The Phoenix Chronicles: The Curse of Lustria

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Umbrius the Impretor

(NARRATED BY CAMERON SETLER)

Wrong.

Upon entering the observatory, the doors closed behind me. The very first thing I noticed was the faint echo of a flute playing, though I wasn't quite able to make out the notes. The second thing I noticed was the lighting. The top of the observatory was closed, so no sunlight was pouring in. There were also no braziers hanging anywhere, yet I could still see the reflections of flickering, white light.

In the middle of the room, there was a metal, spiral staircase that led up to a platform over which a giant telescope came down. Bookshelves covered the entirety of the walls; some filled with thousands of books, others with vials of what looked like antidote. The room full of "stuff," but it was missing one, very important thing:

Umbrius.

"Hello, is anybody here?" I called out, taking a few steps forward. There was no response, so I tried again, this time in Lustrian: "Salva, delqui ra udi?" Again, there was no answer. However, right as I was about to leave, the music stopped playing. It was instantly replaced by a harsh, male voice speaking in Lustrian:

"Long have I waited for this moment, son of Latiar...."

Shifting nervously, I replied in the same language, "Normally, I go by 'son of Tario,' but—"

"Tell me, O Chosen Hero of my ancestor... what do you fear most?"

"Can we talk face-to-face? I am not one for theatrics, so—"

"Could it be that you are afraid of the dark?" Without warning, the light in the room dimmed to pitch-black, causing my whole body to tremble.

"I do not fear the absence of light!" I lied in an equally trembling voice.

A maniacal laugh that sounded all too familiar disturbed the air around me. "Could it be that you fear the one who holds Fear itself?" The lighting picked back up again, revealing King Casio Azlarus, who stood in front of me with an evil grin plastered to his face.

Terrified, I drew my sword and swung at him, only to witness the apparition dissipate into mist before my eyes. The phantom laughed once more, this time using its original voice, which was still equally as frightening as Azlarus':

"No... I know what you fear most, Cameron Setler. But the real question is... do you?"

"I fear that this is becoming a giant waste of my time," I replied, trying to sound confident when I had nearly just fainted.

"WRONG!" the voice boomed, startling the daylights out of me.

"Then tell me the answer!" I shouted.

As the phantom laughed maniacally, his voice began to sound like my own. I looked around to identify where it was coming from, but could only see my own shadow.

"Show yourself!" I cried out.

Eventually, the phantom stopped cackling to speak in a voice that was exactly identical to my own:

"The thing that you fear most..."

I turned to witness my shadow rising from the ground as a mirror image of myself. The only two things that set us apart were that his body was made of pitch-black, condensed shadow and his eyes glowed like an elf's. He grinned with a trace of insanity.

"...is yourself."

Yup, that just about did it:

I was. Officially. Afraid.