Behind her, she felt the surging heat coming from the wall of fire. Nefaaya pulled away from the Creation, for a moment she was blind and dizzy from the bright light of Raw Colors.

She blinked the confusion away, the forest before her was now burning, fire hung on the lower branches of the tall trees, edging its way toward the rough trunk. Here and there a rabbit, or something that resembles a deer would be running around, trying to escape the fire.

Nefaaya turned around, trying to search for Renaeril but the boy was nowhere to be found. She hoped that he was safe. Nelrue too and Ettran. She turned her back and was about to ran on the direction of Renaeril when from above she heard the sound of breaking sticks. She looked back and saw two of the Venedralis walking out of the fire.

"That was annoying," said the man with short blond hair. He patted the burned sleeve of his black doublet and stepped annoyingly on the fire on his feet. "Man that was powerful and fast, I don't even expected it coming in our wa-"

The man stopped and his eyes flickered to where Nefaaya was. He tilted his head and looked at her with curiosity, "look at what we have here, Valien. Isn't it one of the kid that Nelrue had brought with him?"

Nefaaya stepped back, and burst into red light as she Merged in the creation. Nefaaya jumped backwards and started running as soon as she hit the ground. She wasn't as adept at Nelrue at running but it was the least he could do right now. The Venedralis. The Rotseekers or whomever their loyalty lies, she has to run away from them. There was something about Deprives that made her bones tremble. It wasn't the same thing as the shared fear by the people in this world, hers was different. It was her instinct that told her to run.

She looked back and saw that no one was following he-

Nefaaya's felt something dashed behind on her left. She flicked her eyes in time as the man's waterball hit her.

She felt her body flew from the force of the contact and hit the trunk that lies on her path. Nefaaya grunted on the impact and bit her lips as her body slowly slipped on the ground.

The man dashed at her front and stood before her.

"Hey, don't tell me this kid is the one who made this," he said and raised his clothes.

Above the wind whispered, and parted the canopy of leaves from above, from it the light of the moons passed and shone on the two men before her.

The blonde one was sneering at her as he crossed his arms around his chest. His lips parted in a nefarious smile. It was sinister despite how angular his face looked. And beside him a bald man stood. He was of a slender build, and from his necks inks of intricate lines could be seen.

He flickered his blue eyes at her and stared curiously, devoid of any emotion. It was as if the moon was looking at an interesting subject. Nefaaya shivered. His bald head had only made his high cheekbones prominent. He pursed his lips in a line and looked at the blonde one.

"We are not getting anything from this Tedran." He said

The man who was called Tedran glowered at the man, "Valien, the task was to capture that damn Nelrue."

Valien stared back at the man without the slightest emotion, "It is. And it's not Nelrue."

For a second the two remained looking at one another, Tedran glowering at the emotionless Valien. Tedran sighed.

He nodded, "okay, I'll leave this child be."

He turned back at her and smiled even more, it was not something that a person planning to withdraw would do. Nefaaya Merged with the Creation. The bright light of Flow was being Pulled by Tedran, Nefaaya raised her hand and casted a surging wind that threw back the fire that was about to hit her face.

"You think I'll just leave you be ha!"

She jumped away from the man, panting as she did so. She held her broken shoulder with her good hand as she looked at the man.

"Nelrue's companion," he said. "Was also my enemy."

Tedran dashed forward at her, she didn't have enough time before his fist hit her guts. Nefaaya fly meters away from where she was.

She coughed and wanted to vomit but there was nothing left for her to release.

Why, she asked and looked up. Why can't I see him?

The color around her started to dull, she blinked in confusion. And tried to Merge, but the light didn't grow much brighter around her. The trees that used to be surrounded by green light and the wind that was gold in her eyes during the Merge have almost no color in them. It looked as if the Creation was rejecting her from being one with it.

Nefaaya stood, she refused what she was thinking and raised her two hands. She Pulled the water in the ground, and around her water started to appear.

Tedran looked at her and yawned as if to say he was bored with her.

Nefaaya angered but what the man showed to her, started directing shooting water in the direction of the man. He easily dodged it as if he was dancing and as he did it he was closing the distance between her and him.

The memory and the feeling of being punched came back to her mind. She stopped and stepped backwards, but the man had already dashed forward. He pulled his hair to stop her from escaping.

She lost her balance screaming in pain, but since her hair was in Tedran's hand she remained suspended and her weight as the gravity pulled her had only hurt her scalp. Tedran laughed as he watched her squirm in his grasp. Nefaaya gritted her teeth and reached for his fist that was closing her hair.

Tedran laughed and started pulling her from his hair then she threw her once again.

"This is why I hate Erumancers," he said, shaking his head. "They're boring, all they could do was Pulled water, fire and earth at you. Why would Nelrue choose this kind of company anyway?"

"Don't you agree with me, Valien?". He looked back at the man.

The bald man walked beside him, "I'm an Erumancer."

Tedran tsked at him, "Of course you're different."

Valien walked solemnly toward her, she stared at her under his eyes. "There was something wrong with what you're doing, child."

Nefaaya glared at the man.

"Erumancers liked that we should be able to Pull three or more to be able to maximize our power," he said and crouched before her. "Raise your hand and stand."

Nefaaya's eyes widened in confusion. But the shock from his words had immediately turned into anger.

"Why would I follow you," she growled. "You fucking son of a bitch!"

Tedran's eyes widened while Valien's blue eyes remained stoic, in fact it didn't even move an inch as she stared at her.

"You'll follow me when I said you would," he said.

Nefaaya wanted to pull away from the man. Despite his demeanor towards her, there was something that told her that he was a dangerous fellow. With all the strength left from her she inched away from him.

"Raise your hand," Valien said firmly.

And she did as she was told.

He grabbed her palm. She was so overwhelmed by his abruptness that she wanted to pull his hand away. He snatched the other. The eyes of the man changed to black, Nefaaya felt something from her palm. A tingling. She closed her eyes.

It vanished, something about her vanished.

"What did you do?" Nefaaya demanded.

"I Heal you," he said.

"Hey! That isn't fair, Valien," Tedran said.

"It is stupid, how could it be unfair when she was already damaged."

Valien rose and glanced at her as if he was expecting to do too without being told. Nefaaya abruptly stood, all the aches of her bones and muscles had vanished.

Valien towered over her. He touched her back and edged her forward.

"Now you will defeat Tedran," he said. "But you have to follow what I would te you. You see, Tedran was mainly an Battledancer, unlike your friend Nelrue who was a Battledancer and Erumancer at the same time, Tedran refused to learn deeper any Erumancer technique. The waterball that hit you was just one of the simple techniques that his simplemind could do."

Valien said all of it without breaking eyes with Tedran who was slowly growing agitated at their front.

"Merge," he said. And Nefaaya immediately did.

She could now see the Flow once again.

"You would follow everything I would say," he said. "Of course I would only ask things that I think you could do."

"Attack the child Tedran," he said.

And without thinking, Tedran dashed forward to her, this time his eyes had aimed to kill her in a single move, unlike earlier where he was just playing at her.

"Pulled the water and turn it into mist," he said.

Neffaya raised her hand and Pulled the water, she flicked her fingers as mist burst around them.

"One of the basic things you should know is that Erumancers are assassins," he said. "The first thing to do was to provide cover for yourself so you wouldn't be seen as you Pull the Flow."

"Touched the ground and turned it into mud and once you caught him solidified it immediately."

Nefaaya crouched, from the mist he could see Tedran. She turned the ground around her into a soft mud, the man was sucked into it. Nefaaya immediately turned the ground back into solid, it had locked the man to his waist.

"Pulled the water and surged it toward him then turned it into ice, locking him there. Continuously pour energy on it so that he wouldn't be able to escape from it."

Nefaaya rose and raised her hand. A surge of water moved forward towards the man who was already trying to escape. He cover the water up until his mouth before he turned it into ice.

Beside her, Valien vanished the mist with a waved of his hand. But Nefaaya felt how the Flow trembled on his touch. In that moment she was sure, that Valien was much much more powerful than Tedran perhaps someone who could par with Nelrue when he was in Submerged.

Tedran was locked in a cage of ice and rock. Valien walked beside her and hummed.

"That's how you do it," he said. "When facing a Battledancer, always tried to catched them first. Before you-"

He heard the man snapped. Before woods with sharp ends head at the mans direction. There are about twenty of it that pierced Tedran's body. Nefaaya didn't know when the man started creating those. Valien flicked the wood away and as he do so, blood poured out like fountain on the man's body. His eyes was staring at them, accusing them for killing him. Nefaaya felt terrified.

"-kill them." Valien swatted the dirt in his trousers and fixed the sleeves of his doublet as if nothing happened.

"Why, isn't that man your ally?" She asked, slowly stepping back.

"He used to be," he said and smiled.

It was the first time that he had seen some reaction to the man.

"He was also my apprentice," he told her. "But now I don't need someone who's incompetent to learn the Arts Of Erumancers."

Nefaaya looked at him confusedly.

"I want you to be my new apprentice," he said. "To replace the one that I had lost… do not worry I wouldn't force you to eat flesh just so you can be powerful. But I advised you to do it."

She blinked at him, before blurting, "you've got to be kidding me."

Valien shook his head, "I'm not a man who possesses much humor. You would be safe at the side of the Venedralis child."

"You tried to kill me," she shouted.

"It was the Rotseekers who tried to kill you," he said. "The Venedralis and Rotseekers were not the same. In fact the Venedralis hated the Rotseekers."

Suddenly he looked up, then jumped backwards. Nelrue appeared in the sky, Etrran was clinging to him while he was carrying the body of Renaeril with his other hand.

"I have nothing much to say, child," he said. "But if ever your mind changed, you could always look for me. Valien Nahastarith. Feel free to use my name and call me your friend... it would help you a lot." Then the he picked something in his pocket and throw it at her, she catched it.

Valien threw molten rocks at Nelrue before he jumped and flew away to escape.

Nefaaya opened her hand, and stared at the dagger given by the man.

"Valien Nahastarith," she repeated.