Stolen by the Rebel King
Chapter 380: Who?

Chapter 380: Who?

Daphne’s eardrums felt as though they were about to burst just from how loud her blood was roaring across her ears. She could feel her heart thumping rapidly against her chest as her breaths quickened, unable to believe what she just read.

Her hands reached for the notes again, but unfortunately, she didn’t get the chance to. A rustling sound came from the windows and Daphne immediately looked over, startled. Perhaps it was a stray cat hunting in the bushes in the middle of the night. She took a deep breath and relaxed, scolding herself for being so jumpy for no reason. She turned back to Sirona’s notes.

Then she heard the soft, but unmistakable sound of a boot stepping on the windowsill. She raised her head again, her heart racing in the dead of night.

She hadn’t expected anyone to come in, especially not from such an unorthodox manner.

Daphne held her breath as she caught sight of the intruder. She guessed that he was a man, slightly shorter than Atticus’s height. His eyes were the only feature she could observe from his face since he was completely clad in black from head to toe.

She followed his gaze and her blood froze when she realized that he was eyeing Zephyr’s sleeping figure. Said intruder removed a bag from his waist, but Daphne wasn’t going to let him try. She screamed and made a mad dash for Zephyr’s bedside, causing the intruder to startle in surprise.

He clearly wasn’t expecting anyone to be in the infirmary! Daphne filed that thought away so that she could examine it at a later time. For now, she had to get rid of him. Shooting fire was an instinctive response, but the intruder quickly rolled and ducked, causing her flames to hit the curtains instead.

"Intruder! There’s an intruder!" Daphne screamed out loud. Surely there would be somebody that could hear her!

The commotion caused Zephyr to stir. He opened his beady little eyes and let out a happy chirp when he caught sight of Daphne.

Then he caught sight of the black-clad intruder and the burning curtains and immediately began to scream his tiny head off, indignantly flapping his wings as he screeched loud enough to wake the dead.

If he was still in a human form, Daphne could imagine him yelling all sorts of curse words at how his rest was so unfairly interrupted.

The intruder flinched at the loudness and flung a flurry of knives in Daphne’s direction. Daphne cursed under her breath and dodged; the knives were safely embedded into the infirmary wall. This man wasn’t an ordinary, run-out-of-the-mill kidnapper.

"Zephyr, get behind me now!" Daphne yelled, just before the intruder could use her moment of distraction to lay his gloved hands on Zephyr’s body.

Zephyr flew higher, but instead of hiding behind her, her dumb bird son decided to fly towards his kidnapper to peck his eyes out and claw his face with his talons, vengeance winning over self-preservation.

When he turned back into his human form, Daphne was going to lecture him about his idiocy!

The indent of the intruder’s smirk was visible even from his mask. There was no mistaking the gleeful satisfaction in his eyes as he grabbed one of Zephyr’s wings, causing him to shriek in pain. His hand went to his waist, and he pulled out a round ball. It was presumably another weapon, but Daphne wasn’t going to give him the chance to use it.

Daphne focused and fired a ball of flame straight at his crotch, making sure his pants were caught aflame. The man screamed in pain, loosening his grip on Zephyr’s wing. Zephyr gave him one final triumphant peck on his head before flying back to Daphne.

"Do that again and I’ll end you myself!" Daphne scolded. This time, she tapped into her hydromancy abilities to create a protective water bubble shield around Zephyr while giving him a little room to breathe as she dragged him behind her.

Zephyr squawked, unused to being handled in such a manner, and upset that he was being punished for what he thought was an entirely justifiable reaction to getting kidnapped. It would be disgraceful if he didn’t peck out the intruder’s eyes!

Perhaps they were simply too new, or just of poorer quality, but it seemed like the new aquamarine gems on her ring weren’t working as well as her old ones.

Or it could be because Daphne was once again switching between her two magical affinities. She had been warned by Sirona and Nathaniel that this could cause terrible consequences for her body’s health, but this time, it was an emergency.

With Zephyr secured, her main goal was to now capture this intruder. She turned back towards him and fired another ball of flame at his chest.

"Who are you? Who sent you?!" She demanded, her eyes blazing with anger.

The man groaned in pain as he gazed up at her, dismay in his eyes.

"This... this is ridiculous! He told me this was an easy job! I’m done playing games with this couple!" He cried out.

Before Daphne could even ask what he meant, he dropped that round ball on the floor, causing thick white smoke to fill the room. Daphne immediately covered her mouth even as she lunged for the man, but it was too late.

By the time the smoke cleared, the man was long gone. The only proof Daphne had of his presence were the knives still embedded in the walls, the curtains that had been burnt to a crisp, and Zephyr’s loud screeching at her back. Whatever was in that smoke, it had also doused her flames.

That man must have been trying to use it to make a quick getaway when he had a firm grip on Zephyr’s wing. If he had used it successfully, Daphne’s fire wouldn’t have been able to make a difference.

"Sorry, Zephyr, I didn’t manage to catch him," Daphne said, but she still didn’t release him from his layer of water bubble protection. There was no telling if he might return, bringing more of his companions.

She quickly went to the wall to pull out a knife, examining it carefully. There was a mark of a serpent carved at the bottom of each hilt.

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