Intruder Part I

Orion kept on running, following his instincts. He was drawn to a strange feeling he never felt before that he did not notice his own surroundings. He was focused on getting to where the strangeness came from.

'There's something wrong. What is this? Something is calling me, I need to get there and see it for myself.' Orion thought to himself as he sprinted towards the direction where he felt the pull as he ignored the call of his guards.

He reached a clearing that was full of wildflowers and yellow daffodils. Orion looked around searching for something, something that he himself doesn't know. He slowly walked to the center of the clearing and inhaled.

"What is this place? This is the first time I've seen this place." He muttered to himself as he sat down on the grass-filled ground. It was the first time he saw this place, he didn't know that a place like this existed inside the capital city.

The prince was enjoying the view and the fresh breeze of air that he did not even notice that the place he was in was inside an illusion barrier and that his senses were blocked. What he was seeing that moment was just an image created by the odd barrier. He was so focused on knowing what was the feeling that had pulled him towards that place that he neglected to protect himself.

Meanwhile, Apollo and the other guards were still tracking the prince after he suddenly disappeared from their sight. They were just a few steps behind when the prince and his aura suddenly disappeared that they were forced to stop. They looked around but nothing was unusual but the order could feel that something was up.

"Let's split up, the two of you come with me while the rest will form groups of five and search every direction, do not leave any stone unturned!" Apollo commanded to which the soldiers immediately followed while Karina and Arthur followed behind him. They split up and scattered in every direction, efficiently scanning every nook and cranny where the prince might be.

Apollo and the two guards continued straight as they kept vigilant. They continued their search until Apollo suddenly stopped on his tracks when he realized that there was something wrong in the place where they are now.

Karina and Arthur also stopped and scanned the area taking note of any changes in the surroundings. They discovered that they were trapped inside an illusion barrier or rather they were outside a barrier that was keeping them from moving forward.

"Karina, do what you need to do to break the barrier placed around this place," Apollo ordered. The barrier was causing them to continuously walk in circles and it is a waste of time if they continue to walk around aimlessly.

Karina did not waste any time, she immediately summoned a water spirit using the water present in the air to create a magic symbol that created an artificial rain that drenched the area and revealed the barrier that was obstructing them. Once again she summoned a water spirit and created another symbol that directly latched itself to the barrier. She did this a few times until she was satisfied with the number of magical symbols on the barrier's surface. Karina whispered a spell that released a surge of lightning that merged with the largest magical symbol. The lightning traveled to the entire water magic symbol etched on the barrier creating a chain reaction. With the assault of strong offensive magic, the barrier slowly revealed small cracks that grew bigger as more lightning passed through the magical symbols. The barrier broke into pieces like a mirror at the pressure applied by the spells.

After the barrier was rendered useless, they continued to proceed forward in search of the prince. They cautiously walked forward. If a barrier was placed in the area, the caster would also be near. Since that was the case the prince might be in danger. They needed to move fast.

"Arthur, have your wind spirits do scouting around the area. If an unknown enemy is here, the prince's safety is in jeopardy so proceed carefully," Arthur immediately dispatched twenty of his wind spirits to scout the area. Not long after, Arthur received the location of Orion from one of his wind spirits.

Orion opened his eyes as he felt someone staring at him but as he looked around, there was no one. He started to feel anxious as he noticed that his guards were not yet there as he expected them to be.

'What is taking them so long?' He asked in his mind as he stood up and walked to the direction where he came from but after two steps he felt his body becoming numb and he was unable to move. It felt like something was binding him like an invisible rope. He knew that he wasn't alone anymore. He tilted his head to the side and a look of shock appeared on his face as he saw the cause of his current predicament.

The shock was an understatement to what he was feeling right now, Orion did not even feel the other's presence. It only means that the other party was stronger than him or they have the ability to hide their aura. He tried again to struggle from the invisible bindings that caught him but it was futile. He felt that the bindings just got tighter almost suffocating him.

Not far from Orion, a wolf with midnight fur stood with its almost five feet tall body. Its golden eyes focused on him like he was a delicious piece of meat and with his current situation, he can't do anything if the wolf decided to attack him. The wolf stalked towards him with precision. He felt a slight pressure from the imposing creature but he forced himself to remain calm even though he was starting to panic. He managed to maintain a clear mind despite the pressure pressing on him. He needed to think of a way to escape unscathed from his current situation.

No wolf has ever crossed the lands of Archellia for many years now for it was well protected by layered barriers to ward off unwanted creatures. And usually, wolves move as a pack and they prefer to stay away from any human settlement to avoid hunters who hunt them for their pelt and fangs. In cases where these kinds of dangerous creatures were able to breach the barrier, the border patrol will be immediately notified and a squad will be sent to kill any unwanted beings that trespass the land.

Seeing the wolf was alive and well means that the person who managed to enter the kingdom with it is a powerful magic caster. Even if a warrior of the Saint-level were to try and smuggle a prohibited beast inside the kingdom, they will not be able to do so because the detection magic of the kingdom will be able to sense the existence of such beasts unless a powerful magic caster beyond the saint level was involved.

The prince knew that it would be difficult for him to escape the other party's power since he himself was weak and he is still not capable of using the full potential of his power in fact he still had a difficult time controlling his affinity.

Sweat started to trickle down on his back and he can feel himself slowly losing air and concentration. The pressure was too much for him to bear and keeping his mind clear and his breathing even is taking a toll on his body. It was not a favorable situation for him to face an opponent that was of a higher level than him. But he was determined not to lose.

Seeing that the wolf was not stopping and was still slowly walking towards him, Orion stilled himself and fought to stay awake and sane as he squeezed a little bit more of his energy to struggle and was ready to cast out a spell when an enchanting voice interrupted his casting. The magic symbol that was half-formed in his hands broke and the little bit of energy he had suddenly disappeared. He did not understand what had suddenly happened when he heard the voice spoke again.

"No can't do my prince, I still have something to know about you." A woman appeared behind the wolf and looked at him with a sinister smile on her face. Orion's attention was pulled towards the woman with curly long blonde hair and red lips. She was wearing all black highlighting her pale skin and reddish eyes.

Orion froze at the sight of this woman and the longer he looked at her the more he felt like he was being pulled inside a dark place. He wanted to avert his gaze but there was a force preventing him to do so. The woman was probing him with her gaze and he doesn't like the feeling of it. He deliberately closed his eyes to cut the eye contact and move his face away from the woman before he opened his eye once again.

A laughter echoed through the clearing, "how naughty."