Zee woke up, feeling something soft touch his lips. The body was heavy, unruly, as if he had slept for several days. He opened his eyes and saw Asura's face.
- “ Master! You woke up, I was so worried when you lost consciousness. I had to give you a bunch of mana potions ! But you couldn’t drink them, and I… I…” - Asura covered her face with her hands, pretending with all her might that it was hard for her to commit such a vulgar act and receive a dozen kisses from the owner, but heavy breathing and a parted mouth betrayed her completely - “Are you feeling better now? Sorry, but there is no time for rest, I feel that they are following us”.
She did not have time to finish, as an arrow shot out of the crown of the tree. Asura caught it in her hand, examined the blunt tip, and threw it back. Someone screamed and fell from the tree.
- “Master, get on top of me. You haven't fully recovered yet!" - She ducked, offering her back to Zee.
“Damn, Airia 's machinations again . Why won't she leave me alone..." The thoughts in his head were slow, he remembered seeing her in his dream and she threatened him, but there was something else. Something important. “Think about it later, Asura is right, better get out!”
He clung to her back, unusually strong, for such a slender and young girl. Asura rushed forward, her bare feet leaving deep footprints in the ground, splitting rocks. Any shoes Zee create on the journey couldn't withstand the power of the war golem, which went all out to protect the creator. Even a pair of steel, made after the pattern of plate armor, withstood only a hundred meters. Perhaps this would help in the physical education standings ... Although, who will allow a knight to compete?
Asura herself asked for help with this problem, Zee found it unusual, she was rarely attached to anything material. In fact, she was worried that her master wouldn't like the sight of her feet covered in road dust. Otherwise, even fresh lava couldn't ruin her manicure.
After a few minutes of a dizzying race, which finally knocked out of Zee the memories of not very sweet dreams, and almost knocked out his hearty breakfast, they broke out into a wide field covered with a dense wheat crop. A village was visible in the distance. A line of small wooden houses and a cloud of smoke rising from the chimneys. The sun was approaching the horizon, illuminating the magnificent landscape with a dark red light.
Zee looked back and was blinded by a beam of light reflected off the tip of a spear flying straight at his head. Instantly, Asura braked abruptly, spinning in the air, pulling her master off her back, throwing him away from the threat, and deflecting the spear with her bare palm.
The wheat flew in all directions as Zee tumbled, losing his momentum. But the potions have already worked. Charged with adrenaline and a new surge of mana , he jumped to his feet and prepared to cast a few basic spells. His gaze quickly discovered the enemy, who was not going to hide.
The elf sat on a war horse. Her golden hair was styled in a tight braid wrapped around her head, and she carried two spears in her hands. One, the same one that was used in the battle with the monster, the second is shorter, similar to throwing. Her voice pierced the neighborhood.
- “I am Princess Ophelia, the first heir to the throne of thorns! Representative of all! I order you, human, to obey my will and surrender!” - The word “Human” was uttered with disgust, even her majestic features were distorted, as if she had eaten a punishment meal from Asura – “You will go with me to the capital! Dead or Alive…".
Zee looked at the elf , not understanding what the hell was going on here?
- "What?" – flew out of his mouth.
Asura was not so verbose. She tore the hem of her wide dress, and with that her preparation for battle was completed. Her body pressed to the ground, and in a fraction of a second it made a throw, like a cobra, aiming at Ophelia's face.
Zee wanted to stop her. Becoming a prisoner of an elf , sent by the bloodthirsty Goddess, was not at all part of his plans, but killing her was already too much. But he didn't make it.
Ophelia took off from the horse's back, deftly brandishing her spear, around which several magic circles formed. The blade left a trail of turquoise in the air, slowly fading away from the source. Asura's hand and blade collided, causing a wave of wind to press the ears of corn several tens of meters away.
The warriors jumped back from each other, assessing the damage.
Asura's finger cracked, grains of sand fell to the ground, and she clicked her tongue in displeasure.
The princess took a more aggressive stance, the enemy was stronger than she expected. Even such a strong blow, caused minor damage.
Silence descended on the field. They looked into each other's eyes, like duelists, ready to charge into battle at the slightest movement.
Only Zee stared blankly at this scene, not knowing what to do next.
The princess's lips parted and she began to cast spells, the flood of words caused an immediate reaction and Asura attacked. They exchanged a hail of blows, and the destruction of the surroundings grew. Zee could no longer see the blows, only blurry outlines, bright flashes and sparks, carved by the collision of stone flesh and the metal tip of the spear.
“Damn, they’ll kill each other! Or me with them! Need to find it. Where, where? No, not that, it won’t work, it’s too difficult”
He opened the list of spells and looked for something to escape. The disguise he had used earlier wouldn't help, the opponents were too close. There was an inscription in front of him. " Invisibility : Intangibility". A dual spell, the description of which said: "The ideal way to hide, only the caster can return the properties of the object, to contact him." This was followed by several more pages, warnings, instructions, interactions. But they didn't have time!
Zee directed one hand towards Asura, the other towards himself and imagined the effect, filling the formed circles with energy. The effect was immediate. The battle has stopped.
The archmage shifted his gaze to the description. Scrolled down a bit. Some more. Here.
“Can only be used on inanimate objects…” .
He lowered his eyes and looked at his personal belongings, blown by a light autumn breeze.
Asura focused her attention on the elf , ready to continue the battle. For her, nothing out of the ordinary happened.
Ophelia froze in place. She looked at Zee . To Asura. She touched herself with her hand and squealed.
The clothes disappeared.
In the hands of the princess there was a spear, apparently, which had resistance to magic. She started swinging it chaotically, no longer putting magical power into it.
- “DO NOT LOOK! DON'T DARE TO LOOK! I'M A PRINCESS! DON'T LOOK.” Her face went crimson red, the bobby pins that held her hair vanished and her long hair spun out with each swing of the less lethal weapon. Moments later, she fell to her knees and began to sob.
Zee walked up to Asura, handing her a new dress. She put it on, still eyeing the roaring elf suspiciously .
- “It seems to be a good moment. Maybe it's time to leave?" - Zee whispered.
- "We will have to discuss this "moment", Master" - To say that there was a chill in her eyes would not be true. Rather, an iceberg was preparing to fall on you, burying you forever, under its debris.
He once again looked at the elf , who lowered her spear and tried to cover herself with her hands, simultaneously rubbing tears down her face. Zee created a veil and threw it to her.
- "Well, uhh, I'm sorry that it happened" - Acceleration was activated and he ran away.
“You will pay for this! I swear on the name of my family, I will make you answer!” - Turning into a cloth, Ophelia yelled after him.
