36 Maya

"Ughh..."  A heavy sense of nausea hit Austin after he activated the necklace. He knew what was going to happen but couldn't prevent the whirling in his head. This wasn't because of Austin's lack of experience, but the same thing would happen to anyone who used the necklace. The teleportation skill allows one to escape from a dangerous situation. However, the magic within it was not the same when Mages used it. It was far more profound and the distance one would travel was unknown.

Austin's mind flickered with white before suddenly being brought back to reality. He nearly fell to the ground but caught himself in a split second with uncanny reactions. Unfortunately, Elena then came falling towards him.

'Thump!'

He landed on his back with Elena laying on top of him. Feeling her blood dripping down onto him, a sense of urgency rose. "Mother, are you ok?" There was no reply but he didn't have to call out again. He shortly realized she was unconscious.

Immediately adjusting his position, Austin gently placed her on the ground. There were five red slashes that he could see across her body and most of them were deep. However, the real problem was that she had used up too much mana and her body was losing stability. Barely any air was coming out of her fragile lips and hey eyes had a slight quivering. Her body no longer allowed her to stay conscious but her mind was not fully asleep.

Austin didn't want to move her too much but thankfully they landed in a patch of soft grass so he could keep her there. She was very weak right now but there weren't any severe risks. After scanning over Elena and confirming her condition, Austin glanced around to see where they were. Only after seeing it did he realize he had been hearing a loud pouring noise. Nearby, there was actually a large pond. At the back, the pond was connected to a cliff where a waterfall was. 'Water? Great.'

Heading over to the pond, the first thought Austin had was how crystal clear the water was. Looking down, he was able to see a graphic reflection of himself. 'My eyes...?' Looking into his own eyes, he actually became dazed. Austin's eyes were very unordinary because of their bright violet, but he thought he had seen stars inside them for a second. Rubbing his eyes, they returned to normal and he broke out of his dismay.

The only way to recover from mana deficiency was either with time or mana flasks. Austin did not have any control over either option, but he could still do something about her physical wounds.

Taking off his shirt, he first cleaned it in the pond to get rid of some blood that had stained it. After making sure it was completely gone, he tore it into small pieces and dampened it. Then walking back to Elena, Austin began carefully treating her wounds so they would not get infected. For the areas that were deep with blood, Austin had to take off Elena's clothes and wrap them with some pressure. A little vitality returned to Elena's ghost-white face and her trembling had stopped when the water was applied. Austin noticed this and assumed it to be a peculiar coincidence. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

'Done.' Finishing his treatment, he then called out in a wary and hostile voice, "Come out." Earlier, he had noticed a pair of eyes peeking on them. He was still on edge from getting ambushed. Although he was not showing it, there was a great amount of anger inside him. He had never been so powerless before - it was the first time he had seen his loved ones almost die in front of him. And having escaped by themselves, he had no idea if Bram was ok or not. "Stop hiding. I know you're there," Austin called again in a sanguine tone.

Some muffling of leaves sounded out from the bushes. Turning around, Austin stern expression dropped upon seeing who it was. A tiny child was nervously staring at him. After coming out from hiding, she was too afraid to come closer anymore.

"Sorry for scaring you." Austin showed a kind smile to reassure the child and her wariness dropped. Seeing his sparkling warm eyes, her vigilance disappeared without thinking.

"Is she ok?" A very childish and squeaky voice said.

Austin followed her tiny finger which was pointed at Elena.

He looked back to Elena's relaxed face that was no longer contorted in pain. A trace of sadness appeared in his eyes as he softly said, "yea, she will be fine. But when she wakes up..."

Some light footsteps brought the girl next to him. She was closely staring at Elena's body, her eyes lingering on the areas that were wrapped with his clothes and had blood on them. "Are you sure?" The girl's face was very serious and looked like she was struggling, unable to trust Austin's words.

Austin felt some warmth in his heart seeing how sincere she was. He lightly laughed, "yes. Thank you for worrying about my mother."

She became relieved at his words, but there was still a hint of concern in her eyes. Seeing this, Austin thought she was a very kindhearted and pure child. "My name's Austin. This is Elena - my mother. What's your name?" He asked.

Turning back to him, she looked very surprised and her chest rose with a big inhale. "My name is Maya. I am three years old and I like looking at the water," she said with big callow eyes. It sounded like she had practiced saying this line many times.

Her short, straight hair was a soothing hazelnut color that looked full of life and her dimpled cheeks were revealed with a warming smile. Noting how worried she became over Elena, Austin exclaimed, "What an adorable name. You're a very nice person Maya."

"Hehe." Her eyes closed cutely as her smile brightened. It was her first time being complimented and she liked the feeling. She was also happy that someone finally asked what her name was.

"What are you doing here by yourself Maya? Don't you know it's dangerous without your mother and father?"

Maya's eyes turned curious. "Mother... father? Who are they?"

'Oh, she...'

"Uh, nevermind. Then, who do you live with Maya?"

Maya regained clarity in her eyes and said cheerily, "my brother! But he is not home... I always come here by myself to play!" Then, Maya's eyes sparkled as if she had come up with a great idea. "Do you want to come to my home? She can sleep there!"

"Don't you know that you shouldn't invite people you don't know to your house, Maya?" Austin said to her with a smile.

"Ah, why?" Maya blinked, totally confused by his question.

"If you come to my house, then Maya will have someone to talk to! And when someone is sick, they should sleep in a bed. That's what my brother says." Maya tried to convince Austin and looked at him with imploring eyes.

'Is she just lonely...?'

Seeing how cute Maya looked, Austin couldn't help but remember Laura. He was about to act on his habit to pat her head but then refrained from doing so, realizing they were not the same person. He jokingly smiled at her, "then how are we going to get Elena to your house? Are you going to carry her?"

"Ah-"