All three of them spun around at the same time.
The massive forest troll was staggering back to its feet.
Xiya let out a sharp scream and stumbled backward, trembling.
Lucas immediately turned and started climbing the tree.
“Ellie, get up the tree!”
But Ellie staggered and collapsed to the ground.
Her body had finally reached its limit—she couldn’t move anymore.
“Lucas, you go up first!”
“Xiya, shoot it!” Ellie shouted.
“Use your bow!
Aim for its eye!”
Xiya made a frightened whimper.
She raised her bow with shaking hands and pulled out an arrow.
When she realized it was her last one, her hands trembled even worse.
“I’m sorry… I… I can’t do it…”
“What do you mean you can’t?” Ellie cried.
“Come on!
Centaurs are legendary archers!
You guys can hit anything, even with your eyes closed!”
Lucas had already climbed onto the trunk.
He looked down at Xiya—her face tight with fear, eyes full of tears.
Even though he was in the tree, the only weapon he had was this small knife.
Their chances didn’t look good.
They still needed Xiya.
But this centaur girl really was different from the others.
She seemed timid, insecure, and fragile.
If she were as strong as Ellie said centaurs normally were, she never would have been chased all over the forest by this troll.
And earlier, she would have put an arrow straight through the back of its skull instead of just hitting its leg.
Still, right now they had no choice.
Everything depended on her and that final arrow.
She had to shoot it.
She needed courage.
Centaurs revered the stars above… Xiya…
“My aim is terrible… I really can’t…”
The troll had fully stood up now.
Its beady, bloodshot eyes locked onto Xiya and Ellie.
All the pain in its body had turned into pure rage and savagery.
“I’ll miss!” Xiya cried, tears streaming down her face.
The arrow in her hands wavered up and down.
“Xiya!” Lucas shouted, his voice cutting through the troll’s roar.
“Say your name!”
“My… name?” Xiya looked up, confused.
“Xiya—Theia!
That’s the name of the goddess of light!
Mother of the sun, the moon, and the dawn!”
Lucas wasn’t sure what the name meant in centaur culture, but in ancient Greek mythology, Theia was one of the twelve Titans—the mother of light who gave birth to the sun god, moon goddess, and goddess of dawn.
“Say your own name out loud!
The sun, the moon, and the light of dawn… As long as you stand in the light, she will protect you!”
“Xiya…” Xiya whispered the name without thinking.
Her anxious eyes swept across the night sky, where a brilliant full moon hung among a sea of stars.
Xiya…
I only knew the name came from my ancestors… Is this what it means to humans?
We centaurs revere the stars in the sky, and the brightest among them are the sun and moon that rule the heavens!
Theia, the mother of light, who gave birth to the sun, moon, and dawn—she is watching over me!
Moonlight and starlight poured down together, bathing her silvery-white coat.
It felt like a drowning person grabbing a piece of driftwood, like a suffocating person finally drawing breath.
The fear in her heart found something warm to hold onto.
In her tear-blurred eyes, she seemed to see a gentle, merciful goddess smiling down at her from among the stars and the bright moon.
“Xiya.”
She whispered the name again.
Her arm suddenly steadied.
The troll let out a deafening roar and charged forward.
“Xiya!
You already have courage in your heart—you came back to save us, that proves it!”
“Now, under the protection of Goddess Theia, draw your bow!”
Mother of light, protect me…
A soft sound rang out as the bowstring pulled back into a perfect full moon.
“Don’t think about whether you’ll hit it!”
“Don’t think about anything!
Don’t worry about anything!”
“Just shoot the arrow!”
Don’t think.
Don’t worry.
The troll limped toward Xiya and Ellie, blood spraying from its leg, roaring furiously.
Xiya took a deep breath and steadied her longbow.
Watching her, Ellie’s heart pounded hard.
That’s it, Xiya!
You’ve got this!
“Xiya!”
Lucas and Xiya’s voices rang out at the same time.
In that instant, Ellie thought she saw Xiya’s silvery-white coat flash brightly.
A silver streak exploded from her hands.
The sharp whistle of the arrow tore through the forest.
The shot took every ounce of strength Xiya had.
She collapsed onto her front knees the moment the arrow left the string.
All three of them followed the arrow with their eyes, screaming silently in their hearts.
Please hit, Xiya!
Then—
WHOOSH!
The arrow grazed the troll’s ear, shredding it into bloody mist, and buried itself deep in a distant tree.
The power was incredible—but it was still off target.
Time seemed to freeze.
Ellie’s body went rigid.
The color drained from Xiya’s face as the troll opened its massive, bloody maw right in front of them.
It’s over… everything is…
I—
Their eyes widened at the same moment.
In the moonlight, a figure dropped from above.
It was Lucas!
His red hair blazed like flames as he leaped from the tree and landed directly on the troll’s neck.
He clamped his legs around the troll’s thick neck, grabbed a fistful of its filthy hair with his left hand, and raised the sharp little knife in his right.
Blood roared in his ears.
Without hesitation, he drove the blade down with all his strength.
SQUELCH—
The knife sank into the back of the troll’s head as smoothly as cutting through tender meat.
Xiya stared in shock, tears pouring down her cheeks.
“AAAAAAGHH—!!!”
The troll let out an ear-splitting shriek.
It thrashed wildly and backhanded Lucas like a fly, sending him flying through the air.
“Lucas!”
Ellie screamed.
The carving knife was too small—it hadn’t killed the troll instantly!
Lucas spat blood as he flew in a wide arc before crashing hard into the ground and rolling several times.
He lay still.
Ellie found strength from somewhere and leaped up, trying to run to him.
But the troll was still standing, staggering, blood pouring from its face as it howled in its death throes.
It raised its massive arms and lunged toward Ellie and Xiya.
Xiya closed her eyes in despair.
Then came another sharp whistle.
A gleaming arrow shot through the air and buried itself straight into the troll’s eye socket, bursting out the back of its skull.
THUD.
The forest troll collapsed heavily to the ground.
Ellie and Xiya stared, stunned.
A tall, handsome adult centaur burst out of the bushes with a longbow in his hands.
He had the exact same silvery-white coat and sapphire-blue eyes as Xiya.
Xiya cried out in joyful relief: “Dad!”
Then she whipped her head around and screamed, “Dad!
Quick!
Save Lucas!”