"Do not speak of that incident, ever again."

Alana, who was flushed with utter embarrassment, threatened the crimson eyed Dragonesian, although her eyes could not even stare at the male beside her.

"Wasn't planning on to," cheekily replied the Dragonesian. For the first time ever, he was experiencing tremendous enjoyment seeing Alana's flustered state.

When Alana had realized that she was practically clutching onto Leon's jacket, as if for her dear life, and showing the side of her that she wished to never show anyone, it was almost like the world had crushed down. At least, she prayed for the world to end then and there. She had allowed someone to witness her fragile demeanour, and she claimed herself to be the protector of the group? Alana cried. She was not frustrated and mortified because of her tears. She was more ashamed of herself for being so emotionally weak and giving in to the illusions of the Driren.

Leon was there to save her. Which only meant that he was able to overcome the illusion. Alana did not know if it was because of Leon being a Dragonesian and thus having different traits than humans, however, it made Alana think, why could she not? Why was she so frail? Why was she not able to break free from the illusion? Why, just why?

Alana was envious. She was envious of Leon for being so perfect in every situation. He was kind, brave, smart, intelligent, generous, and moreover, possessed a strong will to survive and run towards freedom. Leon was everything that Alana ever wanted to be, yet her life did not allow her to do so.

If she were a Dragonesian and were brought up in the presence of Dragonesians, and luxuries surrounding her, Alana doubted if she would have ever become like Leon. She would have perhaps turned out to be just like Eluscan.

I wish you were never my daughter.

Alana sucked in a tight breath when the words rang through her mind. She needed to stop thinking about the nasty illusion of the Driren, else she would never achieve her final goal.

Alana flinched when a warm hand came in contact with her shoulder. She turned around to look at the concerned Dragonesian.

"Are you alright?"

Alana nodded while keeping quite a distance between the two, to Leon's surprise. He was hurt. Of course he was and that only reminded him of his very own illusion. His friends drifting apart from him, and Alana killing him ultimately. But he shrugged off the unnecessary thoughts knowing very well that it was one of the Driren's tricks and that Alana was probably shaken up because of what she had been shown.

Leon soon caught up to Alana, who tried her best to walk at a fast pace and away from the Dragonesian. She needed to collect her thoughts and prevent herself from showing her feeble self to the Dragonesian anymore. But before that, she also needed to find the others and meet up with them.

"You do not have to be so embarrassed just because you shed—"

One sharp glare from Alana was able to make Leon shut his mouth.

"I said, do not speak of that incident, ever again."

Alana repeated her words clean and clear, drilling the meaning inside Leon's head if possible. The Dragonesian vigorously nodded, being genuinely afraid of Alana's furious expression.

"No, but still," Leon continued after a while. Alana sent another glare to the Dragonesian who sighed out loud.

"First listen to me," he whined in irritation, taking aback Alana in the process. To see Leon get annoyed was something else.

"What I meant is, I know there is a lot going on in your head right now," Leon continued whatsoever, "You are possibly confused with everything you have seen. I am not going to ask you to reveal your illusion because I know, I do not stand in a position to reveal mine as well. And I know for a fact that the illusions were perturbing. The Driren might grasp this as his opportunity to throw you at your lowest point again.

Thus, I want you to close your eyes for a few seconds and think about nothing but positive and happy memories. About the people who care for you."

"I have no such memories," Alana scoffed, "And no such people around me—"

For some odd reason, Alana could not complete her sentence. She looked at Leon to find him smiling down at her.

"Are you sure about that?"

With a breathy sigh, the girl closed her eyes, but she was already prepared to see only negative emotions like the illusion she was trapped in. To her surprise, it was none.

Following Leon's guidance, Alana forced herself to think of happy memories. With that being said, if she had those.

She had happy memories.

There they were. Cynthia, Lena, Lucian and Cora, all laughing and giggling under the dazzling sun as the Spring breeze blew in the air. They were all sitting on top of a low hill, on the soft grass, with what seemed like a picnic basket in the centre. They were happy. But Alana could not notice Leon for some reason.

Not long after, Leon's bright smiling face with those sparkling crimson eyes that held so many questions, curiosity, kindness and above all warmth, appeared. He did nothing but just grin at Alana before speaking soothingly.

"Alana Thornheart, you—"

Alana's closed eyes furrowed when she could not properly hear the words spoken to her by the Dragonesian. She could see him speaking something, but what, that was still unknown. His lips were moving forming the phrases, however no sound came out. Alana even questioned herself if this was another one of the sneaky Driren's illusions. It could not be, though. Because this illusion or whatever it was, it was not sad, glum or pessimistic. It was rather happy, bright, and optimistic. It was everything that made Alana feel fuzzy and warm from the inside, thawing the chains of frosty shackles, binding her cold heart.

Alana opened her eyes to meet with Leon's crimson ones. He was no less shiny than the Leon in her imagination. It was as if light was always protruding out of his back while he grinned at her.

"Feel better now?"

Alana bit back a smile as she was not ready to lose her composure, however failed heavily.

Leon's smile grew wider, seeing Alana grin at him.

"Wow, I feel honoured to have been blessed with Alana Thornheart's smile."

"Shut up," Alana grumbled as she threw a light punch at the chuckling Dragonesian before picking up her pace.

Leon couldn't help but mumble a small 'cute' under his breath when he realized that Alana was desperately trying to hide her blushing cheeks.

What a sight it was.

"Lucian."

The boy hummed at Cynthia.

"Perhaps we could let go of our hands now. This is me saying this for the fifth time."

"Oh, is it so?" A nervous and awkward laugh which seemed forced, emanated from Lucian's throat as he released his hand from Cynthia's, "My mind must have been somewhere."

"Well it appears so," Cynthia stated as she took in Lucian's weird behaviour, "You are not the Driren, are you?"

"Of course not! Why would you even think that?"

"Because you are being very weird."

"Fair enough," mumbling, Lucian moved his gaze away from her, not knowing what other excuse he could come up with.

The pair walked for what seemed like hours before noticing a shadow.

Or rather, two shadows.

"Step back," Cynthia, who was the first to notice the shadow, murmured to Lucian while pulling him away from their current location.

The two did not dare to enter another house, but did find a place to hide in a small alleyway between two adjacent houses.

"Do you think they are survivors like us?" Lucian whispered to Cynthia as the two kept a close eye on the shadows, which were getting bigger.

"Who knows, but I really do hope they are someone we're familiar with."

Quite surprisingly, as if a miracle, Alana and Leon were seen heading in the same direction the other two were headed to initially. Cynthia and Lucian could not be happier than they were after reuniting with the other pair.

"Thank God you both are fine," Alana released a sigh of relief, "But what about Lena and Cora?"

"We don't know," Cynthia looked down dejectedly, "Lucian and I somehow managed to survive—"

"Help me!"

The very familiar scream, which belonged to a certain nine-year-old, rang in the air, catching the four's attention.

"That's Cora," Cynthia muttered out loud, "We need to move now! She could be in danger."

And very correct was Cynthia with her intuition.

As soon as the four reached the scene after hearing Cora's scream, they found quite a horrifying event taking place.

Cora was hanging upside down in the air with thorny veins tightly clasped around her legs. On the other hand, Lena seemed to be doing something.

Lena, whose eyes had gone completely black and hollow, was controlling the veins.

"It's all clear now," Leon said, finally understanding everything, "Why we were all able to free ourselves from the illusions. The Driren has found a new prey.

And the prey is Lena."