and released a wind gust that trapped one of the silhouettes. Sel rushed to the trapped enemy and stabbed its chest with an ice chain. The silhouette turned into ice and had been crushed by the wind gust. The defeated enemy did not bleed. It only turned into a piece of torn black cloth and faded into glowing particles that exploded and released a powerful wind that hurled Thea and Sel hard against a tree trunk.

Sel regained her balance and dropped gracefully on the ground while Thea dropped on her knees feeling a little dizzy and disturbed. The wind that hit her felt awfully familiar, but she had no time to dwell on it. The remaining silhouette raised its blade to attack but had been intercepted by Sel and her water whip.

"Thea, are you okay?" Sel asked while continuously waving the water whip at the silhouette with remarkable swiftness.

"I'm okay," Thea shakily got up on her feet. "I thought you are in the middle of a fight."

"Gia came to help, and we finished the fight sooner than we expected," Sel continued to wave her water whip and the silhouette could only dodge and deflect. "Gia will be here soon. You can leave and follow Riz."

"Follow Riz?" Thea glanced at the Deadly Barrier. Riz and the seal bearer were no longer there. Her heart pounded with fear as she whispered, "Where did they go?"

^#######^