QUEEN SANDRA.

　　I weaved through the first attack, making use of my flexibility to dodge the first beast that came at me. They moved like shadows as I dodged them. I was surprised at their speed while they struck. If not as trained as I was, I would have succumbed to them.

　　I simultaneously dodged one which came at me from the left and another which struck downwards, before moving steps back, away from the reach of all of them.

　　They were already too much to handle, and adding their speed and agility made it even worse. I knew that I could not stay dodging them forever. I would be doomed if I stayed on the defensive for too long. It was time to get on the offensive.

　　I closed my eyes and focused on my magic, calling on the power inside of me to materialize my weapon.

　　“Scaldare” I whispered the spell.

　　As soon as I heard them attack I could feel it materialize in my hand. I opened my eyes to see one attacking me from the side. I quickly swiped my sword in its direction, from the wild scream I heard; I had managed to injure it.

　　I saw the one which attacked go backwards with a whimper and looked around, seeing the other beasts staying in place as I circled on my spot, a sword of flames I had created in my hand . I could see their wariness and felt hope rise in me.

　　Katherine was no doubt right. I hadn’t been to the forest before but I knew how dangerous it was. I was no doubt going to face difficulties along my path and this was it. But then again, I will do anything to successfully succeed in my plans.

　　And not to mention, that I was no ordinary mage. I was Queen Sandra, a powerful magic user. I will not let dark beasts overpower me.

　　I could sense when their determination came up again when they were ready and willing to take the strike once more. I could feel the anticipation in me as they prepared to strike. I was already making an inventory of all the combat spells I knew.

　　I took a deep breath.

　　And they struck once again.

　　The first beast I dodged, the second one I could feel behind me I quickly turned around and sliced, injuring it.

　　I managed to nick the third one which retreated right after. But I couldn’t see the attack of two of the other shadows until my magic senses warned me.

　　I turned around at the alarm bells ringing in my head to see not one but two beasts staring at me, with their claws ready to attack. Panic reached me as they were too close for comfort.

　　In order to escape, I darted to the left and managed to avoid one attack. The other attack I wasn’t so lucky for. Its claw managed to graze my leg, ripping the leather pants I had worn.

　　I looked down at the wound, seeing through the darkened; luckily it was just a faint scratch.

　　But it could have been worse I thought with dread. If I had made one misstep or not turned around in time, I would have already been nothing but mangled flesh.

　　That wouldn’t do. I thought to myself as I grasped my fire sword tightly. I had to be more careful.

　　One of the beasts which had tried to attack earlier rushed towards me. I quickly said the first spell I could think of. Suddenly it had stopped and looked at me fearfully as it was frozen under my spell.

　　I didn’t have any time to be smug as the next set of beasts came barreling from the side. I looked to see their growl as the multitude of red eyes doused in black shadows came towards me. I brandished my fiery blade and swiped towards them.

　　I dodged the next attack which came towards me and effectively gave a fatal stab to the one coming forward, making it whine as it turned to ash.

　　There was a brush of wing and alert, I quickly darted down as a claw came swiping to the side, aiming for my neck. Closing my eyes I whispered another spell, to call on the power of the earth. Despite the trees and animals being imbued in dark energy, the soil always remained the same, neutral and loyal to no one but its nature. This made it the perfect weapon.

　　To my plea, the boulders and rocks began to rise at command lifting them up. I threw a big boulder to the side, effectively slamming into three beasts whilst I dodged the one which kept coming forward to swipe at me.

　　“Foolish creature.” I thought to myself before I ducked under its attack and stabbed it in its lower region. The beast let out an unsightly screech before bursting into ashes.

　　I went to the next one which seemed smarter, it dodged my next attack before striking, slicing a line into my arm with its claws. I ignored my wounds and used the opportunity to give the final blow, making it turn to ashes. There was no time to spare as the moment I turned around there came another one ready to attack.

　　No matter how much I fought, more always seemed to keep coming. I looked around, lightly panting from the exhaustion I felt. Everything which surrounded me was shadows, all big, all dominating with their bloodthirsty red and yellow eyes glinting at me. I could see the glee as they growled. They were probably waiting for me to get exhausted until I cave and give up. But there was not a chance of doing that. I was powerful, and I still had a lot of fight left in me.

　　Bringing my flame sword up as I formed a stance, I grinned wickedly at the creature

　　“Bring it on.”

　　The essence of time seemed moot as I fought on and on. The beasts seemed endless as I killed them. Any one I killed emerged with two more, and their masses did not make it easy as it was difficult to dodge while they attacked all at once. It was tiring but I continued to kill them all in multitudes.

　　I was not left unscathed though as they took every chance to attack me. My cape was now severely torn and dirty, my entire body was also littered with cuts and bruises. My leg got injured and in the process it hurt to stand. My adrenaline was waning and I felt myself getting more and more exhausted as time went by.

　　But after the number of beasts I had fought, the beasts had decreased. No more were the multitude of shadows and they had stopped coming. Now the beasts were limited and every kill was more and more satisfying as they came less and less. Finally after my struggles, I could see an end to the darkness.

　　I swiped my blade to scorch one which tried to envelop me from above, and using my telekinetic powers to gather five more to join together, unable to move which I quickly finished off with my sword.

　　Sweat beaded my forehead which I had no time to remove when another one came to attack, I quickly finished off that one and sent a pile of rocks to hit the others.

　　Narrowly dodging the claws of one of the beasts, I suffered a wound on my elbow. I quickly eliminated that one with a spell.

　　Now as I looked around, there were only at most five shadows surrounding me. I jumped high as two of them came at once just so I could strike them both at one with my sword. One came at me when I landed which I stabbed, turning it into ashes in no time.

　　The other two I closed my eyes, drawing them together to be stuck unwillingly. They were screeching loudly as they fought to escape the enjoinment they were suffering whilst I stalked towards them slowly with my limp.

　　While I neared, I looked into their eyes, yellow and red respectively, and could see the fear in them when I lifted my sword up. There was no mercy here, so closing my eyes, I struck down.

　　The beasts’ screeches became louder before they turned into ashes, and all became silent.

　　I looked around moments after the beasts had turned to ashes and looked around, not sensing anymore attacks coming. The cast was clear and I couldn’t help but slump to the ground in relief and exhaustion

　　Finally, all of them were gone.

　　At my will, my flame sword disappeared and I put my hands on the ground. It was so tiring from using magic. After taking deep breaths I could feel the aches of the wounds I had sustained coming back. I couldn’t deal with that.

　　Closing my eyes I pronounced a healing and rejuvenation spell. Soon I could feel the cuts and wounds closing and the bruises becoming less and less painful. The ache on my right leg began to fade until I was fully healed.

　　Despite using the rejuvenation spells I could feel the magical exhaustion inside me. It was to be expected, of course. I had used magic to rejuvenate myself and so despite the physical exhaustion being gone, my magic was depleted.

　　‘But it was okay.’ I thought as I stood up fully, free from the previous exhaustion. My magic could recover along the way to the wizard’s house. I could only hope that no more monsters came my way on the way there.

　　Dusting my cloak lightly, my journey continued once again. I tried to move as fast as I could as I walked the directions which I had been instructed to. I did not want to face any more monsters along the way after all.

　　My heart lifted as from the distance I had begun to see the faint look of an old house. Based on the description I had given, I knew that that was definitely the wizard’s house.

　　My heart began to race as I ran faster. My breaths were heavy and I didn’t try to stop. I didn’t stop until I was at the clearing where the house stood.

　　I took steps to the house and the next thing I knew was the feeling of colliding with something hard, followed by the push of air as I flew backwards, before landing on the floor. I grunted as my back hit the ground, the impact slightly muffled by my coat.

　　I still felt disoriented as I looked up to the house, wondering what had just happened. I imbued my eyes with magic and looked at the surroundings. Then I could see the faint sheen of magic which surrounded the house like a sphere.

　　I inwardly laughed at myself. A magical barrier? Of course he had put that. Katherine had already warned me to be careful in nearing the house because of the security measures. And I had forgotten that along the way.

　　Soon I had begun to hear ominous sounds. Using magic to heighten my hearing I could recognize them as footsteps. I turned to Ted or to the house.

　　And those footsteps were coming from the house.

　　I wasted no time in standing up and dusting myself as quickly as I could, looking to the door in anticipation for who I was going to see.

　　The door opened with a long drawn out creak and my heart thumped as it opened, slowly revealing the identity of the person behind it.

　　As the wizard stepped out I visibly gasped in my shock.

　　Were my eyes deceiving me? I thought to myself.

　　But my eyes were not deceiving me. The wizard who had appeared from the house was none other than Simon, the same wizard who was casted out of the kingdom.

　　The one who was now standing before me, his lips curling into a smug smile.