Bromgar lay on the ground with his hands spread and his eyes closed.

  He lay among the corpses of both dwarves and Nyctonas.

  Most of the soldiers from both sides had died, and the rest had either fled the battlefield or were still fighting.

  “Chief. Chief.” A faint voice reached him from somewhere nearby. He couldn’t see anything.

  “Where am I?” he thought. “Am I dead?”

  Suddenly, a tremor jolted through him. He woke up instantly, in full pain.

  His whole body was wrapped in cloth to stop the bleeding.

  He looked around after getting up. He found Rurik and a few dwarves gathered around him.

  “Where am I?” Bromgar asked.

  “Thank heaven you are okay,” Rurik said, pressing both hands together in prayer.

  “You didn’t answer my question, Rurik,” Bromgar said, putting his hand on his head. His head felt like it could burst at any moment. “Is the battle over?” he asked.

  "Most of it, yes. The king is still fighting Lyra, that human girl. How is your wound? I wrapped it as best I could," Rurik said.

  Bromgar’s eyes widened. “They are still fighting?” he said and stood up.

  His legs were hurting badly, but he still got up after struggling a bit.

  “But chief, you can’t fight in this situation,” Rurik said.

  “I have to. I can’t let her fight that monster alone,” Bromgar said as he picked up his axe and started walking toward the fight.

  All the remaining Nyctonas and dwarves were still clashing ahead of him, packed into a tight stretch of ground.

  “Where is that boy when we need him?” Bromgar said.

  Rurik was walking with him toward the fight. “Want me to find him and bring him here?” he asked.

  “Yes. Do it, and as fast as you can,” Bromgar answered as he kept walking ahead.

  - - -

  Something was different about Lyra now. She was dodging every one of Kharvos’s attacks, even the heavier ones that she hadn’t been able to block before.

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  “I will not run away. I will defeat him,” she thought after parrying yet another attack.

  Kharvos was running out of stamina. "Where are you getting all this strength from?" he gasped, stepping back to catch his breath.

  Lyra stayed silent and charged toward Kharvos. Kharvos’s eyes widened as he brought his hand forward to block Lyra’s attack.

  Their weapons clashed, and a loud clink echoed across the battlefield. Lyra kept stabbing with her needle, and Kharvos kept blocking, slowly giving ground.

  He ground his teeth. “I have to take one hit,” he thought.

  On the next attack, he let her strike. The needle went through his chest, barely missing his heart. But Kharvos was ready. As the needle drove home, he raised his longsword and swung.

  Lyra’s eyes widened as she jumped back to dodge the attack, her needle left behind in his chest. While jumping, she instinctively put her hand forward to block the attack, and the longsword slashed her hand as she landed backward.

  Blood was dripping fast from her hand. She looked at it, and then at Kharvos. He was bleeding heavily.

  Kharvos dropped his longsword on the ground. With his left hand useless now, he grabbed Lyra’s needle with his right hand and pulled it out with a groan.

  Kharvos’s bleeding was much faster than Lyra’s.

  He had a hole in his chest area, yet he still looked at Lyra.

  She had no weapon to defend herself or attack. She stood there, gasping for breath.

  Without saying anything, Kharvos started walking toward Lyra. He was holding Lyra’s needle.

  Lyra stepped backward. Her eyes widened and her breath grew heavy.

  Kharvos kept walking. Then a sharp sound cracked from somewhere behind him.

  Kharvos’s eyes widened as he looked down. An axe head was buried in his chest.

  Blood started coming from his mouth as he fell to the ground.

  While he was falling, Lyra saw Bromgar standing behind him, gasping for breath just like her.

  “Are you alright?” Bromgar asked Lyra.

  Lyra didn't answer. She stood there staring when a voice came from behind her. “Lyra. Lyra.”

  Arix was there.

  He ran toward her with Tarin and Rurik. Upon reaching her, he asked, “Are you okay?” putting his hands on Lyra’s shoulders.

  Lyra nodded as she looked to her left toward Meilie, who had already fainted a while ago.

  Tarin went to check on her. “She is breathing. She will be good,” he shouted.

  Lyra took a deep breath and fainted in Arix’s hands.

  Arix laid her on the ground and looked toward Bromgar.

  He was covered in bandages, and the king’s body was lying in front of him.

  “Looks like the king is dea—” Tarin came to Arix and was about to finish his sentence when a loud smash sound came from the battlefield.

  Dust covered the whole battlefield in an instant.

  Arix covered his nose, and so did Tarin.

  After the dust cleared, Arix saw a man standing to his left.

  Arix stood up and tried to figure out who that was when Tarin walked ahead of him.

  The man stood there with a sword in his hand and stared at Arix and Tarin with a dead look.

  “Father," Tarin breathed, walking toward the man.

  Arix stood there, confused. "A human?" he thought, squinting.

  Tarin kept walking toward him. “Father, you are alive. I came to the mainland as you instructed, but we haven’t found the prison yet,” he said.

  When he got close to him, Halden pointed his sword toward Tarin. Tarin stopped, confused about what was happening.

  With tears in Halden’s eyes, he said, “I am very sorry, son.” His voice cracked.