3 hours before Cecilia's death
The princess and her mages were in pursuit.
"Shit!" the man in the raven mask cursed as he ran. Who would've thought that witch would be among them? If only I had the shard, I could stand a chance…
Suddenly, the ground before him erupted. Tree roots burst forth, twisting like serpents, and the earth beneath turned to sucking mud. He tried to move, but his legs were quickly being swallowed.
"You can't escape now," Princess Elery said, stepping forward, her voice firm. "Where are the hostages?"
He spat defiantly. "Ha! You think you're better than me, cursed princess?"
He raised his hands to cast a spell but before he could utter a word, Lunara appeared behind him and clamped a hand over his mouth, silencing him.
"Take him for questioning," the princess commanded. Magical bindings wrapped around his limbs. Just as the mages were preparing to teleport him back-
Whoosh—BOOM!
A fireball screamed through the forest, striking the ground near them and erupting in flames.
"Are you alright, Your Highness?!" Lunara cried, shielding her from the blast.
From the smoke, a figure emerged. A woman in a goat-shaped mask, her presence commanding.
"Scion!" the man gasped, a mix of fear and relief in his eyes.
"I gave you a simple task," Scion said coldly. "And you failed." The man flinched. Her tone cut deeper than any blade.
Princess Elery watched her carefully. She's powerful, far more than the man we captured. The dark aura surrounding her confirmed it. Elery summoned roots again, slowly snaking them toward Scion's feet. But Scion noticed. With a flick of her wrist, a wave of dark magic rotted the plants into ash.
"Oh, Princess," she said mockingly, "in your current state, you can't even dream of beating me. Perhaps if you were as strong as your sister... then maybe."
Elery's eyes narrowed. She knows about my sister… Who is she?
"I'd love to stay and play," Scion continued, "but I have more important matters to attend to. So why don't you entertain yourself with this instead?" She gestured to the raven-masked man.
She bit her wrist. Dark blood dripped from the wound. The man knelt, and she forced him to drink. The moment it touched his tongue, his eyes turned crimson, and the sigil on his hand ignited in flame.
"No…" Elery breathed. Elery focused her energy, light flaring between her palms. She launched a radiant blast at Scion, but the man stepped in the way and absorbed it.
"Thank you, Scion," he said, eyes glowing with power, voice laced with madness. "I'll make good use of this."
"You better," Scion replied coldly and vanished into the shadows.
"Wait! You can't leave!" Elery shouted, charging forward. But the man blocked her path. He now stood, smiling wickedly.
"Shall we continue where we left off?" he sneered. The air around him crackled with violent energy. His power had multiplied and he was just getting started.
At the tavern, the marquess questioned the innkeeper, who recalled seeing two men dragging Lady Cecilia away.
"We've searched this whole area. I don't think she's here anymore," Sir Lucian said. "We need to regroup with Her Highness, there's a chance they've found something."
"But the forest is massive," the Rue muttered. "How do we even begin to look?"
"With this." Sir Lucian held up his bracelet. "It's a tracker. It links us to the others and it can teleport us in emergencies."
"Then lead the way."
As they began their journey into the forest, the bracelet suddenly cracked and shattered. Light engulfed them and in the blink of an eye, they were somewhere deep in the Labyrinthine woods. Rue opened his eyes, disoriented. He was with a few knights, but Sir Lucian was gone. "It seems we've been separated," he said, regaining composure. "Scour the area."
They moved quickly. Moments later, a knight cried out, "Your Grace! Over there!"
He pointed to a group of grave merchants in pursuit of a fleeing woman. They charged in, engaging the captors.
While the knights fought, the marquess rushed to the woman. "Are you alright, my lady?" he asked, concern etched across his face.
"It is you… Your Grace," she gasped. "Please, help her… Lady Cecilia…" She weakly pointed toward the cliffs before collapsing.
"Conrad! Take her back and see she's treated immediately," he ordered. "The rest, with me!"
Fueled by urgency and dread, Rue raced toward the cliffs. And then he saw her, Cecilia.
"Cecilia!" he called out but just as he reached out, the unthinkable happened.
The cliff edge crumbled.
He watched in horror as Cecilia fell, her body swallowed by the abyss below. The woman responsible vanished in the mist.
"No!"
He rushed to the edge, heart thundering. The drop was too steep. No ordinary person would survive. But hope clung to him like a lifeline.
"Find a way down!" he roared.
When they reached the base, the sight broke him.
Cecilia was bloodied, lifeless. Her body didn't move. He dropped to his knees beside her. Trembling hands brushed her hair away from her face.
"No. No, please…" he choked. "You can't die. I'm sorry… I should've protected you."
A knight arrived, breaking the silence. "Your Grace… Sir Lucian has been found. He's with the princess. They're under attack by two dark mages."
The marquess rose. His grief turned to fury, eyes glinting with a deadly resolve.
"Take care of her," he ordered. "And stay here. I'll handle the rest." He bolted toward the battle.
The sounds of clashing magic grew louder. As he emerged into the clearing, he saw Princess Elery and Sir Lucian struggling to fend off two powerful mages, others lay wounded around them. Without a word, he unsheathed his sword. A blue light erupted from it, encasing the blade in crystal ice. Every step he took froze the ground beneath him. He dashed forward and swung at the woman in the raven mask. She narrowly dodged. Her robe, grazed by the icy blade, began to freeze and crumble.
"Hmm… Ice magic. Impressive," she said, removing the damaged fabric.
"Your Grace!" Sir Lucian called, relieved. "You're safe."
"They're both using dark magic," Princess Elery warned. "We have to be careful."
The man in the raven mask sneered. "It's time to use it."
"Now? I thought Scion already shared her power with you," his companion said.
"She did but look." He gestured toward the marquess. "The greatest ice mage on the continent. And you two held your own against me even after my power was heightened. If we take all of you down here, His Lordship will be very pleased."
The woman thought for a bit. "Alright. Let's use it."
"Then give it to me," he said, stepping closer.
She smiled faintly.
And then she struck.
Her hand pierced his chest with precision, fingers wrapping around his heart.
"W-what…?" he gasped, frozen in shock.
"Who said you would be the one to use it?" she sneered, her smile dripping with malice. "Isn't it only fair that the stronger one should wield it? I cannot afford to disappoint the Scion."
The three stared in horror. None of them had anticipated this betrayal.
As the man's life drained away, her power surged. A black flame erupted around her, thick with ominous energy. When the flames finally receded, she was unrecognizable.
Her skin had turned pitch black, covered in glowing runic symbols etched in fire. Two scorched sigils marked her chest and hand. A purple shard was embedded in her forehead, pulsing with power, and her eyes burned crimson.
A shiver crawled down their spines. This wasn't just a dark mage. This was something else. Something beyond them. None of them had ever faced such overwhelming power.
"Your Grace, you need to leave. Take Her Highness with you," Sir Lucian said firmly, stepping protectively in front of her. "I'll try to hold her off."
"What? No!" Princess Elery protested. "We can't let that thing roam free. We don't know what it's capable of."
"She's right," Rue said. "We may not be able to kill it… but we might be able to restrain her."
The woman stepped forward slowly, her voice echoing with unnatural distortion. "Restrain me? You'd be lucky to breathe by the time I'm done."
She raised her hand. "I have shed my mortal form. I am now a Bloodforged Knight… reborn by His Lordship's will."
With a snap of her fingers, the world around them turned black. The sky, the trees, the earth, everything vanished into an endless, lightless void.
"Sir Lucian! Your Grace!" the princess's voice echoed, disoriented.
"I'm here! Your Highness, where are you?!" Lucian called back, but their voices bounced back endlessly, disjointed and confusing.
They tried to use their power but it didn't work. The void consumed it all. And then, the ground beneath them began to sink. Their footing gave way to nothingness. It swallowed them, slow at first… then faster as they resisted. The more they struggled, the deeper they were pulled in until darkness claimed them completely.
As Princess Elery opened her eyes, she found herself somewhere strangely familiar.
She was standing in the halls of the palace, her palace in the Dostani Kingdom.
"Why am I here?" she whispered, disoriented. "What happened to the others?"
She wandered through the halls, heart pounding. Everything looked just as she remembered it: the polished marble floors, the gilded pillars, the scent of roses from the garden beyond the open windows.
Drawn by a sense of longing, she stepped toward the window and froze.
There, walking through the sun-drenched garden, was a figure she thought she'd never see again. "S-sister?" she breathed.
Without thinking, she ran. Down the hallway, past the grand staircase, bursting through the garden doors. "Sister!" she cried out.
The young woman turned. Her white hair shimmered in the light, and her smile was warm, familiar, radiant.
Princess Liora Van Altuis, first princess of Dostani, Elery's beloved sister.
"Elery! Have your classes ended?" Liora asked with a soft laugh.
Overwhelmed, Elery threw her arms around her. She hadn't seen her sister like this, in full life, in joy for so long.
"I've missed you," Elery whispered, her voice breaking.
Liora chuckled. "Did Lady Seraphina give you a hard time again? She can be strict, but she is the best teacher."
"What are you talking about…? I finished those lessons years ago."
Liora gave her a playful look. "Are you still half-asleep, Elery?"
Something was off. Was she always this tall? And when she turned to a nearby fountain, her own reflection made her gasp. She was younger. Her hair, her face, everything was from years ago.
"Elery!" a voice called.
She turned to see a boy running toward them.
"Lucian?" she said, stunned.
It was Sir Lucian… but not as she knew him. This was a fifteen-year-old Lucian, energetic and smiling.
"Her Majesty has summoned us for lunch," he said, slightly out of breath.
As they walked back inside, more memories stirred in Elery's mind. This year… This was the year Liora returned to Arcane Lyceum. Months later, she was in an accident. A tragedy they never fully understood. I can stop it, Elery realized. I have to stop it.
At the dining table, the queen addressed the inevitable.
"So, Liora," Queen Thalora said, setting down her teacup. "Must you really return to the academy? We can bring the finest instructors here."
"Mother," Liora said gently, "the best minds are at the Lyceum. And there's more to learn than magic alone. If I'm to inherit the throne, I must understand the world beyond our palace walls. This is for the kingdom."
Elery remembered nodding in agreement back then, unaware of what was to come. But this time…
"Mother is right," Elery said softly.
Liora blinked in surprise. "You… disagree?"
"You always told me to follow my path," she added.
Elery hesitated, but pushed through. "Mother hasn't been feeling well lately. And if something were to happen while you're gone…"
Queen Thalora raised an eyebrow, feigning offense. "You make it sound like I'm going to die."
Elery winced. "Of course not, Mother."
The queen smiled, but her eyes were thoughtful. "We'll speak more about this later, Liora."
The woman with the raven mask stood silently in the void, the air thick with dark energy. Behind her, the sprouting seed of the Tree of Darkness began to take shape, its roots fed not by soil, but by Elery's grief, guilt, and yearning. Twisted branches curled outward as if hungering for more.
"Just keep dreaming, princess," she murmured with a cruel smile. "Your nightmare is yet to come."
She turned her gaze toward the others lying motionless nearby, Sir Lucian and Rue, each trapped in the same illusion.
"Now," she said, stepping toward them, "let's see what these two are dreaming about."
With a flick of her wrist, she crouched beside the marquess and laid two fingers gently on his temple. Shadows slithered from her hand and merged with his mind.