Astral Flow

Chapter 56

"Vonder, are you sure about this? I don't know if they're ready-"

"They're ready Aida, I can tell." Vonder confidently states as they march up to the castle, the guards watching them suddenly moving out of his path with a look of respect and fear twirling in their eyes.

Lily could only look on in surprise and amazement at this, she figured he was decently known here but the guards treated him like a superior... not to mention how easily he was able to get to the king and queen.

Just who was this Hunter really?

What danger were they in?

Why was everyone watching them intently?

"Stay calm, there's no killing intent, not even the slightest hint... the Hunter is telling you the truth." Six states to Lily while quietly enhancing her senses. "You need to stay calm not only for yourself, but for the kid as well."

Looking over it was clear that Eileen was indeed afraid of all this, sticking close to Lily's side as they walked into the castle.

Quietly Lily offers Eileen a kind smile that does make her feel a bit better, but not by much.

Aida seemed to be just as distressed though as she kept looking back to check on Lily and Eileen, her eyes shaking with uncertainty as they marched through the halls into what seemed like a large training grounds... larger than the fort Lily had trained at before.

Despite the large amount of area all the training dummies and obstacles had been moved aside.

All that remained was a flat dirt ground with a couple of training weapons sitting nearby.

Casually Vonder walks out into the training ground, not bothering to take a weapon with him.

"Lily, you're up first." Vonder commands, looking back at her with a calm fire in his eyes, one that shook her to her very core.

This look was one that said she'd die if she messed up, as if this was truly a life or death battle.

Carefully Lily looked around, quickly grabbing two training daggers and moving into the arena after inferring Vonder's intention.

He didn't move an inch as she approached, watching as she took up her stance and began moving in.

If he wanted to know her strength then he'd see it.

Beginning the fight with a sprinting attack she swung her right dagger at his face, aiming to land a quick and dirty hit.

However it never connected as she witnessed Vonder easily lean out of the way, causing Lily to look on in surprise.

In that instant a strong sense of fear and adrenaline came over her, a vision of scarlet red flashing before her eyes as her body reacted before she could even process what happened.

Once her mind had calmed she realized she'd retreated back to where she started, but there was no wound on her body... had she imagined it?

"No, that was something that could've happened." Six calmly states. "It was your body reacting to his killing intent... had he actually been serious about killing you then you would've been cut clean in two."

Lily looks at Vonder who's still just standing there, no weapon drawn as he focuses on her.

He was terrifying, how could someone without a weapon be this scary?!

Vonder wasn't some abomination like anything else she'd seen, but yet someone about his gaze and aura made her afraid to move even an inch.

She couldn't give up though, not yet, if she couldn't land a hit on her then what hope had she in fighting any future enemies?