Chell blinked more a few times, making sure that it was, indeed, none other than the thief who was kneeling there in front of her. Noct, who had come back and was still alive, who had chosen to honor their truce, despite all that had happened. In those fleeting moments, Chell felt her vision righten several times better. The wooziness in her head seemed to fade away by the gradual seconds. It was almost as if the mere fact of the thief's presence made everything much clearer for her. She could not help but be in awe for a seconds because of his sudden entrance. Still, there was yet another factor that caused Chell to remain frozen in shock. Something more alarming.
He was holding her hand. Directly.
Chell blinked once again for a few more times, unable to move or utter a single word. It took a few seconds until she suddenly realized that the thief was yelling something. He tugged at her hand, attempting to pull her up to her feet. Noct's face was strained as he mouthed a sentence that she failed to discern. Her hearing was still off, and there was a ringing in the distance. So instead, she tried to understand what he was trying to say by reading his lips.
"We have to get away now!"
Her finger twitched. She realized Noct was still holding her hand in his grasp. She abruptly pulled away, using most of the energy she had started to recover. The thief shook his head and instead leaned down to place both his hands on her shoulders, shouting something again with a troubled look. She tried not to flinch by the sudden and unfamiliar contact as a recurring thought passed through her head. He's still alive. Still alive—
"—Hey! Are you trying to get yourself killed!?" Noct screamed at her, this time in the loudest tone he could muster. Chell jolted as his voice roared in her ears, washing away her nausea. "We need to get away, right now! The other witch hunters are coming anytime soon!" he warned.
At those last words, their situation finally dawned on Chell. She struggled to collect herself. Blinking thrice, she felt her eyes focusing their vision. After a moment of pause, she nodded slightly to the thief. Noct noticed this and held out something he was clutching in his right hand.
"The thing you told me to get. I have it!" he said.
Chell could have almost sighed in ease the moment she saw that he was tightly holding her familiar satchel in his grip. It was only in that moment when she felt the pulsing mana of her catalyst inside. The skull. It had been the reason why her conditioned had seemed to stable. It was simultaneously trying to sustain her mana and use its own to feed the necessary fuel it needed for the dead knight to stay anchored to the mortal realm. For a quick moment, Chell glanced at the continuing battle between the dead and the hunter happening a few meters away from them. The knight's form seemed to look more corporal than before, its movements turning sharper, less weak. Chell noticed Worick's expression change from triumph to struggle as he noticed the shift in the knight's energy. She turned back to look at the thief.
"... Th...ank—" Chell as about to say as she held out her hand to take the satchel.
"—Save the gratitude for later!" he said, interrupting her. "Right now, we really need to—!"
Thunk.
Noct faltered in his words and stopped his sentence short when without warning, an arrow suddenly dug itself into the sheet of ice mere inches away from his boot. Any more closer and it would have embedded through his feet. Face turning pale, the thief whirled around immediately, turning towards the direction from where the arrow had come from, high on top of one of the roofs that were thirty feet away from them. Chell followed his gaze, wincing in the setting sunlight. She made out the outline of a cloaked and hooded person standing on top of a slanted section of the roof. From the way his cloak covered his broad-shouldered build, he was undoubtedly a man. He was too far away for Chell to see any more specific details, except for one. Clutched between his gloved hands was a longbow, trained right in their direction. He reached behind his back and took another arrow from his quiver. Then, he steadied it towards them again, its arrowheadhead shining dangerously.
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The Wandering Witch VOL. 1 - The Prelude Arc (COMPLETED)
الخيال (فانتازيا)In the medieval continent of Terrall, the existence of witches and wizards are rare. Feared and persecuted by some while revered and glorified by others, most of them choose to live their lives safe in secrecy. But not all. Enter the Western kingdom...
