419 Fireplace

Alicia's eyes glowed from the reflected light that came from her crystal ball. Her heart was thumping hard in her chest as she watched the scene before her. But she couldn't look away. She couldn't snap out of her trance. It was like she was being drawn into that world but she couldn't do anything about it. She was powerless.

Alicia watched Abigail wandering out there, alone in the dark, cold, icy world. Alicia had no idea how long Abigail had been out there and she couldn't see her clearly through the crystal ball because a layer of mist had gathered around Abigail, obstructing her vision. Why? Why was she out there in the forest all alone? Where did Alexander go? And what was this thing that obstructed her vision? This had never happened before! Whatever that was, it was definitely not natural!

"Abigail…" Alicia muttered causing all the vampires' eyes to snap and look at her. Raven finally spoke up, needing to know what was wrong.

"Witch, what is it?" Raven asked, sounding very firm and calm. However, the witch was still watching, unable to break her concentration, unable to hear his questions. He didn't know if he should shake her awake or not because he didn't know what effect that might have on her if he interrupted her, so he decided to act.

Feeling an urgency due to Alicia's outburst, Raven immediately gathered his troops.

"We are going to check the perimeter of that glass house to make sure nothing bad has gone down there. If you see any anomalies, deal with it if it is an enemy, or report back to me if it is about Abigail or Alexander." He looked at each one of them before he turned to Riev. "Riev, you will stay here and protect the witch until we come back."

Everyone nodded, and in the next second, everyone scattered out of the house, leaving Riev observing the silver-haired witch with a frown on his face. He definitely had a bad feeling about this.

Alicia was still looking down the magic ball, searching Abigail's surroundings for any distinct landmarks that would help them track where she had gone before she finally expanded her view to see if Alexander was close by. There was no sign of him. Instead, she saw them; a line of red slowly approaching the log house she was in.

Riev watched Alicia and waited for her to finish, anxious to know what she was seeing and his patience was soon rewarded. The witch finally snapped back to the present, her hazy eyes becoming clearer with each second that passed by.

"We need to get out of here. The enemies are coming and Abigail needs us!" she frantically said to the almost empty room. In her panic, she hadn't realised that there was only herself and the vampire called Riev in the house. "Where is everyone?" she asked Riev, turning to face him.

"When you said Miss Abigail's name, they all rushed out to check the house," Riev answered.

"We have to go find Abigail! She is all alone out there but who knows how long for!" Alicia told Riev as she covered the crystal ball and quickly put it away. Her movements were rushed, as if there was no time to waste. "The enemies are coming. I saw them, many of them, heading our way. There were hybrid vampires and also hybrid w-" Alicia was cut off when she heard loud thuds coming from above, as if something landed on the roof.

Alicia and Reiv looked up before they looked at each other. Alicia thought that Raven and the others had come back when they found the house empty, looking to get answers from her but Riev carefully put a finger over his lips, indicating for her to be quiet. If these weren't their allies, then it could only be their enemy. Had they already reached them? But that was way too fast! She thought they had at least five more minutes before they arrived!

Alicia slowly bent down to pick up her bag which carried her potions, holding them close in case they were needed.

They heard footsteps on the roof, many footsteps, spreading out to each corner of the roof, surrounding them and blocking off potential escape paths. Alicia walked closer to Riev. Riev pointed to the fireplace, gesturing to her in a way that told her that the fireplace was where they were going to escape from. It kind of made sense. The enemies wouldn't come down from it while the fire was blazing and they certainly wouldn't expect for them to use that to escape for the same reason.

Alicia nodded at Riev and began to chant a spell. This was a spell for fire protection, so that both of them wouldn't get burned while they made their escape. Just as she finished chanting the last word of the spell, the enemies smashed through the roof down into the living area, surrounding the room with dust and rubble.

The moment before the enemies' feet landed on solid ground, Riev grabbed Alicia in a bear hug and kicked them up the chimney to the roof. He then leapt out towards the forest with her in his arms but they weren't able to get a clean getaway. Many pairs of red eyes chased after them and Riev knew it was useless to run. They would have to fight their way out of this. Besides, he didn't want to be followed, especially if they were on their way to get Miss Abigail.