The Island of Wonder

The joined forces of the Narakai and Nicole's team slowly searched through the village. There were no more Pigs around, though they could still hear the constant noise of the main battle going on. From time to time, the Wolf soldiers stepped into the huts, hoping to find something interesting or valuable to take. Most of the time they found nothing, but some were lucky enough to at least get a snack in the form of dried meat.

"Uh, guys… You may want to check this out!" one of the soldiers said, coming back from his scouting.

He led everyone through the narrow passages between the huts to shorten the route. A few times, Nicole could have sworn she saw something in the shadows, but every time she glanced, there was nothing. After a while, everyone stood in front of a big, long wooden building. The door stood open, inviting them into the darkness inside. Holding torches high, they stepped in and were immediately hit by stale air and a strange, disgusting smell.

Ugh, what's that?!

On the right side of the corridor, there were wooden stalls, as if for horses. But when Nicole stepped closer, in the dancing torchlight, there was a dead, rotting body tied to the wall. Nicole's heart rate skyrocketed—not from the sight itself, but from the fear that she might find Annie like this soon. Swallowing hard, she followed the group further in.

As they moved forward, the smell of death and rot only grew stronger. When they reached the middle of the hall, there was another large open doorway. The main source of the smell was coming from there.

With a small nod, Jerar led them in, leaving one of his soldiers behind to watch the entrance. When the light filled the room, everyone saw a huge pile of bodies in various stages of decomposition. Most had missing limbs or heads, or were covered in blood.

"I was already feeling bad when we got here. Now I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to get this sight out of my memory." Soi's voice echoed off the walls.

Nicole's eyes quickly scanned the mass, looking for Annie and hoping not to find her among the other corpses.

"Aaah!" Iloe jumped back from the pile with a shout. "Some are still alive!"

Indeed, when Nicole looked closer, she could see a few of the bodies still moving, struggling to breathe.

"Sh-should we save them?" she asked, looking around.

Jerar's sword pierced one of the bodies. "This is the only thing we can do for them."

With a heavy heart, Nicole moved away from the pile, not wanting to witness the slaughter, even if she knew it was mercy. Then she heard the weak sound of a chain clanking somewhere deeper inside. She almost rushed toward it, but at the last second remembered the potential danger. Her hand felt on fire from her wounds as she gripped her spear and held the torch high.

As she approached, she saw a person lying on the ground against the back wall. Involuntarily, her steps quickened.

It was a young woman with pale skin and very long, messy black hair. She was filthy and incredibly thin, clearly from starvation—to the point that Nicole could see bones pushing through her skin, especially her ribs. The girl lay on her back, her head slightly turned toward the pile. Her thin fingers were wrapped around an iron chain attached to a collar around her neck. She was weakly shaking the chain, making the sound that had drawn Nicole in.

It was her. Nicole's mind went blank as she sank to the ground beside her friend. She could barely tell it was Annie, but the violet eyes couldn't belong to anyone else. She wanted to say something, but her throat went dry, and no coherent words would come out. Footsteps approached behind her and stopped.

"I-is that her? Annie?" Nicole heard Iloe's voice.

"Great. Let's get out of here now," Soi said, still warily looking around.

The presence of her friends calmed Nicole down, at least enough to remind her where she was. The torch slipped from her hand and fell to the floor as she grabbed the chain above Annie's grip. Absorbing the metal through her wounds was painful enough to bring tears to her eyes. Gritting her teeth, it was soon over, and the chain no longer connected to the wall. She carefully lifted Annie's body, which felt almost weightless despite Nicole's exhaustion. They went back to the Narakai and showed them Annie.

Jerar nodded. "We should check the rest of this place and then head back."

Everyone turned toward the exit, but stopped immediately. A tall figure blocked the entrance, hidden in the darkness and lit only by the torch burning on the ground. Beside it lay the body of the guard.

"All, back off!" Jerar barked an order, taking a tense fighting stance.

What now?!

A hand reached out and picked up the torch, allowing everyone to see the newcomer. The emerald eyes of a mature woman scanned the room, locking onto Nicole and Annie. The woman's previously sealed lips stretched into a wide smile, revealing rows of small, sharp teeth with two large fangs on top. From the waist down, her body was a long, black-and-green scaled snake, coiled beneath her. The Lamia wore a mismatched set of leather and metal armor.

Feeling the intense gaze on her, Nicole's heart nearly stopped, and her muscles froze in fear.

This is it? A Lamia? What is she doing here? Did she hear the fighting and come to kidnap whoever she finds unprotected?

Everyone in the room was unsure what to do, waiting for Jerar's decision while keeping their eyes on the Lamia.

"Doggies found my treasure room, hm?" the Lamia spoke unexpectedly. "The dirty Pigs are dead, and there's not much left here worth fighting for. We can make a deal." Her long, pale, forked tongue flicked over her lips. "Leave the human girls here, and you can go." She pointed at Nicole.

She said human? She knows about humans?

Jerar responded immediately. "She is my ally, and I won't leave anyone behind."

"Oh well…" the Lamia sighed.

There was a moment of complete silence. Then—

"AAAHHH!" one of the soldiers screamed in panic. "Get them off me!" He slapped at his legs and ran around as countless snakes crawled over him.

Soon, all the Narakai were distracted by the creatures that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Only Jerar, subgeneral Cira, Nicole, Iloe, and Soi remained unaffected, standing the farthest from the woman.

"Soldiers of the third division, stop panicking!" Jerar shouted, but his voice went unheard.

"Did they go insane?!" Iloe asked. "They just started running around and screaming nonsense!"

Soi frowned. "This is what I heard about Lamias—one of their ascensions lets them create hallucinations in anyone close enough. It seems if we were just a bit closer to the exit, we would've fallen under the spell too."

"And wha—" Nicole didn't get to finish as the Lamia moved forward, forcing everyone to retreat and keep their distance. "What now? How are we supposed to fight her?"

Soi fired an arrow at the woman, but one of the affected soldiers jumped in the way and caught it in his chest. He fell instantly. The Lamia chuckled.

"Too late. You had a chance to leave alive, but your Narakai friend ruined it with his resistance."

As they continued backing away, they soon found themselves with their backs against the wall.

Tsk. My spear is broken, and I have to carry Annie anyway. If she gets close enough, we lose. Think, think!

Cira took a deep breath and gripped her sword with both hands. "Maybe she needs time to affect us? Or if I keep looking at her and ignore everything, I could get clo—"

Jerar grabbed her by the collar and pulled her back.

"I'm not losing another soldier today!"

He gripped his own sword by the blade, turning the hilt into a makeshift hammer, and handed it to Cira. "Break the wall—the wood should be weakened by the moisture." Then he turned and drank whatever was left in his bottle.

A loud howl followed, and a cone of fire engulfed everything Nicole could see—except for a small safe area directly behind him. While the flames raged, Cira, Soi, and Iloe attacked the wall, though Iloe's claws barely scratched the surface. Nicole wanted to help, but her hands couldn't release Annie.

Finally, they succeeded. A small hole quickly widened enough for a person to squeeze through. By then, Jerar's flames were fading. Cira grabbed his shoulder and pushed through after the others.

Outside, they immediately began running, Nicole and Jerar barely able to move their legs. Behind them, the building burned like a massive bonfire. The stench of rot and corpses filled the air, but they ignored it, focused only on escape in case the Lamia pursued them.

At first, they ran without direction, but then Soi—fastest among them—took the lead, using her hunter's instincts to guide them back toward the main battlefield. Even if the Bees were still fighting, it would be safer than being alone.

When they arrived, the battle was over. The Bees were sitting in groups, tending to their wounds.

"Quick, we should run!" Iloe urged.

Jerar approached the Bee leader. "There's a Lamia in the village. We escaped, but we don't know if she's following us." He was panting, but tried to remain composed.

With urgency, the survivors packed up and mounted the wagons, now far less crowded than before. Nicole, Iloe, and Soi climbed into their carriage, and Nicole gently laid Annie on the makeshift bed made of soft animal pelts that she bought back in the city and used as pillows for sitting or sleeping on during the travel. Soi took her place outside with the Velkrath carrying them. Nicole sat beside Annie, trying to process everything, but exhaustion soon overcame her, and she fell asleep.

Back in the Zanokai village, the Lamia sighed as she watched the fire spread. "Good job this time, human. My bait plan worked perfectly, it's almost a pity you escaped so easily. I suppose it'll take a while before you leave the Voru'kai city again, hm?" She licked her lips. "The corpses will provide plenty of food, so I can wait." She giggled softly.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!