Chapter 211: Magical Trap
To challenge apprentices that were already on edge wasn’t the wisest decision the mages had ever made. The second Leif and Felix could tell that something was amiss with Irene, they both reacted in a way they deemed suitable for the situation.
As Felix ran, he pulled out his sword with his left hand, but with his more accurate right, he unsheathed a small axe from his belt and threw it into the open door as hard and as fast as he could. To his horror, the small axe clattered to the wooden floor of the porch as if there was an invisible barrier in front of the open door.
Leif, on the other hand, unsheathed his sword the moment he started running. He then skipped a few stairs leading up to the house and stood between Irene and the front door. His sword was in front of him.
"Iro, what’s the matter?" he asked, not looking back at the girl so he wouldn’t miss a second of whatever might come out of the door.
Even though Leif trusted her abilities, he had been worrying more for her the closer they got to one another. Story after story about her life and how much becoming a knight meant to her, he couldn’t bear the thought of that chance being taken from her. What if she faced a similar fate as her father, but much, much earlier on in her career? They were in an unprecedented time.
Leif saw someone walking towards the door, and he tried to step forward, but then he also got caught in the magic Irene was caught up in. He froze in his place and suddenly knew what was going on with Irene.
However, unlike the girl, he didn’t know the meaning. He hadn’t been there to experience what she or Sir Gunnar had. Rather than remaining calm, he was panicking, but couldn’t do anything about it. His mind raced, but his body stood still.
An unlikely hero strode forward but stopped at the threshold of the house’s front door. He crossed his arms over his chest, catching his long beard that had been braided since the last time the apprentices saw him.
"I know these ones," he announced over his shoulder, but his lack of urgency was alarming for the two he was suffocating.