24: BLOODOATH II

"Sorry, but you always know, from the bottom of your heart that they will protect you. Olivia, she wanted you, sheltered and love you, have you not notice?"

Elani answered with a snort as she tries to hold back her tears. Everything has been messed up and so overwhelming to her. I am a child! Why am I hearing things that only an adult could understand? And then she had remembered what Malaya told her. "The world does not and will not look at you like how Olivia sees you,"

And then it came to her. Bryce was right! Olivia loved her so much and treated her like her own child. Her love was endless! She devoted her life to serving Elani and her husband, so she refused to be a Divine Knight. It must be her dream to serve the kingdom but she was given a task she didn't ask--to be a mother of someone else's daughter.

Elani cried even more with the sudden realization of what her mother sacrificed for her. She hugged Bryce and moaned her mother's name. Bryce smiled and looked at Rafael, looking at the hole in the tree in front of them.

"We need your help, Elani."

"With.. what?"

"The blood of the royal bloodlines can only--"

"What did you say?" Malaya landed on the ground, furiously looking at Elani. She wielded her sword on her left hand whilst walking towards them.

"Malaya?" Rafael was baffled by the sudden outburst of Malaya and then he remembered how she despises the royal bloods when she almost annihilates the entire bloodline of Gareth after leaving Prulesia Academy! He has no time and there's no hope of escape. They have to fight her!

He shielded Bryce and Elani and raised his left hand in front of him as if stopping her from getting nearer.

"You know how much I hated those stinky royal bloods yet you have the audacity to make them one of my students! How could you?! TRAITOR!!" She shouted and gritted her teeth as she clenched her fists in utter enraged. "So that was the reason why her energy was concealed?" She continued. Rafael was bewildered by what Malaya told him. What does she mean? He had thought.

"Concealed?"

She waived her right hand through her body that made her change her training outfit into her fighting armor and she wielded another sword into her right hand.

"I left her in the forest to train herself but when I came back, she was glowing like a sun." She focused her eyes on the royal blood. Elani gasps and hid behind Bryce but Malaya was too fast! She was already through the air on top of Bryce and was about to attack Elani. Bryce couldn't catch her speed, all he could do was pulled Elani on his chest.

"Elani has a broken seal but too bad, I concealed her energy once again." She grins devilishly and sounded very cocky.

Rafael reached his hand and aimed at Malaya but when he was about to cast the enchantment, Malaya landed on the ground beside Bryce and jump up high through the large trees. Her speed was unremarkable! Rafael can't catch her if she keeps on gliding through the winds like a bird.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU! YOU OF ALL PEOPLE, RAFAEL! YOU OF ALL PEOPLE!!!!"

"Bryce," Rafael called him out without looking back at him. It was as if ordering him to escape the already furious Malaya. He was following Malaya's energy but couldn't keep track of her since she's gliding from tree to tree. His breathing became heavier as he became agitated to the fact that he's going to engage in a fight with someone with whom he spends most of his life in Prulesia Academy.

If truth be told, even though he doesn't want anyone to know, Malaya was also her first teacher. Although Rafael had not known the real reason why she studied in Prulesia or where her energy comes from, he enjoyed her company and trainings with her. Maybe because he excels whenever she teaches him.

Rafael was a nobody. If it wasn't for Ryleia, he must be still in the streets, begging for food. But Ryleia has high hopes for Rafael but the thing is, he was forced to do something he didn't want. He thinks that he shouldn't disappoint Ryleia and should pay respect to her because she took him out of the dirty streets of Noliad.

No matter how much he self-train and studies, his efforts are to no avail. He had almost given up but when he met Malaya and saw her capabilities, he was in awe. He never thought that she already mastered the art of meditation at a young age, has excellent control of her energy, and knows many enchantment spells. Malaya was indeed at top of the class but the only thing is, she's aloof. She loves staring daggers at her classmates and laughs at them when they're failing the test.

She loves to pick fights and really wants her classmates to know that they're weak, in short, she's the bully. But Rafael has seen her beyond those negative traits of Malaya. He approached her, of course at first it wasn't easy. Malaya doesn't want to be friends with a weakling, no that wasn't right, she doesn't want to be friends with anyone. Rafael is not anyone. He was persistent until one afternoon at the academy after Rafael had a good beating from Malaya, she asked him why was he persistent to befriend her.

He teary-eyed replied, "I don't want to disappoint her." Malaya was curious but after seeing the poor Rafael lying on the ground with too many bruises, she agreed.

After school, they would always meet up behind the training field and train themselves. They have also developed friendships since they always meet up every day. Malaya had shared her secrets with Rafael, her only friend at that time. Although it was hard for her to tell him what had happened to her clan, she had thought that Rafael was a good guy, he will never use her weakness against her. But now, she was wrong.

Bryce enchanted a spell under his breath while Elani was still pressed on his big chest. After the enchantment, a yellow light barrier begins to encircle both of them. "We shall go straight to that small cave inside the tree," he carried Elani so that he can run fast. As soon as he started running, Malaya glided her way to them and attack the barrier. But her swords cannot even scratch it. She became more pissed and went back up the trees.

Rafael woke up from his deep thought and he formulated his plan. He cannot attack Malaya with her speed and Malaya's not even interested in him. He enchanted a spell towards Bryce's shield which added a string of blue lights surrounding them. After that, he followed them. Every time Malaya tries to attack, it slows her movement speed.

Malaya had realized how her speed gradually decreases and that her attacks are to no avail. It must be Rafael's doing as she sees blue strings of energy on the sphere shield. She then rested in one tree and hid her swords in her pockets. She pulled her bow and arrows behind her back, Die. She said under her breath. She enchanted a spell on her arrows and placed them in the bow. She pulled the string and aimed at Elani. It was the arrow of death.

The arrow swiftly made its way to Bryce's shield and made a small crack when it hit the sphere. Bryce was taken aback--there's no way that the arrow can enter the sphere. The arrow continued aiming at Elani even though it was stuck. The energy of the arrow pushes through but before it could finally enter, Rafael pulled the arrow from the outside, breaking Malaya's enchantment.

They are almost inside the cave when Bryce took his small dagger from his pocket, "it will hurt now but please know that we needed to do this,"

"I'll take Malaya as you do the bloodoath." Rafael went outside just in time when Malaya landed on the ground.

Bryce put Elani down and pulled her hands. He opened her palms and cut it with his dagger. Elani screamed in pain and cried once again. Bryce couldn't help but feel agitated. He never knew Malaya could be that aggressive, they almost killed them! Although he cannot attack since he needed to protect Elani, he knows that he has no skill against her. Just by the arrow that's pinning itself through his sphere shield!

He closed Elani's palms and gripped her hand and aimed it inside the cave. Once the blood drips touched the ground, he shouted at Rafael, who is now badly wounded. He saw them and ran towards the cave but Malaya pulled his collar. He swayed his hands and aimed at Malaya and blew a cold breath on her face making it freeze. She fell to the ground because her eyes are now concealed with Rafael's ice. "You'll pay for this. I know where you're going." She said under her breath, Rafael could only look at her with fear as he ran towards the cave.

The cave inside the tree began to sparkle in gold dust and covered the entrance. Once the gold dust was gone, Elani noticed that her cut has immediately healed. She tried to open and close her palms just to see if it's real. It is as if she didn't have her cut at all. When she looked outside the cave, it was now different. She gasped and excited about seeing the legendary animals her father told her and thought it wasn't true.