SPELLBOUND

PLEASE READ: I'd like to clarify that the hard copy of both Spellbound and Hellbound With You are NOT FOR SALE. I am not allowed to profit from my books outside webnovel, that's why i can only give it away as gifts to my most loyal readers. This means that the printed books will be limited. Only the Top 10 in top fans and five other loyal fans picked by me will receive both Spellbound and hellbound hard copies. The rest will receive one book only so you have to choose between the two. 

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The moment the vampires emerged on the other side of the barrier, they immediately searched for Luc as they did not see him waiting for them outside the barrier. Though they were not extremely afraid that something bad might happen to him, they were still worried enough and wondered where he went to. To their surprise, after walking some ways off, they found the man sleeping next to Onyx who was still guarding the gates entering into Crescia. 

"Man…" Levy complained. "We were so worried about the guy, and here he was sleeping away so comfortably?" Levy kicked Luc's feet and the man woke up with a jump. "What a lazy bum!" Levy snickered mischievously as he muttered under his breath.

"Oh, you guys finally got out! I was afraid that I was the only one who could cross it." Luc said as he yawned loudly and stretched out lazily. "Ah, that was a good sleep. But wait… where's the princess?" Luc was looking around and realised that the princess was not among his comrades.

A short silence passed before Zolan spoke. "We vampires are the only ones who could cross the barrier. After discussing on the pros and cons, we could only leave her behind. The princess also agreed with us and had given us the permission to go."

Luc blinked. His carefree face that was still satisfied with sleep a little while ago was now darkened into a frown. What he heard was definitely bad news! The princess was still stuck behind the barrier!

"Now let's go. We cannot delay any longer." Samuel said and the men began to move ahead towards the dark tunnel that would lead them out of Crescia. 

When Zolan passed by the large and dark dragon, he paused and looked into its clever amber eyes that had a sharp and intelligent light within it. "I am not sure if you can understand my language at all but… your master, the princess, is stranded inside." Zolan stared into the dragon's eyes as he said that. He was hoping the ancient dragon could understand him and perhaps find a way to get the princess out of her predicament. But when Onyx did not even move or blink and just remained crouching on the ground, Zolan sighed in disappointment. After determining that the dragon was not going to respond, he too, finally left as Onyx's large eyes watched them disappear into the dark tunnel before his eyes twinkled with a profound light. 

By the time the vampires stepped out of the dark tunnel, Leon halted and looked back. "I believed we just crossed another barrier, right?" He stated and Samuel only nodded. 

"What? There is another barrier here?" Levy exclaimed. "This means our princess is going to go up against two barriers? It is already seemingly impossible for her to break that first one! Isn't the prince being too much with his protection plan?" Levy stated with much indignance. Zolan only shot him a sharp and warning glare that subdued Levy into a sulky pout.

"Does this mean the princess might not be able to leave at all?" Reed asked. "The fact that the prince put two barriers up… this must be to ensure that she cannot leave at all." 

"Knowing him. He must be thinking about that." Zolan sighed like an old man before lifting one hand and massaging his temples. "But we cannot do anything about this now. We can only hope that the princess will find a way to break the barrier on her own. For now, let's focus ourselves in aiding him." However, Zolan silently thought that the prince might have been overreacting by keeping Evie locked behind two barriers. This would only cause more problems in the long run. The prince should trust in the princess and in her powers.

"What if he shuns us when we appear before him to fight alongside him?" Reed questioned the thought many of them had.

"Well, I guess he'd probably get angry. But let's just tell him that the princess was the one who ordered us to come and aid him in the wat and we cannot refuse her, which isn't exactly a lie. However, the prince would not know what the full truth is if none of you decide to blab." Zolan indirectly reminded the rest to keep it from the prince.

"I know there is enough food Elias left for the princess. But how about the light faes. If – I am hoping this won't happen – but if they cannot leave there for days until the war is over, they'll definitely starve. Crescia is a barren land. We have not seen any living things within its lands."

"Don't worry about the light faes. They'll be able to survive without food for days. And I don't think this war will last that long. The prince doesn't need to conquer every kingdom in the empire, and I don't think he's intending to do that anyway. Knowing him now, I don't think he would have the patience to do that. He just needs to kill the main enemy. And that's why his plan was to go straight to the capital – to strike where it matters the most. Our prince uses both his skills and his intelligence to fight." Zolan explained with pride colouring his voice. The men were all proud as well, knowing their prince and his exemplary war strategies. He does not fight a losing battle.

Running and leaping forward at their fastest pace, the elite vampires then arrived outside Kirzan in just slightly under an hour. They could already see the city was nearly emptied. Only children and women were left. 

The men continued on, following the prince's army's trails until they arrived at the first battlefield located outside the city of Gezt. Countless of dead soldiers were scattered about on the blood-soaked ground, painting the meadow a dark scarlet with an iron scent hanging heavily in the air. There were women and other vampires from the city who came out to bury the bodies. 

It was obviously a one-sided battle as they could hardly see a dead body that belongs to the soldiers from the Kirzan army.