Chapter 30 - Taken

The cloud of frost and magic cleared. Vaerina eyed Alina with a sly grin.
“Your power hasn’t fully awakened, it seems.”

“What do you mean?” Alina challenged.

Vaerina laughed. “So you were never told.” Her gaze slid toward Rovan. “You raised her, yet never told her?”

“We never knew if the Undine spirit would awaken,” Rovan countered. His voice was taut. “I never intended for that power to be used.”

“Undine spirit? Rovan, what are you talking about?!” Alina demanded.

“Hah, no matter. It is awakening, and we’ll use it.” Vaerina flicked her hand dismissively.

Rovan’s jaw tightened. He was clearly not pleased by the prospect.

“Not if I have anything to say about it,” Renji muttered. A yellow glow cloaked him, steadily intensifying.

“How did you obtain such power?” Rovan raised his staff at him. “You had no magic when we first met.”

“I never asked for this either.” Renji’s cold eyes locked on him.

He shot forward, swirls of essence converging around his free hand.

Rovan unleashed several ice lances, but Renji deftly sliced through them with his blade.

“Tch.” Rovan clicked his tongue, annoyed.

Renji thrust out his hand, flinging a glowing sphere of raw magic toward him. Rovan raised a shield to block, but Renji closed his fist. The sphere split into several smaller projectiles that curved around the barrier.

“What—?!” Rovan gasped, caught off guard.

Renji’s sword and the missiles struck at once. The shield shattered. Rovan coated his staff with ice just as Renji’s blade landed. The impact hurled him into a wall several metres away. He slumped, unconscious.

Vaerina’s eyes gleamed. “Physical enhancement magic… and able to materialise essence? You are full of mysteries, otherworlder.”

A dozen ice lances shot toward her.
“I’m still here!” Alina shouted.

Green vines erupted from the Verdant Sceptre, intercepting every lance.

“Futile, girl.” Vaerina launched her own attack—dozens of wooden spears.

Renji blurred back to intercept. The projectiles slammed into a golden shield of essence, exploding into splinters.

The dark elf’s eyes narrowed, fixing on him. “A most troublesome interloper.” She raised the sceptre. “I’ll need to deal with you first.”

The Verdant Sceptre glowed as a hulking figure rose from the ground—an earthen golem, five metres tall, its frame laced with vines.

“An Earth Golem?” Alina gasped. “That’s lost magic!”

“As expected of a first-rate researcher,” Vaerina mocked.

The golem raised its arms. Cavities opened where its hands should have been. Earthen missiles launched from the openings in a storm.

Renji’s golden aura blazed brighter. With impossible speed, he cut down each missile, blade flashing too fast for the eye to follow.

The clash drew the attention of adventurers rushing onto the scene.

“It’s the Ice Princess!” one called.
“The Golden Flash is here too!” another shouted. “They’re fighting a dark elf mage!”

“Busy bodies,” Vaerina muttered. With a sweep of her arm, a wall of earth and wood rose, blocking their path. “I can’t have them interfering.”

She turned her mocking smile on Alina. “Ice Princess? How fitting.”

Behind her, Rovan stirred, groaning as he dragged himself upright with his staff.

“You awake already, Rovan?” Vaerina asked rhetorically. “Good. Let’s finish this.”

The golem’s arms twisted, reshaping into tentacle-like vines tipped with spears. Two shot forward—one for Alina, one for Renji.

Alina blasted hers with a torrent of frost, freezing it solid.

Renji deflected his with his bracer, knocking it wide.

The golem detached its frozen vine and grew another, thrusting both toward Renji. This time they curved around to flank him. Midway, each split into four—eight in total.

He conjured a barrier, but the vines smashed through, slowed only slightly.

This is bad. Alina’s behind me—I can’t dodge.

Renji fought with desperate speed, deflecting and parrying six of them. The last two struck—one piercing his chest on the right, the other his left shoulder.

This is bad. She needs to run. We can’t win.

“Renji!” Alina’s scream rang out.

A massive wave of blue essence burst from her, blasting the golem backward, severing its vines. The adventurers’ barrier crumbled under the shockwave.

From behind the shattered barricade, adventurers stared in awe.

“What power…” one muttered. “We shouldn’t get in the middle of that.”

“Did you see that? He took the hit so she wouldn’t!” one whispered.

“That’s why they call him the Golden Flash—such speed.”

Others muttered in disbelief, some already speaking of the Ice Princess and her terrifying surge of power.

Alina sprinted to Renji, who lay on the ground, blood on his lips, breathing ragged. His eyes were open but clouded with pain.

“Sorry, Alina… run,” he rasped.

Tears welled as she searched her satchel. “I don’t have any potions… damn it!”

“Never take your eyes off your enemy, Princess.” Vaerina’s voice cut in, cold and mocking. The golem lurched upright again, one arm reforming into another spear-vine.

It shot toward Renji.

Alina’s body glowed blue. Shields of ice bloomed before the strike, halting it. Ice spread from the shields, crawling up the golem’s arms, then bursting outward across the ground. Its feet froze solid.

“What did he ever do to you?!” Alina roared.

Blue lines etched across her face, a rune blazing on her forehead. Her eyes glowed, her golden hair fading into icy blue.

“It’s our fault he’s here. Now you want to kill him?” Her voice echoed, furious.

I couldn’t help him, couldn’t protect him. He doesn’t deserve any of this!

Heat bloomed from inside her chest, surging through her body.

Frost whirled around her, lifting her into the air. Wings of ice unfurled from her back. She arched backward and screamed, the blue runes blazing on her face and forehead.

I feel strange, like my chest is about to explode.

Her staff shattered, its gem bursting into shards—unable to withstand the torrent of power surging through her.

A lance of ice formed in her hand, frost climbing up to her wrist.

Alina stared as her hands. “What is this power?” she muttered.

“Yes, Ice Princess. Draw it out,” Vaerina goaded.

Alina locked eyes with Vaerina and surged forward. From her free hand, torrents of frost encased the golem in crystal-like ice. She flew, lance leading, and smashed through it in a thunderous explosion of ice and stone.

Rikka and Gromul arrived just in time to witness the blast.

“Alina…” Rikka breathed.

Her eyes caught Renji’s collapsed form. “Shit—Renji!” She rushed over, pulling a potion from her vest.

Rovan moved to intercept, loosing ice lances. Gromul met him head-on, his axe batting them aside with ease.

“Out of the way, dwarf!” Rovan snapped, hurling another. It too was deflected.

Meanwhile, Vaerina raised the Verdant Sceptre. Green vines erupted, lashing around Alina’s limbs, suspending her in mid-air.

She screamed as the tendrils pulsed, draining her essence. She strained, unleashing more power, breaking several restraints—but more vines surged forth, replacing them.

“It’s useless, Princess. You’re only feeding the Orb,” Vaerina sneered.

Vaerina’s smile sharpened, voice dripping with mock sympathy. “Oh, how noble. Throwing yourself on the spear for her. And she repays you with tears.”

The blue aura faded. The runes dimmed. Her hair lost its icy hue. Head slumping forward, Alina drifted into darkness.

“Rovan, we have what we came for.” A glowing magic circle appeared beneath them.

“No, you don’t!” Gromul charged with a battle cry, axe raised.

But in a flash of light, Vaerina and Rovan vanished—taking Alina with them.

“Cowards!” Gromul cursed, slamming his axe into the ground.

The adventurers, who only moments ago had cheered their names, fell into stunned silence.

“They… they took the Ice Princess?”

“And the Golden Flash lays bleeding on the stones…”

Rikka knelt by Renji, raising the potion to his lips. He swallowed weakly, coughing blood.

His voice was hoarse. “Alina…?”

Rikka’s face twisted with guilt. She shook her head.