The white-haired ranger was wakened up by the light shake. With a low groan, Akali slowly opened her eyes that were instantly blinded by the bright ray of light. Without thinking, she covered her face with her hand and waited a few seconds before removing it. As everyone would expect, her pupils shrunk immediately, cause the light was still hurting her.

"Do you want us to do a job without you, pale-queen?" the sarcastic question was asked by one of her fellow rangers. "If you want, you can just sleep throughout the whole mission. In fact, it might end up being an advantage for the rest of us, weakling."

"Just fuck off … I'm your Captain, you will listen to what I order," the young woman managed to breathe out.

"You really believe in that?" another voice joined the conversation. "We're here to make sure you don't fuck up the job, we're here to test you."

"It doesn't matter," the white-haired responded. "I've beaten every single challenge you put me through, I'll endure and come up on top again."

"Less talk, more action, the action speaks louder than pathetic words you say. You can start by just standing up and preparing for a departure. We've already wasted a lot of time because of your blackout," another ranger spatted. "Get up, filth!"

With yet another groan, Akali stood up with a bit of problem. She felt dizzy, she had issues with standing cause her legs were weak. The whole conversation with her teammates was strange. Throughout it, she couldn't see any of the speakers, nor recognise them. It was the truth, she was weaker than them, but it didn't mean that she would give up without a fight.

"You freaking assholes should let her rest for a bit more," the angry voice of the mage reached Akali's ears. "In comparison to you, it might be her first teleportation, so it isn't uncommon for people to blackout," Lirithil said.

"She isn't your concern, mage," the first ranger responded boldly.

"As I can see, you're just as stupid as your supervisor," the blond-haired woman sighed. "I'm a mage, fool, you should show me a deserved respect."

"You must earn one's respect, it isn't given for free," the second Shadow Warrior replied. "You should learn that lesson fast, blondie."

"You're very much alike your fallen kin, Nagarythian," the magnus whispered in a venomous tone.

"Do whatever you feel like, it doesn't matter to us. Our job is to get to The Blighted Isle and search for some Druchii."

"So go fools," Lirithil spatted. "Maybe show some respect to your kin, cause if you don't, they will skin you."

"We've killed many of Drak Elves, we know more about them than you could possibly learn from you ancient tomes."

"You're just a fool, nothing else," the magnus said, shaking her head. "Akali, that's your name?"

"Yeah, Miss," the white-haired replied slowly.

"Take that," the blond-haired woman gave her a small veil filled with a golden liquid. "Drink it, it's a supporting potion. It'll allow your body to recover quicker, much quicker."

"Thank you," Akali thanked the mage before unbuttoning the veil and drinking its content.

In an instant, she felt the burning heat that spread quickly over her entire body. In the very first moment, she thought that she would collapse onto the floor cause the sensation was more than a little unpleasant. Akali couldn't do that, she would only appear even weaker in the eyes of her fellow rangers, she didn't want to give them that kind of satisfaction. The white-haired soldier endured the immense pain that came shortly after the heat, she didn't even twist her lips.

"Are you finally ready, pale-queen?" one of the Shadow Warriors asked in a dull tone. "We don't have time for your problems, weakling."

"What's your name?" Akali asked instantly.

"Nergath, I'm your senior, so speak with a dose of respect to me," the man responded proudly.

"I'll remember that name, so one day I will repay you for what you did, all of you," the white-haired woman rose her voice slightly. "As you commander, I order you to come back to HQ. I will write a report about your insubordination as soon as I came back from The Blighted Isle."

"You can't do that," another ranger laughed.

"You're mistaken," the mage interrupted. "In fact, she's your Captain during that mission, so by the law, she can order you to abandon the mission," the woman chuckled. "And you know what the consequences of the declining the direct order are? Death."

"You're joking," Nergath accused the magnus.

"No, Shadow King – Alith Anar – made that law," Lirithil informed the rangers. "Are you going to obey the order now?"

"Yes," the furious soldiers responded.

"You, filth," Nergath called Akali. "You'll pay for that."

"We will see," the white-haired replied with a mischievous smile. "For now, get out of my face," she ordered.

"As you order, weakling."

It took a couple of minutes for the rangers to gather up all of their belongings and to enter the new portal that was created by the mage. Just by the look on their uncovered faces, one could say that they quickly developed even more hatred toward the white-haired woman. They didn't expect that she would put them in line, nor that she would just order them to straight-up leave. In their ignorance, they might think that she would need all of the help they would be able to provide for her to even survive the mission. Oh, they were mistaken. Akali wasn't the person to let someone spit on her. After all, she knew her value, and it would be just a matter of time for the rest of her kin to acknowledge it.

The portal shone with a mixture of many colours as the Shadow Warriors were being teleported back to the HQ. For the white-haired, it was still a very intriguing sight to behold. The raw magical power used to cast the spell seemed to be material in that very moment. The small dust-like objects were flying over the room they were in. It was just beautiful, breathtaking. As soon as the magical circle vanished, the mage turned around to face the remaining ranger. The small smile was playing on her full lips.

"Well played, I must admit," the magnus said. "But, bear in mind that they will try to repay you for the humiliation you just put them through."

"I know, but I think I will be fine. The moment I finish that mission, I will no longer be a rookie, they will have to respect me," Akali responded, smiling shyly.

"It can happen, but it is not guaranteed," Lirithil responded. "Anyways, I think my role here is kind of done. The only thing I can do now is to wish you good luck."

"Yeah, it will be handy, I am sure of it," the ranger smiled broadly.

"Good luck then, remember you have less than a week to return here," the mage reminded the young woman.

"Yeah, I remember. I should get going, thank you for everything," the girl sincerely thanked.

"You're welcome, those rangers were just assholes, maybe not all of them but some were, indeed."

"Yeah, they were."

With nothing left to add, the white-haired woman took her backpack and weapons, then headed toward the exit of the room. Akali could not foresee what the future would plan for her, but in the end, she didn't have much to say about it. She would endure whatever was planned for her.

Two days later:

After hours of a forced march, the ranger finally reached her target. Before her, The Blighted Isle could be easily spotted. Somewhere there, there was the infamous holy ground of many cults – The Shrine of Khain. Even the mere thought about that legendary place was enough to plant a seed of doubt inside of Akali's mind. To be frank, she was afraid that there might be more of Druchii than she could safely deal with. In fact, the possibility of that to happen was pretty high, but the ranger didn't care, she got the task to complete, so she would do it, no matter what.

It should be fairly easy to find someone who would be willing to take her to the isle, but in reality, it took the woman around an hour to convince a young fisher to do so. To be perfectly honest, Akali managed to convince him only because she bribed the man. She paid the fisher with pure gold, a lot of it, in fact, all that she possessed in that very moment.

The elf was very slender, but the white-haired could easily spot the defined lines of muscles moving under his sunburned skin. He had short blond hairs that seemed to be trimmed recently. The once white linen shirt the fisher was wearing was patched a couple of times. Still, the ranger felt like something was off. The man in front of her might not be who the first impression suggested. The young woman made a mental note to be more careful around that man.

Soon enough, they reached the platform where quite a few ships were being roped to. With just a single glance, she could confirm that none of those boats could belong to the simple fisherman. As soon as she could, Akali reached for her sword and pointed at the man.

"Stop," she ordered in a calm tone. "Who are you?"

"Oh … I wouldn't be so reckless with that blade of yours if I were you," the elf softly chuckled. "It isn't crucial for you to know what I'm exactly, but for your own good, better tell me who are you."

"You have a backup, don't you?" the woman asked, lowering her sword. "As of the sounds they are doing, I would say there are four of them. Am I right?" the white-haired added after she listened for rustles for a few short moments.

"Not bad, not bad at all," the so-called fisher admitted. "Lads, you can come from the shadows," he called the others.

In a blink of the eye, 4 tall, slender men exited the nearby brushes. All of them were wearing the heavy-looking mails. On top of that, the additional scaly armour could be seen. They were armed in shields, spears and the ranger spotted the bows on their backs.

"You are the members of Lothern Sea Guard, aren't you?" Akali asked.

"Yeah, we are, indeed," the blond-haired man replied. "And you … you're probably a Shadow Warrior. You looked like one of them, and your self-awareness is quite impressive," the most likely officer said.

"Yeah, I am a part of the order," the woman confirmed.

"What are you doing, then?"

"I was sent to patrol the island briefly. I'm to check whether Druchii are scamming again," the ranger told the truth.

"I see … hmm, as far as I know, there was none signs of their activities here, but hey, I'm not a ranger. I can be wrong."

"I see, can you help me get to the shore of the island? I can deal with my mission alone from there."

"It isn't a problem, come."

In a matter of next moments, the young ranger was lead to the smallest of the moored ships. To be honest, it was so small that only a couple of people could be using it in a given time. As soon as she sat on a bench located in the middle of the boat, the Sea Guards pulled up the moore and started to row.

Sometime later:

The distance between the not so impressive harbour and the shore of the island wasn't that great, so the entire journey there took them less than an hour. The soft breeze was blowing in the face of the young woman. The temperature was pleasant, it wasn't too hot nor too cold, just perfect for her. Her long hairs were moving into the rhythm of the wind blows. Her nostrils were filled with the smell of the sea, the smell of the salt.

To some extent, it was reminding her about her home, it was reminding her about Eataine. It could be considered a funny turns of events that so far away from her home, she met her kinsmen, but she didn't say anything. Everything that was going on deep in her mind, Akali kept for wh

When they finally reached the coast of the island, it was already noon. The young ranger thanked the soldiers for their help, and immediately after that, she jumped off of the boat. The shore was entirely covered with a sand beach. The white-haired took a moment of her time to stop and to grab a handful of sand. She missed the touch of it, she missed the days when she could recklessly fool around the beaches. Akali allowed herself to play some of her memories inside of her mind. Of course, her subconsciousness chose those that she held dear for herself, those that could bring the sorrow, sadness and pain.

The white-haired woman didn't even notice when the first tear fell, she didn't even notice when her eyes became glassy and wet. She needed to proceed with her mission, she needed to once again lock up her memories. Without much thinking, she threw away the sand she was still holding in her hand, and then she ran away. It was pathetic that she couldn't stop the cry, but it was just too much for her. It was always like that if she tried for so damn long to keep her past away from her mind. Even though she knew that all too well, she couldn't help but fail every single time.

A couple of hours later:

She heard something, or being more specific someone, Akali was more than sure that she did. The young ranger stopped for a few seconds, she focused entirely on listening. For a couple of next moments, she didn't hear anything distinctive, anything particularly extraordinary. In the very moment, she wanted to abandon her current occupation, someone's cry reached her ears from a distant. Taking into account that the wood she was currently in was mostly filled with silence or some rare sounds of the animals living there, she could point out the direction without a problem. As quiet as she could, Akali moved toward the source of the disturbing sounds. One of the many benefits of Shadow Warriors' training was the ability to move nearly soundlessly. As you may expect, in the given situation, it turned out to be handy.

Moving through the thick forest is never an easy task to accomplish. It would be especially difficult if one wanted to keep on a low profile. Akali managed to do so quite well, or at least in her opinion. With every passing moment, the sounds seemed to be closer, yet their amplitude was decreasing over time. Soon enough, the silence overtook the forest once again. It happened as suddenly as it began a few moments earlier. The ranger was more than sure that she wasn't far away from the source, so she proceeded.

Soon enough, she reached the place where the land started to fall. At first glance, the white-haired could not say much about the location cause just a few steps further the vines created a solid wall that was covering the entrance to the lower part of the fall.

The archer took one more step forward before focusing on the unusual finding. It took her more than a few minutes to notice a small nearly impossible to trace detail. On the internal parts of the vines, there was a sticky liquid. The woman could not describe its colour properly cause it was mostly mixed with the secretion of the plant. She lowered a bit, she needed to catch a scent of it. As she had expected, it must have been blood. Possibly someone tried to isolate some poor bastard there. Without thinking, Akali grabbed her knife and started to quietly cut off the plants.

To say that it was a tiring occupation would be an understatement. The thick veins seemed to be more durable than any other plant the ranger ever encountered. Every single cut of the sharp blade left only a small cut on the surface of the vein. It was a truly frustrating experience for the white-haired, but she didn't give up.

When the temporary wall was finally dealt with, the ranger entered the fall. What she found there was worrying, unusual, and to some extend, interesting. At the very bottom of the few meters deep hole, there were 3 bodies. All of them were Druchii. Nearly instantly, Akali got curious. As quiet as she could, she came down to inspect the findings.

The first two bodies were definitely Shades. Both of them were wearing nearly exactly the outfit that was presented by the instructors of Shadow Warriors in the past. By the look of things, it seemed that they were killed by the black-haired witch elf that was lying a few steps away from them. The ranger found the typical weapons of Khain followers in the Shades' bodies.

It was kind of confusing for the young woman, of course, she knew that Druchii were killing each other for just sport, but still, they were typically doing it at the cold northern land that they called their home. She needed to inspect the last body, in the end, the more information she could gather, the better.

Akali close the gap between her and the witch elf within seconds. The white-haired allowed herself to steal one quick glance before kneeling in front of the body. She must admit, the follower of the Khain was beautiful, probably she was the most beautiful woman, the ranger ever met. Her long, thick, raven hairs looked so delicate as if they were made from velvet. The witch elf's outfit could be describe as lacking, and it would still be an understatement. The entirety of the woman's clothes consisted of a bra, a hipband, and some random piece of spiked armour. The white-haired blushed hard at the very first moment she noticed the amount of exposed skin. The dead elf woman was more than just feminine, she had everything that any man or woman could have ever desired from its partner or lover.

The ranger caught herself that she started at the gorgeous bosom of the Druchii. They were so huge and looked so delicate. "Fuck, what are you doing, Akali?" she screamed at herself in the depth of her mind. "You are just a prevent now."

It took a great effort from her to avert her gaze from the boobs of the dead woman. In the end, she managed to do so. The second thing she noticed was a deep wound on the stomach. It looked bad, the archer could see the infection started to spread inside of it. Suddenly, she thought that she heard a low, heavy, ragged breath. It could not be the truth, she thought immediately, but then, she heard it again.

In an instant, she lowered herself. Akali's ear was just a few centimetres above the slightly opened mouth of the witch elf. A moment passed, and then another, and nothing. "It must have been my imagination," the young woman told herself. Then, the low groan filled with pain and suffering escaped the throat of the Druchii. She was very weak currently, it was just a fact. Without help, the woman in front of her would certainly die. The only one who could save her was Akali, but there was a problem. The witch elf was Druchii, the eternal enemy of her kin.

On the other hand, if she managed to keep the elf alive, she would be able to gain more information from her, she could keep her as a prisoner. The decision must be made soon, the breath of the raven-haired woman was becoming shallower and shallower with every passing moment. "What should I do?" she asked herself.

Akali looked at the beautiful woman that was dying just right next to her, she looked at those kissable lips, noble facial features, perfect body. When the decision was made, the reason behind it was not mentioned by the white-haired before. Without thinking, without wasting any more time, she leaned in. The very first thing that she needed to do was to restore the breathing of the woman. In an instant, the strong hands of Akali were put on the chest of the latter. Just a moment later, she started heart massage. In a next second, her lips descended onto those kissable lips. As soon as she tasted them, she moaned, she didn't even know why.