The Unfading: Second battle of the codex

Chapter 4: The divine move

Fenrir & Fafnir were kneeling before Amarantha. She was sitting on her throne. Thinking something. She opened her eyes slowly, the glowing amethyst orbs with a cat-like pupil which were once humane, shifted from both of her knights to Duriel kneeling behind them. "Hassan is clearly stronger than Alvia. Alvia is also strong. I suppose that Hassan should be turned into a knight & if Alvia dies in despair, I'll turn her into a semi-knight", she spoke calmly. "What do you want us to do your Majesty?", Fafnir asked. "I have decided on a plan. Fenrir, you'll kill Alvia after Hassan goes to Elysion. I'll send an illusion of Alvia to Hassan which will ask him to come back to the Mozal. He will worry for Maryam & will instead go to Firkal instead of Mozal. Fafnir will kill the other 2 of their comrades when Fenrir is fighting with Alvia. Then Fenrir will wipe out Mozal. Duriel in the meantime when Alvia will be fighting with Fenrir, will take Maryam & leave a note about the death of the last 2 of his comrades along with the end of Mozal. Hassan will go to Firkal, get the note then go to Mozal & see everyone dead. Devastated with the death of his friends & all the people, Hassan will harbour a regret as to why did he come late. Then Fenrir will kill him. Fafnir, you need to save all your energy, you'll go with Fenrir as a backup just in case things went south", Amarantha explained. "As your command your Majesty", "As you wish your Highness", Fafnir & Fenrir spoke as they stood up & bowed.

"Wow you made a full recovery in just three days. You're strong", a lady sitting beside Alvia said. She was probably a healer or a medic. "Your friends there got their bones broken. They haven't even gained consciousness", the woman added. "Ah it's no big deal. I got very minor injuries & I'm a healer myself so... it's only natural", Alvia said. "I'll be leaving then, I have other patients to attend", the woman got up & bowed. She was around the same age as Alvia. "I should be thanking you. Take care", Alvia said & the medic left. 'It's been three days & I haven't gotten any reply. Did they seriously just ignore my letter like that? That man was clearly trying to kill us. He might even be back. I should be on guard', she thought & left the room. Walked down a hallway & exitted through the main gate. The day light was bright. Winter had started already. Air was getting a bit chilly. She sat on a bench for some time, watching people pass by. Then she got up & entered the headquarters of Mozal. "No Alvia, no reply came. I wonder who might be able to defeat that man if the famous bounty hunters of Firkal failed", the master said. "We didn't fail... we are still alive & I am on the search. I will find him", Alvia said. "You will find him? Alone? It's suicide. I already told you that no one came back after going to look for him. He's dangerous, and you know it better than anyone else!", the master spoke clearly in a bold tone. "True, I do know how dangerous he is & I almost lost my life trying to find it out. But this time it is different. I am ready to fight & I have already experienced how strong he is & I've seen his techniques. I can hold out", Alvia said. She turned around clearly angry and left the headquarters. Looking at the information board she spotted some news. ' Due to the increasing fear of the masked swordsman, the arena is being shut down after the man brutally injured three opponents including a female. Will the town's army remain silent? ', the poster read. Suddenly she felt someone place something in her hand from behind. She instantly turned around but couldn't spot anyone specific in the crowd. She lifted her hand to see what it was. In her hand was a small roll of paper tied by a few strands of orange hair. She instantly recognized the hair. Unrolled the paper & read what was written in it. ' I'll meet you in the arena at midnight '. Just as she finsihed reading, the paper bursted out with a flame. She instantly dropped it & it got reduced to ashes. 'Midnight I see... I'll prepare some surprises for you in that case', she thought as she walked away. At evening she reached the arena. Entered it & started to cast some spells.

The moon was fully out that night. Maryam was in her house. Sitting on the ground infront of a low table. Eating dinner. Her beautiful eyes beaming with longing for her husband. Her black hair were tied in a messy bun. She was wearing a night gown, white in colour. After eating she picked up the dishes & took them to the water tub fixed in the shelf. She washed them & placed them in a rack. Picked up the towel. As she exitted the kitchen, she saw something shocking & froze in her steps. The main door was wide open. She hesitantly & slowly walked back into the kitchen & pulled out a big chopper. She exitted again, with caution this time. The main door was just accross the living room. She looked around as she moved towards the door. Suddenly she felt something behind her. Someone's breath. She instantly turned around to slice down the person with her chopper. Before she could bring it down something striked the chopper so hard that it sepearated the handle with the blade. Behind her was a man with red hair & dull amethyst eyes. A silver coloured dragon ear-ring in his ear. Wearing a black & red long-coat stood Duriel. Staring her in the eyes. She inhaled as if just about to scream but he covered her mouth with his hand then striked her head & she fell down unconscious.