Like Yesterday (Book 3 of the "Living Nightmare" Series)

Chapter 4

Vordus looked long and hard at Echo. "So you're telling me one of us has to destroy the crystal powering this whole illusion. And whoever destroys it is stuck here forever?"

"That'd be right."

"And which of us is gonna do that?"

Zeganirn gestured to Snowdrop. "Why doesn't she do it?"

Snowdrop crossed her arms. "If I could, do you think you'd be here right now?"

Lance nodded. 'Honestly, yes."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Either way, one of you is going to have to do it. Decide soon because we're almost there."

A roar resonated across the field and Echo grabbed her staff. "What was that?"

Fear entered Snowdrop's eyes. "We need to run. We can't hide so we need to run. It's one of those shadow monsters!"

"Please tell me you don't mean a Shadow Wrath!"

"Don't look behind you then. Go!"

The group broke into a run, Snowdrop in the front with Lance bringing up the rear. Vordus could see the panic building on Echo's face and he knew they couldn't outrun it. They would have to face it and that would possibly too much for her.

But what none of them were expecting was for Lance to fall to the ground with a cry of pain.

The Shadow Wrath slammed into the ground, a wave of snow flying up from the impact. It let out and ear-splitting roar as Lance threw a hand up to shield his face. The mass of purple shadows bent down and Vordus thought Lance was about to be devoured.

Instead, it pressed its muzzle against Lance's hand. For a minute, everything was still and as the snow settled, Vordus could see the mage slowly put his other hand on the beast. It let out almost a contented noise and he chuckled. "A passive one. I can't believe our luck."

"Does...does that mean it won't hurt us?" Echo asked.

Lance nodded and suddenly stumbled backward, a hiss of pain escaping him. This time, Echo did run over it him. "Are you—what the..."

He turned his face to her, a spiderweb of black lines spreading from his left eye. "The Void magic...it's taking a stronger hold in me. It's not happy that it was bottled up for so long. That's starting to show," he bit his lip. "And it hurts."

With visible concern, Zeg asked, "Do you think you'll...you know, become corrupted by it again?"

"In truth, Zeganirn, I do not know."

Snowdrop crosses her arms. "What I know is that this place grows more dangerous by the minute," she threw a wary look at the Shadow Wrath. "What are we doing with that thing?"

A deep rumble left it's throat and Lance replied, "It says that it's staying with us and you can't tell it otherwise."

"Fine. Can we keep going please?"

<>

Gwendolyn's head snapped up at the sound of footsteps. She had dozed off and wasn't even aware of it. She grabbed her staff.

Then a familiar red-head came into the room with an entourage behind her. "Lady Myra? What are you doing here?"

"Hello, Gwendolyn. I'm glad to see you," she looked around. "I see Echo has opened the Dreamscape. How are you not in there as well?"

"I'm not sure, but it's a good thing I wasn't," Gwen gestured to Kralos' dead body. "He was going to kill them all."

"Just as I feared. It is a good thing you saved them from that fate," Myra turned to Alexis. "They'll be alright for now. Although I have my fears."

Alexis slowly looked up. "Fears such as..?"

"Someone is not going to make it out of there alive. And in Lance, a dark power is growing. He must learn to control is. Chris is in grave danger because of Hellknight."

Gwen sucked in a breath. "Is there anything we can do?"

"Not this time, Gwendolyn. This is entirely up to fate."

<>

Roxas looked up to the sky. "I don't like this. It's too quiet."

Lyria glanced over her shoulder. "Where exactly are we going, Roxas?"

"When I got my contract, we set up a designated meeting place for when I finished or if there was trouble."

"You still haven't told me who hired you."

"You've probably heard of him at this point. I thought it was funny, a mercenary hiring a mercenary," he turned to her. "He is Hellknight or as the mercenaries all calm him, Hellknight the Shadowbender."

Lyria paled. "And that Shadow Wrath was his?"

"Without a doubt. You also want to know why I'm going to hunt him down? He basically,hired me to kill my adoptive cousin."

"How is Echo your adoptive cousin?!"

"It's a long story."

"Tell me. I like long stories."

Roxas sighed and sat on a nearby log, gesturing for her to join him. "I was orphaned at a pretty young age, left to wander the Mystic Forest alone. It was a hard going. I had few survival skills at the time and had more than one narrow scrape with monsters. In fact, Gwendolyn found me surrounded by zombies.

"She took me back to the Coven and when I told her my parents were dead, she adopted  me. She trained me how to use my magic and how to fight. Two years ago, on my 15th birthday, she asked what I wanted to do with my life.

"I told her I wanted to become a mercenary. So she gave me my blade and told me to chase that. I've been doing that for two years now. I lost track of her and I fear she's dead since that burning skeleton destroyed the Coven."

Lyria couldn't stop staring. "And Echo is your adoptive cousin because Lady Gwendolyn and Queen Ceris are sisters?"

"That's right."

"Wow," Lydia leaned back. "That's crazy."

"Even though I'm a mercenary and I kill people for a living, I would never hurt my family," something in Roxas' voice caught Lyria's attention. "That is something I will always uphold. Blood bound or not, family is family. You know what I'm saying?"

She instantly though of her sister Dorine. Then she thought of Hilda. "Yeah, I understand entirely."

A slight smile tugged at his lips. "I had a hunch you might. Alright, story time's over. Let's keep going."

They got to their feet and continued walking, Roxas murmuring, "It is still awfully quiet."

<>

A messenger ran up to Naeus, immediately dropping to one knee. "Your Highness! I bring an urgent message from the End!"

Naeus glances over. "Continue."

"It's about the Dragonspire. It's on complete lockdown. No one can get in or out!"

"What? What does Kralos said about this?"

"That's the thing, your highness. Lord Kralos was last seen inside the Dragonspire."

Naeus was silent for several minutes. "Use whatever means necessary to get into that tower. I don't care if you have to blow through a wall. And if Kralos isn't brought back alive, I will find another tower and throw you from it."

The messenger paled, stood, bowed, and ran out as fast as he could.