Nightfall Flower (2)

Dimshade Valley

Three riders on men's clothing rode out their horses on the open greenery. The Dimshade Valley was known as a great location for planting medicinal herbs.

This time around, two of them covered their faces with cloths and one with a silver mask, hiding their identities. "Are you sure that they will be ok if you escape like this?!" Midel shouted from the side.

"You tell me, you're the oracle among us!" Yllana answered back. Then, she looked at Lucien. She noticed his eyes sometimes cringe and he covers his face. Now, he totally covered his whole face with a mask. "Are you alright?" she asked him.

Lucien just nodded in reply. She could only see his cold eyes. From the time she had asked him to remove the ring on her finger, he has not said too many words to her since. Wait, why does she have to worry about that? She has to complete the recipe for her sister's sake. Sister…she thought of the word in her mind. A tear somehow found a way in her eye. She coughed and pushed back the tear.

At the gates of the valley, two guards stopped them and frowned seeing the masks on their faces. "The valley lord asks for names of the people who enter the valley starting today. Sorry, but we have to get your names."

The three people listed their names on a book. Lucien glanced at Yllana when they finished writing. "I can't use my real name, right now, can I?"

Back then when they first arrived here, the marketplace was full of stalls with herbs, potions, and medicine. But Yllana's eyes opened wide as she stared at the ramshackle houses and stalls. She could smell the stench in the air. Demon's blood! Did a demon just visit this town? Wasn't it too far away from the North where the demons abounded? They put back their masks and surveyed the market. Their target is to acquire information about the nightfall flower.

"E? The nightfall flower, you say? S-someone came looking for it a few days ago. We already ran out," An old merchant told them. He was the only seller that everyone pointed out in the market who sold the last nightfall flower. He was shivering while answering Yllana.

Lucien looked at the sweat forming on the old man's forehead. His eyes kept on glancing on a side of the street. When Lucien glanced at the corner where the old man kept on looking, he saw two bright red dots hidden in the shadows. A demon!

In a flash, he turned into a black ray of light and disappeared from Midel's side. "Yllana, Lucien rushed over there." He pointed at the corner.

"Huh?" As soon as she turned her head, the man she was talking to scampered to get away from them. All the other stalls quickly shut their windows and doors. The children were called back to their houses. An unsettling feeling fell on Yllana's chest. Her heart throbbed quickly. She felt her chest tightening.

"Yllana?" Midel held her sleeve, a worried look painted on his face. There were only three shadows left on the marketplace.

"Uwhaaaa.. ghwoooong!"

The sound thundered through the ground and blew the dust from the dirt road. "Golden sheen of sunlight, cover my sight." A dull golden color rapidly covered her eyes. "Lucien!"

When they ran towards the dark corner of the marketplace, they saw Lucien's mask was already cut in half. Midel directly grabbed Yllana's hand and shoved her behind him. There were five High-Holy ranked demons in front of the cold dark man. And the odds, if they were to fight head-on, looks grim.

"Why are they here?" Yllana clenched her fist.

"I think you know why that's why you changed the color of your eyes," Midel answered. He summoned his moon crystal out.

"Lightning Sword," she called out her sword too. Even if she can only hit in this battle, maybe she could help a little. She gritted her teeth. She already gave her sword and armor back to the North Kingdom. Her weapon right now has special techniques that can only be used by an Honor rank. No matter how she thinks of it, she felt like a burden to them right now.

"You must not get killed here," Midel whispered to her side.

"Don't worry, I don't plan to." She grinned at him. The South Kingdom is still hunting for another ruler to replace her. If ever she gets hurt, the kingdom might become vulnerable especially that they know that she is the Accursed One. Will she really bring ruin to the mainland? No!

"Saber…girl," The demon roared in front of Lucien. His mask can only cover his eyes now. His jaw is exposed to any attack. As he gazed at the demon, he felt a surge of anger welling up in his heart. Why do this bastard have to look for the Saber sisters? Are there any more other Sabers than Yllana and Yrah? The demon's eyes locked at the red-haired girl behind his opponent. The four demons stretched out their long arms and tried to claw Yllana! When she and Midel managed to dodge the attack, the black creatures rushed up to them in a flash. Midel eyed Yllana warily as if telling her to stay alive. Two attacked Midel and the other two confronted Yllana.

Her jumps were quick enough to dodge the demons' attacks. When her eye accidentally landed on Lucien, she saw how his eyes turned red. In those seconds, her mind got distracted a little and a demon reached her arm while she was jumping from a wall. She did not notice that she was landing on a stall.

Crash!

The smell of bitter medicine and sweet flowers spread through the air as her small body broke the small wooden shop in the center of the marketplace. Lucien and Midel hastily scanned the debris and left their enemies staring at their backs.

Swoosh! Woosh!

The demons did not even give them time to pull Yllana out and hit Lucien and Midel's backs.

"Dome! Blood Staff! Moon Staff!" Two staffs emerged from his hands. Lucien's red eyes alerted Midel but the former kept on getting the broken woods out of the way and dig Yllana out. When they heard her coughing, they heaved a sigh of relief. As Yllana tried to stand, her face was covered by a shadow. But Lucien did not say anything.

He took away the dome and summoned his shadow serpents. Maybe it used to be serpents, now as Yllana looked at the shadows, those were…dragons. Shadow dragons!

"I smell her…Saber!" A creepy smile crawled on the bulky demon's face. When that demon walked out of the shadows, Midel and Yllana stood dumbfounded. Red hair…red eyes…the same red shades that Yllana sees in her reflection ever since she has woken up from the battle with the demons! Who is this demon?!

"You, girl! You needed this?" He took out a small wooden box and opened it. The little flower inside glowed with its violet petals. It had pink pollens. The same description that she had read in the book. How did he know? Who told this demon? Then a face flashed in her mind. The people from this market have been acting weird ever since they came this morning. Did someone else know?

"If you wanted to give it to me, you wouldn't have a group of demons scouting this area, right? You want me…dead too?"

"No!" he hollered. "Join us! And end this tyranny of humans over this mainland!"

His words just confirmed what she is. They could smell her now too. And she could also smell Lucien. He and she smelled like that demon in front of Lucien. But only she carried the resemblance. This demon….could it be her-. She cut her thoughts. No. She shouldn't think that way!

"They raised me and I owe them the life I have now. In this battle, one of us has to end up dead then." Midel and Lucien felt something amiss in Yllana. She was gritting her teeth in anger just a while ago, but she seems calmer now.

"Moonlight glare," Midel lifted his crystal ball and a blinding light flashed before their eyes. Lucien and Yllana covered their eyes to avoid the glare.

Yllana did not hear Lucien said a word, but his shadow dragons already attacked the demons. She ran to one of the Holy Demons. As the demons were still blinded, Lucien managed to hold them down and she successfully ripped through the chest and take out its heart. These high ranked demons cannot be killed with simple attacks now. They were more powerful than the lesser demons she had encountered and to make sure that they are dead, she took out their hearts one after another.

While they were staring at the biggest demon, Yllana saw a purple shadow run across the street and move toward her. The demon also noticed it and it dashed to her side. A purple sword slashed through the demon's waist. When the set of purple eyes saw that Yllana dodged his attack, he slashed the sword up to cut the demon in half.

Yllana saw the opportunity. This is her chance to end this guy! Schwing! Thud!

"Ahhhhh!"

Her skin burned. Her chest tightened even more that she found it hard to breathe! 'This feeling…it's the same as that…that time!' she screamed in her mind. It was as if her whole being was being burned. And it hurt like hell! It started at her hand, then it crawled fast all over her body. When she couldn't handle the surging pain all over her, she knelt to the ground. Her eyes teared up and her vision blurred. She saw three fuzzy figures dashing toward her. But the black figure attacked the red one and down to the ground it thumped with a loud crash.

She still heard Midel shouting her name. And something warm dropped on her tongue. It tasted like iron, but she couldn't spit it out. The world swirled in her mind.

Before her vision went black, only one idea prevailed in her mind, the son of the demon king.