Chapter 15
"Don't cry, everything will be fine," said the archmage. Although she was not used to exercising regularly, she was still panting heavily even with the wind pushing her from behind. After the rock wall blocked the lightning strikes three times, it collapsed in front of Sylas. Sensing that she was about to scream, Xerath covered her mouth and whispered in her ear, "Shh, don't let them hear us."
Sylas nodded tearfully, holding onto Xerath's neck tightly and burying her face in her shoulder, refusing to look at the almost enveloping electric net.
They were about twenty yards away from the teleportation array. The electric sparks flickered among the flying sand and stones. Suddenly, the wind blew horizontally, causing Xerath to almost lose her balance and fall to the ground. She protected the little girl in her arms, quickly got up, and gasping for breath, ran towards the teleportation array. The scattered golden magical energy in her hand turned into small arrows when she flicked her hand, lighting up the runes on the stone monument one by one.
They were only ten yards away, but the sensation of ants crawling all over her body returned. Xerath hated being targeted like this. She decided to leave Sylas with the magic wolf. Titus grabbed Sylas's clothes and whimpered a few times, then accelerated back to the teleportation array. After putting Sylas down, Xerath anxiously stood in place and stomped her feet. Sylas grabbed its fur with one hand and saw the enormous electric net reaching out towards Xerath. She couldn't help but want to scream, but immediately remembered what Xerath had said earlier about not letting them hear. She tightly covered her own mouth.
Xerath opened her hands, and the plasma spread slowly in the sky with a buzzing sound. The archmage wrote quickly in the air, as if time had been stretched. She and the lightning raced each other on the flattened flow of time, to see who could write faster.
The blue light broke through Aimekotes' wind wall, rapidly expanding into a bubble. The electricity was attracted by the golden bracelet mixed in the water light, and it stuck to the deformed bubble that was blown by the wind. Xerath leaped up and protected her head, rolling into the magic circle.
The bubble was lifted up by the strong gust of wind, sticking to the wind wall. The sticky tail end of the electricity was also drawn into the wind barrier surrounding Aimekotes. The sticky lightning, like a spider's web, completely surrounded the mage tower. Xerath sat on the ground in a mess, still holding Sylas who was staring at the lightning in confusion.
The whole world was illuminated by the dazzling light emitted from the crystal at the top of Aimekotes, like the sun. Then, in an instant, it disappeared along with the lightning, leaving the world dark as if it had never been lit.
Sylas cried softly, while Titus gasped for breath beside her. The archmage stood up and held the girl. Feathers flew in the air, suspending Titus who had turned back into a stool. The water line overflowing from her fingertips tied a beautiful bow on the "waist" of the stool, and Titus was led by her into the tower.
The wind finally disappeared, completely blocked outside. The skin that had been cooled by the wind now felt scorching hot. Sylas slowly let go of Xerath and asked, "Are we back?"
"Yes, we're back. Do you want to go out again?"
The little girl immediately shook her head.
Xerath, in a disheveled state, shouted at the sofa, "Virgil, stop hiding. Thank you for earlier."
Behind the sofa, Virgil's voice came, "I didn't want to scare you, little wild creature! I'm glad you're okay. I just wanted to help Hyectra a little and hope she won't blame me."
"If you want to apologize, please say it to her in person." She wrote a complex symbol in the air, and the power of the tide tore open a rift in space. Hyectra shrank and walked out of the rift. To fill her own volume, she wrapped a bunch of air inside.
"Oh, old friend, I hope you can forgive me for my rude behavior towards you." Just now, in a critical moment, Virgil used an ice cone scroll to shoot Hyectra out of the wind wall. Xerath saw Virgil's action and turned the water lord into a net, using it to detonate the lightning that was rushing towards her. She directed it into Aimekotes' defense crystal.
The archmage was even more disheveled than this morning. Her clothes were probably covered in tons of sand, and her boots were marked with dried traces of water and sand. The mantle she wore when she went out was missing, and the vest inside was missing a button. The shirt was wet from the sand-laden water, becoming translucent fabric clinging to her arms.
A few drops of water appeared in the air as the archmage wrote. They dripped down her body and landed on the floor, taking away most of the dampness. The little girl she was holding became fascinated, poking the water droplets with her fingers and giggling, as if completely forgetting the previous fear.
As Xerath walked step by step towards the sofa, Virgil rolled from behind the sofa to behind the stairs. The water lord floated in the air, tidying up the golden bracelet and necklace on his hand and neck. He gentlemanly said, "You don't have to be so modest. In fact, I must thank you for saving my lady in a critical moment."
"It's what I should do. After all, she's my old friend."
Xerath sat on the sofa, her braided hair in a twisted style had been undone by a strong wind, falling down from her head. The cold and strong wind made the tip of her nose turn red, making her look very fragile. Her serious demeanor was greatly disrupted, and now she looked like a tired little girl.
The exhausted water lord lazily brought a cup of tea and placed it on the coffee table, saying to the archmage, "My lady, I heard human children like sweet things, so I added a little sugar."
Xerath nodded her head. The strong wind and dampness were making them quickly lose body heat. Sylas's tiny body trembled from time to time. At this moment, perhaps a cup of sweet hot drink would be better than anything else. She said to Sylas, "Feeling cold? Drink something hot, sip slowly, be careful not to burn yourself." She picked up a cup and brought it to Sylas's lips.
The little girl licked the brown, muddy surface of the water, but she didn't seem to show much enjoyment. She just sipped it in small sips, and her mood seemed to become quite low after the water droplets returned to the Elemental Realm.
"Virgil, since you're my old friend, you don't have to hide behind the stairs."
"Hey, stop it. I don't want to frighten your newly purchased little demon beast."
"Hmm... it's a difficult problem. I'll take her up to the living room, how about you rest here for a while?"
"No need!" Virgil jumped up from behind the first set of stairs and grabbed the lower edge of the platform. He climbed up directly, so he wouldn't have to expose himself to Sylas's sight for a long time. "Ladies, please rest here, I'll look through your book."
"If you need anything, just call Hyectra." Xerath politely watched him go upstairs.
With the only threat gone, Xerath took Sylas out of her embrace. The little one's clothes were also torn in a few places—mostly from being bitten while Titus carried her. The culprit was lying next to them, showing its white cotton filling on the underside, and if it weren't for the slightly rising white "belly," it would look no different from being dead.
