Serene’s POV

I couldn’t wait any longer and rushed to Zeph’s side. The two people Standing with him gave me an astonished look but stepped aside to give me space.

I placed my hand on his head as my lips quivered, and overwhelming emotions enveloped me. Why was he still unconscious? His neck was bandaged just like mine and I couldn’t help but touch the bandages and whispered his name: ’Zeph.’

"You must be Serene, I am Hamania; a witch and a healer. We have been monitoring him but so far our healing hasn’t brought him out of his unconscious state." The woman introduced herself but her words were not encouraging. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"I am, it’s nice to meet you. No healing process has worked so far on people Meliana has placed under her mind’s control. They either gradually wake up themselves or they need to fight her mind control. But I am not going to wait that long. Once I regain my energy, I will be healing him." My words took her by surprise and I could see the astonishment in her eyes.

"And how will you achieve such a feat, if I may ask?" Her words were somber as she exchanged a look with the man standing with her.

"The Heal..."I was interrupted before I could finish my words Kilamin interrupted me.

"Princess Serene, let’s discuss that later." He addressed me formally in front of them and then averting his gaze to them he continued: "Kindly, give her some privacy." The woman smiled at his words and said: "Of course," and both of them moved back and made their way to other beds, whispering among themselves.

Kilamin walked toward me as I clasped Zeph’s hand in mine and gently squeezed.

"Serene, don’t ever discuss your Healing Arrow with others, nor use it in front of anyone. It’s not safe." He whispered to me and I realized he was right. The emotional state I was in was messing with my thinking abilities. I was glad Kilamin was here.

I focused on him seeing his tranquil face who seemed to be in peaceful slumber. It was my arrow that had hurt him and he got caught, this hurt me deeply as I pressed his hand to my cheek.

"Wake up, Zeph," I whispered to him, hoping he could hear me.

I sat with him for a long time before Artins Sensei arrived to assess the situation and talk to me.

"How are you holding up?" He asked sitting down with me near Zeph.

"I wish he would wake up," there was nothing I wanted more than for him to gain consciousness.

"He will, you know Arlo and Ayrden woke up on their own. So have patience, wait for a few days and there is a very high possibility he will. Otherwise, you can always heal him." He reassured me.

"Thank you, Sensei."

"You saved a lot of lives Serene, I am grateful. Your shield is becoming useful with every passing day. I want you to fully focus on it, that is going to be our greatest weapon to defeat her. I want you to focus all your practice on it." Artins Sensei was putting a lot of faith in me and I knew I had to rise to his standards.

"I will train even harder and next time we will face her, that will be the last day she will breathe." I felt determination surge inside me. I knew the sooner we will defeat her, the better we will rid of her evil.

"That’s the spirit, it’s time we will go after her. We are planning a full-blown attack on Wampir Realm, we can’t afford any more losses. Her attacks on different realms are wreaking havoc and we are losing innocent people daily. It has been the resilience of our forces that has kept her at bay for now. But if this continued for long, she will soon be able to capture another realm." Artins Sensei’s concerns were genuine and I could feel how worried he was.

"We won’t let her succeed," I added to his words with determination.

"Yes, but we will be laying the ones we lost today to rest. Eruis; the senior who lost his life, his body will be sent back to Lyacnus Realm but Salillah, we will bury her here. We can’t send her back because of the situation. Two slayers lost their lives as well while battling the creatures, they will be sent to their respective realms." His always constant voice seemed sad today.

"I understand, Sensei."

Over the next few days, we buried Salillah with the customs of her realm. Her body was wrapped in a red cloth before being buried. Ayrden, Tanzil, Frela, and I stood side by side carrying red roses which we placed on her grave once they closed it with moist soil and flowers.

Streams of tears flowed from our eyes freely, Ralph and Mikasim had their eyes swollen as well. This was the first of our comrades whom we lost and the toll it was taking on us was unbearable.

It was hard to think about her family and the loss they must be going through and yet be unable to do anything about it.

My mind went to Arlo and I knew he must be dying of guilt for what he had done to me. He had never even touched me against my wishes and she made him assault me and drink my blood, the worst thing was she made Zeph watch. I knew she broke Zeph’s heart.

Zeph was still unconscious and I had been visiting him every day. It had been four days after the attack and his birthday. We had just buried Salillah and now we were sitting around Zeph’s bed, talking in hushed voices, remembering her.

"Remember, what a vital role she played while defeating that Schlangto, she was fearless and her powers very so unique. I can’t believe she is gone." Ralph reminisced with a sigh. Salillah was on Ralph’s team and this had affected him beyond words. The fact that Zeph was still unconscious was also burdening him with grief.

"I do, she did exceptionally well in the All Realm competition," I added staring at Zeph, hoping he would just wake up. How I longed to be in his arms to be comforted. This was a grief we had to share among ourselves.

"I wish he would wake up," Ralph whispered with slight tears in his eyes as he placed his hand on Zeph’s head. There was anguish on his face, I had never seen him so turmoiled.

"I wish the same Ralph, I miss him. We are losing too many people." I closed my eyes to reel in my emotions.

Ayrden had placed her head on my shoulder and her tears seeped into my dress. I patted her head, reassuring her I was there. We sat there for a long time. Ralph and Ayrden went back to their rooms around midnight while I stayed with Zeph, holding his hand. He had been shifted to the infirmary.

I didn’t know when I fell asleep with my head resting near his arm. His voice woke me up and I thought I was dreaming.

"Serene..." he called me softly and I jerked at his voice, fully awake now.

"Zeph, ohhhhh Zeph." Seeing his charcoal eyes open and staring at me, I lunged toward him and wrapped my arms around him, not believing he was conscious.

"Mariela Sensei," I called out aloud. She was on night duty and she hurried toward his bed from the adjoining potion room. Zeph offered me a small smile and my heart melted seeing him awake.

"Zeph, how are you feeling? Can you talk?" Mariela Sensei inquired as soon as she reached his bed and he nodded and said:

"Yes, Sensei I can but with difficulty. My mind seems a bit blank and hazy." He replied in a small voice.

"It’s alright, side effects of her mind control. Ayrden felt the same way. It will take you one or two days to be back to normal. Rest for now, and gain your strength. I will give you some healing potions and they will help you on the path of recovery." She smiled at him before heading back to bring him something to drink.

"Zeph..." he shifted his gaze on me at my words and smiled, his beautiful smile. I hugged him closer but refrained from crying or giving him any negative news. I wanted him to fully heal before we could dump anything on him.

Zeph made a full recovery in a few days and was discharged. We gave him all the details gradually and he paid his respect to Salillah. Strangely he didn’t talk about the incident with Arlo and Meliana and I didn’t bring it up either. Thinking it might be too painful for him.

To celebrate Zeph’s return to us Shumal and Lavaria Sensei gathered us on the grounds outside. They said they had some good news for us. We were excited about any positive news.

We sat on the ground when both of them emerged from the main door, hand in hand and came to a halt in front of us before Shumal Sensei spoke with a wide grin on her face:

"Girls and guys. Lavaria and I have decided to get married and we want you people to make all the arrangements."