"I will not give you the boar seal, Nightgloom Puppet," the boar seal waved his hands and the dark crimson vines swiftly wrapped around the hands of Asuren and slammed him hard on the ground. "You will only use it to destroy the Fairy Realm."
Asuren coughed out blood and almost fell unconscious. As soon as his rage disappeared, he had greatly weakened. He could not sense poison in his body but his strength had been depleted. He could not keep his eyes open for a long time and his senses was starting to fail. He tried to get angry but his head only felt heavier.
"Die, Nightgloom Puppet," the boar seal manifested a dark crimson blade and stabbed him deep in the chest.
"NO!!!" Thea was horrified. She was trying to free herself from the vines binding her. They stopped draining her strength as soon as the tall blonde fairy collapsed on the ground with a profusely bleeding neck wound. She began to recover some of her strength, but it was not enough to make the vines move even by just a few inches.
"You…" the boar seal pierced his blade deeper into the chest of Asuren but it did not move any further. A powerful force was protecting his heart from receiving a fatal injury. "No… This can't be…" his eyes widened with shock and confusion.
Asuren blinked and his eyes changed from dark green to golden brown.
"No…" The boar seal pulled his blade from the chest of Asuren and took a few steps backwards.
"These fairies are not your enemies," Asuren was speaking as if he was still possessed, not by the Evil Witch but by someone more powerful.
"You are working for the Evil Witch?" the boar seal looked even more furious. "I thought you would rather choose death than be her slave."
"I am not her slave," Asuren calmly answered. "I am only keeping my end of the bargain."
"I don't believe you anymore," the boar seal tightened the grip on his crimson blade.
"You cannot kill me," Asuren dodged the attack with ease. "But that guard of yours will bleed to death."
The boar seal stopped attacking. His hand trembled at the hilt of his weapon. "That fairy can no longer save our world," he turned to the unconscious tall blonde fairy and carried him in his arms. "Give up," he advised before vanishing into the shadows.
The vines binding Thea, Riz, and Ayhan had disappeared. Riz and Ayhan dropped on the ground still unconscious. Thea was a bit drained but she managed to spread her wings and check on Asuren who also collapsed on the ground. His chest wound had stopped bleeding and his eyes returned to green before he fainted.
"Thea!" Gia appeared from the shadows. Henry and Juliann were right behind her.
"Where is the boar seal?" Juliann asked as he checked on Ayhan while Gia examined Riz.
"He left with the tall blonde fairy," Thea curiously gazed at Asuren while Henry tended his wounds.
"The boar seal came?" Riz woke up after Gia poured rejuvenating potion in her mouth. Juliann did the same to Ayhan.
"The boar seal saved his disciple," Thea was also curious about the boar seal.
"The boar seal just left?" Riz was confused. "With his strength, he could take us all down."
"His disciple will bleed to death if he chose to fight Asuren," Thea glanced at Henry and told him, "Asuren's eyes changed color. It was not dark purple but radiant gold. The boar seal seemed to know who it was. I'm sure it was not the Evil Witch because they were talking about Asuren saving the entire Fairy Realm."
"I've seen it once," Juliann creased his forehead as he tried to remember the details. "He was fatally wounded. When his eyes turned gold, he was surrounded by a golden light and his wound started to heal. It saved him."
"The boar seal stabbed Asuren in the chest," Thea said. "Then his eyes changed to gold. Was he really protecting Asuren? I also heard him say that he is only keeping his end of the bargain. Did Asuren know? Did he make a deal with whoever was inside of him?"
"I don't think he knows about it," Juliann said. "I asked him and he only looked at me with confusion. He told me it must be the Evil Witch playing tricks on all of us and begged me to kill him once his eyes changes color, before he loses control."
"His memories about it had probably been sealed by the Evil Witch," Ayhan said. "My mother told me that Asuren has a lot of sealed memories."
"We cannot force it out of him," Riz said. "He might go crazy," she emptied another bottle of rejuvenating potion and got up on her feet. "Let's continue searching for the boar seal. He must be nearby since his disciple is seriously wounded."
"Juliann, you should bring Asuren back to the cave. We will contact you once we find the boar seal," Ayhan advised.
Juliann nodded and carried Asuren in his arms.
"Gia, can you inform me once Asuren is awake?" Thea requested. "I'll go with Riz and Ayhan."
"I will," Gia smiled and gave her a light tap on the shoulder. "Don't have to worry about Asuren. He has three healers with him."
^##############^
"Do you really want to come with us?" Riz asked while examining a trail that she had found.
"Of course, I do," Thea smiled. "I need to talk to the boar seal."
"Talk to that monster?" Riz glared. "He will kill you before you can talk."
"I think he is not that evil," Thea said and then added. "He chose to save his comrade instead of killing us."
"That will not change the fact that it cursed and killed a lot of fairies. He almost killed Asuren," Riz reminded her."The boar seal is evil. We should focus on our goal. We will destroy the twelve seals."
"Maybe there is a way to destroy the seals without killing their keepers," Ayhan looked a bit hopeful. "They are part of the Eternity Curse, right? Henry said that every curse, no matter how ancient and powerful, always has a counter curse."
"This is the counter curse. We destroy them," Riz marched deeper into the Foliage Woods. "I will kill them before they kill another innocent fairy."
"His disciple knocked us out earlier," Ayhan reminded her.
"Asuren had seriously wounded that disciple. He cannot protect the boar seal. That is one less enemy to think about. No matter how formidable the boar seal is, I will destroy him," Riz fumed when the trail she was following had led them back to where they started. "I will really destroy that boar seal!"
^##################^