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Lucia blinked rapidly, looking around.
She groaned, gathering a lot of people to look at her.
“my lady, are you okay?” the headmaster along with sam and another guy who was beside her rushed to her, making a fuss out of
her.
“my head” she said holding her head as she tried to sit up, to which the man beside her helped her up.” where am i?‘ she looked around and was met with just white walls, her mind went back to the time that Kaden trapped her in the room when he had newly rejected her, she shrugged at the memory.
“you hit your head pretty hard when you fell as someone was meant to protect you, but did not” the headmaster said the last part, looking straight at Sam.
“I am sorry. I thought you were close behind me”
“I assure you, she would be met with appropriate punishments for…
“no!” she cut him off, “it would not be necessary, I do not fault her and”
“but my lady, this is no concern of yours, she is a warrior tasked with a duty to protect you, one in which she failed to do”
“it was my fault actually” that seemed to catch his attention.
“I was not being cooperative with her, I got scared and ran the opposite direction” she ignored the skull drilling stares Sam was given to her.
“oh, okay then,” he turned to her “one more chance” he said with an overly pleasant smile. Both the head master and the other man walked out the door, leaving just the two women alone.
Lucia opened her mouth to say something but was immediately cut off by Sam “I don’t need you lying for me, I can clean my own mess” she said, her eyes hardened.
She walked out the room, leaving Lucia stunned.
Helios tightened his grip on the reins as the shadowy landscape of the Shadow Realm unfolded before him. Dark, twisted trees reached for the sky like skeletal fingers, and the air was thick with an oppressive, almost tangible darkness. Beside him, Tharlor, his ever–watchful spy, moved with a stealth and confidence born of years navigating treacherous territories.
“We must move quickly,” Tharlor whispered, his voice barely audible over the rustling of unseen creatures. “The Shadow Realm is not a place for the living. The longer we stay, the greater the danger.”
llel to
But the
Helios nodded, his eyes scanning their surroundings. The Shadow Realm was a place of legend and fear, a dimension r their own but twisted by dark magic and inhabited by nightmarish creatures. Few ventured here, and fewer still retu information they sought lay deep within this realm, and Helios was determined to retrieve it. they had to meet the king for that
They pressed forward, each step echoing in the eerie silence. Shadows seemed to move of their own accord, and whispers, barely discernible, floated through the air, chilling Helios to the bone. The path ahead was barely visible, illuminated only by the faint, ghostly glow of Tharlor’s enchanted lantern.
As they moved deeper into the heart of the Shadow Realm, the air grew colder, and the darkness thicker. Helios could feel the
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weight of unseen eyes upon him, a constant reminder that they were not alone. Tharlor stopped suddenly, raising a hand to signal silence. Helios followed his gaze and saw it a Wraith, its form shrouded in tattered black robes, hovering silently above the ground.
The Wraith’s eyes glowed with a malevolent light, and its skeletal hands grasped a long, wicked–looking blade. It let out a low, chilling hiss, and Helios felt a wave of terror wash over him. He drew his sword, the blade gleaming with a faint, magical light, and stepped forward to stand beside Tharlor.
“Tharlor” Helios warned when he saw that he was about to face the wraith. So far it was not hurting them. The shadow king nay not be so pleased if he found out that a wraith was killed, in his territory
“We have no choice,” Tharlor murmured, his voice steady. “We must face it.”
The Wraith moved with terrifying speed, lunging at them with its blade raised. Helios parried the blow, the force of the impact sending a shock through his arm. Tharlor circled around the creature, his own dagger flashing in the dim light as he sought an opening.
The battle was a blur of motion and shadows. Helios and Tharlor fought with all their skill and strength, but the Wraith was relentless. It struck again and again, each blow fueled by a hatred that seemed to burn brighter with each passing moment.
Helios felt his strength waning, the cold of the Shadow Realm seeping into his bones. He knew they could not keep this up much longer. Desperation gave him a burst of energy, and he struck out with all his might, his sword slicing through the Wraith’s robes and biting into the ethereal flesh beneath.
The Wraith let out a scream of rage and pain, its form flickering and wavering. Tharlor seized the moment, plunging his dagger into the creature’s back. With a final, agonized wail, the Wraith dissolved into a cloud of dark mist, dissipating into the shadows from whence it came.
Helios stood panting, his sword still raised, as the last remnants of the Wraith vanished. Tharlor stepped beside him, his face grim
but determined.
“We must keep moving,” Tharlor said, his voice a harsh whisper. “There will be more.”
Helios nodded, sheathing his sword. The battle had been a close one, and he knew they were far from safe. But they had survived, and their mission was still within reach. As they resumed their journey through the Shadow Realm,
“you seem to know where you are going” Helios said with a new sense of realisation.
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“yes sire” was all he said. He did not want to say much, but Helios was not having it.
“well, why is that? Don’t tell me you made a pack to kidnap and kill me?” he laughed at his own joke but all Tharlor did was to blink with a blank face.
“I had something intimate with a member of this realm once”
“really? A shadow woman, must have been good. I am glad you are exploring, coming out the shell you built around your shell
after…”
He teased, bumping his shoulder rather softly.
“I wish you to hold the thought when we meet the shadow king”
Helios raised his brows. “and why is that?”
“because the woman whom I had intimacy with, was his wife”
