THCF 08

Chapter 8

The strong wind made the forest fire grow larger and worsened the situation, but that actually worked in her favor.

If there had been no wind at all, her ability would have been limited.

There were limits to a mere human being’s ability to control the enormous power of nature.

The stronger the wind was, the more Lea’s ability was amplified, but delicate control became more difficult.

The power of spirits was like a moody child.

It was not something she could command and force. She had to gently soothe and guide it.

‘Not that way. Move a little more.’

Lea changed the direction of the wind around the small flames that were spreading near the strongest flames.

She planned to create a backfire so that the flames would consume each other.

She tightly held onto the railing of the watchtower and concentrated.

The flames that had been rushing toward the encampment slowed down when the wind was taken away from them.

The flames that had been writhing strangely like the tongue of a demon suddenly shot straight up into the sky.

While the strong flames slowed down, the smaller flames around them burned through the forest first.

The flames gathering from all directions with the wind slowly surrounded the huge fire.

‘It worked.’

She felt that she had completely controlled the wind and relaxed her tension.

Unless there was a major change, the wind filled with the power of the spirit would not change direction again.

As she caught her breath, she noticed a small flame still moving in the forest a little away from where the backfire had succeeded.

‘Not that way. I told you. You have to go the other way.’

Lea concentrated again and frowned.

No matter how many times she tried, the wind would not reach it.

The wind could not approach that fire and was bouncing away.

‘I have never seen this happen before…….’

A thought suddenly flashed through her mind.

‘Could it be?’

Lea jumped straight down from the watchtower and ran outside the residence.

She only waved her hand at the group gathered in front of the residence before continuing to run.

“Where are you going?!”

“Wait there!”

She answered Penny’s shout and continued running, grabbing anyone she could see and asking,

“Where is His Highness? The Crown Prince?”

She kept passing by people who could not give her a proper answer until she found Cedric commanding the soldiers.

“Sir Milo! Where is His Highness?”

“It is dangerous. Please move somewhere safe!”

“I asked where His Highness is. Did he go into the forest?”

Seeing the answer in Cedric’s expression, Lea immediately turned around and ran.

Cedric could not stop her as she disappeared among the soldiers in an instant.

He tightly bit his lip before turning back to the soldiers and continuing to give orders.

Right now, it was more important to focus on his mission than the princess’s safety.

While running, Lea came across soldiers moving the horses from the stable.

She picked one of them and nimbly jumped onto its back.

“Hyah!”

“Who is that?! She’s stealing a horse!”

“Hurry and chase her!”

The soldiers shouted while pointing in the direction she had disappeared.

But they could not immediately chase after her and did not know what to do.

They had been moving the horses that had been resting without reins or saddles, so they needed time to prepare.

“You’re a good runner. Let’s go that way!”

Lea grabbed the horse’s mane and skillfully rode the unsaddled horse.

People from the Kingdom of Zephiros had ridden horses without reins or saddles for fun since they were young.

Moreover, after awakening the power of the spirits, she could easily form a deep bond with animals.

‘Show me the way.’

She remembered the place she had seen from the watchtower earlier.

Lea rode in the direction shown to her by the wind.

Karion rushed toward the village in the forest with ten elite royal guards.

The closer they got to the village, the denser the forest became, and there was no path, so they could no longer ride their horses.

“One person stay behind and watch the horses.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Karion and the remaining soldiers went deeper into the forest.

Even though it was late at night and they could barely see anything ahead of them, they moved forward without hesitation.

Karion was at the very front.

His ability to find his way was so excellent that even professional guides would have admired him.

Even if he had only been to a place once, he could find his way there accurately in the middle of a forest at night without even a trace of moonlight.

He himself thought his ability was mysterious.

It felt as if there were an invisible guide living inside his head and leading him.

He would probably never get lost in his entire life, yet ironically, he thought that he was wandering because he could not find the path of his own life.

When they reached the entrance of the village, it was buried in quiet darkness.

The noise from the encampment probably could not be heard this far, and everyone seemed to be sleeping peacefully, unaware of the world.

By the time they noticed signs of the forest fire, it would already be too late, and after panicking, the entire village would probably be wiped out.

“Everyone, wake up!”

“It’s a forest fire! Everyone, wake up!”

The soldiers shouted as they ran around.

Soon, frightened people came rushing out of the small huts here and there.

“Everyone must evacuate. The forest fire will spread here! Do not take anything with you! Hurry!”

There were only about fifty villagers, and half of them were children.

“It is a forest path in the middle of the night. Stay close enough to see the person in front of you so that you do not get lost!”

Karion led the group of villagers from the very front and found the way.

The children made their progress slow, but they safely reached the place where the horses had been tied.

While checking the number of people, the village chief shouted,

“What? Lara is missing?”

“Chief, I can’t see my little sister. Lara! Lara!”

The children began to cry, and the people became restless.

“Lara!”

“Lara! Where are you? Answer me!”

Even though everyone called her name several times, there was no answer.

Karion asked the village chief what had happened.

“She is an eight-year-old girl. We definitely counted everyone before we left.”

A soldier spoke.

“I was at the very back of the group, so she could not have left somewhere along the way. It seems she never joined us right before we left.”

Karion stared into the dark forest for a moment before speaking.

“You take the villagers to the encampment. I will go back to the village.”

“Your Highness, it is dangerous. I will go.”

“Can you find your way better than I can? It is better for me to go quickly and return. Go to the encampment.”

The soldiers could not stop Karion as he disappeared into the darkness of the forest.

They exchanged glances and nodded.

They believed that with the abilities of the commander they served, he would quickly bring back one little girl.

As Karion made his way back toward the village, he smelled something acrid.

‘The fire has already spread this close!’

He quickened his pace.

When he was almost at the village, thick smoke filled the surroundings.

“Lara!”

Karion called the girl’s name as he searched through every part of the village.

But he could not find any trace of the child, nor could he sense her presence.

The frightened child might be hiding somewhere, so he entered every house he could see and checked each one.

When he had just come out of the last house, an ember flew onto the roof.

The roof, covered with dry branches and leaves, quickly burst into flames.

The moment Karion saw the bright red flames burning right before his eyes, he heard a pounding sound that shook his entire body.

“Ugh…….”

He clutched his chest and dropped to one knee.

‘Of all times.’

His cursed chronic illness had been triggered.

His breath quickly rose to his throat, and terrible pain came over him as if a huge ball of fire were burning inside his stomach.

Moreover, today’s attack was far worse than usual.

His vision became hazy, and a low groan, “Ugh……,” escaped his throat on its own.

He wanted to roll around on the ground and scream right away.

“Huu…….”

Karion clenched his teeth and supported his staggering body.

Even though he knew that he would die if he stayed here, his body would not obey him.

He moved almost by crawling until he reached a tree a little farther away from the burning house, and barely managed to lean against it and sit down.

“Your Highness!”

It was a clear, beautiful, and desperate voice.

Panting for breath, he thought that he must even be hearing hallucinations now.

“Your Highness! Please wake up. Your Highness! Karion!”

His brow twitched as his eyes began to close.

⌜Karion!⌟

Was the last person who had called his name his mother?

He could not remember when that had been.

Something gently caressed his face.

It was not a physical touch.

It had no form, something like the wind.

‘The wind?’

And this time, someone’s hand touched his face.

“Haa…….”

Karion felt as if his blocked breath suddenly cleared.

“Are you okay?”

The flames burning inside his body instantly died down, and a refreshing energy wrapped around his entire body.

Perhaps this was what the miraculous touch of someone saving a person who had been thrown into a fire and was burning to death would feel like.

Save me.

He desperately stretched out both hands.

He blindly pulled the savior he caught in his hands into his arms.