"Hmmm? A woman?"

Her attention turned towards the man who had first walked out from under the tree. By now, there were about ten other people who were surrounding them.

"Are you lost, little girl? This forest is not for you."

Cassandra frowned as she side-eyed the other man who was fully bruised. Just like Carmichael, he was bound by black ropes too. If her guess was right, those ropes could repel any element. Such an expensive rope only meant that the person behind this group of thugs was not an ordinary one.

"I am looking for a child!" Wuma, whose hands were already on the hilt of his sword spoke. "We are not here to fight."

"A child?" someone from the other group said.. "Do you think we are fools? Boss, these people must be here to rescue these two."

"Sending a girl to rescue them is such a poor move," another person said.

The man next to Carmichael sent her a beaming smile, showing his large teeth. She immediately noticed his chipped tooth. "Get the girl."

When her guards heard this, they immediately moved closer toher. "No one shall touch the young lady!"

"Young Lady? It seems like she comes from a decent family?" The leader chuckled. "But who cares about those royal families?" He walked towards them, his boots crunching on the small twigs and branches that littered the ground. The sound was ominous to some, but to her it was nothing. In fact, her gaze was not focused on the man walking towards them but on his brother. To be more specific, she was staring at the dark space in between her brother and the other man bound by the rope.

"Take one more step and you will die!" Wuma said as he used his body to block her from the man\'s sight.

"Don\'t act like you\'re a hero," the man gave an evil cackle as if everything that had been happening was amusing. "Why don\'t you just give us the woman? I promise, I will give you a quick death."

"Over my dead body!"

The man laughed, his loud irritating voice echoing in the forest. Still, Cassandra ignored the man. Instead, she whispered to her men to run back to the entrance the moment she said so. Her voice was low but the people guarding her heard it clearly.

"Young Lady!"

"I will come out, alive." Determination filled her voice.

"Eh? What are you guys talking about?" The man asked as he neared them. "Don\'t even think of escaping. There are more than fifteen of us surrounding you. If you try anything funny, you\'re going to drop dead before you can say \'run\'."

After the man spoke the tension in the air seemed to increase.

"I\'ll go with you." Cassandra\'s voice broke the thick suffocating silence that followed the man\'s words.

"Eh?"

"She wants to come with us?" Someone asked.

"Interesting."

"Young Lady!" Wuma was quick to block her way. "Please don\'t do this."

"Remember what I said?" she asked without looking at him. "When I say run… you run."

"Young Lady! This— "

"Young Lady we would sacrifice our lives to protect you!"

"Young Lady, please don\'t do this!"

"We beg of you!"

She sighed inwardly. Obviously, these people would not just leave her there. "Tell grandfather that I wanted you to leave. He would understand." The old man knew about her ability. She assumed that her grandfather would understand her actions— her illogical action.

She didn\'t wait for anyone to answer as she pushed Wuma out of her way and stood in front of the group. "Leave them alone and I will come with you." There wasn\'t even the slightest hint of emotion in her voice.

"Remove your sword." The man said. "What are you doing with a sword? Women are supposed to stay in bed, not play around with swords." Everyone\'s laughter echoed. However, instead of following his words, Cassandra just stared at him.

"I will approach you once my people leave this— "

"Young Lady! We are not leaving!"

"Young Lady, we can fight them! Just— "

"Enough!" The man\'s voice boomed. "If you think you have the right to negotiate then you are wrong. Did you think I\'m a fool? Why would I let them go? So they would call other people to their aid? We came to this forest because no one would dare come in! Why would we want other people hunting us?" He glared at Cassandra. "Stupid slut."

Cassandra shook her head inwardly. Since they were not planning to let them go, then… she had no other choice. She looked at Carmichael again. The man was just staring at her, with the same blank but stern look in his face.

She couldn\'t help but wonder if he still hated her. For what happened to his fiancée.

Turning her head away, she smiled and looked at the leader of the group. "Since you don\'t want to let them go… then we can just die together."

The man stared at her with a dumb look on his face before he laughed, again. However, instead of feeling irritated, she beamed at him.

"This one is not only stupid. She is surprisingly— " Before the man could finish his words, a loud howl interrupted him. Just as she expected, his expression instantly changed. He turned around to look, his face paling, as did his men.

Seeing this, Cassandra immediately took the opportunity to use her sword and impaled the man in the stomach but the man turned, making her miss and hit his shoulder instead.

"You bitch!"

Cassandra ignored him as she shouted. "Run! Back to the entrance!" Cassandra didn\'t waste any more time as she tried to sprint towards her brother. To her surprise, the man whom she had stabbed was able to stop her, holding her arm, gripping it tight. The fact that he still had the strength to hold her using his dominant arm who is already wounded was enough to tell her about this man\'s ability.

She winced.

"Where do you think you\'re going!?" His red eyes were wide with rage, his grip tightening around her hand.

She had no time for this.

The wolves are coming!

Cassandra let out a curse before she shouted, "Burn!" What followed next was something familiar to the people around them. A black fireball, as big as her fist suddenly appeared on her hand.

"You— " Surprise flashed in the man\'s face as he let go of her arm. Sadly, she didn\'t have time to enjoy the fear in the man\'s eyes. She turned towards her brother who was leaning against the tree and grabbed a knife that could cut the rope.

Without a second thought, she cut the rope and handed a healing powder to him. Just as he was expecting her to help him run, she approached the other man and grabbed the rope. "You— You are coming with me!"