Celestial Saga: Exiled To Earth III 30 Stage Thirty: I Will Save You

STAGE THIRTY: I WILL SAVE YOU

Alaric wrapped his arms tightly around the girl. "I know what you're thinking." He said, squeezing her tight. "Don't do it, I beg you."

After hearing what just happened to Kirin, Alaric and Keon knew that there is no stopping her. Alaric desperately held onto her, making sure that she does not take a single step away from that small room. "Don't do whatever the h.e.l.l you're thinking!"

Freyja just stood there, thunderstruck. They were expecting her to struggle, but surprisingly, she didn't. She remained calm and gently pulled away from Alaric's grasp, before holding his shaking hands.

"Kirin, surrendered himself to Galun in exchange for my freedom, right?" She asked, and took a deep breath. Desperately holding tears back, she continued. "He saved me, again. Again."

There was a brief moment of silence before she took yet another deep breath and wiped off the tears forming at the corner of her eyes.

"Alyon" She turned to him. "We have to save our friend. Can you help us?"

Alyon's eyes widened. The ruthless Lenfiare he knew from reading phreinian records is completely different from the one in front of him. For a while, he even reconsidered whether he got the right person. But she is, without a question, the Lenfiare.

"Galun has our friend, Kirin. He also has Afra." She explained. "What you want, I will do everything in my power, and my life, to give our end of the deal."

"That's right." Keon joined in, walking up to Freyja. "We will do everything to keep our end of the deal. But you have to help us get Kirin and Afra away from that place."

"Freyja," Keon whispered, holding her trembling hand. "We will save Kirin. I promise you. We will save him, and Afra."

Squeezing her hand, Keon continued. "Kirin is strong! he knows what he's doing. So, believe in him. More than anyone, it should be you, who'll believe in his strength. We will save him, everything will be fine, I promise." Keon smiled, squeezing her hands tight. "We will save Kirin, and Afra and we'll have a big feast! So, you have to get a hold of yourself."

~ o 0 o ~

"Are you sure about this Alyon? Shouldn't we leave Freyja behind?"

All thanks to the phreinian Alyon, they were able to pa.s.s through the layers and layers of barriers like a hot knife through b.u.t.ter. Alyon and Alaric led the way while Keon followed, carrying Freyja on his back. Though they were reluctant to take Freyja with them, Alyon's suggestion to bring her along. They need the power of the Lenfiare to defeat Galun and the phreinians.

"By myself, I doubt I could defeat Galun and his men, let alone save the silver haired man and the guardian. The best I can do is buy time while you search for your friends. But before that, we have to find the orb and destroy it at all costs. That's the only key to victory."

"Destroy the orb, that's the number one problem." Alaric uttered.

"Yes. Soul orbs are made by taking pure sample of the target's aura, and from there, they mold it into something that would react if it gets close to the target."

"I know. We've made soul orbs in the manor." Keon interrupted. "It's like holding a part of your aura hostage. If it senses its owner, the aura will naturally flow back to the owner. But since it is enclosed, corrupted, the more it struggles to be back to its original place, the more reaction the soul orb will have, the more painful it is for the target."

"I know. I've seen one before. Kirin's soul orb was used to control him, right?" Freyja recalled.

"That's right. But Kirin's soul orb is nowhere near the celestial soul orb."

"But there is a way to dispel soul orbs…" Alyon interrupted, "If you forcefully take it inside the owner, enduring the extreme pain, it will implode inside you, and eventually, it will break. However, there hasn't been anyone I know of who survived doing that. It's an implosion. It will break every single muscle in your body. And in this case, the only one of celestial bloodline is Lenfiare. If she does it, I am almost sure that she'll die. With no white aura to protect you, you'd be shattered into pieces."

"So how do we break it?"

"We have to try breaking it with sheer force. And when things get desperate, the only way is to let it implode in Lenfiare's body and hope that the guardians' power will still be able to save her life."

Alyon's suggestion rendered them speechless. But they didn't have a choice.

"But it's better than nothing. At least we can s.n.a.t.c.h it away from them first thing." Alyon increased his pace, and so did Alaric and Keon.

"Wait, why can't we do something like this," Freyja had an idea all of a sudden, "Why not let Keon s.n.a.t.c.h the orb and he can escape! As long as it's far enough from me, I can use my white aura again, right?" She was suddenly filled with hope.

"Good idea, Lenfiare. The black-haired boy can do that." Alyon sighed in relief.

"Is that okay with you, Keon?" Alaric asked.

"Leave it to me!"

After almost an hour of running, finally, they reached the last layer of the barrier and Galun's base is in sight. As soon as they entered, eight phreinian guards attacked them all together. "It's the traitor!" Good thing that the phreinians focused on killing Alyon, that the defenseless Freyja was ignored. The phreinian prince didn't lose. He pulled a scimitar under his robes and defended himself quite skillfully. In a matter of minutes, the eight phreinian guards fell. Alyon bowed before them and apologized, before leading the way inside the base.

Flight of steps, one after another. There was never a moment that they weren't attacked by phreinians. Alaric and Alyon did most of the fighting, while Keon ran as fast as he could, to keep the girl on his back away from danger. Even so, Keon's mind was unusually preoccupied. Ever since Alyon mentioned about the soul orb, he can't help but remember the time when his father used a soul orb to gain control over Kirin, when they were still children.

"And in this case, the only one of celestial bloodline is Lenfiare. If she does it, I am almost sure that she'll die. With no white aura to protect you, you'd be shattered into pieces."

Alyon's words kept on ringing inside Keon's mind for quite a while now. "So, it will only react to celestial aura? Celestial… aura."

"YOU'RE DEAD!"

s.p.a.ced out Keon let his guard down for a brief moment. And most unfortunately, the enemies saw this opening, and hurled daggers at him. Keon dodged all except for one. One of the aurinfused daggers penetrated his defenses, flying straight to his torso

"KEON!" Seeing him distracted, Freyja pushed him away, making him stumble down while she tried to evade the dagger with sheer reflexes. Freyja evaded it just fine, but grazed her left arm leaving a deep wound. Alyon finished the remaining enemies while Keon and Alaric rushed to Freyja's side. "It… It hurts…" She thought, holding tears back. With no aura to protect her, the enemy's aura in her wound was beyond painful. Keon tore the sleeve of his cape and wrapped it around her wound. He tried to use his dark aura to dispel it, but it didn't do much. Alaric too, tried, but their auras are still weak compared to phreinian aura.

"Freyja… why did you do that?" Keon clenched his fists "You should have let that hit me! I can handle it better!"

"I don't know." Freyja said, standing up. "I'm fine, don't worry, it's not your fault! Come on Keon, okay?" She grinned. "And besides, I may not have my aura right now, but I've been training for many years!" She said energetically. "Come on, let's go!"

But even before they could proceed, a huge explosion happened before them, filling the room with thick, black smoke. Keon, Alaric and Alyon had to navigate through the area with their eyes closed. But it happened all so fast, that the moment the smoke subsided, they were all safe, but they were split.

Keon Alaric and Freyja sought shelter in one of the floor's corners, under a table. Alaric used a spell to hide their presence, but it won't last for long. "Darn, Alyon's gone." Keon cursed, looking for the phreinian. They are outnumbered to begin with, and by splitting them, they've just gotten even weaker.

"Freyja, can you still go on?" Alaric asked, noticing that the girl has been excessively sweating. He wiped her sweat with his hands, but she gently shoved him off. Though she's not saying anything, they know that the graze in her arm is hurting badly. "Ki-rin." Although unintentional, she mumbled his name. "Ah, no. I'm okay, don't worry. More importantly, what are we going to do now?"

"Celestial bloodline. The only thing that can destroy the orb, is the white aura."

"Keon? You seem… out of yourself. Is something wrong?" Freyja's question snapped him out of his deep thoughts. "Kirin…" Keon said, with resolute eyes. "…Kirin will not die. He doesn't want you to cry Freyja, so he won't die."

"Keon…"

"When I get my aura back, this wound won't even matter. So, cheer up guys, this is nothing." She tried to lift their spirits up. They needed it now more than ever.

That's right. Keon said, full of confidence. "That orb. Let's hurry and find it. And I'll take it away so you can get your aura back, Freyja."

~ o 0 o ~