The Queen's Prophecy || ON HOLD ||

T w o | Venture A Path Down Shadows

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THERE'S SOMETHING EXHILARATING about the feel of raw magic; such as the feel of first snowdrop falling from the sky and touching your skin, chilly and exciting.

Black mist cocoon the carriage like a manifestation of a dome as the conveyance moves through a shadow tunnel only a shadow creature can navigate, leading to the heart of Shadowlands, Thanatos' kingdom, the shadow creature's kingdom.

Emerick—the hunter—is seated at the front seat, his eyes strewn shut in concentration. Smokey charcoal mist pours from his outstretched palm, urging the carriage forward amidst the darkness around us. Only my enhanced sight makes it possible for me to even see anything.

I hadn't quite believed earlier when he'd revealed shadow hunters to be part shadow creatures themselves. But now, it was very evident. Such powers weren't humane. Although that struck a question on why they hunted their own kind? It didn't make sense.

Emerick had clearly stated he couldn't— because he wasn't powerful enough to do so and wouldn't even if he was—help me with the supposed capturing of his master, that he doubted anyone working for Thanatos even would. He'd, however, said that if I wished, he could take me—and only me—to Shadowlands and then whatever happens afterwards, wasn't on him.

Aeslyn and Joseph had clearly stated their disapproval about going there without a backup army. Dulcamara, on the other hand, had spun another one of her senseless riddles, something about all roads leading to Rome.

In some twisted sense, I'd considered it my go-to sign. Dulcamara is a seer, an insanely powerful and intuitive one. I knew better than to ditch her agreement when I've very well known from experience how her sight had always been right.

Besides, I was desperate. That monster had my sons with him if he hadn't already. . . .no, they're alive. They have to be.

I'd been preparing to face Thanatos for four years. I knew he had a kingdom of his own, but no tracker could ever find it. The shadow hunter was my last reprieve after the agonizing search and I didn't want to miss the opportunity of invading Shadowlands because apparently, only shadow creatures have access to the passageway of the shadow tunnel.

If we let the first shadow hunter we found in four years go, heavens only knew when we'd find another one who'd willingly take us to their land. I could always compel them to take me but I wasn't particularly sure at this point whether my compulsion even works on the shadow hunters, considering how I can't read Emerick's thoughts. We could keep Emerick captive but then, my enemity wasn't with him. It was with his master. He didn't deserve captivity in any form.

It wasn't like I hadn't defeated an entire troop of supernatural armies all alone myself before. I wasn't particularly a liability on my own. It was now or never. I had to do this, risks be damned.

Emerick had been outright it wasn't a good idea even though he'd simply expressed that, in order to get going, we needed some sort of conveyance to settle in—preferably a carriage rather than a modern vehicle—and then he'd use his shadow powers to teleport us to the shadow tunnel that leads to Shadowlands. Lot of shadows in one sentence, I know.

"Are we there yet?" A familiar voice pipes in from the compartment designed to place the luggage trunks.

Emerick jolts on his reigns of power from shock, the black mist of the tunnel darkening around us to a level where it appears like we're stuck in a black hole.