The Elven Mage

-Khalia-

"You need to hide here, sweety!" I quickly tried to push my son into the bushes. The sun was nearly gone, and this was the perfect hiding spot. Especially in such a dark forest where one could hardly see what was before them unless they had a light source.

"I don't want to! Momma, stop it!" Siegren whined as he tried to resist by fiercely swinging his small arms around. "I want to go with you!"

I grabbed his shoulders as I bit my lower lip to not let out a sob as I thought this was probably my last conversation with my sweet boy. Even when I could hardly see him out here in the dark, I could hear him sniffing as his tiny hands firmly gripped my wrists. Not wanting to let go.

I took a good look at my son and noticed he was shaking from fright. Even though it was dark, I was able to take a good look at him. He had messy hair and his clothes were torn in certain areas from the constant running through the woods.

However, it was his steel grey eyes that gave me pause. They were the same as those of that man. That monster in human clothes. I honestly thought I would despise the child of that man when he was born, but I couldn't.

Siegren was my baby.

As a mother, I could never hate my child. Someone I had in my womb and grew to care for. When I took a good look at his eyes, they held an emotion that I never wanted my son to express.

Fear.

I blame myself for my own weakness and foolishness. When I first heard they were hiring maids to work in the royal castle six years ago, I was overjoyed. I worked as a tavern waitress, and the pay wasn't much, but enough to get by. I shouldn't have been greedy and chose to work as a maid in the royal castle for more money.

My sister, Karla, a famous songstress, tried to warn me so many times about gaining the noble's attention. Especially the royal family, as it would be very dangerous when I was hired for the job, especially with our looks. Looks that got us into trouble more than we would have liked with our exotic purple-pink eyes. She feared I would gain the attention of the emperor and would suffer for it.

"What beautiful eyes. What is your name?" the emperor asked one day as I was cleaning the windows. The moment I noticed his lustful look, I knew I was ensnared in his web and had no chance of escape.

I shook my head from such thoughts. Now wasn't the time for that. I grabbed my son's hands softly as his tearful face stared right back at me.

"Mom, you're not leaving me…right?" he asked softly.

I smiled as I pushed him inside the bushes. "Of course not, sweetie. Just wait there, and I'll be back soon, I promise. Can you wait for me here, sweetie?"

He was quiet as he sat down on the ground, "Ok."

"Good boy," I lay a hand on his cheek before speaking firmly. "Sweetie, I need you to be quiet. No matter what you hear, no matter what you see, you must remain in this spot. Am I clear?"

"Ok."

"Promise me."

"I promise, mama."

Before I could respond, the light of several torches illuminated the area around us. I whipped my head around and noticed several figures of men in cloaks appearing and conversing with each other while heading towards our direction.

They caught up with us so soon! How did they find us?!

"Remember not a sound," leaving my son in the bushes, I began to run away as quickly as I could. Immediately, my action caught the attention of our pursuers.

"There! There she is, boss! I see her!" I heard the voice from one of the men behind me. His voice sounded as if he whistled in the end.

"I have eyes, you vermin," the man I assumed was called 'Boss' responded annoyingly. "Everyone get her! She will know where the bastard is hiding!"

I gritted my teeth as I sprinted faster and threw a hateful glare towards them. Bastards, when will you all leave us alone?!

"Haha! Look at her go!"

"Don't let her escape!"

"Where do you think you are going!"

I kept hearing different taunts and whistles coming from my pursuers. They were treating this like some kind of game. These people disgust me. I started running in another direction, hopefully to create as much distance as possible from my son and give him a chance to escape.

Fate had other plans. "Urgh!" someone quickly tackled and pinned me towards the ground. No! I hadn't put enough distance yet! My eyes began to water as I tried to forcefully escape with everything I had.

"Where do you think you're going?" the man on top asked calmly. I tried to resist with everything I had, but that only caused my head to be forcefully slammed to the ground. The taste of dirt and grass quickly entered my mouth. "Stop resisting!"

I started to hear the sound of several boots coming nearer, and the surrounding forested area became brighter and brighter from the torches. Their shadows began to cast an ominous dark blanket over me. It's over. I closed my eyes and stopped resisting. Escaping was a pipe dream now.

"Good job, Frankie!" a man shouted joyfully.

"Don't shout my name, you idiot. Nobody needs to know about our identities," Frankie barked back.

The other man scoffed, "Who would hear us in the middle of these woods." He gestured around us and pointed his sword in my direction, "Her? She's a dead woman walking."

The man, Frankie, pulled me up, and I took a good look at who our pursuers were. All seven of them were wearing dark masks covering half their face, but they all wore the same black leather armor with dark cloaks which seemed to absorb the light from the torches.

Assassins.

Someone else then emerged from behind the group that I hadn't noticed, and I couldn't help but widen my eyes. "Why are one of you here!"

The man wore a blood-red ceremonial robe with gold accents. Behind the robe, part of his armor was visible, and I noticed some gems embedded in it. Except I knew they were not pieces of jewelry but mana stones.

The empress would really send a royal court mage after my son?! Does she perceive him as that much of a threat?! A six year old boy!

The man looked at me as if I was some dog someone would see on the side of the road. A gaze most nobles would give to a peasant, really. The mage held his head upright and began to talk in a haughty manner as he came near. "So, you're the lowly maid I was ordered to eliminate. Yes, I could see why the emperor would have fancied you."

I gnashed my teeth and refused to say anything.

He rose a brow, "Not talking, huh?" All of a sudden, he slapped the side of my cheek with enough force to leave me briefly disoriented. "How about now?"

I ignored the stinging sensation and glared back in defiance.

His face hardened as he glared and, this time slapped me with greater force than before. "Do you think being mute will save you?"

I didn't care what he said and continued to glare hatefully at the man. He grabbed my cheeks forcefully and brought his face close to mine. "Where's the child? Where's the bastard? He's somewhere here, is he?"

"He should be nearby," one of the assassins said, looking around for potential hidden spots one could hide. "Want us to start searching?"

The royal mage began to wear a maniacal grin, "No, I have a better idea." He began to cast a spell and summoned a large ball made of fire in his hands, prompting the assassins to take a step back from the mage. The surrounding area began to rise in temperature, and in the next moment, he threw the fireball in the direction I was running from, starting a wildfire.

Siegren!

"If she doesn't tell us where the bastard is, might as well trap him here and burn like the waste he is." He began to create three more fireballs and threw them in the other directions, boxing all of us in. The once-green forest began to burn all around us and spread at an alarming rate.

"Give her here," the mage forcefully grabbed my left arm and threw me on the ground in front of him. "Boy! I know you can hear me! Come out! Or…"

"Ahh!" I yelled into the open air in pain from one of the assassin's swords. My back began to feel wet from the amount of blood beginning to pour out of my back.

"Come out, boy! Or I will kill your mother!" the mage shouted as he looked around. "I know you can hear me! Come out, and I will spare your mother!"

A minute passed, and I was starting to feel lightheaded.

Don't come out! Run! Just run and hide! Live! Please!

"So be it. Go ahead and kill her!"

The assassin nodded and raised his sword to a piercing position above me, but before he made a downward motion, a childish voice yelled from the distance.

No!

"Leave my mom alone!" Siegren cried out as he held a butterknife between his hands, trembling.

"There you are," the mage kneeled down next to me and grabbed a fistful of my hair.

"N-No…Siegren," I whispered as I reached my hand to crawl away in a futile effort.

"Why do you hurt my mom when it was me you're after? Why!" Siegren yelled at the mage.

"Oh?" the mage commented thoughtfully. "You're pretty smart for a small boy, aren't you? Well, the reason was because of you, of course."

"Don't listen to him!" I yelled as I noticed Siegren taking in his words.

"You are a threat. You will always be a threat. The moment you were born, the moment you had royal blood running through your veins. You became a threat to the crown prince," the mage said. "I'm just here to correct that mistake."

Siegren shouted with all his might as he charged towards the mage. The mage didn't move, and two assassins intercepted the boy and grabbed him from his shoulders. "Let go! Let me go!"

"Your orders?" one of the assassins said as he expertly pulled a dagger from under his cloak and rested it on Siegren's shoulder.

The mage let go of my hair and stood nonchalantly. "Kill him."

No! No, please!

"Sorry kid, but that's just how life is sometimes. Blame yourself for being weak," The assassin holding the dagger was about to pierce my son's heart, and the only thing I could do was watch.

"SOMEONE PLEASE HELP US!"

I closed my eyes as I didn't have the strength to see what happened next. I expected the sound of flesh being pierced to be heard, but it didn't happen.

"Hey! What is this? What's going on here?!"

"The hell!"

I heard both assassins yell and I opened my eyes to see something I didn't expect. Multiple tree roots emerged from the ground and restrained the two assassins while green vines gently pulled my son away.

"This magic," the mage commented as he prepared himself for a fight.

The ground began to tremble from under me, and multiple roots began to form a wall between me and our pursuers. Like my son, multiple green vines pulled me in a certain direction, and soon, I was face to face with our savior.

It was a beautiful woman with shoulder-length light green hair, almost blonde, and bright light blue eyes wearing silver-plated armor. Next to her was my son, who immediately rushed to my side.

"Mom!" Siegren panicked at the condition I was in.

"Your mom is going to be just fine. Don't worry," the female knight smiled gently as she addressed my son. The next moment, the woman pulled a shining green marble from out of nowhere and crushed it over me. A glowing mist began to emerge, and I suddenly felt a warming sensation that immediately took the pain away.

My vision began to blur and before I passed out, I heard the woman say something.

"Everything will be fine. Leave this to me."