It was dark in the small forest above a hill, south of New Hawk, Merria. Josh was tied onto a tree and a fire lit, giving both warmth and light, but the wind almost brought it off its course. Several warriors with swords and golden cloaks and armor surrounded the fire, disappointment dialing across their faces.
Josh, he was yet to come around and Silion, absconded or abducted, she was no where to be found, whatever the case.
Arvin was restless in his palace. His heart was giving different emotions, all at the same time. He thought of Silion slaughtering all his men like helpless chickens. The thought of it made him laugh to himself. No, that just did not sound like her, she was no killer nor were his men pigheads!
He had waited with hope to reconnect with his long lost twin, while everything was in his reach. That surely would made him happy and he had dreamt of it ever since they lost touch in the eve of the fatal wedding.
When their father proposed of Arvin escorting him to the wedding alongside the queen, their mother, Silion was out with Josh so he had no time to bid her sister goodbye nor did he think it would be the last time they set eyes on each other.
He stood at the window, hoping to set his eyes on the smooth innocent face of Silion. It was dark already and his men were yet to return. He was so restless that he could not maintain a single position for more than five seconds. Dusk to midnight, no word of his men nor Silion came to him. He decided to find out what exactly was happening and how best could he find out than sending the dreamer into the Dreamland? He summoned Caleb into his chambers, demanding his presence immediately.
***
Nira held onto her sword firmly as fire burned wildly across the room in a fireplace. Hansen was quiet as usual, trying so hard not to look at Nira after what she pulled on him the other night. They had gotten comfortable in the now deserted town, that was once the most active town in the land. Two days without the face of the diabolic Welter Westers was a definition of peace for them. That man, he always had ways to get under their skin, even if he did not show up physically.
She was, however, vigilant and keen to her environment. She did not take any chances nor did she wish to fade away in the past the same way her father fell in the worst way possible. Call it myths but a king to die the way King Edmond and his queen died was something of high level bad luck. The people knew it. A king was only to die of old age or even better, in the battle, fighting for the lives of his subjects. The people of Bernbute believed so. The attack from the Wilds furthered their belief.
She missed her royal life, from time to time but not very often. It was easier to be a princess than a fugitive on the run and slave to the devil in form of a man. Welter had made it clear, that she was to serve him even if it took her the rest of her life. She was not chained and enslaved but her heart, her soul and mind were. She was aware of the limits he could go but she was too smart to let her ego betray her long- road plan.
Yes, she had something coming for him but she knew Welter was the path to her uncovering the truth about her family. It was the first reason she came to Neeka, to find him and find out the truth then second, to shelter away from Eidel, the cursed forest.
When she first arrived at the gates of Neeka alongside Josh and Silion, she had a single intention- to make her presence felt so that Welter would come looking for her. The man who had to surrender his house for them under the brutal spell of Nira, only served as collateral in that dangerous game. She knew a little use of her gifts would send the hound barking and it surely did.
The day of the fight with Silion, when she had looked over the window as if targeting something or someone, was exactly what she had planned. She saw Welter's shadow that is why she rushed outside to make him see her and report to the master, incase her major entrance had little influence or none. To her expectation, it did not take that long before Welter stood in front of her and marched her inside his castle and bidding her with a deal.
In the forest, Nira and Welter's mother were close. The prophetess and her had this plan that would change some aspects of the future and decide what legacy of the world shall live on. It is like they had planned to conquer the world and it was exactly that. The prophetess, Welter's mom or Larthia- her name, was the blueprint she used to come on Welter's radar.
Larthia the prophetess would be the first to find Welter and make him arrest her.
See, Welter had lived two years short of a century and his mother twenty years over a century. They were the ones who covered the truth in dark, courtesy of their combined gifts and supernatural systems they had in place. They were the living museums and dictionaries of that time until Nira was born.
Before her birth, they easily knew of everything that happened across the land without much hustle or struggle. Their powers enabled them to know of everything and at the time, the powers were extremely strong. Nira's birth neutralized them but they knew of it. She came as a villain to their story, cancelling out the dark clouds they had cursed over the human race that enabled them to know of every secret there was to know.
Well, Welter still had some influence and ways to get secrets but no longer through the supernatural systems they had in place. His mother was his reference. Like Nira, she could enter your soul through your eyes and compell you to release all the secrets you hid deep inside you.
Welter had begged his mom to end Nira as an infant. Larthia was disguised as a pretty maid servant at the palace at the time of Nira's birth. She had built loyalty such that she was allowed to stay with the baby princess and cater for her welfare while the queen performed her duties and that of a wife.
Welter had hoped she could kill her. Why else would she work in the palace? And as a maid?
Every time Larthia came face to face with Welter, he would not fail to show his agony and inhumane nature, asking his mother to end the life of an innocent girl, the savior of the future world and the ruler of the rulers. Only Larthia knew how important she was, that's why, that's why she vowed to work in the palace and take care of her. If she was not the one taking care of her, Nira would have been long executed as a bad omen and an evil spirit since she did things a two three, four or so months baby could not.
From such a tender age, eye contact with her would turn out to be pretty ugly for anyone who dared to look into her eyes.
Welter then learnt of how important she was and reluctantly withdrew his urgency of executing her. He knew their paths were entwined and they were to officially meet in circumstances he did not have an answer to, for instance, saving the world from Wilds!
How exactly did Welter knew of the fate of Nira's family? The great house of the Beasts was one of the many houses under the dark clouds of mother and son, from the time of Nira's great grandparents. She learnt of it and she traced her path leading her to Welter, but first through Larthia.
In the books in Bernbute, Welter and Larthia exist only as myths and gods of secrets and dark magic of the underworld. The books explained them to be the descendants of Lord Arthur of the underworld, the creator of dark magic and the underworld. Every chapter of these books explain the wrath of that bloodline, and evidently, it was scary enough that each chapter was written by a different author and some two or more authors. No author who wrote of them lived to see a week or less.
This books were tucked away in shelves locked and some set on fire to erase the bad spirit the books carried with them but Nira still found her way to them and she had the privilege to trace down this dark bloodline that carried almost half of her future. Indeed, she came to save the world and not from the wilds, but from this dark magic bloodline and the underworld. Her destiny was to release all the human race from dark magic and secure normal livelihood in the future, but first, she was going to use them for her own course.
As she sharpened her blade across the burning fire, her mind updated her of her purpose in Neeka. Although she had experienced some mishaps, her journey was just onsetting and there was no way she was going to back out.
***
Caleb entered his spirit form as he raced into the Dreamland on an errand of the king, to find out what exactly was going on in South of New Hawk.
In a flash he was at the cliff and beholding a sight of tired and disappointed warriors. He was keen for them not to see him, even though he was a spirit, an arrow through him would end his flesh form and cast him into the spirit shackles through eternity.
He was also keen to get back in time and with full information of what was going on or what had exactly happened. From their body language, it was evident they had failed to accomplish the task given to them by their king. He saw Josh tied against a tree but he had no time left to get to the bottom of it so he rushed back to life.
" Why do they have him chained?" He yelled as soon as he got up on his feet and faced Arvin.
A confused Arvin stood in front of him, perplexed by his reaction that he ignored his repeated insolence. He had made it a habit to ignore him but it was only a matter of time, his temper was a ticking bomb and Caleb was surely triggering it with every breath he took disobeying his king.
" What now? Who is chained?" Arvin asked as he brushed off past him to a table across the room. He took up the wine jar and poured some wine into a glass. He took a deep sip then exhaled softly. Caleb stood rooted behind him, realizing what he had done and guilt had the better of him.
" Josh, he...umm, he was tied to a tree and the warriors..."
" Silion?" Arvin dismissed him pointing where his priority was.
" I did not see her..." Caleb began but before he could finish, a royal guard stormed into the king's chamber hastily, panting on top of his lungs. He knelt before his king, still trying to catch his breath.
" Talk you fool!" Arvin insulted as Caleb looked at him keenly.
" You did not knock!" Caleb observed as he took a couple steps back
" Don't be paranoid, he is just a man!" Arvin told Caleb as he sank his lips into the glass draining it of its contents.
" My king...your sister! She is here!" The man finally stated as he collapsed onto the floor. It was then that they saw the sword wound on his back as blood oozed profusely and onto the floor.
" Hurry, get all my guards, it might be Nira!" Arvin finally showed concern. He dropped his wine glass on the table and wore his armor hastily. Caleb rushed out of the chamber to see if it was Nira really and to deliver the king's message. Arvin took his sword as he rushed out of his chamber but before he was clear off the door he felt a sharp pain on his head as his eyes blurred and he fell on the floor on his back.