The Castle in the middle of nowhere.

When Marie heard an explosion she trembled but after that, she took it calmly. She was in Avalon so nothing could seriously threaten her and even if something dare to try, she was already level sixty. But when she heard King Theon calling her name in a scary tone through his bond with everyone serving his will, she felt true fear.

"Stay!" she ordered the small wolf who sat obediently.

She sunk into her own shadow, leaving Idna's pup alone but Idna would understand. She emerged in the King's shadow not sure why King Theon was angry at her, but when she saw what was left of the Magic Tower she was shocked. King Theon was holding the barely alive Irene who coughed blood staining King's robes. He didn't even notice, so focused on holding Irene and trying to help her breathe.

"My King!" That was all Marie was able to say.

"Can you bring Priestess Lanka here?" Asked King. Marie focused and felt the distant presence of uncles Verni and Ragnar. Lanka should be with them or somewhere nearby.

"Yes, my King!" And Marie jumped right back into the shadow summoning Mr Fluffles.

She landed softly on the broad back of her wolf who darted forward running as fast as he could. Shadow movement is quick but only looks like teleportation. At very short distances it is almost instant but the further you want to go the longer it will take, but thanks to Mr Fluffles, Marie could cross vast distances in no time.

•••

"Hold them! Don't let them come close to wagons!" Knys ordered his party. "Fucking goblins!"

"There's too many of them Knys!" yelled Ori bashing four goblins at once with his round shield and piercing another one with a spike on top of his hammer.

Archers were shooting in every direction trying to thin the horde numbers, but it was hopeless. Worse, they start running out of arrows. Mages used all their mana but as powerful as they were, they couldn't do much against numbers.

Fencers pirouetted in the green mass but if they kept it up longer they would run out of stamina so they hid from time to time behind their tanks to rest for just a moment. Verni and Ragnar attacked with ground-shattering power and fury but despite their high levels, they couldn't turn the tides of this battle. Verni sent his familiar eagle to Avalon in the hope that the King could send them help, but they knew they must hold and stay alive until and if reinforcements arrive.

They used wagons as half of a ring to cover their backs and their tanks formed the front wall. They put horses inside which wanted to join the battle and couldn't understand why these people didn't allow them. Nearby were children and other people who couldn't fight but they were trying to protect them regardless. All others picked any weapon they could grab and used it from behind tanks to stab any goblin trying to come closer.

Druids and shamans fared a little better than mages. They focused on buffing allies and casting weak area-of-effect spells that shredded weak monsters. But the party had only four of them.

The tanks still held the line huffing from exhaustion, some of them already at their limits. When their stamina is depleted the tanks will falter.

And then they will all die.

Goblins are not powerful or even cunning monsters but always attack with overwhelming numbers wearing their opponents to finally kill them. A child could kill a single goblin but goblin hordes destroyed entire villages or even cities.

"We were so close!" Whispered Lanka who could swear she saw the Walls of Avalon in the distance. She was preparing herself to cast an ultimate spell she learned when she devoted herself to Eriar. Her Walls of Avalon will drain her entire mana but she could hold them for about fifteen minutes. They had fought for three hours now, hoping to kill enough goblins to break their will but to no avail. In situations like this, you just have to kill goblins until you kill enough to make the rest retreat. She hoped that fifteen minutes longer could change that.

She saw Knys looking at her and she prepared a spell when they all suddenly felt dread of impending doom and heard a familiar voice. The goblins looked terrified.

"Shadow Frost Barrage!"

The hail of arrows hit the goblin horde from all sides- the effect was terrifying. Wherever the arrow hit the frost exploded covering all nearby goblins in ice and freezing them to death. The arrows were coming and coming in waves always from new and changing angles. This finally broke the spirit of the horde and made them flee from the battlefield. Marie was sitting on Mr Fluffles who gently held Lanka by the back of her robes in his mouth. With a swift turn of his head, he threw her on his back and Marie helped her sit behind her.

"LANKA!" Terrified, Marie yelled right into the Priestess's face. "King needs you now!"

And like that, they disappeared.

•••

I gently put Irene on the mattress I created using my dungeon powers and looked around in panic.

"Where are you, Amber?!"

I closed my eyes and tried to use my building mode, cursing myself that I had made Avalon this big. I spent three minutes that felt like hours looking around the tower when I heard the scream of pure fear. I opened my eyes and saw Marie mounted on her wolf with a frightened Lanka right behind her.

"Lanka, heal Irene! Quick!" I ordered with a hoarse voice closing my eyes once again. I groaned when the building view showed me once again the entire Avalon, but then I saw the precious marker. I was looking for it this entire time and teleported away leaving behind Marie, Lanka, and Irene.

Amber was lying unconscious on our bed bleeding horribly but still alive, covered with soft warm light. As gently as I could I picked her up and teleported back to Lanka. Irene was now asleep and judging by her health bar and status she will live. Lanka gasped horrified when she saw Amber's injuries and without waiting for my orders she started healing Amber.

"Great Heal!" She shouted over and over again but Amber's health bar did not even budge, however, her wounds closed and she stopped bleeding out.

Lanka was drained and tired. I saw sweat covering her forehead and dripping down her face but she forced herself to cast Great Heal almost continuously. She finally sat heavily on the ground panting exhaustedly.

"I... I can't..." She was barely able to speak.

I quickly nodded to Marie who disappeared into the shadows once again. I focused and grabbed all three women teleporting us away from the ruins of the magic tower to my bedroom where I delicately laid Amber back to bed. Lanka was too exhausted to be scared or excited. I grabbed a jug full of juice made from the mix of all fruits in my garden and poured a full glass for Lanka.

"Drink this," I ordered looking at Amber's status nervously.

Lanka took a glass from me with shaking hands but drank it without a question. I saw her mana and stamina bars filling slowly and noticed her shock when she understood what she had just drunk. She stopped shaking, took a deep breath and tried to stand up but I held her.

"Miss Lanka, take it easy. You are my only chance to save Amber. For now, you managed to save her and it looks good but the crisis is not averted yet." She nodded, still tired. "Thank you Miss Lanka you for coming so fast."

"Well... Miss Marie just grabbed me after she fended off goblins that ambushed us on the road back here." I saw a pale smile on her face. "But when she was taking me here goblins were running so my party should be on the road once again."

"Goblins?!" I closed my eyes and couldn't find Marie inside Avalon. She must have returned to the Lanka's party to aid them. "Arani! Take your eagles and find Verni, Ragnar and the adventurers' party that is protecting them, if Marie is with them, protect them on their way back to Avalon. If she's not with them, find her and bring her home."

An ear-piercing eagle scream tore the air as Arani and other Storm Eagles left to carry out their mission. Lanka looked relieved to hear my order and drank one more glass of juice. I sat near Amber and held her soft hand thinking about the woman I had known for just a bit over two weeks. She was breathing shallowly and slowly.

"My King..." I heard Irene quietly moan and saw her trying to stand up. She coughed up her blood once more and barely whispered. "Cure wounds..."

I saw her recover as soft yellow light covered her. She still was looking bad but all her statuses returned to normal. She could move quicker now and looked at Amber.

"Oh no..." I saw tears in her eyes as she examined Amber. "My King... I... I can't save her. I don't even know how she survived in the first place. I..."

I froze terrified, looking at Irene who was crying holding Amber's other arm. Lanka stood fearfully nearby and I heard shattering glass as it slipped out of her hands. Irene looked at her and I saw hope in her eyes.

"My Lord! Where is Stella? With Lanka here, we might be able to save Amber but we will need Stella's power!"

"Stella died. She will respawn but I don't know exactly when."

"No!" Irene was about to burst into tears again.

"You said you both need more power? Do you mean mana?" I asked very gently, letting go of Amber's hand.

"Yes, but only Stella can channel her mana through us..."

"Not only she can." I closed my eyes and tried to channel my mana toward Irene or Lanka but it was rejected.

I exhaled. Focus. Focus! What can I do now? A True Name. I looked at them and I hoped that the system would allow me to pour my mana into them. Irene and Lanka looked at me with anticipation.

"Don't choose anything you don't want my Ladies. I'm a little desperate here but I don't want to impose anything. Irene. Will you allow me to call you Irene?"

"What...?" She started but paled and gasped when she saw the system pop up. I allowed her to choose for herself and turned toward Lanka.

"Lanka, will you allow me to call..." I felt a headache and looked at the pop-up.

Fuck you! In that case... "Allow me to call you..."

"I can do this, my King." I heard the firm and calm voice of Irene who was now standing over Amber.

I saw golden circles forming around her and the biggest one under Amber. Irene's eyes were shining with a deep bright gold and blue light. I saw as she struggled to harness her new power and I held my breath.

"SAINTESS MIRACLE!"

She shouted and passed out like a marionette with its strings cut, landing next to Amber who suddenly tensed then straightened her still unconscious body. Then she took a deep breath and I saw healthy colours returning to her face.

A soft thud reminded me that Lanka was still here. I turned around once again and calmly smiled at her when I saw how tired she was from all the healing she performed.

"Thank you, Miss Lanka. I'm in your debt." I said and she just mindlessly nodded, overwhelmed by her exhaustion. She was so drowsy I gently picked her up and put her to bed near Amber. From the wardrobe, I took out three soft blankets and covered each one of them.

"Thank you..." I uttered towards the skies and took a few deeper breaths.

"My King?"

Sebastian was standing nearby and I saw one of the maids just dissolved pieces of glass as she absorbed all the grime into some sort of gooey-looking puddle that seeped from under her feet. Damn effective.

"Sebastian, Miss Lanka is our guest here from now on. Please tell Miss Annika where Marie is. I will apologize later, in person."

"As you wish, my King." He vanished as soon as I turned around.

I sat heavily in the armchair holding a glass of juice and looked out of the window. Thousands of questions crossed my mind when I dimmed the lights in the room. I looked at the juice in my hand.

"I need something stronger. Whiskey would be good." I exhaled one more time.

I'm much better now since I saw Amber's status improving. I even started joking to myself. After a while, I stood up and went closer to the bed. All three girls lay exhausted, sleeping calmly. I chuckled at the sudden thought.

"Man... You are progressing. Now you have three sexy babes in your bed."

•••

When King nodded to her, Marie quickly vacated the area. She was standing now in the shadow realm and was cuddled into Mr Fluffles as she calmed down.

"That was scary..."

"Very." Agreed Mr Fluffles.

"I think we should go to Uncle Verni and Uncle Ragnar and tell them what happened." The five-year-old sounded more as if she asked her familiar than stated her wish.

"This might be a good idea, Miss Marie." Said the wolf aloud.

He moved much slower now as he still was fatigued after his crazy dash last time. Wolf felt the girl's head laying on his neck and he knew she was just tired. Her nap time was soon.

•••

Knys was looking dumbfounded at the spot where Miss Marie had disappeared with his only healer in the middle of a small-scale goblin invasion. To give her credit she had broken goblins with her hail of arrows and the sense of certain and horrible death caused by her familiar.

"Knys?" Ikki punched him in the arm. "You move your ass with us or wait for goblins to change their mind and kill you?"

"Yeah... Yeah!" He shook his head twice and looked around but everyone had already sprung to action. "Let's move out! We can't allow more stops. Avalon is just over the horizon!"

They managed to survive this encounter and just after a few minutes were moving back again. He sat heavily on a bench near the coachman. Sitting behind him were Dwarves from Qur. One of them was a very important figure. Silently talking, they all rested allowing the horses to move at a faster pace because the road was a little bit better here.

"Excuse me... Ekhem. Sir, Knys?" Asked one of the dwarves from behind Orc.

"Yes? It's Uvar Knys. I can be called only sir by accident or as a simple pleasantry."

"What was that? Or Who?"

"It was just Miss Marie." Said Knys, certain that explains everything.

"But... how did she get here? And where has she gone?" Asked an even more confused Dwarf.

"She is a Phantom Ranger. Look..." He turned angrily to see whom he was speaking with. "I'm sorry, sir. It has been a stressful day."

He wanted to say something else but at the same moment, he heard the deep captivating voice.

"Mr Uvar Knys, will you take Marie into the wagon? She fell asleep and I'm afraid it's going to rain soon. She needs her nap."

"Yeah sure... WHAT THE FUCK?!”

•••

I was standing in the middle of the ruins of Magic Tower looking at the charred remains of what once was a training chamber wondering how this could have happened.

"It's all my fault, my King!" I heard the thin voice of my Pixie Scion. "It's because of me that the Queen died! I was too full of myself to see that I couldn't teach her properly!"

Stella was kneeling right in front of me shivering. A few moments ago she spawned and dashed here as fast as she could.

"Amber is alive Stella." I sighed as I watched in the corner of my eye the statuses of Amber and Irene. "Irene managed to save her."

Relief poured from Stella who bursted into tears. I gave her a moment to calm down.

"Tell me what happened here, Stella."

"I was training them as usual. The Queen's power is so immense she can't use even a tenth of it. That's why for the last two weeks the Queen was training her mana control. Without the proper control, her mana could run wild." She flew into the air.

"And that's what happened? Amber's mana ran wild?"

"I... I don't know." She shook her head as she was flying in front of my eyes. "The safeguards I have set in this place should hold and discharge any wild mana rather than allow an explosive build-up. I'm afraid that in my current state, I can't properly teach the Queen safely."

"Your current state?" I asked flatly.

"Yes, my King. I'm... I'm just a Pixie, my King." She lowered her head and clenched her tiny fists.

I opened the Pixie spawner and read all the details. Of course. Pixies are the weakest of fairy races and as such, they are often seen in the realm of mortals where they look for more knowledge.

It's my fault. It's all my fault that Stella was unable to act properly. She was my only true magic-using scion and I left her spawner untouched. I'm spending much more mana than I earn now. I need to start earning more mana quickly or this world-saving trip will be fucking short.

"Stella, I don't blame you." I sighed.

"I should have told you, my King, about my shortcomings!"

"Yes, you should have done that." I told her calmly.

"I'm so sorry..."

"Good night Stella. This is the last time you will see me that way." I told her as her spawner crumbled to the dust.

"My King!" she screamed shocked but faded away with the wind.

I raised my hands and enchanted stones swirled in the air as my Magic Tower fused with a majestic tall tree whose branches overhung nearby buildings. The tower was bigger than before and infused with enchanted stones that made it resistant to being blown up once again. I was standing inside of the tower which was a few times larger than outside and sighed.

"Sleep well, Stella." I patted my new spawner and shook my head.

•••

Amber opened her eyes and gasped for air in panic. She looked around and saw she was lying in her bed in the Palace. She was hurting all over. She closed her eyes to confirm that it was not a bad dream.

'The Angel Feather saved my life.' Crossed her mind.

She saw Priestess Lanka sleeping on her right and Irene on her left.

"It's so good to see you, Amber." a voice full of anxiety sounded from another side of the bedroom.

"Theon..." She felt tears falling from her eyes. "I died..."

"No Amber. But I must admit you were trying very hard." He answered with a soft smile but she saw how much stress he had been through.

"No... I technically died, Theon. If not for The Angel Feather you gave me, for sure I would have died."

She saw dust as he crushed the armrests of the armchair in his hands.

"God..." he whispered and she was surprised. Theon told her who he was and that he reincarnated into this world but it was still strange to hear him calling gods as now he was a dungeon.

"Thank you once more for that gift Theon. You were right back then." She smiled softly at him and stood up slowly. "It protected me."

She was still sore but needed at least to take a shower before she returned to bed. She slowly made a few steps and she saw her dress was in tatters but she didn't mind. She slowly walked to her King. But before she could make even one step more he caught her in his arms and hugged her.

She cried as the full gravity of the situation finally settled in. They both sat on the floor still hugging. Theon was patting her head until she calmed down. Irene and Lanka woke up moments later and saw Amber crying in his arms.

•••

I was terrified, relieved and happy. Amber was alive. She was alive! I looked at Irene and Lanka. They were surprised to wake up here. I reluctantly let Amber go and stood up.

"It's all right now Amber. Lanka and Irene managed to save you. If not for Lanka..." I pursed my lips.

"Priestess Lanka, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I can't thank you enough, Irene, if not for your advanced healing I would..." Started Amber but her voice faltered.

Irene stood up and darted to Amber hugging her tightly. They both started crying. I looked at Irene but then my smile froze.

Irene va'Theon the Saintess of Avalon