The night was slowly approaching, clouds were beginning to gather in the sky.
Sophia was sitting on her bed trying to lull her baby boy into sleep.
It was at the festival when August started to cry uncontrollably. From then he just cried and cried, not calming for even a second.
Sophia watched him wondering if something was troubling her child. A mother's heart could never rest when it comes to her child after all.
She wondered if a child crying like that was even normal or if her baby boy was in some kind of pain.
Even thinking about it made Sophia uneasy. She wanted nothing more than to ease his pain as soon as possible.
Normally she would've confronted his father by now but today he was out battling the creatures and protecting the town.
Once again.
His misery never ends.
People always looked up at her husband for leadership, for responsibilities —he was the beacon of hope for many of them after all.
It was all good but only increased Sophia's worries.
"Huh? It's already nighttime!"
Sophia opened her eyes realising while lulling her child she had also fallen into a daze.
It was already night outside, rain was pouring down and flashes of lightning were to be seen.
Fog had covered the glassy window completely.
She stood up stretching her arms. Suddenly the cacophony of battle outside entered her ears.
Wiping the fog off by her hand, she looked outside only to see the flames engulfing the darkness at a distance.
She knew her husband had everything in control.
But then she heard a loud screech from the western gate.
Their home was closer to the west gate so naturally she heard the creature more loudly.
Slowly, a suspicion began to rise in her heart. What if someone was in need of her help? She can't possibly stay away from the battlefield every time.
In truth, Sophia was tired of fighting. She was forced to partake in war by none other than her family. Their profits were directly tied to the war and being one of the genius mages of her nation, she had to fight for her family's valor.
With time, she grew tired of killing, and wanted nothing but liberation from that life.
"Ahh—" Sophia grabbed her forehead. The loud voice of the creature once again pierced her ears.
She leaned down and gently kissed her son on the forehead, "Mom will return in an instant, okay baby?"
It was only a miracle that August was still sleeping soundly. And that loud noise of the creature was pissing her off.
She tied her hair in a ponytail just like the old times and marched into the battlefield in order to eliminate this loud creature quickly.
When she saw Elara screaming in pain, Sophia felt disheartened and grateful that she was able to arrive in time.
Sophia gazed at the arachnid, cold light flashed in her eyes. Ice slowly left the frozen sea of her consciousness and appeared within reality.
She conjured a sharp spike of ice to make the arachnid back down.
"Now, let's deal with the insects first."
On her command ground beneath began to freeze as a sharp spike of ice protruded from the ground beneath.
Within a particular area, water drops slowed down midway and froze almost immediately taking the shapes of sharp blades.
The ice pierced the creatures that were trying to raid the town through the streets. Now only purple blood and fallen corpses lay in their wake.
Some bodies lay high above —pierced like the trophies of war.
The arachnid on the other hand saw them as his failure. He was wrong …very wrong to underestimate the humans after all.
Many soldiers of the arachnids army tried to flee but were pierced the very next moment.
Some corpses lay impaled, some shattered across the streets—nothing left but leaking shells of purple blood that flowed like rivers.
Sophia approached Elara, "are you okay?"
Her purple thigh wound was fuming with the poison-like acid.
Sophia gently put a hand on her wound.
Slowly Elara felt a cooling sensation trying to calm her agony. This was the extent of what Sophia could do at the moment.
Elara bathed in her own sweat and took a breath of relief after so many ragged ones, "I …am alright now my lady." She said, her voice barely audible,
"I am ashamed …I couldn't stop this monster."
"No need," Sophia replied, her tone authoritative,
"You've done your part quite well Elara. I am proud of you."
Giving Elara a cheerful smile she turned to the arachnid,
"You take a rest. I will take care of it."
Sophia stood up, a long, spear of ice slowly taking form in her hand.
"You harmed my subordinate, you tried to disturb my child's sleep. The sin you've committed is unforgivable. You will atone only by your death."
Before her arachnid also seemed to have gotten more wary.
He knew at a glance—she wasn't an opponent he could survive.
And the woman standing before him, looked like a threat to his life. He wanted to flee but feared might get struck down the very moment he'd try to escape.
The only way he could increase the chances of survival was to keep this person within his sight.
The arachnid blinked and at the next moment, the human vanished. She immediately appeared closer to him. Her sharp spear aiming to take his life.
Nearly escaping death once again, against his body's resistance, he shot a limb towards his opponent and as expected she also dodged his attack.
Her attacks were too precise and quick, he was nowhere near her level. So he carefully dodged the blows and backed down simultaneously.
His heart was beating uncontrollably, the human before reminded him of his long forgotten fear. After a very long time he felt like a prey once again.
The membrane was already repairing itself but arachnid was successful in getting out of it in time.
But the human didn't stay behind, she chased him down to the rocky cliff which he had spent hours climbing.
The threat was nearing, he was standing on a dead end.
Then he decided to fight for his life. He aimed his mandibles at the human trying to poison her with his acid but she was way too quick.
Her ice spear struck one of his mandibles with enormous force, breaking the teeth in half.
Purple blood seeped out of the wound as the arachnid wreathed in pain. His body was shaking and the shell was already full of cracks.
Therefore he thought of calling his soldiers to help. They couldn't possibly resist his command after all.
He opened his gigantic maw in order to let out a loud screech but before his voice could reach his mouth his throat was already pierced by the sharp spear that the human had thrown at him.
Sophia glared at him with murderous intent,
"I told you to keep your mouth shut, haven't I?"
With that she stretched out her arm, another spear already taking form in her hand.
"Don't disturb my baby's sleep."
The spear shot forward, piercing the arachnid's delicate skin beneath his hard chitinous shell.
The impact threw him off balance and he fell down from the high cliff.
Taking some steps forward, Sophia looked down at the corpse of the creature tyrant. His eyes were open wide apart purple blood gushed out of his wounds.
The cold wind swayed across, leaving behind nothing but silence.
The arachnid was lifeless.
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