Inside the Shadow Prison
The shadow prison was an endless void of darkness, shaped into multiple rooms with different designs and sizes. Two men appeared in a dark chamber. It was surrounded by walls made of shadows on all sides. There was a soldier bound in the middle of the room, black tendrils holding him immobile.
Bane's eyes glowed red, and the room lit up slightly as he sent out a fire that formed a semicircle in the air behind the soldier. The flames were suspended in the air but moved as any normal fire would.
The Xoliti Clan member stood on the side, having done nothing, waiting for Bane to instruct him.
The soldier's eyes darted in fear as Bane approached him. Bane activated a golden flame, the same as Isabella's, that flowed and healed the soldier's wounds, mending his broken limbs. The soldier felt the pain go away, but unlike with Luis and Aelina, there was no warmth—only a sinister feeling because he knew the Phoenix Clan's torture methods.
Bane had a childlike, wide grin across his face.
"We can't have you passing out before the fun begins."
The soldier couldn't keep his composure and started trembling, the weight of the shadows and Bane's sadistic gaze making him panic more and more.
.
.
.
Isabella crouched near Luis and Aelina as she placed Lira on the ground with Luis supporting Lira.
"The shadows won't hurt you. They will take you to your parents. You'll be safe with them."
Luis and Aelina glanced at each other but allowed the shadows to envelop them. They reappeared in a large room next to both of their parents, who seemed to have already entered before them. Luis's parents held Kael, and Aelina's mother held Adryn. Both their parents rushed toward them when they saw Aelina, Luis, and Lira appear.
Sera's focus remained razor-sharp as she made sure everyone was entering the shadow prison, her aura slowly draining.
"I can maintain this for ten hours with everyone inside. Also, Freyheart, there are three kids not going into the shadows four kilometers east. Go and make them go in."
Freyheart quickly got up and flew east at full speed. Isabella placed a hand on Sera's shoulder.
"Ten hours is enough. We should head south near the Wrift Caverns. There are two towns on the way that have some more clan members. If the Black Talons were able to pass undetected by you and the Xoliti clan members no village or town will be safe for our clan members. After taking them, we can regroup at the caverns and set up barriers with the Xoliti Clan members."
"I have the clan members recorded from the towns you're talking about. We shouldn't use any blessings in those towns. I'll teleport to them one by one and get them into the shadow prison. We shouldn't leave much evidence."
As Sera noticed the last kids enter the shadow prison, she also used her blessing on Isabella and Freyheart, signaling them to enter as well.
Before entering, Isabella made the golden fire move to Sera, making her feel refreshed and charged with energy.
"Good luck."
Sera nodded and waited for them to enter. Sera did a headcount in her shadow prison one last time before moving, making sure all eighty members across the five villages were there. Sera grinned inwardly as she felt a rush of adrenaline spike.
"It's been a while since I've had to run. The chances of a legendary or mythical-tier person chasing me… make it exciting."
The village was a ghost town. With the disappearance of eighty Phoenix clan members across all five villages and the villagers residing in all the villages fleeing after the news that there were Phoenix clan members, this left the village deserted even though it had only been an hour.
This was because of the stories of what the Black Talons would do when they found out that places were hiding Phoenix clan members. There was absolute silence in the villages, not a single sound could be heard.
The silence was broken a few seconds later.
A faint vibration, like a low hum, began to spread through the air. At first, it was gentle, easily mistaken for a trick of the wind. With every second the hum grew stronger and stronger until a small black dot appeared in the sky smaller than a grain of rice exuding an overwhelming amount of power.
Above the village, the tear in reality began to grow. The air seemed to crackle and twist around it as if space itself were rebelling against what was about to happen. The small tear widened unnaturally, revealing a void of utter darkness dotted with shimmering lights that looked like distant stars.
Then the hands appeared.
Massive, veined with strength, and radiating an aura that crushed the very air around them, they gripped the edges of the tear. Slowly, deliberately, the hands tore the rift open wider and wider. The darkness beyond grew, spilling an oppressive energy over the land. The hands belonged to no ordinary human this was a feat no legendary-tier aura user could achieve. Only one of the mystic-tier warriors of the Drakarion Empire could wield such raw power.
Through the rift stepped General Drazan, one of the sixteen mytical-tier aura users of the allied enemy empires. Standing nearly eight feet tall, his body was a fortress of muscle and power. He wore black armor inscribed with runic symbols, each one pulsing faintly as if alive with energy. His eyes glowed a faint gold, and his presence alone made the air suffocating.
Drazan glared into the ruined village, his gaze scanning the area as if searching for something.
"Move, you worthless maggots!"
He roared over his shoulder, his voice deep and filled with authority.
From the rift behind him, a force emerged: thirty legendary-tier aura users, each wearing the emblems of the Drakarion Empire, their armor pristine and gleaming. Following them were one hundred fifty more soldiers, adepts, and advanced-tier warriors, their disciplined movements betraying their ruthless training. They spread out quickly, forming ranks in the destroyed village square.
Drazan held the rift open for them, his hands radiating mytical-tier energy.
"Hurry the fuck up!" he snarled, his golden eyes narrowing.
"You think I'm doing this for fun? Move before I lose my patience!"
When the last soldier had stepped through, Drazan released the rift, letting it collapse in on itself with a soundless implosion. The sky returned to its previous state, but the air remained thick with the aftereffects of the tear.
Drazan stepped forward, his towering frame exuding menace. He turned to the three figures standing apart from the other soldiers his commanders, legendary-tier warriors known only as One, Two, and Three.
"Listen up,"
Drazan ordered.
"One, you're in charge of the search. Find her, Sera. The rumors say she's legendary-tier but capable of killing mythical-tier fighters. I want to see if that's true."
Commander One, a tall, gaunt man with sharp features and a silver spear strapped to his back, nodded.
"Understood, General."
Drazan smirked, his voice growing louder, uncaring of who might overhear.
"But make no mistake those old bastards in the empire aren't going to waste my time tracking down a bunch of cowards. Find her, deal with her, and bring me somewhere to sleep, food, and women. I didn't claw open space itself to starve in some godforsaken village."
Commander Two, a burly man with a battleaxe resting on his shoulder, hesitated before speaking.
"General, can you tell us what the aura traces here reveal?"
Drazan tilted his head lazily. Having to do this because it was something his useless soldiers couldn't do, something only mytical tier aura users could do.
He closed his eyes, spreading his arms wide. The air around him began to ripple, and the aura in the entire region moved unnaturally, drawn toward him as if he were a vortex. The faint traces of blessings used in the village and the residual energy left behind began to glow faintly, visible even to those without high-tier sensory abilities.
"Hmmm,"
Drazan muttered, his voice dripping with condescension.
"Phoenix Clan blessings, no doubt about it. They're faint but recent. There are also traces of an assassin's blessing… and something else. Faint. Disguised. I can't decipher it."
He chuckled to himself, the sound both amused and dangerous.
Commander Three, a woman with dark eyes and twin swords at her back, stepped forward cautiously.
"Did you discover something useful, General?"
Drazan's laugh grew louder, almost manic. "No, no. Not useful."
He licked his lips, his golden eyes gleaming. "But I have heard there are some good-looking women in this kingdom. Make sure to bring them to me."
As his laughter echoed through the ruins, Drazan's internal monologue began.
"These idiots wouldn't understand even if I told them. There's essence here something unclassified. A creature's presence lingers, something they must've tried to contain or hide. Could it be the Phoenix itself?"
"If I reveal this, those old bastards back at the empire will force me to open more portals and send me on endless missions. What a waste of my time. I don't need the Phoenix's blessing for a longer life I'm young, strong. They're the ones clinging to scraps of power. I would've taken the empire for myself if not for that damn old bastard at the mythical-tier."
Drazan scowled, the memory of his defeat stoking his irritation. He glanced at his commanders, his expression hardening.
"Get to work,"
He snapped
"I'll be resting."
As he strode toward the largest building in the village, his aura rippled outward, suffocating even the legendary-tier soldiers around him.