Edith leaned on a tree, her breath labored and sweat trailed down her face due to running for long. "Curse you, Davion," she uttered through gritted teeth. Had she known this would happen. She would have preferred fighting him instead.
Wiping the sweat with the back of her palm, Edith began moving again, only to be caught by another trap and sent flying through the air and back to a place she had reappeared four times already.
"How exactly did I get myself caught up in this crazy situation?" Edith clicked her tongue and stood up straight, now assessing the situation. Each time she was thrown back here, she had done something different, which had allowed her to venture deeper and further than the first time.
About thirty minutes earlier
"Hide and Seek," he said and straightened his posture, then he continued, "Or as I prefer to call it, The Hunter and the Prey."
Edith looked at him a bit longer than she wanted to, still trying to understand what he was thinking with that brain of his. But even after several seconds had passed and she couldn't understand him, she gave up and turned around, ready to leave when he spoke again.
"The game starts now," Edith halted and looked over her shoulder. "I wish you luck. You are going to need it," Davion added.
Edith closed her eyes and breathed deeply. "I never thought the great King Davion would play children's games.
"We all were once children, Pet. We shouldn't forget our infancy just because our bodies changed." Came his reply, and she shook her head inwardly.
Edith massaged her temple. She then looked at him, lost for words. Having nothing more to say to say him, she turned and started walking towards where she thought would lead her to the castle's gates and she would leave.
"Since the hunt has started, I'll advise you to use whatever you have at your disposal to escape from me," Davion said behind her.
Edith didn't listen to what he was saying because she never wanted to partake in his games.
"As a diligent hunter that I am, I have set some traps in place," Edith paused at that. She looked over her shoulder and saw grinning. "I have absolutely no intention of letting you slip from my grasp, Pet."
Her heart skipped a beat at that. Why? Edith didn't know.
Shaking her head, she continued moving. He didn't speak again, and he didn't try to stop her. She had walked for about ten minutes when she noticed that she was nowhere near the gates but instead appeared to be even farther than before. His warning about the traps came to her.
"What a pain," Edith mumbled and decided to take the game seriously.
Back to the present
"I am sure he must be enjoying himself, toying with me like this," she said with a sigh. "Now, what did I miss before?"She uttered, her eyes searching the surroundings, but she couldn't find anything that she could have possibly missed. "I guess I have no other choice then," she sighed and moved forward again.
"I think this is it," she stopped in front of a tree. Looking around, it was the largest tree in the area. Taking a deep breath, she placed her right palm on its bark. "I hope I'm right."
With her eyes closed, she focused her attention on her palm, and a green light appeared around her hand that was placed on the tree, "Daphne," she called, but nothing happened and her brows furrowed, but she didn't stop and tried again the second time, "Daphne, please answer me," still nothing happened.
Drained, she stopped and leaned on the tree.
"Even you too won't answer me, huh?" She sat on the ground with her palm covering her face. "I don't know what to do anymore. I don't even know how they were faring over there. I thought you could tell something… anything."
"I don't have anything tell you at the moment," the familiar voice of Daphne graced her ears before she felt a pair of arm wound around her from behind. "I am sorry, Meredith."
"What happened in Novara? Please, Daphne, I have to know," Edith pleaded, looking over her shoulder only to see Daphne closing her eyes with a sunken expression. "Then take me back. If you can't say it, I should see for myself."
"I am afraid I can not do that either," Daphne said. The remorse in her tone was vivid, and that caused Edith brows to pull together further.
"Why?" She asked.
Meanwhile, Davion watched the scene with great interest but was careful to make sure he wasn't noticed with a cloaking spell.
The presence of the Dryad was not anticipated, but it was a great piece to the puzzle, which was none other than the woman whose name he had only come to know as Meredith.
The name Novara was also strange, but it was also another great piece to fill up the empty spaces of the same puzzle.
Looking around, there were basically two kinds of magical energy in the air. One was that of nature, which he had come to assume was connected to the dryad, in other words, the elves. Meredith didn't look like a dryad, no matter how he looked at it. Her magical abilities were also much too complex to label her as one.
He took a few steps back to where he had seen linger the most and found more prominent traces of the other magical energy.
"What an interesting girl you've turned out to be," Davion said with a smile. Had anyone else seen him like this, they wouldn't believe he was the same man that they knew. His softened features and warm smile, as well as the little glimmer in his eyes, was nothing like he usually is.
"You want to go so badly but you keep giving me reason to keep you," he chuckled lightly, running his fingers through his hair, he looked up at the sky that was void of all life. Not even a single star could be seen. "You aren't doing a very good job at escaping me, Greta."