The pain made Malrik almost lose his consciousness, but the weight of the crystal on his chest reminded him of the most important task. His howls of pain and rage mixed together as the Surneth dragged him away from the room.
Invidia led the way, and Malrik was pulled by his broken arms. He scread, loud enough to shake the walls, but the Sin of Envy seed to relish in the sound rather than get upset.
Every ti the two Surneth warriors pulled, Malrik almost fainted from the pain. His bones were bent weird, but that didn't stop the monsters underneath the mask from using them to drag him.
Malrik tried to walk on his own, but the monsters seed hellbent on pulling him. The more he scread, the wider Invidia smiled. The elf realized that they were doing this because he liked it.
Invidia reached another room, but this one had a tallic door with a wheel. He twisted the wheel and unlocked the heavy door, before walking inside. The two warriors flung Malrik inside.
The poor elf slamd into the window and crashed to the ground with his arms bent out of shape. He whimpered as the pain made his mind blur, threatening to sink into unconsciousness. But then, he opened his eyes.
"Diana…" Malrik muttered as he looked at the princess who was tied to the chair. She looked at him with surprise, and then once spotting his arms, with pity and worry.
"What is this?" she asked Invidia. "You said you wouldn't hurt them if I ca here."
"That doesn't apply when he's the one to infiltrate the ship," Invidia said with a grin as he waved a hand and the ghost creature, hovering next to Diana, turned toward Malrik.
The elf froze in fear as he rembered what this creature can do. One attack, and he would be dead, even if his body didn't have a single scratch.
"Believe ," Diana said through gnashed teeth. Spiritual energy mixed with mana bubbled underneath the surface. "You don't want to do this." Read full story at Nove1Fire
"Oh, that's scary," Invidia said with sarcasm, but he still pulled his creature away. It returned to his body and sank into his skin, turning into a shifting tattoo. "No need to lose it, Princess. I have no benefit in killing this elf."
Malrik adjusted himself and pushed himself against the tallic walls of the window. He looked at Invidia and the two Surneth warriors. They blocked the exit and kept an eye on him.
Diana looked unhard, which made Malrik relieved. The last thing he wanted was another Eclipse if Arthur saw that Diana was wounded.
It was the perfect ti to crush the crystal.
Malrik tried to move his arm, but all he got was another wave of pain that almost knocked him out. His muscles contracted, which shifted the broken bones further. It didn't help that they had broken them just below his biceps, either.
"Your husband has brought a terrifying ally, Princess," Invidia said while looking from the window. "But that doesn't worry . I have finished my preparations."
Malrik grew alard.
The Fallen Prince seed unfazed by the imminent defeat of his army. It ant that this was either a part of his plan, or he just had a hidden trump card that awaited its reveal.
Invidia turned toward him.
"You are one of my people," he said. "Elves aren't stupid enough to climb my ship without a plan. You must be here to find the Princess, and inform the creator of her location."
Malrik felt exposed, but tried his best not to show it. But then, Invidia waved his hand, and he felt a tingling sensation in his head. The elf was silent for a mont before grinning.
"A crystal? That's smart. These things don't require mana, and co in pairs that would correspond to each other," Invidia read Malrik's mind before he crouched down and pulled the necklace from his shirt. "This little thing summons the creator?"
Malrik tried to resist, but he could barely move his arms, let alone attack the elf. Invidia snapped the necklace out of the elf's neck and examined the necklace attached at the end.
"It would have been a disaster if the creator was summoned here," Invidia said with a grin. "I do need him to be here, but at the mont… it's still too soon."
Invidia placed the crystal in his front pocket. Malrik eyed it with despair. The elf caught his expression.
"Don't look so defeated," Invidia said. "You did accomplish sothing by coming here, didn't you? You managed to grant the rcy of death to one of your people."
"Fuck you," Malrik spat at the elf, and his blood-covered spit landed on his face. "You're a disgrace to Janea and a stain in its history. I wish I was alive when you kidnapped our princess. I would have been the first to kill you, damn vermin."
Invidia seed enraged as he wiped away the blood from his face, and he gestured toward the two warriors. They rushed forward as their weapons manifested.
Malrik prepared for death, but was instead blasted with a frozen wind. He slamd into the window as the wind froze around him, encasing him—except the head—with ice.
The weapons slamd into the ice around him, but were instead sent flying, disarming the two warriors. Malrik didn't understand what was happening, but then saw the Princess fly out from her chair and land in front of him.
At the sa ti, ice spears slamd into Invidia. All of them aid at the crystal and managed to break it inside his chest. The two Surneth warriors rushed forward, but flas erupted from Diana.
"It feels good to let loose for once," she said with a smile.
Malrik watched in awe as the flas devoured the two masked monsters and turned them to a crisp. Invidia howled and released his soul devourer, but Diana waved her hand and created a wall of ice separating them from the monster.
The ice shattered around the elf, and he collapsed to the ground. His arms were still broken, but they had nded themselves. Ice encased them, like a hospital cast, and allowed him to move them. There was no pain.
"We don't have ti," Diana said. "Although I caught him by surprise, Invidia is still stronger than . We need to wait for Arthur to arrive here."
"There is only exit behind him," Malrik said as he moved his arms to test them.
"There is a ladder on the far side of the room," Diana said as she raised her hands to fortify the ice. "Go and open the small trapdoor. I'll follow you."
Malrik nodded and rushed to the end of the room, which had a small ladder that he missed earlier. The trapdoor was covered in sigils, but it was left half-open.
The elf pushed the door open and climbed through. He looked around the room and realized that it was the sa lab where he killed Ranya earlier.
Diana followed after him, flying through the small door and slamd it shut. She looked around the lab, and froze when she saw Ranya on the table.
"Dammit," she said in a whisper. "What is this place?"
"So kind of lab," Malrik said. "It seems that Invidia ca through this trapdoor earlier before he found ."
"We need to run. That ghost can pass through solid walls," Diana said as she rushed to the lab's doors and pushed them open. "Snap out of it, Malrik!"
The elf nodded and rushed after her. He kept his mind off the corpse on the table and shot down the idea that she needed a proper burial.
It could be arranged after they defeated Invidia.
The ghost wailed behind them. Malrik turned to see it flying through the trapdoor and then giving chase. It passed through the walls with ease, and it was faster than them.
"Jump!" Diana shouted.
Malrik followed her to jump down a staircase. The forward montum of the ghost made it pass through instead of going down after them.
He sighed in relief.
But then, the ghost erged from the ceiling and landed in front of them.
Diana moved without pause to create a wall of ice and then send it flying with a kick. The ghost couldn't pass through the spiritual-energy-infused ice and was sent flying.
Their only way was a door on the floor, which Malrik rushed to open. Diana fired several icicles at the Soul Devourer before she followed Malrik into the room.
This was an engine's room, similar to the one that the elves conquered earlier. Inside, there were a dozen engineers looking at them with confusion.
Diana said nothing before raising her hand and freezing the entire room. The engine began breaking apart as the mana tunnels were frozen shut.
The ship began to tilt sideways.
"What are you doing?" Malrik asked as he caught a railing to protect himself.
"Anything to bring this ship down," Diana said before looking in a different direction. "Invidia is scheming sothing, and I can't just let Arthur land into a trap. Let's find what that sothing is."
Malrik gulped down as he watched the princess rush through the room. He realized that she was braver than any elven warrior he knew. In fact, she didn't try to hide until Arthur was here. She was already planning on taking the ship down.
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