When the morning came around the sun struggled to peek through the clouds that constantly surround this biome, keeping it so frightening cold. Xander was first one to wake up as he walked over to Blaire's room she shared with Dan, he paused for a moment thinking of what happened last night and knew his approach wasn't exactly the smartest.
"You can do this, Xander. All you have to do is knock and see if they're ready, that's it. Just go in and out, it's as simple as that" he exhaled muttered to himself recollecting those thoughts of self control with his hands touching his own face, wanting to see what she sees in Dan and what makes him so special and different compared to Apollo. "Okay, it's now or never" Xander gained the courage and knocked loudly making himself immediately known to those inside, as light footsteps could be heard making their way a minute later before the door opened by a crack. Blaire's face peeked through clearly dressed in suitable warm outdoor clothing, they noticed each other as she opened the door more widely inviting him inside, but he only stood outside of the door silently staring directly at Dan, who did exactly the same for a moment before instantly glancing away paying him no attention, nor giving him the reaction he wanted to get out of them. Danny too was ready for this adventure to a place neither of them have ever stepped foot in other than Xander. He was their only line of defence and guidance.
"Are you ready? I want to arrive on the grass lands before sun fall" Xander said peered down at his little sister who instantly gave him that 'don't you dare' glare, not wanting any drama to happen between any of them during this trip. "Aaanyway. Due to my sister being pregnant it might take us longer, but that is no long an issue" he added already having the experience with dealing with a pregnant woman, along with the mood swings, weak bladders and weird cravings.
"How long will it actually take for us to get to this ghost guy?" Danny questioned walking up to the big guy without any hesitation, Xander's body language instantly changed appearing more friendly than it usually was when he is around Dan or outside on patrol. Blaire instantly noticed this and glanced over at Dan who too saw this odd change.
"On foot? Well, approximately several days or possibly a month all together depending on the weather, who we meet and if there is someone trying to stop us. Like for example Apollo or a shadow shifter like Dex. They are extremely dangerous beings we should avoid at all costs" Xander explained knowing this journey had its risks and walking wasn't a big issue, but Blaire annoyingly exhaled knowing how this was going to ache her body.
"Why can't we fly there? Won't it be much easier?" Danny asked visibly confused as it would clearly be far quicker if they hadn't chosen to go by foot.
"That's the thing, kid. Thanks to someone, If we were to fly over any kingdom, village or anything holding a civilisation can shoot us down. Our kind is no longer welcome or are considered as a peaceful race anymore, so no matter where we walk no one will hesitate to attack if we dare to show any signs of violence" Xander sounded serious knowing the consequences of what Aelius had done, ruining their race's reputation as no one trusts or even wants to be near them anymore. And Blaire's past outburst way before Avery was born didn't make things any easier.
"Oh well, I guess we have to make do with the time we've got and go before something happens" Dan said coming up by Blaire's side wanting to get all of this over and done with, as the others would worrying sick about them and didn't want the baby being born in such a dangerous environment. Every place in this realm wasn't safe, he knew she didn't want to be there at all, but if it was to make her more comfortable then sure it must be worth it.
They headed off outside in the freezing cold climates this biome is famously known for, along with its polar bear population inhabitants. However, not every step was easy especially for Blaire and Danny who were small and had a bad time keeping up with Xander and Dan, who are much taller, more capable let alone adapted to such snowy conditions. Blaire managed to get a ride while the boy struggled, but even if Xander suggested to help he quickly declined, taking this as a challenge to become a stronger person.
Dex's POV:
Being trapped in a cage other than a cell is far different, especially when they're dangling down by chains over a blue lava pit that boiled several feet below, but I can still feel the heat keeping the bottom of my cage warm. The other prisoners dangling in separate cages didn't make this imprisonment any easier, their constant cries and screams echoed through my mind, slowly driving me insane with this torture the longer this monster keeps me alive. Alaric is far more colder than Aelius himself by a huge scale, he does not hesitant to kill or torture his victims who dare to cross on his land, he is the last of his kind and for what I've heard has only one child left being Xander, but what happened to the rest is still unknown to me. I only want to know where in divinity he got this immense power from?
The atmosphere instantly became intense as everyone fell deathening silent, as only the bubbling of the blue lava below could be heard until his heavy footsteps could be heard emerging from a cave opening with the prison chamber of his castle that was filled with dangerous things I cannot even imagine to explain. A 10 foot tall figure emerged from the shadows revealing the fearsome Alaric, the only pure breed half dragon ghost being to exist as Xander mainly took his ghost genes thanks to his now deceased mother, but when I say this guy wasn't mesmerising to look at I would be lying. I could stare at his beautiful interstellar scales and flowing long hair any day, and that chest full of hair to ruffle my face in. Whenever the light from the lava hit his skin causing it to sparkle so elegantly like an ocean would during a mesmerising sunset, but he is incredibly dangerous along with his mysterious magic like abilities. His long interstellar dragon tail followed behind the big man along with his folded in interstellar scaled wings, having dragon hind legs and feet covered in interstella scales all the way up to to his waist hiding the junk most species need to hide away with clothes. Alaric was a true dragon beast having scales not only on the bottom half, but some on his cheek bones, forehead, shoulders, collarbone, down the back of his spine, top of those soft looking pointy ears, going from the top part of the upper arm down to the top part of his hand leaving the rest being his handsomely soft looking skin. His large set of interstellar horns are just majestic to share at and would cost a freaking fortune if someone had the chance to chip at least a piece off or prick a single scale from his body, instantly making them rich for the rest of their lives. And don't forget those bright yellow golden eyes, any woman would love to stare into them instantly wanting such a perfect stallion to give them his seed, honouring then with his offspring once chosen.
Another ghost came through behind bringing in a black long robe handing it over to Alaric, as he slid it on and tied it in place before he continued to walk around glancing through every dangling cage until spotting me staring directly at him. I instantly turned away in fear slightly trembling, knowing he'll surely kill me if I did something so selfish again, and I ain't no big guy nor as brave as Apollo. I am a coward when it comes to those who are truly more powerful than me, who can kill me in a heartbeat if they so desirably wanted to.
"I am such a dead man.." I thought dreading for the moment he would drop my cage into the burning blue lava below, the only hottest thing capable of killing our kind compared to normal lava itself. This one was different and would melt my core away within minutes of touching it. Suddenly by cage was violent shuck like something had bumped into it, causing me to turn seeing him there with those big sharp clawed hands clutching on the metal of my cage with his feet stood firmly on the bottom. His glare was silent, intense and serious seeing those eyes glowing so brightly at me as its pupils were slit as if it had already found its prey. My heart was already pounding loudly against my chest, fearing of what horrors he could put me through to entertain such a cold hearted beast's boredom.
"How are you liking the view little doe?" Alaric asked as that deep masculine voice was just as scary and breathtaking like the rumours say, but he wasn't exactly trying to hurt me in anyway which is a little odd. I expected more of a aggressive approach than this.
"I-uh.. It's very.." I stuttered glancing around seeing nothing other than the insides of a scary, dark, spiky cave filled with dangerous blue lava. "Dangerous, hehe" I nervously laughed looking back at him as he didn't seemed pleased with my response even with my hands holding on for dear life on the bars of my cage. He turned his eyes away staring at the scenery before suddenly staring back at me then at his hand and ripped my cage door open, grabbing my ripped shirt and pulled me out holding me underneath one of those big muscular arms as he jumped off and glided down using his wings putting me back down onto solid ground.
"I don't usually do this to my prisoners, but something about you is different. I'll let you free for now, but I demand to know why you were walking in my territory little doe?" Alaric sounded serious glancing down at me seeing my submissive behaviour as I remained on my knees not expecting such gratitude from a dangerous killer.
"Aelius ordered me to come here to take something from you. Your crown, staff or possibly your head to regain his respect after completing my latest mission on eliminating one of the enemies most prized possession. He was planning to send Apollo or his son Kai, but didn't want to lose either or his most powerful allies. And yet here I am" I explained not wanting to perish if a single lie dared to slip out of my mouth, even if I wanted to just glance up and stare at that handsome face all day, but that would be a death wish.
"Hmm.. He was planning to kill me, huh? But why send a shifted to do a knights job? Let alone an Omega" I could hear him talking it over with himself as his tail began to flail and hit the ground confused stressed about the thought of a possible attack, even if he hadn't shown his face or did anything to anger Aelius other than impregnating his last wife. "Stand up, Omega. I have a very promising proposition for you" his words made me spring up listening to him like he was now my master, even if he's far better than Aelius in controlling his temper.
"Yes, sir?" I asked hovering his huge body over me casting a shadow making a little hard to see his face other than those glowing eyes that glared down at me. I nervously gulped hoping for something more simple than another death mission or I'll most likely die as a result.
"I am going to give you a very special gift, a Tiger Blue Lapis. Use it to get me as much information about Aelius as you can, but make sure no one knows it's you little doe. I know you'll do a smashing job and if you succeed, I might give you a better prize or possibly a place with the guards within my castle" this offer was something I cannot live down, as it released most of the fear I had changing it into determination giving him a nod willing to follow through and out my powers to the ultimate test. "I know you'll do well once a proper disguise has been chosen, so pick wisely before you depart on your big mission" he added wanting me to find a disguise that no one knew, which was kinda risky, but what other choice do I have than stealing someone else's identity within the empire.
No one's POV:
After Dex chose his disgues eventually left through a portal Alaric made dropping them off on the outskirts of his land to not increase the chances of death, and intervention in their mission to spy on the enemy. Alaric turned his attention away from his dungeon and headed back up the stairs that led directly up to his dark scary castle that stands high besides a sleeping volcano filled with blue lava, but only he knows what really lies underneath all that boiling gooey looking liquid.
When walking in the corridors of his elegantly decorated castle involving red carpet along the different floors that were either marble, wooden, tiles or just grey coloured bricks. Statues, swords and shields decorated in some walls, but only one room he kept close from the public no one knows what is hiding inside as it's always locked and guarded by a magic veil shield. Big and small intimidating guards stood around some parts of the castle inside and out like they're preparing for war saluting to Alaric everytime he walked by.
"I demand to be notified if anymore trespassers decide to step foot on my territory" He ordered to the guards who stood even more straight as one of them instantly went to alert the others on his demands.
"You won't be disappointed, sir" the other guard replied and watched Alaric walk off to who knows where leaving all guards to do their job. He stopped directly in front of a set of huge dark wooden doors that stood untouched and freshly polished to his left, he turned to look at it before continuing on as if uninterested and yet a hint of hurt could been seen present within his eyes for a split second for whatever remained hidden reminded him of something tragic, a memory or possibly a dear friend.
It had been 2 weeks and things were looking good for the 4, as nothing appeared to be getting in the way along their journey towards The Forbidden Shadow Death Valley together, but the eyes cannot help other than share within the bushes and trees. They had set up camp for the night with some comfy sleeping bags, before everyone set off they surrounded the cosy fire for a little meeting.
"Only a few more days and we'll finally reach the boarder, hope you rookie's understand the plan and let me speak to them. The Forbidden Shadow Death Valley is a very dangerous place" Xander announced glancing around the group landing his eyes directly on Dan and Danny while Blaire stood beside her brother.
Within the darkness that surrounded them a set of purple eyes peered through the bushes unseen, and watching them all with full concentration on studying their movements individually. Their attention mainly was on Blaire and Xander, feeling that powerful magic like presence within their souls making them the most powerful ones out of them all, while the other two was much harder for them to understand let alone their core's.
"What is your reading on the new comers?" A neutral male voice whispered before the purple eyes were accompanied by a set of pink ones, seeing the group sat around the fire.
"Xander at the lady are surely powerful, I can sense their intense energy dwelling within their cores, blood and DNA. But the other two I have absolutely no clue, as I cannot read their energy yet. Something is preventing me from sensing it" a more gentle female voice whispered back glancing their to the pink and then directly at Blaire. It was clear they were spies, but who for?
"Interesting.. I wonder why a human has such an enormous energy? Could she be an illegal hybrid?" The male asked not wanting to think she was anything else other than a weak human, but little did they know who exactly she was underneath all of that vulnerable flesh and bone.
Blaire started to glance her eyes away from the fire causing the eyes to slickly hide away out of view. Xander quickly picked up on this and placed a hand on her stomach instinctively forcing them to instantly lock eye contact, Dan gritted his teeth when seeing his bold attempt to touch the barely noticeable baby bump.
"What are you doing?" She questioned him as he pulled away his hand appearing shocked to see what he had done.
"I do apologise! It was out of instincts I swear. Please do not take it out of disrespect, I beg for your forgiveness" Xander suddenly pleaded getting down on both knees and bowed until his hands was touching the ground in front of them. The observers were shocked to see such submissive behaviour come from the mighty warrior from the ice lands.
"So the lady is their most powerful member then? It's clear he greatly fears for her rage" the male whispered to their partner who too saw this, but didn't appear to be much affected on their behaviour and remained distant for now.
"Just stay away, and once they're out we grab the girl and take her straight to the boss. We both know he wants a suitable partner for the upcoming generation of his race" the female instructed giving important details for their partner to follow. They remained patient and waited for their target's buddies to head to bed before anything strategically can be done.
"It's been hours, are they all asleep yet?" The male was become restless within their darken hiding place within the nearby bushes, when the purple eyes peered out and relied now on only signals, no sound. They emerged from the bushes a female black furred monkey came out wearing black baggy trousers, tight black long sleeved shirt and a black cloak suited for such missions. She was accompanied with a tall black crow like creature, he wore exactly the same clothes and remained hidden underneath the cloak as they snuck towards their target.
"Let's grab them and go" she signed appearing desperate as he nodded and swooped in, instantly tying Blaire up within a shadow like rope he made with magic, quickly covering her mouth afterwards as she began to wake up.
"HHMM?!" Blaire muffled yelled was unheard trying to wiggle herself out of these restraints seeing the faces of her captures, as she was held within the crow's claws while he flapped his wings waiting for his friend to jump on.
"Huh?.. *glances up seeing the kidnappers* H-hey!" Danny yelled feeling the gist of wind coming from their wings as he darted for the crow, but was easily thrown away by the monkey into a nearby tree waking up Xander and Dan. Which then finally made the two take their leave, making it obvious on who they took.
"NO!.. BLAIRE?!" Dan exclaimed instantly taking flight after them without a second thought willing to fight if necessary to retrieve Blaire. The monkey turned being on the crow's back instantly noticed him and patted on their partner's back, as they glanced up mid flight.
"What's is it, Brielle?" He asked seeing her serious expression as Blaire continued to struggle with his clawed crow feet below.
"I'm going to use my move to stop this guy, so try your best to stay still for me. You know I cannot miss this" she instructed as he nodded and opened up his wings and glided, as smoothly as he could with the wind, allowing her to bringing out a small red staff from her locket. It immediately expanded growing large in length as she spin it around before aiming it directly in Dan's direction. "Let's see how you handle this big guy" they said as a shadow ball began to form the more she concentrated at the end of her staff, but once fully formed Brielle slum the staff and hit it like a bat. With the power they had the shadow ball darted straight at Dan at lightening speed colliding with him, creating smoke as Blaire watched him fall from the cloud of smoke.
"HM?!" She tried to scream, but it was no use her eyes were horrified to see how he fell into the forest below, hearing an echo of his body colliding with the ground. She flinched when hearing it as some tears filled within her eyes, knowing how badly injured he could be from that singular attack alone. And yet where is Xander?
"Quickly. GO?!" Brielle yelled as the two took off leaving the mess they had made for someone else to clean, after successfully collecting what they have been ordered to collect. A possibly worthy enough woman to bare the next heir for the shadow king's throne. But why a strangely strong human? Aren't they banned from ever entering this a step within this realm? And did they make a mistake on picking this one out of billions to chose from?
Only time will tell...