The Devil's Cursed Witch

One of them spoke, "Aureus, just watch. Don't intervene."

The younger Divine Eagle who was about to lunge paused. "Shouldn't we help? Erlos is alone and looks to be struggling. The King's mate is there as well."

"Don't worry. Erlos is not that weak to fail handling a few brainless orcs," Morpheus countered as the two landed on the top of a tree far enough to not be noticed by those fighting near the river.

Morpheus' gaze landed on Ember, the human girl visibly shaking as she hid behind a cluster of boulders, and for a moment, he was tempted to intervene and bring  her away immediately but...he dropped the idea. Morpheus was hailed as the strongest warrior of Agartha, and as someone who practically lived his whole life in the battlefield, he could have dealt with those orcs in a matter of seconds.

But what good would that too? It would be helpful to the growth of Erlos' and Ember's mentalities if they were allowed to solve this problem on their own.

Erlos obviously lacked real combat experience, while it was obvious that Ember had never witnessed such violence before. Especially for Ember, it was important for her to face such situations, to understand what kind of place she is living in and what kind of creatures were part of Agartha.

"Aren't you going to her?" Aureus asked.

"Every new experience is a useful lesson for her. Let her learn," Morpheus replied as his gaze followed Erlos who had just tied the two orcs to the tree. "Oh, look at that. What a conscientious kid. The past him wouldn't mind hurting these orcs, but he's just capturing them. Not only did he mature, he has learned how to use his strengths. Draven had taught him well."

Morpheus observed Erlos and his gaze was proud, as if the elf was his own sibling or child.

"He sure is skilled," Aureus replied as he observed Erlos. Though he too had not much personal combat experience, as an eagle who grew up watching the high-level swordsmen of Megaris, he could appreciate the elf's quick movements and how he was dealing with those weapon-wielding orcs without causing them heavy injuries.

"Do you think that Dragon would have left his mate with just anyone? He knows what he needs to do to teach these two and has sent them to adventure on their own," Morpheus commented.

"What do you mean?" Aureus frowned. "You're saying the King of Agartha has foressen their lives would be put in danger? Erlos is acceptable but the Queen is a mere human. She doesn't even know how to fight."

Morpheus chuckled, as if he found his nephew's words amusing. "Don't look down on her. She is the kind who won't give the person in front of her a chance to fight. Once she makes a move, forget about injuries, nothing but ashes would be left behind from her enemies."

Aureus sighed and mumbled, "I won't let Drayce put Seren in danger like this. Nothing is more important than her life."

Morpheus heard it and patted his shoulder. "Don't worry. Nothing will happen. It's just a lesson. If something dangerous were to truly happen to his mate, Draven would be the first one to rampage. He isn't moving because he trusts Erlos can handle this much."

"I can see he can but still..."

"Erlos needs to learn to take responsibility for others. All this time, he has been under Drayce's wings but now it's time for him to fly out of the nest and be responsible for others. Being the youngest one, he had been protected and doted upon by our kind. There had been no one he needed to protect too, but now Ember's appearance gave him this chance.

"As the only pureblooded descendant of High Elves left, this kid needed to be stronger and wiser than even his predecessors, or else, how could he build up his clan and lead people in the future? He needs to learn all these things as well. Responsibility forces a person to be careful with their decision and not be impulsive. There is a lot for him to learn."

"And the Queen?" Aureus asked.

"She will get to see what kind of place this is. Agartha is not all sunshine and roses. To be a proper queen, along with the good parts, she needs to witness the dangerous parts of this kingdom and embrace it as well.

"I guess with this, she will grow to understand not everyone will show goodwill towards her. Some will be indifferent, while others will be hostile to her. Balance and harmony exists within the kingdom, and even the strongest beings need to respect others and their rules.

"For example, these orcs, they are residents of the kingdom but they don't like outsiders intruding into their territory. They love to live in isolation and will only show aggression if we fail to respect their wishes and let them be on their own.

"Agartha is founded not to be a kingdom where a monarch rules over everyone's heads like a tyrant, but in order to support the peaceful paradise desired by every creature in this kingdom. Regardless of their differences, all the beings living within this kingdom matter."

Ember flinched every time Erlos narrowly dodged an attack, and after some time, she decided to pick up some stones and slowly make her way forward, throwing them to the orcs from time to time in order to distract them. Aureus could not help but remark, "Erlos and the Queen seem to get along really well, like real siblings."

"Hmm!" Morpheus agreed. "See, Ember has a strong willpower. She didn't want to only be protected."

By then, Erlos had managed to restrain two more orcs, leaving only the leader and one smaller orc to deal with. As the smaller, more nimbler orc who uses a spear engaged with him, Erlos saw the leader going towards the river as he followed Ember's smell.

"Are we still not intervening?" Aureus asked.

Morpheus's eyes narrowed at the orc and he almost reached the limit of his patience. It was already hard to merely watch when the woman he loved was in danger, and each passing second was a test to his own willpower. He was losing it and almost thought of going to her but...

Swish!

One arrow hit the calf of the orc, making him roar in pain and Ember immediately got the chance to run away from there. She ran towards Erlos, but then saw the other smaller orc about to step on the snack basket given by Cornelia. Those baked snacks were going to be crushed!

"Hey, watch out. My snacks!" she cried out at him. "Erlos, pull him away! I am not done eating them!"

Aureus could not help but laugh, but Morpheus gave him a narrow-eyed gaze. "She is right. One should respect food."

"Not more than their own life," Aureus countered as he could not stop chuckling.

"She is a little...childish, I guess."

"I understand," Aureus said, suppressing his smile.

Erlos immediately shot another arrow in the thigh of that orc, making him stop in his tracks which saved the snacks.

Throwing caution in the wind, Ember rushed towards the basket and picked it up as she glared at that orc. "Seems like you have never starved in your life, have you?"

With the arrow laced with magic, the orc growling in pain was about to raise his weapon against her. Though he was on the ground, his massive kneeling body was still larger than Ember.

"Eurkkk! Eurkkkk!"

The orc was suddenly flustered the moment he met her eyes which seemed to be like flames to him. Orcs being sensitive to heat, he felt like she was a living, breathing fire.

He scrambled away though he was in pain. He didn't attack her and instead looked wary of her. He looked at his leader who had just pulled the arrow out of his calf and growled as if to communicate with him.

The leader of the orcs looked at Ember and then looked back at his subordinate. Ember didn't know what they were talking about, but she was somewhat relieved they lowered their weapons and she saved her snacks. She watched the orcs taking a step towards the trees where their comrades were restrained with vines.

Erlos calmed down as he understood they were not going to attack Ember.

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