"Noa, blast the area to our northwest!" Blake yelled out as he scooped up the little white fox into his arms and sat down with it. He did not dare pull the arrow out just yet.
"On it! Ezen Digar Fol Tol!" As Noa spoke in an elven language, the whole area where the arrow was shot from blue up into a pillar of fire that spread out over 500 feet in all directions burning everything around it to ash.
Within the flame, surrounded by a green shield, was a man wearing all black. On his face was a white mask with only two eyes cut out of it. This man was not human. His blonde hair and sharp pointy ears showed that he was from the elven race. He clicked his tongue as he ran away in the middle of the flames, not daring to stay any longer.
"Tch… The bastard got away." Noa was made. She could sense the person who attacked her had already run off. She turned to see Blake sitting on the ground with the little fox in his arms. "Blake?"
"Give me a moment…." Blake sighed as he looked at the pained expression of the little fox. "I did not wish to force this upon you, but this is the only way to save you at this point." Blake bit his thumb, causing it to start bleeding, before pressing it against the little fox's wound. A large white magic circle formed under the two, causing a cylinder of light to surround them before slowly dissipating. "Seems like the contract is set." He could have tried to heal the little fox using magic, but the problem was that if he pulled the arrow out, he risked killing the little fox at the same time. He did not want to risk it.
Blake could now feel the little fox. He could feel its heartbeat struggling. He closed his eyes, and like how he remembered, he said: "Return." With this command, the little fox turned into a ray of light and shot into his chest. The arrow that was inside it fell into his lap. Only by doing this did the little fox have a fighting chance. He had heard that injured contracted spirit animals could go into their contracted space within the body of the human they were contracted to, to heal.
"It should take her a little while to heal." Blake now knew the little fox was female. He knew everything about it. The contract process sent the details of their spirit animal into his mind. He had not wished to contract the little gal this way, but this was just how things seemed to have taken place, sadly.
"Blake, that was?" Noa was confused. She had never seen such magic before.
"There were no contracted beasts in the old days?" Blake asked.
"No. At least we elves never did. And…. Blake, I am sorry. I think that assassin was after me to start with." Noa bowed her head. She never meant to harm anyone, and now the little fox Blake had been trying to get was hurt.
"Don't worry. It happens. I never expected the little fox to protect me, either. I guess all the drake meat it got to eat was worth it." Blake chuckled as he patted his chest. "But don't worry, I can already feel she is getting better."
"That's good." Noa let out a sigh of relief before leaning down and kissing Blake on the lips. "I am glad you made it back safely… Husband…."
Blake scratched his nose. He did not know how to handle this… He looked up at Noa, who was staring back at him, fidgeting, waiting for his reaction, and asked: "You know you will not be able to take back these words if you follow me back even after you meet the other girls. I will also never let you go either."
"I know…." Noa replied. Elf custom did not allow them to change husbands. And it was not strange for male elves to have a few wives. So she did not mind as long as she got to be with Blake.
She just hoped the other girls would accept her.
"Alright, then, be prepared." Blake could already see Noa being teased by those two girls. But he first had to eat the elf himself. Thinking of this, Blake decided he would set up a shower tonight with magic in one of the rooms and bring the elf girl with him.
But for now, he was tired. He had dealt with the orcs and almost died to an assassin. He was starting to feel like a protagonist in a novel or something. "Alright. Let's go back to the others. We will spend one more night here and then head home." Blake took Noa's hand and pulled her along. The elf girl blushed as she followed behind him.
"Noa! Blake!"
"Big Brother!"
Nellie and the kids both came running over when they saw the two walking back in. Both Nicky and David hugged him as Nellia checked Noa for any injuries. Only when She was sure Noa was not injured did she bow to Blake. "Blake, thank you for protecting Her Highness.."
"She is no longer a princess…." Blake said. "She is just Noa Harris now."
Noa blushed and lowered her head, causing Nellie to chuckle. "I see. I see… Then I will call you Noa then."
"Mm…. I have been wanting you to call me that for a while. But you were always so formal. We will be going back with Blake and living with him from now on. The person who just tried to assassinate me was an elf. I am sure of this. Someone from the elves wants me dead. So even if my father gave his consent to me being with Blake, I still wouldn't want the title of princess. Not if it means I will be getting targeted for it." Noa was pissed. She had an idea of who wanted to kill her, but she did not think he would send someone out to track her.
"Your brother…." Nellie said softly. Noa nodded, confirming this. She was in his way of taking the throne. Even though she had said that she did not want it, she was still in his way just because she was alive.
"Don't worry. No one will be able to touch you where we are going," Blake said as he rubbed Noa's back. She nodded and leaned her head on his shoulder. Nellie snickered as she found her princess to be very cute now that she had found someone she loved.