Chapter 54

Xain and Larkin, witnessing the explosions and smoke, exchanged a quick nod. Xain then glanced down at Victoria, who was holding him in fear. To snap her out of her fear, he had an idea.

"Come on, Miss former mayor," he said, attempting to coax her into action. Victoria slowly released her grip and gave him an annoyed look. "I'm the current mayor! Not the former one!" she exclaimed, raising her staff as if to strike Xain. He raised his hands in surrender and corrected himself, "Yes, yes, you're the current one, but we need to move." With that, he and Larkin started running, and Victoria huffed before following them.

As they dashed through the winding back streets, Larkin leaned toward Xain and asked, "Do you think the others ran into any issues?" Xain deftly maneuvered a sharp left turn, still guiding them toward the militia barracks, and responded, "Goddess, I hope not. Then again, at least Amara isn't on our tail... yet." Larkin swiftly retorted, "Don't tempt fate!"

Their mad dash continued until they heard Victoria's voice from behind them. "Wait! I can't keep up with your pace!" she gasped. She was panting, sweating, and appeared utterly exhausted. Larkin, with genuine concern, asked, "What's wrong? Are you sick or something?" In between breaths, Victoria replied, "Sick? Do you two realize how long we've been sprinting?" Xain and Larkin exchanged an glance, and Xain said, "It's been, what, 20 seconds?"

Victoria, still catching her breath and looking annoyed, retorted, "Why are you acting like twenty seconds isn't a lot!" Xain, looking genuinely surprised, replied, "Because it really isn't? Are you seriously tired already?" His tone conveyed utter disbelief, and he couldn't help but think, *There is no possible way someone could be this unathletic.*

Victoria, once again frustrated, threw another mini tantrum, exclaiming, "Yes, I am tired! Not everyone has the same level of physical fitness as you two!" she exclaimed. Larkin chimed in, "I think this is less about how physically fit we are and more about how physically weak you are."

As Victoria appeared ready to unleash another outburst, Xain decided he'd had enough. In a swift motion, he lifted her into a princess carry, cutting short her protests and allowing them to move ahead.

As Xain hoisted Victoria into his arms, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment, and she protested, "I didn't give you permission to touch me!" Xain retorted, "I've already carried you once, and right now, I don't have the luxury of worrying about your permission."

Victoria responded with a pout and muttered her annoyance. They resumed running, but Larkin couldn't resist commenting, "You know, Xain, taken out of context, what you just said sounds really wrong." Xain, realizing the implication of his words, turned beet red and quickly clarified, "I didn't mean it like that!"

Victoria's embarrassment only deepened, and she pleaded, "Don't say that! It'll make things even more awkward!" As they continued running, Larkin sighed, wondering how their friends were faring, thinking, *I really hope everything is going well with the others.*

**Back to Lennix's group**

Ercale let out an exasperated sigh, "For the love of the gods, how much longer must we endure these wretched sewers?" Walking beside him, Lennix replied, "It's only been around 30 minutes. And by the way, why did you say gods?" Ercale simply ignored Lennix's question and grumbled, "Well, it feels like we've been here for 30 years rather than minutes."

Zee was also growing tired of the monotonous sewers. The repetitive design made it feel like they were walking in circles, and her constant thoughts about Xain only added to her restlessness. Meanwhile, Clarissa, with her emotionless expression, appeared unfazed by their surroundings. It was impossible to gauge how she felt, or if she felt anything at all, given her lack of emotions.

As they continued their journey through the sewers, Zee's restlessness was abruptly interrupted by a noise. She whispered to the others, "Wait, I hear something." They all halted, their ears tuned to the sounds of people approaching. Hearing the footsteps drawing nearer, they pressed against the wall, waiting just around the corner.

Lennix raised his hand to signal the others to stay put, and then he proceeded to scout ahead. Using his vampiric abilities, he began crawling up the wall, making his way to the ceiling. Peeking around the corner, he spotted two of Eirisse's thralls, Jami and Sora. Lennix realized, *If they're here, we must be getting close.*

Lennix returned to the group, silently dropping down, and shared the information. "Jami and Sora, sister's thralls, are approaching," he whispered.

Ercale, clearly annoyed, muttered, "Are you kidding me? Even after what I did to them? Ugh, what else should I expect from thralls."

Zee asked the important question, "What should we do?" Clarissa responded, "We should either incapacitate them or eliminate them." Lennix nodded in agreement and suggested, "Let's wait here for them. When they come around the corner, we can catch them off guard."

They all huddled by the corner, and nearby, Jami and Sora continued their conversation. Jami remarked, "You got lucky because he tied me up using metal chains in the basement." Sora retorted, "Well, I got attacked by a cardboard box that turned into a person. Do you know how traumatizing that was?" Jami scoffed at her words.

As the thralls were about to turn the corner, a voice called them from behind, "Mistress Eirisse wants the both of you to return."

Ercale, Zee, and Lennix all recognized the voice. "It can't be," Zee muttered softly. She silently pushed past Lennix, who had a shocked look on his face. This didn't help Zee's and Ercale's suspicions regarding the identity of the voice.

As Zee peeked around the corner, her heart sank when she saw the raven-black hair of Karin Zebik, the mother of Mari Zebik, the child that Eirisse planned to consume for her evolution.