SPELLBOUND

Evie had ended up spending the night in the tent that the men had set up for her while the vampires, except Elias took turns at carrying out guard duty in the area.

As soon as daylight came, the group continued on their journey. Somehow, they had fortunately not encountered any beasts which Zolan had mentioned that was quite rare.

"Now this is strange. The beasts tend to increase in number the closer we get to the heart of the land. Normally, by this time, we should've encountered at least one savage beast by now." Zolan mused to himself while they were taking a break. It was also to give the princess time to eat and tends to her needs. However, Samuel who was nearby overheard Zolan's comment too.

"You're right. It's too quiet, don't you think?" Samuel said as he approached Zolan. His normally serious face was currently frowning as he looked on towards the dark and vicious looking mountains that were ahead of them.

"It is indeed too quiet." Zolan nodded. "And I can't say if this strange occurrence is a good thing or not. We have only travelled once through this land previously with the prince. And that time, we had encountered quite a few beasts on our journey. However, that in itself is not a good enough gauge to understand how things work here in the forbidden land. There are just too many factors that could be influencing how things run here."

"Perhaps, this might be the calm before the storm?" Levy butted in. "It's just too good to be true, in my opinion. We're now quite close to the heart of the land, right? And yet, none of those savage beasts are even in sight? We did not even see a shadow of them. That is just really weird, and it's making me suspect that there is just something afoot." Samuel was truly cracking his mind on what was the reasoning behind this peculiar happening.

Zolan was rubbing his chin with his fingers as he thought hard. "Yes… if none of those beasts appear, we would be reaching the dragon's territory by tomorrow afternoon latest. That is truly a big reduction in the estimation of the timing we had calculated."

"Has the princess talked to you about her plans yet? And also the reason of her coming all the way out here?" Samuel asked again, curiosity was evident in his serious face.

"She had said that she will be talking to all of us tonight." Zolan informed Samuel.

"That's great then. I really want to know the real reason behind this journey. It seems as though it's really important and one of utmost priority."

"Well," Zolan shrugged, "isn't it pretty obvious? The princess has something to do with this land and definitely some connections to the dragons. She's here to find something… and I believe… to find out who she really is."

The men looked at Zolan with surprised gazes. Now that they thought about it, the intention was indeed obvious. She must have embarked on this journey to find the answers to her burning questions!

"Still, I want to know what had pushed her to come here. I have my theories, but it is still much better if the princess could tell us everything she is planning to do." Zolan concluded as they saw the princess and Elias now coming towards them.

"Thank you for waiting," she said. Then without waiting for anyone to respond, she approached Leon and nodded at him. "I'm ready."

The group then immediately went off again. Still, there were no beasts in sight until sunset came. The men were getting a little anxious. They had been on high alert the whole time during their journey but not spotting even a single beast made them somewhat worried. They were expecting to at least encounter one. Actually, they were more than certain that they had to at least fight off a couple of those vicious savage beasts by bow. Thus, not meeting a single one is really throwing them off. Were they really not going to encounter any beast at all?!

Just as they were about to reach their next planned camping spot for the night, Samuel suddenly halted and shouted out. "Protect the princess!!" he yelled and the men were instant in their reactions. All of them immediately circled Evie, forming a protective barrier around her.

The next moment, the earth shook slightly as a huge and ferocious beast appeared before them.

Leon had earlier on covered Evie's face with her hood, but she was able to judge by the quake alone that it was definitely something huge. Much, much bigger than those darkwolves.

A spine-chilling sound echoed and the next thing she knew, the fight had already started.

"F*ck! This savage beast is unlike all the ones we have encountered before, right Zolan?!" she heard Luc's voice shouting out from her left.

"That's right. This one is on a whole other level, so be careful!" Zolan shouted back a reply and the moments that followed later on sounded so intense and dangerous. Unlike yesterday, Leon had to grab her, and they had already changed locations quite a few times already.

Evie could tell that the vampires were having a hard time too, unlike their earlier fight against the darkwolves. She could not help but worry incessantly about the men's well-being.

The next moment that she and Leon landed on the ground again, Evie grabbed onto her hood to remove it. But Leon's reflexes that were faster had stopped her hand from doing so.

"I think… it's better if you don't look Princess…" Leon said. Though his voice was hesitant, his grip was firm on her wrist.

Evie creased her brows. For Leon to actually say that to her despite knowing that she does not fear a dragon now, made Evie feel uneasy. However, no matter what the reason was, she had to get used to it now. They might encounter more of them from here on as they get closer to their destination. Who knows, she might end up being able to help?

"No, don't worry about me. I might be able to do something." Evie said bravely as she gripped her weapon and pulled her hood back.