129

129

Ashley's POV:

I calculated as quickly as possible because time was not on my side. Nothing was on my side - not the elements of nature, not the people that were against me. I knew that my wrong choices and poor decisions had led to this, and that was the reason why my death was imminent now. But I could still have a chance of living if only I made one right choice right now, but that one right choice seemed to once again depend on luck, and luck was something that I had learned not to depend on because every time it seemed to be against me.

"Just this once, please," I said, muttering a prayer to whichever god above could listen to me and help me. There was so much danger and there were so many people against me - they might as well be a thousand men surrounding me from behind and from in front. I needed a miracle if I was going to survive this. If not, it would be exactly the opposite of what I had thought of just a moment ago - he would turn me into the sex slave that he wanted to turn me into, and I was going to be tortured daily and killed one way or another.

Once again, I would not even have achieved anything. The children would still be captured and my people would still die later on. I really needed that help from a higher god right now. If not, things were going to be very rough.

"Please, Goddess Diana," I said, simply hoping that she would listen to me. Imagine she actually listens, I thought, but I didn't give myself that hope because I knew what the odds were. Why on earth would Goddess Diana listen to me when I had never worshipped her, when I didn't give her any of the sacrifices that she required and loved? There was no reason at all for me to be helped by any of those higher powers, but I dared to hope because the consequence - the other option - was completely undesirable for me.

I took in a deep breath as I made up my mind. I'll go back and I'll take the west. I started moving then, running as quickly as possible and using my magic. I wouldn't be able to defend myself again, I realized that the moment that I felt the pain of an arrow lodging in my shoulder, as if it was shot by someone that knew my weak spots and someone that was able to completely and accurately cut through my magic as if I didn't have anything at all.

I frowned at this turn of events and then tried to bear with the pain for the moment I had right now. I knew that if I wasn't able to bear with the pain, things would never work out for me. And I needed to keep on going no matter what. They were using magical attacks on me now. My magic was hardly able to fend against them, I thought to myself. I thought about what I needed to do next in order to survive this attack.

It was an absolute mess right now. Everything was against me. I knew without a doubt that the people who were far stronger than I was and far better in the use of magic were hunting me down, and I had no way of attacking - all I could do was defend. And how long could I keep on defending? I asked myself, shaking my head as my movements automatically started to slow down with the negative thinking.

I couldn't just make myself continue running, not anymore. Not when all the odds were stacked up against me. And already I was getting injured and slowing down. I tried to heal myself with my magic, but it was pretty much futile because as much as I seemed to do my best, another attack simply came in the next moment. I wasn't able to continue the healing process and needed to at most defend against the attack.

One way or another, I tried my best to continue because I knew that if I didn't continue, then things would be pretty much over before they were ended properly. I wanted to make sure that I could tell anyone that asked me that I had done my best before I died, even though this death was probably inevitable after all.

Soon enough, however, I found that I was being chased and caught. The army behind me was the one closest to me, and some time after I started running west, I was surrounded by cavalry horses, each one of them with armed men, and each one of them having no expressions on their faces whatsoever. I didn't recognize them because of how they were armed to the teeth with weapons everywhere that I could see on their bodies.

I knew that it was futile for me to continue fighting, so I raised up my hands in surrender.

"We come in the name of Queen Diana of the United Kingdom of Witches and Weirus," one of them said. "Surrender now or face the consequences," he told me.

My eyes widened in shock. Did I just hear Diana? I could hardly believe my ears. Could that mean that the army behind me wasn't after my life after all? It was led by the queen? If that was truly the case, then maybe there was hope for me after all.

I immediately dropped my hands as I looked at the soldiers. They didn't seem to recognize me at all as they walked up to me. A very large man with strong gloves approached me. They were rough but not cruel in their handling of me. They bound my hands firmly, making sure I couldn't escape, but they weren't unnecessarily aggressive.

I didn't resist as they secured me as their prisoner. I knew my position now - I had absolutely no standing at all. It would be grace if Queen Diana simply let me live and allowed me to be a simple servant in her kingdom. At least serving her as a servant in her kingdom was much better than being a slave to my enemies.

But honestly, I felt that there was going to be a heavy price to pay. After all, the crime of betraying her trust deserved serious punishment, not just a mild reproach. I continued following their procedures, deciding that whatever road lay ahead, I would take it.

The only comfort was that she must have taken her children back. Considering how this had played out, it made sense to think that they had rescued the children before pursuing me. It was good to think of it like that, to assume that she had recovered her children and they were safe.

Well, I just need to keep going then, I thought to myself, as I followed their orders. However, worry still gnawed at me as I wondered what fate awaited me at the hands of Queen Diana.