2 A Wicked Fairy

Rainforest Inn was a two-story structure made from fine woods and decorated with lots of neatly trimmed bushes, vines, and potted flowering plants. At that time of the month, the place was exclusive for Thea and her three best friends. Henry Esguerra, the owner of Rainforest Inn, wanted to make sure that they can relax without being bothered by mortals or any unnecessary commotion.

Whenever Thea visits that place, she can feel a different kind of serenity, as if the stillness were bringing her to an entirely different and isolated world.

The sky was turning red and orange. Perfect for snack time. Aside from tranquillity, Rainforest Inn had a variety of delightful snacks. It had been a month. She could not wait to eat and relax.

Using a duplicate key, Thea unlocked the door and entered the inn. She immediately noticed Klara pacing back and forth at the counter. She seemed too anxious to notice someone entering the inn.

Klara Flores, Henry's one and only trusted assistant, was the prettiest mortal Thea had ever seen. Her auburn hair was elegantly braided on each side of her head. Floral dress and sandals were her favorite. A sweet smile rarely leaves her face, and her hazel eyes radiate kindness. She was gentle, patient, and easy to get along with.

"What's wrong?" Thea curiously inquired at the counter.

"Thea!" Klara finally noticed the Gailbreeze princess and instantly stopped pacing back and forth at the counter. "You're finally here!"

"I am usually the last one to arrive," Thea kindly reminded Klara.

"This time, you are the first one."

Those words made Thea a bit anxious. Her friends were always on time. It had been like that for four years.

"Is Henry waiting at the balcony?"

"He left," Klara let out a frustrated sigh. "He wants to make sure that you are not in any kind of danger. As if he can help!"

"Stop worrying. They will be fine," Thea assured the mortal with a smile. "I arrived here without a scratch. It will be the same for my best friends."

"But it's been nearly two hours since Henry had left," Klara obviously could not stop worrying.

"Okay. I will look for them," Thea gave Klara a gentle tap on the shoulder. "You stay here and wait. Whatever happens, do not step out of this inn. I will bring Henry back. I promise."

Klara felt a bit of relief. She grabbed Thea's hands and sincerely whispered, "Thank you, Princess."

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As soon as Thea marched out of Rainforest Inn, she sensed a blade flying in her direction.

She easily dodged that dangerous-looking blade and caught it with her wind-covered hand before it pierced the closed door behind her. She carefully examined the blade and sensed a deadly poison all over it.

Of course. It was another assassin with a nature spirit partner that can create a poisonous weapon.

"It's time for you to die, Gailbreeze Princess," a voluptuous female fairy was hovering in front of Thea.

Only wind spirits can make a fairy fly without the need for wings while earth spirits were the only ones who can put poison on the blade. The female assassin must be bonded to a wind spirit and her belt that was surrounded by tiny-pocketed blades must be filled with poison.

Most assassins from Southern Peaks specializes in poison. It was not a surprise for Thea. She had battled assassins like that female fairy. The only difference she could sense was that the opponent in front of her appeared more treacherous and wicked.

The assassin put her hands over the tiny blades and made half of those float out of the pockets. When she waved her hands forward, the blades followed and rained towards Thea.

"I should be having a delightful snack at this moment... but fine," Thea surrounded the poisonous blades with a gust of wind until it shattered into dust and drifted into the nearby forest. "I will eat later."

"You are too proud of yourself!" the enraged fairy tossed the remaining tiny blades from her belt.

Thea soared as high as her opponent and raised her right hand. Monsoon instantly materialized as a wind blade then she swiftly and repeatedly waved her weapon until all the blades hurled in her direction had been shattered.

"You're fast but for how long can you keep that up?" the assassin seemed to have a strong mood swing. One moment she was irritated then the next moment she was back to flashing a wicked smile. Thea also noticed that a new set of blades were materializing in the pockets of her opponent's belt.

The fairy princess dashed away from the inn and soared towards the mountain. She stopped before reaching the borders. The forest standing between the Mortal Realm and Northern Peaks was a good place to fight. Just a few hours ago, in that same forest, she had faced the striking male assassin.

The newly materialized blades had been thrown by the female assassin. Thea easily shattered each one while moving towards her enemy. When she was close enough, she waved her weapon but the female assassin deflected it with a wind blade that instantly manifested in her right hand.

The wicked smile of the assassin widened as a strong gust of wind covered the blade in her hand. The force of the swirling wind shattered the blade Thea was gripping and the assassin took that chance to slash the throat of her prey. Thea managed to escape that blow with a shallow cut on her neck and counter the attack with her newly conjured wind blade. The assassin rushed away from Thea with a bleeding cut on her left arm.

The fairy princess expected poison to enter her body the moment her neck was grazed but she could not feel even a tiny amount of poison spreading from her wound. Thea wondered if that was because her resistance to poison had improved with the constant attacks she was receiving from the assassins of Southern Peaks.

The female assassin looked agitated and became more aggressive. Whenever their blades collide, Thea could feel her arms trembling from the intensity of the assassin's attack. Fortunately, Thea endured a lot of vicious assaults not only from those threatening her life but from different enemies trying to breach the borders of Northern Peaks. Though her attacks were not as strong as that of her opponent, Thea had the speed to somehow dodge and counter every blow directed at her. She also had the endurance to last a tedious battle.

After a few minutes of clashing blades with each other, the female assassin dashed away from Thea and landed on a nearby branch. Thea suffered a few minor cuts which were already mending and even though she was sweating and catching her breath, the assassin was more exhausted and wounded than she was.

With all the cuts Thea received, she thought that poison would finally enter her body and quickly spread all over her veins, but up to that moment, she was still unaffected by poison.

The female assassin probably sensed the same thing and stopped attacking up close. She resorted back to raining tiny blades at Thea.

Monsoon divided his strength to create a gust of wind as protection for Thea. Some of the blades that the princess could not shatter with her weapon had been destroyed by the circling wind around her.

As the tiny poisonous blades reformed around her belt, the female assassin gathered enough strength to clash blades with Thea one more time.

The fairy princess noticed that the current blows of her opponent were not as powerful as her previous strikes. The female assassin was exhausted but giving up and running away was not an option for her. Maybe not at that moment.

"Surrender your life if you don't want Asuren to die!"

Distracted by the words of the assassin, Thea slipped on a mossy branch where she had landed, lost her balance, and dropped harshly on her back. The enemy wasted no time and rushed towards her prey. The wicked fairy stabbed the fairy princess in the face, but the latter still managed to dodge the wind blade of the former. It slightly grazed her left cheek, cut a few strands of her hair, and got stuck at the branch where she was lying.

A wicked smile curved on the lips of the assassin when she told Thea, "Your silly emotion will be the cause of your downfall."

"What are you talking about? Who is Asuren?" Thea was utterly confused.

"You know who he is!" the assassin aimed for her face again, but Thea quickly surrounded herself with a powerful gust of wind and stopped the blade from piercing her forehead. She quickly rolled onto her right, dropped from the branch, and safely distanced herself from the assassin.

"I think you're mistaken," Thea made a safe landing on a distant branch. "I don't know anyone named Asuren."

"You kissed him earlier and told him you like him!" the assassin touched the body of a tree where Thea had fallen. Her hand glowed and it went through the tree. When she pulled her hand out, she was holding a stunning male fairy by his throat. She was not lying. It was the same fairy Thea had kissed earlier that day.

He was unconscious and a thick rope was wrapped around his arms, torso, and knees. His left shoulder was bleeding. That must be the reason he looked so pale.

"He is poisoned. He only got a few hours to live unless I give him the antidote," the assassin informed the fairy princess with her annoying wicked smile.

Thea let out a deep breath before turning her back from the two assassins.

"Kill him if you want to," she said with a wave of her hand.

"What did you say?"

Thea turned to look at the confused assassin and told her with a smile, "Thank you for helping me out."

"You kissed him and told him you like him!" the female assassin reminded Thea one more time.

"You fell for it?" Thea laughed. "Am I that convincing?"

"Then do you want him to die?" the female assassin glared at Thea before throwing a tiny blade at Asuren. It pierced his already bleeding shoulder.

"Should I save someone who wants to take away my life?" Thea raised an eyebrow then shrugged, "I don't think so."

The fairy princess surrounded herself with a gust of wind and soared towards Northern Peaks, but the female assassin rained another set of tiny blades at her and prevented her from fleeing.

Thea let out an exhausted sigh before conjuring a wind blade. She easily destroyed all the incoming blades and prepared herself for the female assassin that was already rushing towards her.

The assassin raised her weapon hand and slashed it at Thea. The fairy princess dodged it in time and hastily seized both wrists of her opponent.

Upon realizing that the strength of her prey had greatly depleted, the assassin glanced at where she had left Asuren. Monsoon was already there, cutting the ropes that were binding the unconscious fairy.

She glared back at Thea and angrily bellowed, "YOU!!!"

Instead of struggling, the female assassin locked her legs around Thea's waist, and with the power of her wind elemental, the assassin pushed her body and Thea downwards. The two of them were plummeting at a dangerous speed. Thea was still in the mortal realm. It was forbidden to release her wings. The female assassin was taking advantage of that rule and would not allow Thea to move an inch.

"Die, Princess," the female assassin smiled triumphantly, only to be disappointed.

Monsoon enveloped and protected Thea before her back hit the ground.

"NO!!!" the furious assassin relentlessly attacked the shield protecting Thea but instead of weakening, it only strengthened.

An additional layer of a protective wind had covered Thea. It was not a surge of power from within her or from Monsoon.

It was from the male assassin. He pulled the blade piercing his shoulder and crushed it in his wind covered fist.

"You will pay for this," his voice that was usually cold had gotten a lot colder. Even the glare in his eyes became more chillingly dangerous. He was ready to kill.

After taking a single step, Asuren vanished from where he was standing and reappeared beside the female assassin. He grabbed her weapon hand and tossed her at the tree where he came from.

He disappeared one more time and reappeared in front of the exhausted assassin. He raised his right hand and a powerful wind blade materialized on it.

Thea rushed beside Asuren and grabbed his wrist before he could stab the weary assassin.

"You cannot kill her yet," Thea reminded the poisoned fairy.

His wrist was trembling with fury against Thea's grip, but he listened anyway and lowered his weapon.

"Give me the antidote," Asuren coldly demanded at the female assassin leaning on the tree trunk.

She was obviously exhausted, but a wicked smile still curved on her lips after saying, "No."

The tree trunk cracked open and swallowed the wicked fairy.

Asuren cursed, yanked his wrist from Thea's grip, and furiously stabbed the tree where the female assassin and the crack had been, "I should have killed her."

"I will take you to Mountain Fairy Hospital. They have an antidote for any poison," Thea offered but Asuren, though starting to weaken now that his fury had dissipated, still managed to pull the wind blade from the tree and waved it at Thea.

The sharp wind he released was not strong enough to break the protective wind covering the princess.

"Release me from your spell," Asuren breathed before fainting.

Thea managed to catch him before he tumbled off the branch.

"Hold him tight," Monsoon said as he covered the two fairies.

Thea tightened her arms around Asuren as her wind spirit partner dashed towards Mountain Fairy Hospital.

^######################################^

Thea landed on the fifth floor of Mountain Fairy Hospital. The entire area was reserved for the royalties of Northern Peaks. Fortunately, as of that moment, none of the eight beds on that floor had been occupied. Their first patient for that day was Asuren.

"I can only delay the spread of poison in his body," Healer Vanni, the noble head of the healers in Mountain Fairy Hospital, sadly informed Thea. It took them a few minutes to clean his wound and examine the poison in his body.

"You cannot make an antidote for him?" Thea could not help but feel disappointed.

"Your friend is not the only one who had been hurt by this rare poison but also some of our guards at the southern border," Healer Vanni explained. "We already used all the available herbs at the greenhouse to heal those that were critically injured. The rest of the poisoned guards, those that were not seriously affected, can be treated by common antidotes. I am sorry, Princess Thea. If I had known about your friend a little earlier…"

"It's okay, Healer Vanni. The safety of our guards should be our top priority," Thea smiled and tapped the head healer on the shoulder. "I'll just gather herbs for my friend."

"Aside from our greenhouse, the herb we need cannot grow anywhere here in Northern Peaks. We are already growing the next batch, but it will take ten more days for the sprouts to fully mature. The poison in his body can only be delayed for three hours."

The hopeless look in the eyes of Healer Vanni annoyed Thea but she could not let the head healer notice that.

"What is the name of this herb? Maybe Gia can help us."

"I don't think that…"

"Just, please, tell me the name of the herb," Thea interrupted the head healer with a sigh. "I still want to try asking my friend. Please, Healer Vanni."

"But…" the hesitation of the head healer can only mean one thing.

"I am not that reckless to march at Southern Peaks just to get that herb," Thea could no longer hide her impatience. Asuren can only wait for three hours. Time will not stop for them. She should start finding a solution as soon as possible.

"It's Odolan," Healer Vanni looked apologetic. "Forgive me, Princess. I only want to keep you safe. I overlooked your efforts in securing our borders."

"I understand your worries, Healer Vanni," Thea held the hands of the head healer. "Thank you. I know how busy you are. You can attend to the other patients now."

"Call me if you need anything."

Thea nodded and watched the head healer quietly walk out of the room. Right after the door had closed, the fairy princess sat on the wooden chair beside the bed of Asuren. She held his hand that felt hot because of his fever. A thick blanket covered his curled-up and trembling body. His forehead was creasing in pain and he was sweating a lot.

"I'm sorry," Thea felt bad. "I told you that this hospital has an antidote for any kind of poison. And now…" her hands trembled with fury. "…I can't let you die like this! And I know that the wind spirit bonded to you will agree with me. Right, wind spirit bonded to Asuren? Show yourself to me. Tell me if you know a way to get an Odolan."

"You already said that you will not go to Southern Peaks," a gust of wind had formed and floated over the headboard. It had no facial features, only a voice that was as cold as the winter breeze. He was no doubt the wind spirit bonded to Asuren.

"I only said that I will not recklessly march on that place," Thea grinned. "Asuren entered Northern Peaks without being noticed at our borders. Some of the assassins can also enter this realm without attracting that much attention. Those poisoned guards had surely been attacked by that female assassin, but she must have fled using the trees before she could be overwhelmed by more guards."

"Asuren also passed through a tree. But it is a different method from what the other assassins were using."

"Can I use the same passage Asuren had used?" Thea felt hopeful.

"We can only know once we get to its location."

"Let's go," Thea quickly straightened up. "Asuren, wait for us. We will be back, so please, don't die."

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