~ Chapter 13 The Threat ~

Livi froze upon the voice. His fingers hovered above the hilt of his dagger while he contemplated his next step. Damn, he scowled deeply. He has lost sight of Nike and the mysterious man, both of which had disappeared into the depths of the forest. He cursed inwardly at the unexpected disturbance.

"Make another move and I will slit your throat," the girl warned.

"Get out of my way," he growled angrily.

"Not happening." She pressed the knife into his neck and he felt a slight pain. The pressure was enough to draw a little blood.

He gritted his teeth. His shoulders quivered and he clenched his fists tightly while he seethed with rage. He had the strong urge to kill every obstacle in his way, be it man or woman. How dare they even touch his woman?

Who was the mastermind behind all of this and how many more accomplices were out there watching him? What did they want from Nike? Were they conspiring against him, knowing that she was his weakness?

As much as he wanted to save Nike, he wasn't going to let himself be killed here. He needed to find out their intentions behind this atrocious scheme. He was determined to capture them all alive and make them pay for the rest of their lives if anything bad befell on Nike.

Nike, wait for me a little while. I'll come for you as soon as possible…

Struggling to maintain his composure, he held up both his hands to show that he was unarmed.

"Good," the girl said. He felt a sudden loss of weight at his side and realized that she has removed his hidden dagger from his belt. She threw it aside and it clattered across the ground loudly.

Dammit.

"Who are you guys and where are you taking the lady off to?" he demanded.

"Now, now..." She clucked disapprovingly. "What's the hurry? The dear princess's life isn't in danger. At least, not for now."

"What do you want with her, Cathy? If you hurt her, I will kill you," he growled. He twisted his head a little to throw a sideways glare at the girl whom he had met earlier. Every word she said gave him a sense of familiarity and it didn't took long for him to recognise her voice.

In return, she flashed a wide, coyly smile at him.

It was in their plans all along - to separate Nike and him by misleading them. It was a wonder how they managed to recognise them in their disguises. Nevertheless, he had let his guard down and failed Nike. But he was going to do whatever he could to get his beloved back.

"Hmm… What a charming face, but a little too feisty..." she murmured. To his disgust, she ran her matte, red manicured fingers trailed across his shoulders seductively. "If you are willing to cooperate with me, I guarantee you that no harm will befall on her."

"And you expect me to go along with that?"

She shrugged nonchalantly. "You know, you are in no position to negotiate with me. If you decide to be cooperative and do as I say, there's a chance for her to walk out of this alive."

He narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists tighter. "Fine... What do you want?"

"First," she answered. "I want you to deliver a message for me to the Sun King."

He immediately snorted at her demand and her eyebrows twitched in annoyance at his reaction. It seemed like that she hasn't figured out his real identity yet because of his adult-like appearance.

"Anyway," she continued unsuspectingly. "Tell him that if he wants to get back his princess, he shall have her back in exchange for something that we want. You will convey to him to meet us at the top of Clifton Hill at midnight. Alone. Bring anyone else with him and we will not hesitate to kill her."

"What would you want in exchange?" he asked. They couldn't simply be kidnapping a princess for gold.

"We just want our possession back," she stated. "Something that he has stolen from us."

His face creased into a deep frown. "What do you mean by that?"

"Uh uh..." She shook a finger at him. "No more questions. If you want answers from us, the Sun King has to come personally and bring us what we want. Otherwise, it won't just simply end with killing his precious princess."

His eyes flared with fury at her last few words. Woman or not, if only she wasn't at the advantage of pointing a knife at him, he would have thrown a punch in her face.

"Don't. You. Dare. Touch. Her."

She smirked, clearly enjoying his distress. "Then do we have a deal?" she asked.

In response, he gave a slight, stiff nod.

~ oOo ~

Nike aroused slightly and turned around in her sleep. Her bed was uncomfortably hard and gosh, it was freezing. The room felt as though it was below ten degrees. Urgh, where was her blanket? With her eyes still closed, she reached out automatically for her covers. However, her hands grasped nothing but cold air.

She groaned groggily and rubbed her eyes. When her eyes fluttered open sleepily, she gasped aloud in horror.

Darkness enveloped her and there was a stillness in the air. Everywhere was pitch black. The only sound that she could hear was her own ragged breathing and her heartbeat palpitating at a rapid rate. She was beginning to have a panic attack as she couldn't see anything in the dark. How did she even end up here? Was anybody going to save her or was she going to die alone in the dark like this?

The last thing she recalled was eating the food that Leo bought for her before she collapsed. No way, could it be...that she was drugged!? But why? She couldn't put her finger on the reason behind this situation that she was put in.

Oh, Livi... He must have noticed that I went missing. Knowing him, he must be going on a rampage trying to find her. She was never going to hear the end to his nagging about trusting people easily.

Okay, Nike. We need to calm down and think of how to get out of here... She thought to herself as she placed a hand over her heart in an attempt to calm herself down. Clues... I need some clues to know where we are at.

Her fingers fumbled on the ground, searching for anything that could possibly be a source of light. The ground was solid and uneven. With every sound that her movements made, it echoed around her. The air was bitterly cold and dry. She hugged herself as her body wrecked with shivers. She needed light and warmth so badly. In times like this, she realized that she missed Livi the most.

When she couldn't find anything on the ground, she decided to stand up and made her way to any wall. She took small steps alongside a wall that she has found, before her feet bumped into something hard with a loud clink. It sounded like metal. Her hands grabbed the metal pole and she noted that there were a couple more metal poles aligned together.

A sense of deja vu hit her hard then. There was something awfully familiar about the state that she was in. She paused in her tracks and racked her brains. It took her a minute before the answer came to her like a splash of cold water.

"Urgh, for god's sake. Why do I always find myself in a prison cell?" she muttered in annoyance. She wasn't sure what sins she has committed in her past life for her to be born to have a terrible fate with prison cells. The first time she had ever stepped foot in a prison cell was when she first arrived at the Sun Kingdom and Livi has thrown her into jail for opposing his wishes. The other times were also due to unforeseen circumstances.

However, breaking out of prison was her specialty. If she could use the air around her to get out, then perhaps there was a chance of her getting away before the person responsible behind her disappearance would return. She sat down on the ground and closed her eyes to focus deeply. She murmured a few chants as she tested the air around her. To her dismay, the conditions weren't looking too good for her.

But nevertheless, she has to try before giving up. She wasn't going to waste time waiting for help to arrive. She was going to go to them instead.

With her mind and body poised in complete concentration, her lips moved in a soft whisper as she murmured an enchantment. She called upon the air around her to aid her by lending their powers. With her will, she attempted to manipulate the air.

But it wasn't long before she fall backwards on the ground with a loud grunt. She has failed terribly. It was in her stroke of bad luck that there wasn't enough air for her to summon enough force to cut through the metal poles. Hope was faltering away when it dawned on her that she wouldn't be able to get out of here.

Was there something else that she could do? Think, Nike. THINK!

While she sat there pondering, she heard some noises from somewhere faraway. At first, she wondered if it was her ears playing tricks on her. However, the sounds were getting louder and louder with each passing second and she recognized, without a doubt, that those sounds were actually footsteps.

The culprit was back.

And she was so going to kill him.

A/N: Although I am terribly busy with work and exam, I am trying to squeeze in time to write chapters. Sorry if the chapters seem short, rush or if you spot mistakes.

Thanks for the reviews! They really help in motivating me. :D

Have a great month of August!