Chapter Six: Whispers In The DarkThe halls of the Imperial Palace were cold, dark and silent. With great determination, Alyssia made her way across the smooth marble floors, each step echoing in an ominous-like fashion. The corridor overwhelmed her, flanked with grand columns that reached to the heavens above and roofs stretching out forever in darkness all about but relentlessly before her. As always, she had been summoned to the council chambers—a place where those who decided upon her work had never stood on a battleground.The hilt of her sword tightened in her hand, a move as subconscious she had learned to prepare herself before another mission. Except this time, knowing how it should feel in her hands didn't make its weighted coldness more bearable. This felt like an albatross, instead.And Gaia's last haunting words diffused in his thoughts, "You are not protecting the people of your land. You are dooming them."A relentless, insidious whisper that wouldn't go away and tormented her still — no matter how deep she tried to bury it under the blankets of loyalty woven by decades in service. Was Gaia possibly telling the truth? Alyssia shook her head to rid herself of the thought. No, she must not allow doubt to fog her vision. Not now.Two guards bowed, opening the heavy iron doors as she approached. It opened into a room illuminated only by the dancing light of torches that stood on every available surface, casting long shadows across the faces above them. Emperor Valen sat at the end of a stone table, patiently waiting as Alyssia approached. Commander Cael was with him; stoic as always.'Alyssia,' the Emperor said, his voice deep and commanding, booming out around them. "Our sword of the empire."She bent deeply, head down. "Your Majesty.""Rise," Valen commanded. You have done us such a favour with this.notifyDataSetChanged(). The killing of the Stone Titan was not something to sneeze at The empire owes you much."Alyssia stood up, but the compliment felt empty. The empty gaze in the lifeless eyes of Gaia haunted her. Nyx was as dead at the hands of an Assassin priming the Titan. But the glow of satisfaction in her heart after each win was gone now, leaving behind only an uncomfortable stillness.Your diligence make the empire better stronger…" the Emperor said. However, one thing left to do. The last mission before the well-being of an empire is determined.Her heart sank with disappointment, though she kept her face impassive. But she already knew the answer, before he had even spoken."Once-pack of the great beasts," Valen murmured, his eyes aglitter with desire. "Aegis, the dragon."The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees. Other rumored last dragon in existence, the strongest of them all-Aegis. Aegis was unique among them, having been in hiding for hundreds of years to stay out of the empires business. And now, they had found him.'You are leading the mission to Killing this dragon, Valen continued. The ancient terror has been slain and soon so will the last of them be upon his death Aegis said(',')[ especially]). We will be rid of the threat, and peace will once again reign.A word tasted bitter from the sour expression of Alyssia muttering "Peace" under her breath. Was this peace? But was this really the road to safety, or into a deeper black hole than she thought?Cael stepped through it, his long shadow spread out before him in the flickering torchlight. Alyssia, this is the first time you have ever made a mistake. You know your duty.""Affirmative, Commander," Alyssia responded—her voice as solid and confident as her ever-growing fears allowed.Cael went on, "We've already sent scouts to the Valley of Ash. "Aegis has been sighted. He is vulnerable. This is your moment, Alyssia. Do what must be done."Alyssia nodded, but inside she was a whirlwind. It had always been kill or be killed, every mission cut and dried — black or white. But now, between Gaia's threat and the odd look in Nyx's eyes before her murder, things didn't feel so cut-and-dry.The Emperor came to his feet, the robe he wore whispered as it moved across the cold floors towards her. Alyssia, you have never let us down. Now do not disappoint me, I believe in you. This is an issue that will shape the empire's future. You are our protectors and you have a burden to bear in keeping us safe.Alyssia bowed her head. "I will not fail."Yet for all she said them, they were a falsehood.Some hours of twilight later she looked through the windows from her balcony down at their city. The torches of the lower streets shimmered on and on into infinity, a tide of light forever disappearing under the far horizon. The wild lands started just beyond the city walls — where once great beasts roamed in abundance.She took a trip back to her earlier convo with Cael post council.Cael had been right, "You are not yourself," they walked the corridors of the palace."Not really," she lied to Alyssia. The ever-observant Cael gave her a long, measuring gaze."Since Nyx … you've been different," he said, so softly it was almost a whisper. "And Gaia. I saw it in your eyes, Alyssia. You hesitate now."She wanted to say it was not so, that he was spouting nonsense. But she couldn't. In reality, she was different. It was something even Cael, her mentor and the man who had made her the tool of empire, could see."Keep clear of any self-doubt," Cael had warned, his tone sterner. "Doubt is the enemy. If you allow it, it will devour you.She nodded as they leave without saying anything in return, and that was the last thing she heard from Alyssia. While she stood there out on the balcony, a sense growing that maybe it wasn't doubt at all but something far more costly.The empire had forever been her lodestar, its heart pure and its aim ordained. But now, the foundations upon which she had staked everything were beginning to crumble and crack; Gaia's cautionary tale, Nyx' mournful eyes—were they truly monsters that should be feared more than anything else?It was when a breeze shot down through the night, sharp and cool on her that she came back to reality. She knew what her next order was after that: Locate and eliminate Aegis just like she has before. However, in the depths of her a bubbling voice she had long since tried to silence sang that this would be unlike any other hunt.This was something more. Something different.She spun back around, gazing into the room at her blade resting on a table. It glistened in the moonlight, an imperial tool of death. A tool of destruction.Alyssia closed her eyes. And still Gaia's last ghostly confirmation reverberated through her mind: closing sigh before the storm.You are not protecting your people. You are dooming them."For the first time Alyssia wavered a little and wondered if that was, in fact true.