Serene’s POV

The arrow moved at a lightning pace but just before it could hit him, Kilamin conjured a golden-coloured shield to diffuse my arrow. My arrow disappeared as it hit his shield.

Not only that, he conjured his own arrow and instantly attacked me with it. I knew he would launch a counter-attack so I brought my shield up to avoid being hit by his arrow.

It hit my shield and dissipated. I was ready for him with my next attack. "Arrow of Paralysis" I sent a deep purple arrow his way and instantly flew upwards while he dodged my arrow and looked upwards to find me I hurled my second arrow at him "Arrow of Drowsiness and Sleep".

He wasn’t expecting me to launch my next arrow so quickly, he tried to dodge but his wing got hit by my arrow. Instantly he began to yawn and his eyes began to get heavy.

"Yessss," I shrieked. I couldn’t believe I was able to hit him. All the training with Artins Sensei was paying off. He quickly dived before sleep would consume him. He landed on the lake’s bank and washed his face with the lake’s water. I landed beside him. As the arrow had not hit him on his body the effect was not 100 percent but he was still staggering unable to keep his eyes open.

I steadied him so he wouldn’t fall into the lake and made him sit down on the lake’s bank. "Take it easy, it will take you a few minutes to come out of it." He folded his wings and sat down hardly able to keep his eyes open so he lay down on the ground and closed his eyes for a while.

I couldn’t believe I was actually able to hit him. He opened his eyes after a few minutes and sat back up.

"Feeling better," I asked in an amused voice.

"Yes, your magic is becoming stronger and your speed is increasing. That was a very fast attack, I couldn’t dodge it and defend myself in time." He finally spoke.

"Artins Sensei trained and guided me on this and I practised daily under him." My enthusiasm showed in my voice.

"We will practice daily, I want you to be able to shoot different arrows simultaneously. I was also thinking you should try to merge your arrows, to make them more effective. Have you ever tried them?" Kilamin asked curiously.

"No, but this is a brilliant idea. I will work on this. Should I try and see if it works?" I was excited about this new idea.

"Go ahead."

I raised my bow and aimed it toward the sky. "Arrow of paralysis and sleep"... a small purplish blue arrow formed and I hurled it into the air. It didn’t have the speed and range of my other arrows but at least I was able to merge two different concepts.

"Not bad, with practice, you will be able to master it." I nodded and practised some more and with more concentration, I was able to increase their range and size. After an hour I was exhausted and Kilamin asked me to take a break.

We ate lunch and after some rest, we resumed our training. Kilamin was tough but his approach and ideas were unique. By evening time I was extremely exhausted. So Kilamin called it a day.

We made our way back to the castle. He dropped me at my grandmother’s room before heading to his own.

The next few days we spent in training and he would exhaust me by the end of the day. I was successfully merging two attributes in a single arrow now. My range was increasing and my shield had expanded. Zian would join us occasionally in my training and I would use him as a target practice for my arrows. Poor guy. I also told him what Kilamin said about Zeph.

Finally, my holidays ended and it was time to leave for The Institute. The thought of seeing Zeph again brought a smile to my face but Kilamin’s words dampened my spirits.

On the morning of our departure, father and grandmother seemed down again. I hugged them both.

"I will be fine, don’t worry." I tried to cheer them up.

"Stay with Kilamin and always listen to him, Serene." My father instructed me again.

"I will," I promised him. We headed out then, and Zian decided to come with me to the portal.

"Serene, you are lucky to have Zeph. Remember, no matter what Kilamin says, love will make you stronger, not weaker. Don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise. So don’t break his heart or push him away. You will need his strength in the coming time, not physically but emotionally. I have seen how his eyes change and turn soft whenever he looks at you." Zian was whispering to me so Kilamin who was walking ahead with guards won’t overhear us.

"I don’t want to let him go, Zian. Even the mere thought brings me heartache." I confided in him.

"Then don’t, Kilamin can’t dictate your love life. Don’t give him that much influence over you." I nodded at his words.

He gave me one final hug as we reached the portal and said: "Stay safe, Serene."

"I will," I reassured him before taking my luggage from the guards. Kilamin took my hand in his and I took one final glance at my realm before stepping into the portal jelly.

Everything whirled for a while and then I found solid footing again. We stepped out of the portal and Kilamin let go of my hand. I instantly scanned the surroundings to find Zeph.

He was already there standing at a distance, talking to Ralph. Dressed all in black and supporting his sword. The moment was so nostalgic as it reminded me of the first time I had seen him.

"Zeph..." I called him out and he instantly glanced in the direction of my voice. A smile crawled on his face and stayed there once he locked eyes with me. Quickly making his way toward me, he engulfed me in his strong embrace. My heart felt at ease being in his arms once again. How could I let him go? I never wanted to.

"How are you?" He asked softly, his eyes sparkling. "Good, how are you? When did you arrive?" I asked.

"Just now," He said as Ralph joined us and hugged me too.

"How are you Serene? How is my pal Zian?" He chuckled.

"I am good and he is the same. Was sending you guys regards. He loved meeting you." I conveyed his message.

"Likewise," Ralph added.

"Sereneee," I turned around to find Ayrden heading towards me with her arms open.

"Heya! Ayrden" we hugged each other.

"How have you been? I heard what happened at the Meeting of heads. I have been so worried since then. Are you alright?" Ayrden asked me with concern.

"Yes, that was a bit scary. But I am fine and I have been training." I tried to reassure her that everything was under control now.

Shumal and Lavaria Sensei had arrived to receive us.

"Good day everyone and welcome back. We hope you people enjoyed your holidays and have returned with a new passion to resume your training and studies. Classes will commence tomorrow, so take your time to settle down and meet up with your friends. We have a little announcement to make. A new Sensei would be joining our ranks from today. So we hope you show him the same respect as you do us. I present to you Kilamin Marinine. He is from Fae Realm and will help you in channelling and controlling your magic." We clapped as Kilamin stepped forward and stood with Lavaria and Shumal Sensei who both shook hands with him.

"Thank you all," he said in a monotonous tone. I never knew he used his mother’s name instead of his father’s. He was always Kilamin for me.

"Did you know about this?" Zeph whispered to me.

"Yeah, my father informed me and it was Kilamin who suggested he would come here with me to keep watch."

"Right, there goes any privacy," Ralph muttered.

We began to make our way back to the institute and despite my protest, Zeph insisted on carrying my bag.

Mikasim and Tanzil came to say hello too and Tanzil seemed more at ease with me now. Arlo as usual was missing and I knew he would pop up out of nowhere. Some of our fellow novices were giving me strange looks and gossiping with each other.

"Seems like news of me being "Harbinger of Death"

has spread far and wide." I confessed while observing others around me.

"Ignore them, Serene. Don’t pay heed." Ralph said throwing them an angry look.

We reached the Institute and entered. Kilamin called me: "Serene, I am going to talk to Artins. Stay with your friends. Don’t try to be alone under any circumstances. I will be back soon." I nodded watching him leave.

Zeph and Ralph decided to put their luggage in their rooms as well and meet us in the Dining Hall. While Ayrden and I made our way to our room to settle down and gossip about everything that took place in the last three weeks.