Madelaine was looking at Lily with shock clearly visible on her face. She couldn't believe her ears when she heard this teenager chant her clan's sacred prayer. This was only known by her clan, the Daughters of Naone; it was absolutely impossible for an outsider to know about it.

"How?! How did you know our family chant? Just who are you?"

"We have no time for that, we have to leave before more of them come!" Lily replied.

Madelaine wanted to argue and get some information out of this teenager, but she knew that the girl was right. The only thing that matters currently is the safety of her daughter, everything else can wait.

Gritting her teeth in frustration she relented.

"Argh! Fine! But after we get to safety, you will tell me everything! Got that?"

Lily nodded in agreement.

"Sure mo- *khm* Madelaine. Now, do you have a back door where we could exit the building and run for the woods? That would give us some cover while we put some distance between us and them." Lily said.

She pretended that she was thinking but in reality, she was just trying to guide her mother to follow the events as they should. She still wasn't perfectly sure about what she should be doing, but based on the happenings, she just needs to follow the events as they happen, and gently guide it back on course when it would start to diverse.

'Whatever happens, I will not let mom die!' she promised to herself. Even if her death would be a requirement for the illusion, she will do everything she can, to save both of them.

'Maybe it's okay if I die instead of her?' She was thinking that maybe the trial would still accept her sacrifice instead of her mother's… Well, only time will tell.

"Y-yeah, we have. How do you know?" asked Madelaine. She couldn't understand who this girl was, but the more she interacted with her, the closer she felt to her. She couldn't explain it, but there was this feeling, this faint nudge in her heart telling her to listen to her, get close to her.

"There's no time for that! Let's go!" Lily retorted. Then, she picked up one of the bags that Madelaine prepared and ran towards the back door she already knew about. She didn't know how much time they had, but she knew that they couldn't have much before the invaders will start showing up.

Coming back from her reverie, Madelaine picked up the other bag she packed along with her scared little daughter and quickly followed after the teenage girl.

Just as they left the house, they heard the sounds of the second group of invaders making their way towards the house. Seeing their deceased mates' corpses lying on the ground in front of them, they readied their weapons and got into an alerted state.

Both of them noticed the group slowly approaching the house in the distance thanks to their heightened senses. While Madelaine was a pure-blood and Lily a half-blood, they both still had increased hearing.

"We have to be really silent now, and slowly, carefully sneak towards the treeline. Make sure you are silent! Once they enter the house and see the back entrance they will realize which way we went and chase us. Hopefully, we can put enough distance between us by then." Lily said as they slowly sneaked from their house to the trees.

"Y-Yes! Let's do our best." Madelaine stuttered with her answer. Everything was happening so fast, she had trouble keeping up. The only thing keeping her steady was her motherly instincts. She had to keep her precious little Lily safe, no matter what. While they were keeping their slow, but steady pace among the cover of the walls, she wanted to explain something important to the girl.

"I-I have called in a…" she started but the girl interrupted her, with her hand, to keep silent.

"I know. You called in the person that raised you, while you were packing your stuff. A tattered, red-clothed elderly woman called Granny, right?" Lily silently whispered, stunning Madelaine once again.

"Y-yes, but h-how…?" she tried to ask but was interrupted once again.

"How do I know? It doesn't matter right now, but you made the right call in calling her. She will however take some time to arrive, and we need to put as much distance between us and these invaders as we can. Don't worry, I will keep you safe." Lily said.

Then, she motioned for them to be silent, and follow her. They were getting close to the forest, and soon they will have the cover they need to increase their pace. However, these last few meters would be critical as they have to cross a small clear section without anything to hide them from the onlookers.

Arriving at the edge of the last bit of the cover the wall provided, Lily faced Madelaine and silently whispered.

"You two should go now. Go towards the clearing you should meet Granny. I will be behind you and hold the invaders off. Don't worry about me, just make sure you both are safe, okay?"

Madelaine shook her head and looked at the girl as her eyes started tearing up. She still didn't know who this girl was, but the thought of losing her, caused her heart to ache.

"No! Come with us, we can all escape! Don't sacrifice yours-"

Once again, before she could finish, Lily interrupted.

"I will be behind you guys. Someone needs to stay and hold them off, so the others will have the best chance to escape. Please don't waste time and go!" she pushed them forward, ending the conversation.

Madelaine looked back with a concerned expression and after a moment of hesitation, she nodded her head in affirmation.

"Fine. But stay close behind us! Remember, you still owe me an explanation young lady!"

"I will! Stay safe moth-, *khm*, Madelaine," Lily answered with watery eyes. Then, she turned her head back towards the house and readied her bow.

Although the girl wanted to hide it, Madelaine still saw the tears forming in the corner of her eyes. She smiled, reassured that her feeling was right on point about her, then started making her way towards the treeline with long, hurried steps.

Meanwhile, Lily was focusing on the house. She could hear that the invaders were already close to the house and that it was just a matter of seconds before they pushed inside.

Suddenly, she felt the familiar lightning pain that she experienced before. Closing her eyes, she relaxed her mind, offering no resistance to the feeling that started to overwhelm her senses. As she relaxed, the pain slowly faded away, and in the next moment, she was once again, before the same statuette of the Goddess Naone.

"Ah Sister Madeleine, you are back to do your nightly prayer again?" The soothing female voice sounded from behind her.

Turning around, Lily saw the High Priestess who taught her the strange chant that empowered her arrows. Following the feeling that was guiding her, she bowed deeply as she greeted her.

"Greetings High Priestess! Yes, since last time we prayed, I felt my soul closer to Mother. I was just about to start my prayer, may I have the opportunity to pray beside you?"

Smiling, the High Priestess, walked beside Lily and knelt down.

"I would love that Sister! Please come, join me, let's pray again! To reward your diligence, let me teach you 2 prayers this time!"

Lily bowed once again, and knelt down besides the High Priestess, and listened to her teachings…

Opening up her eyes, Lily pulled out an arrow from her quiver and readied it onto the bow. Before releasing the string, she silently chanted the first prayer she learnt from the memory.

"Oh Naone, gentle and kind mother of all elves, please bless this arrow and guide it to the hearts of our enemies! Please let this unworthy one stand strong against our enemies! Roaloth tha inneth!"

Releasing the bowstring, she watched as the arrow tore through the wind and flew at a high speed towards the currently closed back door of the house. Halfway through, the arrow was suddenly shrouded in the familiar green light, and in the next second, the arrow simply vanished. There was no sound, no visual of it anymore.

A few moments later as the first invader kicked the door in and made their way inside the now empty house, a short green light beam greeted him and tore through his body without losing much of its momentum.

As the next guy was close behind, he couldn't react and was also killed on the spot. However, the rest of the group could, and have jumped to the side, escaping the deadly beam's path. Still, out of the 5 that came, 2 were killed without any chance to react. Worse, they didn't even know who or what attacked them.

Nobody noticed when a faint black aura left both of the dead bodies, quickly vanishing into the air.

Rage rising in their hearts, they gripped the hilt of their swords tightly and rushed inside the house, only to find it completely empty. They soon found the lonely closed door at the back. Smarter than previously they didn't immediately stand in the door but stationed themselves at the left and right side of it.

The last guy nervously gripped the handle and pushed the door open. Without waiting for anything he immediately threw himself to the left.

Not a moment later, the familiar green light beam flew past him and while it did not penetrate him, it still burned the skin on his back.

He cried out in pain, and as he slowly stood up, he bellowed to the distance.

"I'M GONNA ENJOY SKINNING YOU ALIVE, WHOEVER YOU ARE! THERE'S NO ESCAPE FOR YOU!"

Lily chuckled at his rage-filled shout, and as the group rushed out of the house, she already released another arrow. She didn't even look at it, but quickly picked and readied the next onto the bow and was aiming for the second guy in the back.

The arrow flew through the wind, straight to the first guy. As he was already prepared, he tried deflecting it with his sword, but sadly he overestimated his capabilities. He did not swing in time but was a moment early, and as a result, the arrow penetrated his hand, ruining his sword arm.

"AAAAARG!! CATCH THAT BAST-"

He couldn't even finish when he saw the second arrow flying toward them. Due to a lack of better options and time to react, he simply threw himself to the left. As he hit the ground, he saw the guy in the right, falling back with the arrow resting deep in the middle of his forehead.

"GO BEHIND HIM! WE HAVE TO KILL THIS BASTARD!" he shouted filled with rage. If he couldn't take the head of this bastard tonight, he would never find peace again. Whoever this guy was, had to die today!