The woman looked back at Riven, stared at him for a heartbeat, and said.
"If you want to live then run."
Then the woman exhaled and charged straight at the powerful Vrekhar. The root shot towards the Powerful Vrekhar.
The trees swayed, leaves rustling. A heartbeat later, vines shot from the branches and coiled tightly around the Vrekhar
The Powerful Vrekhar broke free with ease and manifested a silver rod. They threw it towards the woman and the woman didn't dodge — she punched the rod with her bare hands.
Her fist and the rod collided producing a thunderous bang as the rod snapped in two. The Powerful Vrekhar examined her and said, their voice loud enough for Riven to hear.
"Another human? Not a problem…"
The woman just smiled very briefly in response.
Then Riven saw the ground beneath the Powerful Vrekhar crack and the same root that had hit it earlier emerged from it.
The Powerful Vrekhar jumped backwards, evading the root. Before they landed, they threw rods at the root. The rods lodged themselves in the root, pinning it down completely.
The woman appeared before the Vrekhar in an instant, reaching for its shoulder — but they had already manifested another silver rod, and they swung it towards her chest before she could close her grip.
Riven saw this and shouted.
"Look out!!"
The woman's eyes immediately locked on the incoming silver rod upon hearing his warning and she blocked the attack with her bare hands.
But it wasn't enough.
She flew backward and slammed into a tree near him, chunks of bark exploding outward. Chunks of the trunk also slammed into his face making his already battered body more injured.
The woman was right, this place wasn't safe for him.
He needed to get away from it.
Riven looked at the Wolf — it was done eating. It remained motionless, there was not an ounce of movement.
He took a deep breath and commanded.
"Move straight ahead."
This time the Wolf obeyed. It galloped straight forward at insane speed. There was no hesitation, no delay, just obedience.
As the beast ran, he turned around and saw the battle between the woman and the Powerful Vrekhar.
Vines, roots, and branches of trees danced around the woman as she exchanged blows with the powerful Vrekhar. However, her entire body was riddled with wounds, and her clothes were soaked in blood.
And this was just the beginning…
From the body of the Powerful Vrekhar, smokeless white fog began to leak out from every orifice of their body, filling the air.
Riven's eyes narrowed and then he warned.
"The smoke is poisonous! Don't inhale it!"
The woman immediately retreated, creating distance between them, and covered her nose, but it was of no use. The fog kept expanding until it engulfed the woman and her surroundings completely.
Riven's eyes narrowed. He knew that the fog was poisonous but he didn't know exactly how poisonous.
So he assumed the worst.
He didn't really care about the woman but if that woman died that meant he would be next. So he hoped she was alive and still capable of keeping the Vrekhar at bay.
That is when he heard a voice echoing throughout the forest.
"You dare hurt my Dear Forest Princess bastard? Face my wraith!!"
Riven tilted his head and saw a man wearing a mask standing on the branch of a tree, looking at the fog with an expression that couldn't be read.
A heartbeat later the man raised his hand toward the sky…
Then all around him some boulders and trees started to float up high in the sky. They kept ascending high in the sky only stopping until they reached a certain height.
Then he saw the man sweeping his hand down — stopping at his knees. Then the trees and boulders came crashing down in the area around the fog like asteroids crashing down on the earth.
Every time one of them slammed into the ground, a thunderous sound echoed through his ears.
Riven felt a chill run down his spine as he witnessed the destructive might of the man's attack. He turned around and stared at the Wolf and said.
"Move fast… we might get hit too."
****
Riven leaned against the trunk of a tree as he stared at the dark sky of night illuminated by stars and a crescent moon. He lowered his gaze and looked around him.
A few meters away from him, the Wolf rested on the ground but its hollow eyes were open, carefully scanning for any threats near them.
But there were no threats near him… at least for now.
He could finally rest after spending hours getting as far away from the battleground between the Powerful Vrekhar and the group of humans. Now he was very far from the place he had escaped and was certain that no Vrekhar would find him.
He was finally truly free.
However, he was still severely injured and his mana reserves were almost non-existent so any wild beast could kill him.
That is why he had stopped advancing since he didn't wish to disturb the sleep of any beast in the dark.
And he was going to rest for now and think about what to do tomorrow.
Just as he was about to sleep, he heard someone land from the trees— footsteps growing louder by the second.
He tilted his head and his expression hardened. A group of three humans walked towards him.
The man in the middle wore black body armor covering his chest and arms, his face hidden behind a mask Riven recognized. To his left stood another man, slightly taller, in the same armor and mask.
To his right, a woman — no mask, but the same armor as the other two.
He recognized the man in the middle and the woman to his right. They were the ones who fought the Powerful Vrekhar.
But he didn't recognize the man on the left side of the middle. He was probably one of them — an ally or friend.
Then the wolf lunged to its feet — but Riven commanded it to stop. They were very powerful and he was outnumbered so they could kill him and his Subjects easily.
The man stared at him and said.
"Good choice kid."
Riven's eyes narrowed but he didn't deny it.
"I owe you for saving my life back there. But why have you followed me? "
Riven paused and added.
"Are you a friend or foe?"
Neither responded. The woman stepped forward, placed her hands on his shoulders — and something shifted inside him.