Rena stood still, pinned in place by her own body. She tried everything in her power to move, but she simply couldn't. The boy, Lucius, had activated a different ability…it wasn't magical in nature…she could tell that much. This had to mean that it was from his mark…but didn't he use his mark earlier?
Rena had learned a bit about marks recently and apparently they were broken down into classes: Basic, Abnormal, and Lethal. There was also a fourth class known as "Unknown" but it simply meant that no one had translated the mark's meaning and did not necessarily mean they were dangerous.
All "Lethal" ranked marks were tracked and not submitting notice of one being found was a crime in the kingdom…however…it was still possible this mark was unknown…which would have been fine.
Rena decided that if she survived this, she would certainly report this to her father. Such power was unimaginable to her, and yet here it was being wielded by this boy…
Lucius continued to advance towards Vik, Peter, and Thomas. The slashed away spells caused them to wet themselves and a dark spot spread around their pants. This seemed to amuse Lucius as he let out a deep chuckle.
Next, he raised his hand and reached out towards the boys again. Tendrils wrapped themselves around Vik and Peter, just as they had done before. Vik clawed towards Thomas, who had fallen backwards onto his butt, however, Thomas simply kicked Vik's hands away, terrified that he would be dragged into the darkness.
"No! No! Monst…" Peter screamed as he was the first to be enveloped.
Vik continued to be slowly dragged into the darkness, crying out "Mommy…please…daddy…no…no!"
Their screams turned to silence, and the shadow advanced once again towards Thomas. It was at this moment that Rena finally felt like she could move. However, she locked eyes with her cousin.
Her body screamed run, but her head told her that letting Thomas die here was a mistake for some reason. So, gathering what little courage she had, she jumped in front of her horrible cousin, or at least the only one that was left.
As much as she hated him for his personality and his scheme to kill her, she needed him alive. He had better potential than his older brother, and that was an asset she could use to her advantage, politically.
Suddenly she was struck with a realization…what changed? Why could she move…how could she think so clearly? And how did she jump in front of this being?
Rena looked at the glowing eyes in the center of a swirling black storm. She could barely make out a body in the center of it.
"Girl."
A voice echoed through the woods, it was raspy and bone chilling.
"I like you…you have…potential…"
"Thank you?" Rena mumbled. She couldn't pinpoint the source of the voice with her ears, but she felt like it came from the black mass in front of her. "Lucius?"
"Keh! Not quite…Lucius isn't with us at the moment. He's tough…but killing humans…oh he isn't ready for that. He was angry enough for it…but to actually do it, no."
"What happened to him, what did you do?"
"He's fine…Girl, do you want to live?"
Rena gulped. "Y-y-yes"
"Protect this boy…or you and your family will join your cousins in the Abyss." The voice then seemed to focus its attention on Thomas. "And you…boy. I'll let you live for now. Happy nightmares…Thomas."
Before Rena could respond the darkness surrounding Lucius disappeared, and the boy dropped to the ground, unconscious. A chilling laugh echoed throughout the woods before fading into nothing.
Nate and the others came back into the clearing, doing their best to avoid making eye contact with the bodies of Edra, Maribel, and the unknown child. Rena scanned the area, but the bodies of the children taken by the shadows were gone, only small drops of blood were visible on the forest floor.
Rena cautiously placed a finger on the boy's neck and was able to feel a pulse. The machete he was holding was previously a rusty mess…but now it had a bright shine to it and almost seemed to hum with some sort of power.
"Alright. We are going to leave here. Nate, Pavi, grab Lucius. I'll get his weapon…Michael…keep an eye on Thomas and make sure he doesn't start any funny business while we leave."
Everyone snapped to attention and did as she commanded. Thanks to her father's influence on her development, she did have a knack for ordering people around and them listening to her. Though she would also admit that since she was already identified as a member of the Petra family, that they decided to listen to her.
The group soon left the area and made their way slowly towards the exit of the forest. The trip took a few hours due to getting turned around, avoiding other monsters, and dragging an unconscious person with them.
When they were about to finally exit the trees, seeing shining light increase in brightness, Lucius finally awoke. Rena immediately noticed that his gray eye was still gold in color like when he used that mark…
"I got him from here, you go on ahead…" Rena moved to help support Lucius since he was awake and able to move on his own a little.
Nate and Pavi nodded and headed out of the woods with Michael right behind them.
"Listen Lucius…I don't know what happened back there…but, you are going to come serve me. In my manor."
The black-haired boy stared at her blankly. "Okay."
"Look I know…" Rena paused and then blinked a few times. "Okay? Wow…didn't…alright then. I will talk to my father, I guess."
"Good."
Both of them stepped into the light from between the trees. The evening sun had started to set in the sky. It gave of beautiful bursts of oranges and reds which stood in stark contrast to the horrors these children just witnessed. Waiting for them were a handful of guards that were stationed around the perimeter of the woods. They maintained this perimeter non-stop for three days, which was the maximum time allotted for the trial. After those three days, any children who had not returned were simply assumed dead.
"Lady Rena von Petra…please allow me to carry that thing for you." One of the guards stepped forward to yank Lucius away.
"Don't touch him." Rena warned. She felt Lucius tense as his hand tightened on her shoulder.
The guard didn't hear her and kept reaching for the boy. This time his eyes widened and start to glow. An ominous aura began to fall off of him.
The guard shuddered for a moment before Rena spoke up again, though louder. "It really is for the best if you don't touch him…he's like…a feral kitten that I found in the woods."
Lucius' threatening aura stopped immediately as he looked at her in shock. "Wha…"
"I'm going to ask father if I can keep him. He's just too cute."