9 Smell of fire, death by poison.

"You kidding me, right?" Snow bolted towards the frenzy of chaos. Her gut wrenched, knowing full well that she brought Dairen into this mess.

Rushing towards the forest block area, she saw a crowd of hunters arriving with their weapons in hands. They were all strapped heavily in armor, more modernistic with ballistic vests that looked straight out of science fiction films more than the old medieval armor as they got ready for battle.

Buzzing sound of electricity erupted on one weapon that looks like a giant hammer a dwarf would use, and others had a flaming raging fire that covered their whole sword. It was still fashionable to have old weapons more than guns; for some reason, the swords and any medieval type of weapons had more power capacity to store than the bullets itself. Guns were still popular, but most of the time, as a secondary weapon.

The other people were screaming in fear at whatever was causing the destruction inside the forest. A loud explosion was heard, followed by a tremor. People stumbled and fell to the ground, trying to get their bearings.

When Snow followed into the forest, she saw complete destruction. The trees were broken and toppled over. Many were engulfed in flames, while the injured Kilin, magical horse-like creatures, was in chaos, trying to get out of the place but couldn't without help. Their fur bristled, they swayed their horn-like antler in wild motion, making it difficult for people to come by. Blue dragon scales that covered two-thirds of their bodies flickered with sweat from the intense heat, while magic started to swirl around them.

People were running back and forth, saving the animals from the raging fire. It was a tug of war for most because the Kilins would rear up in fear as they trashed their hooves in front of them. While some, let out a frightening defensive lightning strikes that spewed out from their fur, which cause a wild blast of magic that would hit the surrounding trees.

"Get them under control!" One thickly bearded man was yelling at his two partners.

"They're too wild!"

The few who weren't able to get the Kilin under control were run over. While a few thrashed around so hard that their antlers pierced into the helping victim who died tragically.

Snow knew that the Kilins didn't just spontaneously kill people, mostly because they weren't the type. Something dangerous was upsetting them to go wild, or their handlers meant harm to them, and whatever it was, she saw Dairen in the middle, trying to calm one of the female Kilins down. He tossed a rope around on it perfectly. The Kilin kicked and thrashed while Dairen yelled, "Woah. Woah. Calm down, buddy," as he stretched out his hand towards the nose.

For a moment, Snow's muscles tensed, she knew that when someone who's uncleaned in the soul touched them, they would buck and kill their handler. These Kilin were like the European version of a unicorn, but one didn't need to be a virgin to touch one. It was the opposite, a person with pure and good intentions, a split second change of wanting to kill or harm a Kilin will cause it to instantly kill the person who touches them.

Surprised etched Snow's expression, she didn't expect Dairen to have such a way with magical creatures, especially because this was his first time getting to know one. What was more surprising was that the magical creature actually allowed Dairen to touch its back, nuzzling her head against his hand like they were some kind of long lost friends. A beautiful soft smile erupted on his face.

The only word that came to her mind was 'Impossible,' for it was something ordinary people couldn't naturally just do. Even in the magical community, the awakened humans were trained to clear their minds and hearts for hundreds of hours to get the most perfect tranquility of thoughts, but Dairen did it without a problem.

Purity. Something Snow knew too well and understood how precious it was in this dark world. There just weren't many people who had such untainted souls, especially someone of his age. She had to wonder if he lived a secluded life like a monk throughout his life. This made Snow feel even worse in being mean to him, but she quickly chalked it up, knowing full well it was better this way.

"Dairen!" Snow shouted, waving her hand over her head. "Get out of there!"

Dairen lifted his head, turning to look over towards Snow. His eyes brighten momentarily but quickly passed away with a hint of anger that he wasn't over what had happened. Just like a homing missile, the Kilin turned her gaze towards Snow with the same distasteful look, completely stunning her.

Just like a rolling storm, a massive creature burst out the forest roaring. Colors drained from Snow's expression as she stared in horror. A large lion-like body, triple the size of an average human. It had ahead of a human male, poisonous spines similar to porcupine quill, triple rows of deadly white teeth, and scorpion-like tail that whipped around. A Manticore. It sprung forth, tearing the people's bodies into shreds. Blood and gore littered the field as it splashed against the ground, panicking people. Some stood in fear, looking at their hands drenched in body parts and blood as if it was all a dream, others ran for their lives, and only a handful stay behind to fight.

"A Manticore?!" Snow shouted in horror. Her nerves were on edge as she knew the danger of such creatures instantly. "How?!" To see one alive in front of her was something she never wanted to see happen, especially when such animals were considered monsters to kill on sight. To be here at the Magical Creature Hospital was unheard of unless something happened.

"Dairen! Get out of there!" She screamed again, the Manticore was heading in his direction. Her feet were pushing her off the ground into a full-on sprint.

Dairen immediately turned his head towards the Manticore, who came bowling towards him with a gaping jaw, his face turned deathly white. Fear laced his heart as he knew that death was only a few seconds away.

That split moment of delay was all the Manticore needed as it lunged towards Dairen with an evil expression on its face. Its mouth opened wide, its claws glistened with fresh blood as it reached out to shred Dairen in half.

Suddenly, the Kilin jumped in front of Darien, horns lowered as she glowed brilliantly in white, temporarily blinding the Manticore. With a neigh-like scream, the Kilin pushed Dairen on his side, making him fall onto the ground. With a quick whip of its horn, she thrust her antlers into the Manticore body, goring it in its shoulder.

A high pitch scream could be heard as it cried out in pain, stunning everyone in a temporary daze. Snow was lucky to shield herself with her magic around her body, giving her a soft white glow. The brief stun didn't affect her, giving her time to rush over towards Dairen, who was on the ground. She reached over, yanked him on his feet. He stumbled up into her arms, causing both of them to fumble.

"Move!" Snow yelled near his ear, jolting him awake.

Dairen didn't take a second yell for his feet and hand to move. He took her advice instantly and ran as fast as his feet could let him.

The Manticore was angry, it swishes its tail in a full circle. Snow had her back away from the rear. The tail swooshed as it came coming straight towards them.

"Snow!" Dairen shouted out in alarm.

The scorpion tail smashed into her back. A shockwave of pain erupted from her shoulder to her lower back, she fumbled and fell face forward. Her head temporarily smacked against the ground as she saw white.

Dairen, who saw the whole thing happened, skidded to a halt. He turned back and rushed towards Snow in the hopes of getting her away from the bleeding Manticore.

The hunters surrounded the Manticore to kill it but were quickly blindsided. Its tail thrashed around as it stabbed its poisonous hook. Anyone unlucky had its barb harpooned into their body. Nasty lesions of bubbling red welp spread out like a spiderweb. It didn't take long for them to suddenly fall over stunned, unable to move, and die a horrible death.

Two out of three hunters that were present were impaled by the barbed hook, dying in agonizing pain. The last hunter, who had a sword in his hand, had fear laced in his eyes. A powerful surge of energy swirled around the hunter, giving it a magical fiery glow.

The Manticore felt the rapid heat from the hunter and knew the danger. With a half awaken state from the blind flash, it lunged forward towards the hunter with open claws. Slashing downwards, the hunter jumped back and swung the sword downwards.

"Dieeeee!" The hunter screamed, muscles tightened as he put all his force to cut the Manticore's hands.

Suddenly, as if the hand disappeared, the sword smashed into the ground. It became stuck. At that moment, the hunter knew that he had messed up as death came swinging down towards him with open jaws filled with deadly teeth. A nasty crunch with a horrifying, bone-chilling scream could be heard as another life ended.

The Kilin, who blinded the Manticore, bolted away, knowing full well that it wasn't strong enough to handle the Manticore. With a snort, the Manticore didn't even give the Kilin a second thought. Instead, it was feeding on the tendrils of the human that it had caught. Ugly crunching like sound that reminded of bones breaking could be heard as the Manticore gleefully ate its fill.

Snow groaned, her eyes dazed as her head was aching in pain. It wasn't often that she felt such a wretched headache for a long time, and she cursed at her luck that it had to be now of all times. When she heard the bone-chilling scream and the sound of body ripping, she knew instantly where she was. Alarmed, she pushed herself up but faltered. Her headache was causing her immense pain and confusion that she couldn't quite get her bearings straight.

Her eyes were unfocused, but when it finally cleared, she saw something that stunned her.

Dairen saw the sword that was stuck on the ground. He skidded over, almost falling on his knees as his hands reached out towards the sword. Grabbing the rough hilt, he yanked it out with his arms, which caused him to lose temporary balance. It was quite a sight to see, mainly because the sword was a bit too big and heavy for him. He literally tilted to the side, trying to get his bearings. It took a couple of seconds for him to get his footing before he was able to adjust the weight while grabbing the sword with both hands.

The moment he finally got his bearings, the sword lit up in flames, startling him momentarily that he almost dropped it. A vicious scream could be heard from the Manticore, followed by an angry snarl. Spit and blood spat out of its mouth. It saw Dairen with the flaming sword, turning its full attention towards him.

Dairen gulped, gripping the hilt tightly. Sweat dripped down his face, his heart beating heavily as his instinct told him to scream and getaway. Even still, he didn't shy away from the oncoming danger. The Manticore paced around Dairen slowly, watching him with glee at another stupid human that had come over to play with him.

"Human…." The manticore male's voice was gruff with a mix of metal grinding. "You smell of fear…" It purred. "Put down your weapon and RUN!" With an excited yell, the Manticore pounced forward, claws extended and teeth opened to tear him to pieces.

Alarmed, Dairen quickly ducked under and stepped to the side, where he barely escaped with his life. A nasty cut was present on his shoulder as blood ran down, numbing his hand.

"Kekakakakakaka." Its metallic-like laugh creeped Dairen out. He knew that he needed to somehow kill the monster or maybe even stall it so he could safely take Snow away from danger. His mind was racing, trying to find a solution.

"Come, entertain me for a while." With a slurp of its tongue, drools started to appear on its lips. Its eyes darted around Dairen's body, examining him to see which part it should take a chunk out of next. "I'll savor your meat and bones slowly."

Dairen glared, knowing too well that he won't survive for long. "Come at me, cat!" He bravely spoke out.

"Cat?" The manticore eyes grew wide from shock, its fur started to stand up in anger. "I am no CAT, human!" With a roar, it rushed forward. This time, it swung its tail around its head like a whip.

This time, Dairen didn't dodge out of the way until the last second. He used his body like a spring, using it at the same time to swing the blade in a horizontal slash. The edge caught spot on onto the Manticore's front paw, completely cutting it off in one swing. Dairen was amazed at the clean-cut that the sword had done, he assumed that it would get stuck in its bones, but that wasn't the case at all.

A painful screech erupted out of the Manticore's voice, its bloodied front right leg was now a stump as it spilled pools of blood onto the ground while fire covered around the bloody stump, searing it black as it closed up its wounds.

Pure hatred and anger laced the Manticore's vision if looks could kill, its gaze would have shot him a dozen times over.

Still, Dairen didn't stop moving, he knew that once his body stops swinging the sword, he was either going to hurt himself or get killed. This time, he turned in the opposite direction, but it was a sloppy swing that caused him to stumble. The small mishap gave the Manticore an easy escape route, where it swung its tail in a full 180.

Dairen wasn't able to dodge it, the scorpion tail smashed against the blade and his chest. He went skidding backward, falling down onto the ground with a messy hurdle. At the last moment, he willed his sword to move and slammed down into the Manticore's tail. The burning sword slipped into its end, pinning its tail into the ground. His hand was thrown off the hilt, causing his body to roll towards Snow as his body stopped a foot away.

"Dairen?" Snow vision cleared up and saw how beaten up Dairen was. She felt fear for her life and his, knowing full well that he was her responsibility. At the same time, she felt rising respect towards his courage and bravery to help her. A warm, soft feeling glowed in her heart.

Dairen pushed himself up, blood trickling down his shoulder, while his face had cuts and bruises. Half bear crawling over, he reached over, grabbing her cheeks. His eyes scanned her face and head, noticing a thick fluid of blood dripping down the side of her face. He didn't say anything and reached over, pulling her arms up.

Snow gratefully took the help that Dairen gave, but when she tried to stand on her right foot, a sharp pain shock her. A painful moan escaped her lips, her weight shifted, causing her to lose balance. He caught her, wrapping his hand around her shoulders.

"You alright?"

"Thanks." Snow spoke, wincing from the pain that her leg was giving that she momentarily forgotten about the Manticore.

"HUMANS!" A loud blasted roar of pure hatred, the Manticore wanted to destroy every living being in sight, especially Dairen and Snow, that was in front of him.

Snow saw the porcupine needles coming straight for Dairen's heart, her hand reached out, pushing him towards her back. Her hands quickly lifted up a second too late as magic swirled around her palm, she created a white barrier that deflected most of the needles that came her way and Dairens, but there were a few that she couldn't stop in time.

The first skid across her leg, ripping her jeans and drawing blood. She then felt a sharp pain erupted on Snow's chest, her lips tighten, knowing full well that she got struck. Without thinking another second, her hands swirled in a circular motion, creating a twenty white energy arrows that appeared around her. Her cheeks started to lose color as the magic drained her. With a flick of her hand, all of them rushed forward and aimed directly at the Manticore.

Alarmed, the Manticore attempted to move out of the way, but its tail was stuck to the ground. Its body fumbled, skimped to the side, and stumbled. It dodged five arrows from harm, but the rest wasn't able too. With a sickening thud, the arrows plunged itself into its skin. A loud hiss with a small scale chain explosion sounded off as each bolt blew apart. Pieces of leather, meat, and bones broke apart from its body, splattering outwards.

Exhausted and injured, her vision she saw doubles. All she could hear was Dairen yelling her name as she completely blacked out.