Michael\'s POV

So, what\'s the plan"? I asked after all of us gathered together in the hall.

Victoria and Cassie shared a quick glance before Victoria spoke, "The Enchanted forest turned out to be a hoax, so I need you all to stay here. Cassie and I will drive our army in the front."

"We don\'t want to stay back" I rebelled.

"Yeah, I learned how to fight, and I am gonna fight too" Jake insisted along with me.

"Look as much as I appreciate the offer, I need you guys here." Victoria insisted before taking an apprehensive glance at Cassie.

"There is a possibility that someone, someone from our side is trying to tear us apart from the inside. We don\'t know who it is, though we have our suspicion" Cassie sighed.

"We need you to protect everyone in here who are taking shelter, when we are away". Victoria added.

"And...with your powers fry them if nothing works". Cassie ordered looking directly at me.

All of us looked at each other and we nodded. The girls exited, leaving us guys in this hallroom. "I… I will be back in a minute" I declared and headed out.

I reached the hall where we failed to open a portal to the enchanted forest. Everything in me screamed that this was it… but somehow I was wrong. I still believe that my idea is not completely invalid, but with the queen dead… Cassie and Victoria seem to have given up.

But I can\'t give up on them. Despite my destructive powers, I can\'t employ it to win the war. My powers don\'t discriminate, and it can hurt the offenders and innocents alike. Something I don\'t want to explore.

I stared at the spot, recalling our failed spell, contemplating on what went wrong. "You don\'t want to give up yet, do you"? Sofosys spoke, earning my attention. I was confused, did he read my mind? Or is my presence here too obvious? "You seemed determined when you left" he mumbled, once again answering my question that I didn\'t ask... out loud. "Your expression..reminded me of someone". He mumbled.

"Who"? I asked immediately.

"Someone I used to know" he replied vaguely. "Mike, why are you so obsessed with this? What is it that you desire from this forest?" He asked me.

"I don\'t think you know this… but ever since I was young, people I have cared about have always abandoned me in one way or the other". I sighed. "My father left before I was born, my mother died… Victoria vanished under the impression of being dead" I paused.

Sofosys didn\'t prompt, allowing me to continue, "After finding her finally… and with Cassie, I don\'t wanna lose them. This is a deadly war… and with the queen gone it\'s their responsibility. I have faith in them, but it still doesn\'t take away the threat to their lives"

"So you want to end this war...for them"? He guessed, once more pretty accurately. "I doubt if the forest can work that way. I hypothesized it can save lives.. but end a war?"

"Why not? Ending war is peace. Wasn\'t that the forest\'s true purpose?" I asked.

"I suppose that\'s true" he mumbled, "But there is only one way to find out. We must figure out a way". Sofosys mumbled.

We tossed ideas at each other, nothing too significant for a while. Even with his immense knowledge he failed to connect the dots properly that would allow us to move past the unknown barrier.

We lost track of time until it was really late. Out of the blue we heard some noises coming from outside and upon checking noticed that a few people were running frantically. Soon I spotted Jake and Maland in the mix, "Jake"! I called out. "What is happening"?

"Oh, you\'re here" He mumbled, catching his breath.

"Is someone attacking us"? I asked. I mentally braced myself to fry whoever it was since that was what I was tasked with.

"No, it\'s… Victoria, she injured herself" He breathed.

"What"?! I was shocked. In fact, Sofosys, who was calm until now, seemed to have been alerted. "Where is she"?

"They are bringing her back here, to the royal physician" Jake mumbled.

"I\'ll go with you," I added.

"So will I" Sofosys added and without any further ado we walked away to the chamber of the royal physician. When Victoria finally arrived not only was she unconscious but her vest was almost completely bloody making me wonder what exactly did happen out there.

"How did this happen"? I asked the men accompanying her. They lowered their heads at my loud voice, so I asked again. "Tell me, why is she like this"?

"She was using her power of levitation to keep the attacks away from us. Since she was at the core, they targeted her… from the inside" One of the men mumbled.

"What do you mean inside"? I frowned.

"Unlike most of them, instead of walking on the ground or flying, this person bore through the ground, and caught her off guard" they informed us.

"Magnus," I blurted. He was the only one I knew with the power of earth, and only one who could pull off such a heist.

"It cannot be him, he is still with us in custody" Maland informed me.

Before I could contradict how he is the master of deception, one of the men added. "The soldier who did this perished. He died on spot, severely injuring our queen" It was weird to hear them call Victoria their queen, but that suited her so perfectly at the same time.

"Let me take a look" The Royal physician arrived in haste. He removed her best carefully to reveal a large wound in her left upper abdomen. I don\'t know about goblins, but if I were dealing with a human, I would suspect splenic injury. After a minute of careful observation she mumbled, "She has lost a large amount of blood, I can barely keep her alive."

"Don\'t tell me she would die" Finally, the panic dawned upon me. The same desperation that she had when it was the previous queen, Cassie and her mother on the deathbed. "Don\'t you Goblin\'s have some kind of healing magic? It can cure things like this right"? I recalled.

"Unfortunately my healing magic isn\'t that refined. I have stabilized her, but am not sure how long I can keep her awake" the royal physician sighed.

"Well there must be someone"! I asked desperately.

"Cassandrei can" Sofosys spoke. "Was she informed of her injury"? He asked the men. They nodded at Sofosys who turned to the physician "Please keep her alive until Cassandrei arrives"

It took another twenty minutes or so until Cassie finally arrived. She ran towards Victoria with tears brimming in her eyes, "Victoria" She called out softly.

"Can you save her?" I asked her. She looked at me confused so I pressed, "You saved that wolf back in the forest. You have healing magic… beyond anything I have ever seen. Can you heal her"?

As if something clicked, she nodded her head vigorously. She put her hand directly above the wound and closed her eyes. The edges of the wound approximated and soon the gaping hole vanished leaving nothing but the escaped blood on the surface. After another minute or so, a loud gasp emerged from Victoria who woke up in an instant.

Meanwhile Cassie smiled through her disheveled breath. I could see sweat droplets on her forehead. Indicating how difficult this must have been for her. "Thank you Cassie," I mumbled.

"Of course, she is my sister too," She added. "Also, this is not exactly the power of healing, it\'s the power of life," she added. "It\'s similar, but not the same"

That moment something clicked in me, "That\'s it" I mumbled out loud. Cassie looked at me but I spoke louder to gain everyone\'s attention. "Remember how the portal didn\'t open with the four of us?" I asked. Few of them nodded slightly and others waited for me to continue. "That\'s it, we forgot Cassie! She has pure healing power"!

"Mike, I don\'t think that\'s accurate. Life based powers aren\'t elemental as yours are. Fire, Water, Air and Earth are the pure elemental ones" She tried to explain it to me.

"I know!" I exclaimed. "But, the ancestor said pure magic, not elemental magic. I think this is where the difference lies." I insisted.

"I think Michael must be right," Sofosys added. "It is indeed possible. Bring Magnus from his cell to the hallroom. We must try one more time."

Maland decided to get him from the cell while the rest of us headed to the hallroom. Magnus appeared annoyed by his summon but nevertheless agreed to try this again with us.

All of us, this time Cassie included, focused. We tried to open five different portals and with a final nod to everyone, we collided those with each other. The edges of the portal started to spin very rapidly as the center filled with nothing but white.

Before we could comprehend everything became white and that\'s the last thing I remember until….