The Flower Is Finished

I was still staring at Michelle who was also staring back at me. Silence fell between us. Our lips parted as if wanting to say something to each other.

"How can you look like Lira?" I asked curiously because right now I truly saw her as Lira.

"I'll explain later. We should hurry to where they are." She was still holding my hand and I followed her footsteps even though they were not chasing us anymore, but I still had to find a way out.

It took several minutes to reach the place where Lira was and as soon as we arrived I immediately saw several injured villagers who were currently sitting inside a cave covered by hanging roots blocking the cave entrance.

"Sister, are you hurt?" Lira asked while hugging Michelle's body and at that moment I was shocked when I realized Michelle's body had returned to normal and no longer looked like Lira.

Lira the little child.

"Is uncle okay?" she asked while releasing her hug from Michelle and running toward me.

"Uncle is fine. What about you?" I asked and she immediately let out a rough sigh.

"Lira is a little sleepy and wants to sleep!" she said while yawning and Michelle immediately told her to rest inside.

"Come on Lira, rest first!" Michelle invited her and after that Lira nodded and held Michelle's hand.

After making sure Michelle and Lira entered the cave, I immediately approached several villagers who were badly injured.

"You managed to find the door?" the Elder asked and right now he was also lying down with several wounds on his body, but he still smiled faintly.

"Yes. Only using instinct." I answered casually while the Elder chuckled softly.

"Are you badly hurt?" he asked politely and I shook my head.

"No. Only a small injury." I answered and he gently patted my shoulder.

"You know there are some people destined to become strong and protect others, but there are also those destined to become strong yet destroy!" And I nodded hearing the Elder's statement.

"Why did Michelle whom I saw earlier in the underground room look like... Lira?" I asked while remembering it again, but he immediately fell silent and looked inside the cave to check Michelle's condition.

"Let Michelle explain it to you because I should not answer that question for you."

"Alright then, I'll go there first. If you're injured, look for medicine here because this place is already quite complete." I nodded and after that the Elder immediately left.

After making sure I was not too seriously injured, I sat down while looking around the cave where several elderly people were lying on leaf mats.

While I was looking around, suddenly Michelle came and immediately sat beside me.

"You managed to find it?" she asked with a small chuckle and I replied with a nod.

"So what is the reason you changed?" I asked curiously because I thought that Lira or Michelle was one of the witches.

"Are you a witch?" I asked while tilting my head and Michelle immediately laughed softly and shook her head.

"How could I be a witch!"

"Then why are you…." I asked and she immediately sighed heavily.

"Lira is a witch."

I fell silent for a moment. Then why was Lira's appearance not like witches in general? I thought she was an ordinary human.

"Lira was actually a witch abandoned by her parents. Grandmother accidentally found her so she adopted her. Before that grandmother did not know about her powers and she was also one of the people who helped us get out of the forbidden forest."

"She has far greater vision and she can also help from afar like camouflaging and influencing someone's perspective or way of thinking."

"Like earlier?" Michelle nodded.

"That's why she can change someone's appearance to deceive her enemies."

I truly could not say anything because it seemed Lira's abilities were already extraordinary at her age and she also seemed to know more about witches than the witch clan itself.

"But she can only make our minds think that person is someone we want to meet even though it is actually someone else."

"Why did you want to meet Lira?" Michelle asked while turning and staring sharply into my eyes.

"What I saw was Lira, not you or anyone else!" Hearing my answer immediately made her silent.

"Are you really sure Lira is a little child?" I asked again while narrowing my eyes at her and Michelle fell silent before nodding hesitantly.

"Yes.... I'm very sure of that." she answered stiffly and it made me smile faintly.

"So after this what is the plan?" I asked because the journey from here to the palace was quite far and on top of that they were seriously injured, making me think it was impossible to bring them all into human territory because they probably would not endure it anymore and would gain new wounds during the journey since we did not know whether enemies would ambush us again or if there would be more obstacles we did not know and perhaps could not be passed by many people.

"We have to bring them. Otherwise there is no other choice." Hearing her answer made me nod because for now the safest place was the human clan or the palace territory where King Albert or General Arvan stayed.

"Tonight we will depart." Michelle said and I nodded.

Maybe at night there would not be too many enemies able to easily track our existence, I thought.

Moreover the moonlight was growing brighter which meant the full moon was approaching.

We decided to rest for a while and several people also searched for food because it was impossible for us to just stay still and wait for nightfall.

Time passed quickly and we were already preparing to leave this territory and enter the border area.

Previously I had also told Arvan to pick us up at the border where I met Michelle.

"Are you sure this won't stand out too much?" I asked because right now Michelle was using candle fire with very little lighting and on top of that we were not taking the main road but instead following the riverside so the rocks were clearly visible and the moonlight also reflected beautifully on the clear water.

"We have to be careful because I'm sure they are also targeting the river now." she said and I immediately nodded because it was impossible for them to simply stay still and rely on nothing. There might be spies monitoring us and preparing reports, so I also looked around to make sure there were no intruders.

Because the lighting was minimal, each of us carried a bow and arrow for precaution. If we found spies, we would immediately shoot them.

And indeed when my eyes accidentally looked toward the bushes, I heard the sound of someone breathing so I immediately drew my bow and shot the spy.

"Akhh….piiiiiiittttt."

Before collapsing he blew a whistle, making me certain it was a signal that other spies had already discovered our location.

"Quickly throw away the body." I said coldly while approaching the spy and lifting him to throw into the river.

"You all go. Let me replace him instead." one of the elders said and we immediately turned toward the middle-aged man.

"Don't be ridiculous, come with us!" the Elder insisted while inviting him but he shook his head.

"My wounds are severe enough and I also do not want to trouble all of you. Maybe it's better if I don't come."

"Come with us. I promise I will help and protect you!" I said while approaching him and he smiled faintly while shaking his head.

"There's no need. My wounds truly cannot be healed anymore." he admitted and I immediately checked his pulse and indeed his blood flow was no longer smooth. His heartbeat was beating very fast so I thought this was poison that had already begun attacking his body and he also realized that the ashes they threw from above were poison slowly devouring his body.

"But didn't you want to…." Michelle cut off the conversation and he immediately spoke without continuing again.

"Child.... I'm sure my time is short. Go and never look back here again!"

He immediately hurried and slowly removed the spy's clothes and replaced them on himself.

"Forgive me for failing to protect all of you." the Elder said while lowering his head and it was answered by head shakes from all the surviving villagers.

"Alright, I'll grant your wish."

After that we hurriedly helped dress the Elder and he had arranged everything carefully so others would not notice.

After making sure everything was done, I looked behind me and now the Elder had already hidden exactly at the place where I shot the spy and to remove the blood we had already covered it with sand so the blood was no longer scattered across the ground.