A/N: As usual, I would recommend putting the video on loop.



Watching the abhorrent author take her away, Tarhuinn nearly yelled for him to put her down. He had no right to carry or touch her. When the author had kneed her, he almost gave himself away again. His thoughts were starting to lose control of themselves, and the desire to kill beat rapidly in his mind, though; his heart rate remained steady. If he succumbed completely to his own desires now, he wouldn't be able to focus and get out of the bonds. (F/n) needed him, and when the door closed behind the two of them, the sense for urgency increased.



At the same time to his left, there was a battle of magic occurring. Water, flames and air struck against each other, and fire nearly scorched him on several accounts. The benefit, though, was that it heated the water bonds, and the water began to evaporate more quickly. His healing burn marks weren't too appreciative of the heat, but getting to his wife was more vital than his damaged skin.



He needed to escape the restraints before either one of the mages was killed. Once their fight was over, he would either be tortured or killed, and (f/n) would have to fend for herself. That wasn't an option to him. Alpontus was just too skilled a fighter in comparison to her even though she had improved tremendously in her combat abilities. The best that she could do would be to stall him. Unfortunately, that wouldn't probably last too long either.



Whatever words were exchanged between the two mages, he didn't pay attention. It was mainly insults and the human taunting the kelremm to no end. Clearly, Icniss was falling right into the trap as he would hurl yells of pure rage back. As the fight progressed, Icniss's control over his bonds weakened. Tarhuinn was near to slipping his hands free.



A loud impact alerted him. Briefly, he peered over and noted that Icniss had been thrown into one of the walls. The human advanced towards him and continued to gibe him. The bonds became more forgiving. His hands were free. Instantly, he went to work on his ankles. It didn't take as long due to Icniss's condition and the aid from his hands.



Glancing back to the two mages, he noted that Icniss had picked himself back up and was defending himself from an onslaught of fire and air attacks. The kelremm mage's attention being elsewhere, Tarhuinn stood from his seat. His eyes had caught the bodies of four kelremm spies up above. Given their hand positions, it looked as though they had been strangled. It was most likely the work of the human mage since there was no rope, chain, fabric or other items nearby.



Glad that he wouldn't have to worry about them, he darted towards Alpontus's room. Before Icniss could spot and stop him, he opened the door and closed it behind him. He barely even registered that they weren't in the bedroom when he heard (f/n)'s scream. Several yells followed. Racing ahead, he threw open the next door and barreled through.



His dark blues caught sight of the scene before him. (F/n) was pinned to one of the walls in the pool. Hands clenching tightly, he thought that he might break his own bones. Alpontus glanced over, and his eyes narrowed considerably. Puzzlement wrote itself across his countenance as did utmost vexation. The author's grip increased on her wrists, and (f/n) yelped in pain. "I'm getting very tired of seeing you free. I didn't wish to be disturbed."



(F/n) attempted to use Tarhuinn's distraction to wrench herself free, but a loud snap caught all of her focus. Another scream left her, and she couldn't help the tears that formed. She bit her bottom lip while her whole right arm began to tremble with shock from the pain. At least, the cold stone finally served a positive purpose against her skin.



Her watery eyes saw a flash of blue before it made contact with her captor. Alpontus didn't let go of her, however, and she went crashing towards the water and stone base as well on her right side. A piercing cry echoed throughout the room as already damaged bone only became more ruined. Thankfully, the author lost his grip when Tarhuinn snatched up his arms and pulled him away. Both of them went tumbling into a deeper section of the pool.



Part of her wished to jump into that section, but she would be near to useless there. Besides, she was a shivering, shaking mess. She removed herself steadily from the pool, cradled her wrist to her chest, and curled up into a small ball, rocking herself back and forth as she dealt with the pain. It was excruciating, not just from the injury but from the fact that she was so defenseless. Her improving strength had been taken away from her so easily, and she couldn't even focus on the fight in the water; her wrist kept demanding her attention.



Several moments passed, and she could finally take a steady breath. Forcing herself, she sat herself upright. Her wrist remained close to her chest. She utilized her other hand to fix her outer clothes. Thankfully, Tarhuinn had intervened before Alpontus could cut her underclothes. The pants were ripped beyond repair and useless, but the shirt could still act as a very loose, long jacket. Her left hand clutched it close so that it would cover her torso and thighs.



Taking another deep breath and exhaling, she finally was able to view what was going on in the pool. The color red dulled her view, and her heartbeat quickened, but spotting Tarhuinn swimming swiftly, she relaxed a little. His speed didn't slow, but Alpontus was achieving the same results. They were both matched, and no progress happened. Each one had a dagger, and Tarhuinn must've stolen one of Alpontus's.



Blades clashed, and she saw one go flying through the water. Alpontus had lost his, and he swam quickly towards it. Letting go of her ripped shirt, she thrust her hand into the cold water. Just as speedily, she pulled it out before he could reach it. She couldn't move back from the water fast enough, however.



Alpontus leaped out from the water. She threw herself to her left, but he was ripped back. (F/n) heard a shout of rage before the water silenced it to her ears. Due to her poor landing, though, the blade was lost to her grip. It slid across the stone and towards the door of the room. Cursing, she pushed herself up with her left hand. With time, she managed to get onto her feet.



From the ongoing fight, water had splashed up onto the stone. Her right foot stepped into the puddle a little too quickly. Slipping, she fell back. Water splashed up from her collision with it. Something slammed into her back and took the breath from her. Bubbles floated upwards as her vision was poor.



There was a braid in her line of sight. The blurred, long locks were replaced by malevolent, indigo eyes. Terror grasped at her as there was nothing that she could do against them. She was far too weak presently. His hands reached out to snatch her, but they stopped midway. His lips parted while more bubbles filled the surrounding area.



Surprise controlled him before he regained himself. Rapidly, he turned and latched his jaws onto his attacker. A muted howl traveled through the water. Metal, however, met the head author's back. The ancient male released his hold on her husband. His body slackened, but her vision of the deceased author ended when Tarhuinn gently grabbed her left wrist and swam upwards with her. They broke the surface before he sheathed his blade.



Barely being able to handle the cold anymore, she wasted no time in huddling to him. "We'll leave Icniss to that human mage. We need to get to the tree. The cold could kill you soon, and my injuries aren't light." She gave no argument; she merely kept near. (F/n) would've moved closer had it not been for her wrist.



Tarhuinn swam across the pool hurriedly and instantly stood when he could do so. He lifted her up into his arms carefully, being mindful of her broken wrist. The door was left open behind them, but he didn't care. If one of the mages caught up with them, it would be at the tree. There, the chance of an all out fight would be lessened significantly, and both of them were in no fighting condition.



Annoyingly, that would be taken advantage of. They had barely entered the cave when two spies made themselves known. Both had crossbows. Weapons were pointed, but Tarhuinn stopped only momentarily. He glanced between the two. His hold on her grew, causing her to wince a bit, but she made no complaint to him. She trusted that he knew what he was doing.



Charging forward, Tarhuinn ducked. Arrows swept overhead while he stood back up to his full height. He spun on his right foot and impacted his left against the face of one of them. She clutched onto him with her left hand and swallowed back some slight pain that shot through her from the movement. The spy was knocked down. Before the other could react, he latched his teeth into their throat and killed them instantly.



Recovering from their fall, the remaining spy went to shoot the crossbow. Tarhuinn kicked the weapon upwards. He managed to still hold onto her and catch the bow. Once his finger was on the trigger, the arrow zipped towards the spy. They nearly dodged, but the arrow found its home in the right side of their forehead.



Dropping the weapon since retrieving the arrows would take too long now that they had started to run with the stream of water, Tarhuinn continued on his way towards the tree with her. They heard loud splashes of water behind them. With no desire to face someone else now, he took off sprinting.