It was a moonless night. Over the cracked pavement and under the flickering lights of the lamppost flashed the fleeing figure of a young girl.

  The young girl dropped seeds on the ground periodically without decreasing her momentum. With the wave of her hand, the seeds grew into a dense thicket of thistles that blocked her pursuer's path.

  However, her pursuers were no ordinary people either. The one leading the group, a handsome young man with a face of indifference, waves his ice-coated sword. Instantly, the thistles were hacked to bits.

  The young girl ran without looking back, her eyes filled with desperation as the claws of death chased her from behind. From afar, she spotted a woman who looked like an older version of her waving her hand frantically.

  "Mom!" The young girl cried out in relief. But it's still too early for them to feel at ease. Their pursuers are still tailing behind them.

  "This way!"

  The older woman grabbed the younger one by the arm. They ran towards a tiny alley heading towards the port, sweat trickling down their nape amidst the cool October night.

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  From afar they could hear the loud blast of a ship's horn, indicating its departure. The young girl frowned, confused. She couldn't understand why they were heading there.

  The port only has three exits, and there are three groups of pursuers after them. If they block all the exits, they'll have nowhere to run to but the sea.

  However, the young girl wholly trusted her mother and did not hesitate to follow behind her. Her mother must've had her reason for going in that direction.

  But as the young girl saw where they were heading, she became more and more confused. They are making their way towards the end of the port where the massive frame of a ship is getting underway. It still hasn't gotten far yet and is only starting to gain speed.

  "Mom, what are we—" Her mother's abrupt stop cut her off mid-sentence, causing her to bump into her back.

  "What—" The young girl's eyes went wide when her mother shoved a Dormire flower to her nose.

  The young girl froze for a moment, her eyes filled with confusion, panic, and fear.

  "Mom?" She looked at her mother, tears brimming as her consciousness slowly faded.

  The mother instantly caught her daughter's body. She stomped her foot, and vines sprouted from the ground. The vines gently wrapped around her daughter like a cocoon.

  Pain and sadness were evident from the mother's gaze, but she steeled herself. With trembling lips, she planted one last kiss on her daughter's forehead, tears streaming down her cheeks.

  "Live, my sweet. Goodbye."

  Green light shimmered from her palm as she unleashed a surge of energy. The vine holding her daughter stretched, growing longer and longer, toward the crow's nest of the departing ship.

  Maneuvering the vine, the mother gently laid her daughter there.

  "Where did they go?!"

  The mother's head snapped towards the direction of the voice. She quickly recalled the vine, making it shrink until it turned back into a tiny grass through the wooden floor's crack.

  The mother then ran away from the port, luring the enemies to her location. She looked back on the surveillance ship growing smaller and smaller in the distance for the last time, bidding her last farewell to her daughter, whom she will never see ever again.