22 Spells

Thea returned from the southern borders with a heavy heart. Leaving Asuren in that place was making her restless. She had a feeling that something would go wrong if he stayed there longer than an hour. But Asuren and his father were annoyingly persistent.

"What's with that frown?" Riz asked when Thea landed at the balcony of Rainforest Inn.

"When did you return? I haven't seen you walked out of the cursed forest."

"Did you wait for us in that place?" Riz suddenly felt guilty.

"I didn't," Thea sighed. "Father wants Asuren to help in guarding our southern border. He also wants Ayhan and Juliann to do the same. He wants to see if they will betray us or not."

"For how long?"

"He wants it to be for one month, but I insisted that it should only last for two weeks."

"Don't worry about Asuren," Riz tapped her on the shoulder. "Kamia told us that he has a powerful amulet. He will be okay."

"Kamia Nightgloom?"

"Yes," Riz sat at the railings, beside her friend. "She knows about Kayah. That is where we met her. She's a bit different from her sister Cloudia."

"About this powerful amulet Asuren have, did she tell you what it is? I haven't seen him wearing or carrying anything that looks like an amulet."

"She was in a hurry. She only gave Ayhan a whistle and told us to use it when Miyara goes out of control again. That is the only time she can counter the spell."

"Is that for real? Someone can counter the spell inflicted in Miyara?" Lazano landed at the balcony of Rainforest Inn with a bleeding cut on his right shoulder. "That will be great because Miyara is out of control again. Aldrin is trying to stop her from leaving the house, but he cannot hold her for long without hurting her. He needs help."

"I'll call Ayhan," Riz hurried out of the balcony.

"I'll see you at Lazano's house!" Thea yelled at her friend before jumping off the railings.

She and Lazano hurried back towards the Northern Peaks.

"I'm sorry for troubling you this much," Lazano was clutching his bleeding shoulder.

"You should go to Mountain Fairy Hospital. We will take care of Miyara."

"No. I want to help as much as I can," Lazano stubbornly insisted.

"You cannot fight like the old times. You promised me."

"I'm keeping my promise. You know that. But with Miyara going out of control twice… I am having this urge to hold a weapon again and kill the fairies violating her body. I want to kill them, Thea."

"You know it is not the solution to this."

"I also want to fight beside you."

"I will not fight against the Southern Peaks."

"Peace can only be possible once their leaders are dead," Lazano angrily stressed out.

"I want to resolve this mess without killing their leaders," Thea adamantly opposed.

"Let me at least fight with you."

"I have my family, a skilled bodyguard, and reliable friends," Thea reminded Lazano. "Miyara only has you as her family. She needs you."

"Can Miyara be saved?" Lazano doubtfully asked.

"Of course," Thea was confident with her answer, "We can save her."

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For the first time since she had left Asuren at the southern borders, Thea felt grateful.

At that time, Miyara was not being possessed by Cloudia. Thea was certain that the pair of dark violet eyes gazing back at her was from Lena. But the look in her eyes was nearly the same as Cloudia. It was filled with loathing.

Miyara had an amazing skill to make any water plant bloom beautifully but she could never turn her energy into a weapon.

Using Miyara's body, Lena produced a water scythe in both Miyara's arms. She was forcing the body she was possessing to the limit.

If Asuren was seeing how Miyara's eyes were bleeding, he would certainly offer himself as a replacement. And what happened last time will only keep on repeating.

"Where is Asuren!!!" Lena yelled through Miyara's mouth.

"I will not let you take him like the last time," Thea surrounded her hands with a strong gust of wind. "And you will never use Miyara like this ever again!"

"How dare you steal him away from us!!!" Lena used Miyara's body to attack Thea.

"Aldrin, let me handle this," she quickly told her bodyguard who was ready to do anything just to keep her safe.

Thea exchanged aggressive blows with Lena until the scythes in the arms of Miyara had shattered. Before Lena could force Miyara to recreate the scythes in her arms, Thea pierced the purple barrier protecting the nape of the fairy then used her wind-covered hand to knock Miyara unconscious.

"Sorry," Thea caught Miyara before she hit the ground. "I have to be this aggressive."

Riz and Ayhan landed beside Thea.

"Can we still counter the spell while she is unconscious?" Thea asked Ayhan.

"We need to get her inside the house," Ayhan said. "No one should see how this curse is countered."

Lazano had taken Miyara from Thea and carried the unconscious fairy inside the house.

He had gently laid her on a feathery couch.

"Thea, you should blow this whistle," Ayhan had given her a tiny wooden whistle.

Without saying a word, Thea had taken the whistle and did as Ayhan had asked. As soon as she had blown the whistle, everything around her had been swallowed by darkness.

In the middle of it, an image had gradually formed. It was a petite fairy with a sad look in her blue eyes.

"I am Kamia," she told Thea with a weak smile. "I thought you already know a way to counter the curse inflicted in Miyara, but I can't read any spell from your mind."

"Maybe we should start saving Miyara," Thea wanted to ask a lot of questions from Kamia, but she was worried about the unconscious fairy. "Lena will destroy her body once she regains control of it."

"I can feel her trying, but Miyara had fallen into a deep sleep."

"Let us talk later."

"We should talk now," Kamia insisted. ��Once the spell had been broken, Lena will come to me like Cloudia had done after you countered the spell on Asuren."

"I did what?"

"Cloudia had been working on that spell for years," Kamia explained. "Asuren is a strong fairy. It had taken her a long time and a lot of effort to take possession of his body. Cloudia was confident that Asuren will kill you under her influence. Asuren always did as he was told. But when you had taken him out of Southern Peaks, Cloudia had completely lost control of Asuren. It had taken her a while before she could penetrate his mind again, but she could not easily influence Asuren like before. If you did not perform any counterspell, then you must have given him a powerful amulet."

"Can an amulet protect someone from any spell?"

"You didn't give an amulet to my nephew?" Kamia was as confused as Thea.

"I didn't."

"How did he manage to counter a powerful spell for a day?"

"Maybe the cursed forest had something to do with it," Thea recalled. "That day I snatched him out of the Nightgloom Residence, we spent almost an entire day at the house of the forest guardian."

"Kayah is a strong spirit. She must have had the capacity to ward off a powerful spell."

"It was not Kayah but a male fairy."

"A male fairy in the Northern Peaks that knows how to counter a spell? I do not think that Lisias will allow such a powerful fairy to exist in his land. It must be Kayah taking another form to help Asuren."

"Who is Asuren to her? Why is she helping him and his friends?"

"When Kayah allows you to see her, she will help you whenever you need it. Just call out her name," Kamia winked at Thea and the darkness that covers them had been instantly lifted. Thea was back inside the house of Lazano.

Let me borrow your body to cast the counterspell, the gentle voice of Kamia echoed inside her head. This will take a lot of your energy. Be prepared.

"Let's do this," Thea said out loud and her hand started moving on its own.

I will go to Asuren later today. We can perform this counterspell on him, Thea informed Kamia.

Asuren is a different case, Kamia replied as she placed Thea's hand over the chest of Miyara. It glowed a bright green light that seeped through the skin of the unconscious fairy.

Kamia was telling Thea the truth. That counterspell was draining her energy. Her knees were trembling by the time her energy finally pushed a dark violet smoke from within Miyara and before Thea collapsed, the unconscious fairy was enveloped by a faint green light.

Lazano caught Thea before her exhausted body hit the floor.

"Thea, what's wrong?" Riz glared at Ayhan.

"I'll be fine," Thea weakly whispered. "I only need to rest."

I used your remaining energy to provide a protective shield for Miyara. They will not be able to easily penetrate her mind. She is safe now.

Thank you, Kamia.

It will take more than this to cure Asuren. We should be prepared.

I get it now.

I will see you soon, Thea Gailbreeze.

As soon as Kamia said those words, Thea was once again swallowed by absolute darkness.

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