Isabelle watched frozen in place as the Stone of the Shield chose her dear Lucas as its Guardian. Again, she could feel her eyes tearful. The girl smiled warmly.
She fully expected Lucas to be Chosen. He always protected every living soul and his loved ones.
The boy was landing slowly. He had his eyes wide open. And they were still glowing in orange and gold. It was as if he had gathered all the light in one place. His right bruised hand shone slightly.
"Come, Shirudo. Appear before me." Lucas said as if not with his own voice.
The light surrounded him and formed next to him in the shadow of an animal. It took the shape and snout of a lynx. It had a soft brownish fur that shone in gold shades.
His eyes were of pure gold and looked straight at Isabelle. Тhe girl's breath caught. She had no idea why it was looking at her. Well, probably that animal was Shirudo.
Lucas fell to the ground and closed his eyes. The big lynx approached the boy to hold him. Lucas opened his eyes. They were normal again. He looked around and there was a question in his eyes. Everyone looked at him amazed.
"Wha... what's wrong? What happened? Why are you all looking at me like that? And why do I want to sleep so much?... And! And the pain has stopped!"
Isabel was about to explain what happened to him, but she was interrupted by a loud sound like an alarm.
"TO THE ATTENTION OF ALL PLAYERS, THE SECOND GUARDIAN OF THE SHIELD HAS BEEN CHOSEN!! YOU CAN MOVE ON TO THE NEXT ARENA!" The young participants were about to celebrate, but the voice continued, "IN THE PROTECTED AREA BETWEEN THE ROOMS YOU WILL FIND EXTRADIONARY MESSAGE FROM THE QUEEN. I REPEAT, IN THE PROTECTED AREA BETWEEN THE ROOMS YOU WILL FIND EXTRADIONARY MESSAGE FROM THE QUEEN. HEAR IT AS FAST AS YOU CAN. IT'S IMPORTANT FOR YOUR L…." then the recoding stopped and there was only silence.
The participants looked at each other. Their joy of Lucas' victory had melted away. In its place, there was fear. What could the Queen report at such a time?
"Um... I didn't expect things to turn out that way...buut congratulations big brother! You're the second Chosen one! Who would believe that you will pass me by so much!" Axel tried to melt the ice of fear. He threw himself at his brother's neck and twitched a little when the big lynx growled. "But Lucas, dear brother, how come you have a lynx?"
"I…he is not mine. I... I saw him when I was a kid. I guess he's my Spirit Animal. Friends meet Shirudo!" stroked the big cat on the back and smiled at him.
"And... do you feel pain, Lucas? The vampire wound... you must have recovered! Now you only have one big scar!" Isabelle approached him and touched his hand. She was afraid for her best friend.
"I'm perfectly fine, Isa! I'm all right! I guess the bracelet protects me from myself. But what happened actually? I don't remember anything since...ever since I ran like a madman to the vampire. What exactly happened?"
Iza froze in place. There was a pain in her eyes. 'Oh no….he…he doesn't remember anything….doesn't remember our kiss and how he protected me…' she swallowed hard to remove the tears from her eyes. 'No, it's better this way. Otherwise, it would have caught us such shame that we wouldn't be able to communicate. And I kissed him just because I needed to save him. That's all and nothing more….' But the girl felt that she was lying to herself. She smiled excessively.
"This... it's not important now! Now we must hurry to get to the protected area in time! Come on, we will talk later!"
Lucas didn't believe what she was saying. But agreed with her. They really had to go. Otherwise, they'd be having this conversation for hours. Everyone agreed.
Isabel put her head down. Her whole face was burning full of sadness. She stood as far away from Lucas as possible so he wouldn't notice her condition.
He headed for the high door. Shirudo stood next to him. The boy put his right hand on the door. The little crystal and his eyes lit up. The door, as on command, began to slowly open.
Lucas turned his head and looked at Isabelle. He smiled slightly. His soft hair ruffled a little. Iza felt like she was looking at an angel. He looked so handsome and generous. Tears appeared in her eyes again. She looked to the ground.
The boy was frustrated with her reaction. But he still went deeper into the tunnel and the others followed him. Inside it was pitched black — like in a grave. They could barely see anything. Then the participants noticed light greenery near the road.
It was like a jungle with a little pond. Firewood was prepared right next to the pond. On one of the stones was a small blue crystal. It was the only connection with the real world.
"First, friends, I have to tell you something...." Valentina tried to start a conversation, but she was interrupted by Eric.
"Tina, do you have to do this right now? And on the battlefield, you kept insisting on saying something! And now the Queen has a very important message, and you want to again? "
"Yes! I have to say it right now! Now! Because I've been wanting to say this for a long time! You saw Penelope and Mathias yourself! They're counting on you too now! So yes, I will say it now!" the girl screamed at him in return. Isabel had never seen her so scared and furious.
"So. If there's no one to interrupt me now, I will continue. This Tournament or whatever it is is NOT created by artificial intelligence at all and is neither digital! All those Commanders and their pawns are completely real living people!
"The crazy head that created this place has decided to lock up their souls here and let their bodies suffer in prison! I know that because one of the Commanders, Penelope, explained everything to me! They were living people and she was going to have a child before they locked her and her husband up in this disgusting place!"
"Tina, are you sure they're not bad people? There must be a good reason to do something like that, right?" Sophie asked insecurely.
"No, they're not bad! They had a King who was crazy about their ideation of good! Penelope is completely innocent! And even more so is her baby son, who is still in her belly!"
Everyone froze in place. There was anger, remorse, pain in their eyes. For a few minutes, everyone stood silently in their seats. They couldn't bear the shock of the news. Finally, Sophie spoke first:
"Let... let's hear my mother's message. Maybe... maybe she will explain this madness..." she pressed the little bluestone. A blue hologram appeared in the air.
"My dear participants. I hope you see this message safely, alive and well. We have... some bad news... our connection with you has been severed. We don't see you on the screens and we don't know how you survive on your own. The monsters and the obstacles....they are now unpredictable. The whole centre of government is completely destroyed.
"Looks like there's an undercover enemy among you. Take care of yourself as much as you can. It's very risky. Don't be afraid for us. The parents of all of you are protected by my own and most faithful Personal Bodyguards. We will protect them at the cost of everything.
"Sofia, my dear. Please be very careful. I love you so much. May the force be with you..." and then there were gunshots and screams. The connection was disconnected. Looks like someone attacked the palace.
Our heroes were all alone.