SPELLBOUND

"I am going to free you now. But only you alone, Zanya." Evie said as she took measured steps towards the Crystal where Zanya's body was being held within. "However, I must first ensure that you will listen only to me and abide with whatever decision that I make in future. I know this is an extreme condition, but I hope you can understand why I am doing this… I know I should trust you, but I need reassurance… I can't afford to make any decisions I will regret later on."

Evie was a little worried her bluntness was too much for Zanya to accept. But she was not in a situation where she could afford to waste any more time to sugar coat her words nor her actions. She did not have the luxury to dally on as well so she could only be as cautious as possible to avoid anything and everything that could possibly disrupt her plans. Especially because she was not ignorant about the fact that many had fallen and were destroyed because they had put their absolute trust in someone too easily.

"You are very wise in doing so, princess…" Zanya complimented her even as she was the one suspicion was being cast on, causing Evie to sigh in relief at the sight of the light fae's expression. "I am relieved to know that you are not someone who would give out her trust so easily. Trust is something that must be earned after all. Now I am more convinced that you will be just fine even without us going along with you as you venture out."

"I am glad you understand, Zanya."

Zanya smiled at her before turning her face towards the vampires. "Since I am already trapped, you must choose one of them for you to practice with. I will teach you how to trap one of them inside a crystal before you try releasing them again, out of the entrapment."

When Evie blinked at her with question in her eyes, Zanya smiled.

"You need reassurance, right, princess?" she asked, "I am going to teach you this so you can trap me in another crystal again if I ever do something that make you regret your choice in freeing me. You are royalty and your magical power is certainly stronger than mine is. So, be rest assured that I cannot break free of the entrapment on my own." Zanya patiently and lengthily explained the reasoning to her actions.

Surprised at the light fae's words, Evie stared intently at Zanya's face. All Evie was asking from Zanya was to keep her promise. But somehow, Zanya ended up offering more than necessary. Perhaps this was better. This knowledge would definitely be extremely helpful in combat as well if she could actually trap anyone inside a crystal, holding them immobile until she released them of her own volition.

"Alright," Evie agreed to Zanya's statement, and she looked over at her men. "I will need someone to practice with. I am going to trap one of you inside the crystal. Don't worry, I will free you immediately." Evie explained quickly, laying it all out without beating around the bush.

"I'll do it." Elias was the quickest to raise his hand as he stepped forward.

All the men looked at him with varying degrees of surprise and raised brows and the butler shrugged as he 'spoke' to the vampires via their telepathic communication. 'Well, I am the most useless during battles so I guess I should be the best choice for this. I trust the princess' decision, but this is just in case she ends up taking more than a while to free me or something. So, you guys have no need to be jealous of this!' Elias told them as a matter of fact. Then with a smile on his face, he turned and approached the princess before his fellow vampires could say a thing.

"I'm ready, princess." Elias said as he stood before Evie.

"Thank you, Elias. That was really quick." Evie nodded at him then she looked at Zanya.

"Please stretch your right hand and hold it just over his chest, princess," Zanya gave her instruction and Evie did as she said, "then close your eyes. All you need to do is envision everything within your mind. First, imagine your magic collecting and pooling out of your body as a cloud of light, before you gather those lights in your palm. You need to concentrate and don't get distracted. Make sure the picture you imagine is vivid in your mind's eye." Zanya's voice was soft, calm, and neutral, allowing Evie to listen to it without her emotions being affected.

As Zanya list out her instructions, Evie did her best to concentrate and carry out all the things that the light fae was instructing her as precise as possible. At first, she failed to collect all the lights that appeared around her body to concentrate over her palm but in her very next try, she managed to do it somehow.

"The next thing you should do is command the magic to trap the person using the fae's language. You must envision the whole process in your head very clearly, princess. You must picture that the dark crystal is slowly covering every inch of the person until he is fully swallowed and trapped." Zanya continued, looking pleased as Evie was already doing an amazing job at her very first try. Zanya was even more convinced that Evie is the long-awaited daughter of the light mentioned in the prophecy. Her eyes sparkled and sharpened as her gaze hung on every action of the princess trying to cast her very first magic entrapment.

When Evie opened her eyes, she saw that the dark crystal had only formed right over Elias' chest. "I knew it!" she groaned as she threw her head back, disappointed at not getting it right the first time. She had somehow known and felt that she had failed to carry it out perfectly as she was unable to envision the whole process smoothly in her head. She could not 'see' the dark crystal growing and creeping over Elias smoothly in her mind's eye. There were still gaps in the process where she could not get the image to 'flow' as how Zanya had instructed her to.

"It's alright princess, you have done extremely well for your first time. Please, try it again." Zanya encouraged Evie. Her voice shook a little, betraying her excitement in Evie's insane progress.

Evie's eyes gleamed with determination as she heard Zanya's excitement as she too, was affected by it. She then closed her eyes again. After letting out a deep and long breath, Evie then started releasing light from her body which engulfed her, before she then gathered it on her palm.

A word then came from her lips and on her fourth try, Elias was fully engulfed within the dark crystal.

The vampires were awed as Evie almost jumped with happiness. "I did it!" she exclaimed as she grinned widely, and her men could not help but whistle in amazement. They could only see a large dark crystal before Evie, with a blurry figure held within its depths which they knew it to be Elias.

"Incredible!" they all exclaimed in unison and looking very proud at their princess' achievement.