A scream broke, piercing the air with its screech and pressure. It was a desperate warcry. The knight came running towards Staas, but with all the loud noises and burdens in his mind, the boy was still stricken in shock, unmoved while his whole body trembled in disbelief.

Yet all of the sudden, the number of footsteps grows. There's another one that came rushing towards him.

It was Gytha, and hastily she grabbed the absently Staas, pulling him away from the knight as fast as she capably could. But it's all too late, she must use a desperate means to protect the boy from that icy blade.

In such critical moment, she turned Staas’ body, putting herself between him and the knight, covering him as a meat shield from the incoming attack.

*Slash!*

And the knight struck his sword, cutting deeply into Gytha's back, immediately taking away her consciousness from the tremendous pain he caused her.

The wounded girl brought Staas back to reality. As her body limply fell into Staas' arms, with her back shredded like a giant cliff, and blood dripping profusely from it.

"Gytha…?"

He saw the girl's eyes weakly shut, while her head leans powerless on his shoulder. The sight reminded him of how dying animal meet their fate, yet without any knowledge on how to save her.

"Blood? Is she… human?"

On the other hand, the knight woke up from his fear. He looked at the dying girl not with pity but full-on curiosity. He realized the shape of her round ears, and the red liquid coming out of her body that isn't a sap like every other dryad.

Then slowly he walked towards the two, by the means to make sure of his suspicions. But before he was even able to get close, the wound started glowing, with a green shade brighter than the twilight sun.

*Bang!*

A giant shockwave emerged from her body, bouncing everything around her and the boy she sat upon. That includes the knight who was now thrown far to the ground.

Hundreds of flickering fireflies start appearing out of thin air, surrounding them with light and warmth. Then came the white mist, coating the surroundings while guiding the fireflies onto one another.

They began combining with each other, transforming into pieces of puzzles made out of green light. Each by each they went into the center, right above where Staas holding the unconscious girl.

Every single one of them filled a spot, and from it, a key and a lock took shape, with the same green color as Gytha's eyes.

*Clack!*

The key comes forth and unlocked the padlock until its chain detached from its body. Suddenly a hole opened itself right where they were. And from it crawl out dark light, with the shade of the stary sky, filled with mist and galaxies.

Staas found himself alone in an empty space, without even a speck of dirt to step on.

"Huh…? Gytha!?"

He looked around, but not a single thing was left with him. His confusion peaked, even tears started dripping from the fear of the unknown.

But amidst his frustration, a glimmer of light began appearing from behind.

The boy turned his gaze, and there he saw fragments of colors, millions of them. Each contains a memory, from generations of girls who appear to guard him in his sleep, while he was still on the bed at the center tree of the Spirit Grove.

One of them is Gytha, and the other… looks exceptionally similar to her, just with a different hairstyle and clothing. The stream of memories runs through him, until at the very last he found himself lying on that very bed, while 9 extremely different people stayed near him until he finally closes his eyes.

"Are they…"

Then after all was over, the space disappeared. He's back in reality, with Gytha left held in his arms. Although drowned in questions, he found himself able to think clearly, and aware of his surrounding.

He heard and saw all the Dryads fighting the invader with their nature magic, arrows, and spears. But the enemies are too strong. Their cold white armors can block anything that comes toward them.

The dryads were outmatched and left frozen where they stand, prisoned by cold ice. Meanwhile, the knight he fought was now back on his feet, he didn't know what just hit him, but he was sure he needed to get back up and neutralize that threat.

"Begone! MONSTER!"

He came again, charging with his sword while screaming on top of his lungs.

Staas saw raging desperation, he knew it was that knight who made the wound on Gytha's back. And on the brink of frustration, he screamed back at him, with his hand raised, creating a gesture that tell him to stop.

"Don't come!"

Suddenly from the ground, a giant root of a tree raised violently with a green light covering its body. The plant then struck the knight as hard as it can, vigorously throwing him far away, until his back hit one of the village's trees, rendering him unconscious.

The other knights who came running after hearing the scream of both his comrade and Staas, saw the body of their friend flying like a ragdoll.

Covered in fear they turned their gaze towards Staas, realizing the tremendous aura emitted from his presence.

"Assistance!"

The knights called for backup, alerting the other knights to help them with Staas.

Staas might not get what the knights are doing, but his mind kept screaming at him with a single piece of his smoldering desire.

"Protect!"

And at that very moment, he knew neither he nor Gytha is safe here in this village. He might be confused by the thing he just did to the knight, however as his mind kept telling him the same order, he knew…

This is not the time to think about the unknown.

"Hang in there Gytha, I will not let you suffer the same fate as those animals."

Without any hesitation, he carried Gytha running, leaving the village behind them. The dryads were still left fighting, but he already set his priority on who is of the utmost importance to be safe.

At least in his eyes.

"After him!"

"Don't let him get away!"

The knights can't let someone who just the seer existence is as dreadful as Staas to run amock throughout the forest, while their legion is here carrying the mission given by their queen.

Staas ran the fastest his legs could carry, and it was enough to put the wind to shame.

However, the knights didn't come here on foot. They chase him with their almighty horses that breathe cold mist from their nose while leaving ice tracks where they step.

With his physical prowess, the boy can easily bypass any obstacle whether they are rocks, vegetations, or even huge puddles. But, unfortunately for him, it was military personnel that currently chasing after him.

“Pressure!”

Among them were wizards and archers. And they rained projectile on him without any sense of mercy.

Staas can dodge them just fine, but by doing so he lost a lot of momentum, and at this rate, the knight will soon catch up to him.

In a state of panic, Staas remembered what he had just done to the knight before. If he can use that power again, maybe he can slow them down, or even fully stop them from chasing.

He rearranged Gytha's body so he can easily carry her with one hand, while the other hand desperately experimented on his newfound power.

Then swish! He swang his right hand in the direction of the knights who've been chasing him down. Another glowing giant root comes forth, and swang itself onto the riding knights.

Those who were hit fell and left eating dirt, while the others continued their pursuit, and are now highly aware of what might come at them.

The chase went on, and Staas carried on with his experiments. Coming just like unending sea waves, the giant trees cast by him kept on raging towards the knights. Trampling them down, throwing them away from their horse, while also blocking all kinds of projectile sent to hunt him.

He slowly learned the amount of control he can do, or what he needs to move and what he doesn't need to move to cast the raging roots.

But as time flows, the knight also adapted to the pattern of his attack. Coupled with the unflinching defense of their armor, they slowly caught up with Staas.

"Don't fret! We're close!"

The sound of hooves of the horses getting louder and louder, soon they would be right behind him.

With all the things happening around him, fear began to destroy Staas' composure. His head increasingly filled with the sounds of his mind screaming incessantly.

"You can't run forever, Staas!"

"They will soon catch up!"

"Gytha won't survive if this went on!"

He looked at the unconscious girl, couldn't help but worried about her condition. Especially the wound on her back that split her flesh open.

"Strengthen your resolve!"

"Do it for her!"

"You need… to FIGHT!"

The closest knight is just a couple of steps away until his lance is finally able to touch Staas back. But by the second he's about to catch up, a large tree stood between him and Staas, blocking his few from the running boy.

"Huh…?"

And when he bypass it, the boy… was gone.

He quickly stopped his horse and looked around carefully to find him.

Unfortunately, when the knight realized where the boy is, Staas' body was already flying right beside him, with his feet raised high in the air, creating a powerful stance that painted danger all over.

The knight saw Staas' eyes. It was as green as a raging comet, glowing full of dread and hatred, looking at him like an angered beast.

"Get… LOST!"