Wind to wind

The sudden tumble made the people inside the carriage dizzy and a little bit disoriented but all of them were fine. Arthur's wind spirit had protected the carriage even though it turned over. They were okay inside but the driver was not lucky enough to escape. Even in their disorientation and confusion, they managed to get out from the destroyed carriage and used the smoke to escape into woods before the assailants can approach their work of art.

"There's no one in here!" they heard a voice shouting from where the carriage was and started to walk faster.

"They might have escaped. Scatter and look for them. Don't let them escape especially those remnants on the wanted list!" Another answered and the group stopped and looked at each other in shock.

These people even know their identities and it was disturbing. Why would one of them reveal this information, not only the general's secret but also their identities were leaked? They did not have time to think about this more when a man with a blindfold covering his eyes stepped out from behind a tree stood in front of them.

Upon seeing the man, Arthur launched an attack and used his wind whip against the man. The man easily dodged the attack and a dark sharp arc came out from his hand heading towards Arthur. He dodged the attack and raised an eyebrow at the damage the man left.

"Arthur!" Dreigh shouted after seeing the man's attack.

"This man is not ordinary, leave now, I'll follow you after I deal with this man." Arthur shook his wind whip and boosted his speed towards the blindfolded man. A fight between them left considerable damage within seconds of clashing. The blindfolded man was comparable to Arthur's strength.

"Let's go," Mr. Mazir pushed them into the opposite direction in a hurry, The guards followed them closely. They moved fast and carefully incase they encounter any more enemies.

Several wind blades were thrown in the direction of the blindfolded man followed by Arthur's wind whip but the man easily parried this attack using a sword made of a dark swirling wind. Not surprisingly, they both have similar abilities, the only difference was that Arthur was using wind spirits of the clear kind while the other was using wind spirits that were tainted.

He did not think it was possible to form contracts with a tainted spirit but this man had done it though he could not imagine the price the man would have to pay by forming a contract with a tainted spirit. His gaze moved towards the blindfold on his face and could guess what the payment was.

Arthur conjured a big tornado and pushed it towards the man, another tornado also clashed with his and both disappeared leaving only a crater and uprooted trees on the ground.

"Who are you? Are you working for the person who was behind all of this?" Arthur asked the man but he got no reply instead dark wind blades were headed his way. These wind blades were fiercer and a little bit faster than the ones he was using. He got a slight scratch from the attack but he was also able to give the other a wound by a surprised wind gale that came from his enemy's back.

There exchange became intense until Arthur slowly got the upper hand. He could feel the attacks of the man slowly weakening as they continued to clash. It might be one of the side effects of using a tainted spirit. With this opportunity, he once lured the man into an area where a magic circle was prepared. He moved back step by step as he parried the attacks until the man entered the magic circle's area and the spell activated. A tornado enclosed the man and Arthur added several wind gales and wind blades on the tornado.

Levhon and the other were able to widen to distance between them and the fight happening. There was no rest for them and they continued to walk on the general direction of the original place they were supposed to go while staying vigilant.

From a distance, blurring shadows of people were silently following them. These people did not make any move and was only following them. They were only sent to observe and pass messages to the people involve.

"They're here!" A shout from somewhere echoed through the dense forest and several men came out from the bushes surrounding the escaping group.

The remnants immediately acted, Rond erected a wall of earth isolating them from their enemies followed by making a burrowed path for them to walk. They continued to walk on the burrowed path Rond made but the people after them did not stop and fired burning arrows from the outside of the wall towards them. Dreigh used his affinity to control these burning arrows and stop them mid-air, after that he pushed those arrows out, returning them to the people who fired them.

"Move!" Dreigh urged them to quickly move and to follow Rond closely. They slowly moved but the attacks against them were relentless. Another round of arrows rained down on them but this time when Dreigh stopped them at mid-air and explosion caught them. He was pushed back and lost control of his affinity causing the arrows to continue falling down. Endo blasted these arrows and they were able to avoid any life threatening wounds.

"Can't you make it faster Rond?" Endo asked through the chaos.

"I can't, I need to focus and my control is a little bit lacking," Rond answered in a dark voice. Like all of them he's not yet adept to using his affinity.

"Leave anything unnecessary. We need to move faster!" Levhon instructed and each one of them left their bags and only the clothes on their bodies remained.

"Father," Everleigh's voice shook as she called her father amidst the chaos. She was holding a little girl on his arms who was crying and scared at what was happening.

Levhon embraced the two children and covered them with a blanket. "It's okay we will be able to survive this," he gently spoke to pacify the children. The child with Ever was Endo's little sister who was a bit sickly. Levhon carried both children on his back and followed behind Rond. The rest followed suit while watching out for any stray arrows. The guards helped the remnants in blocking any arrows that might have passed their defense.

With another rain of arrows, several explosions echoed through the forest and Dreigh is already having a difficult time blocking so much arrows and explosions even though the guards and Endo were doing their best in helping him, it was still falling short. One by one, these arrows had penetrated their defenses so they changed from a wide defense to only focusing on blocking anything that may harm anyone of them.

They were able to keep this up for and were able to make way for a few kilometers and the arrows had also slowly disappeared. "Let me hold them also, so that you can have a rest," Endo's father volunteered and carried the children on his back. Vira was busy healing the wounds that their defenders had suffered from the attack. It was exhausting but none of them could afford to stop.

----

Arthur had heard the explosion, he wanted to go and help them but he was occupied with the blindfolded man whom he thought would not be able to escape his trap but after the dangerous tornado appeared the man was still standing. Even though he was bloody, the fact that he was still standing there only shows how strong he is. The man stood unmoving as he raised his hands towards the knot of the blindfold on the back of his head. He slowly unraveled the piece of cloth and let it loose.

Arthur tightened his hold on the wind whip he was holding and prepared for any incoming attack. The moment the blindfold was gone, the atmosphere around them also changed, dark clouds suddenly gathered on the sky and casted an eerie feeling into Arthur. The man's body was suddenly shrouded with black swirling wind and the moment he opened his eyes, Arthur was suddenly rooted to the ground and could not move.

The man's eyes were completely black and have the ability to bind a person. Arthur was caught off guard and did not have the time to look away from those eyes. With the time he was frozen, a fierce wind attack engulfed him and he barely managed to escape. Like the man, he became bloody with the numerous cuts he received.

'This is not good.' He muttered to himself and summoned more wind spirits to help him. The man ignored all of this and continued to walk forward to where Arthur was standing. Several attacks came from the man and these attacks did not stop. Arthur could only defend and lessen the damage he receives from these attacks. He focused on dispatching his wind spirits in different directions and after confirming that his wind spirits are ready, he activated a trapping spell which trapped his enemy and stopped the attacks aiming at him.