A Tale Of Shadows (Wattys 2023) - REPLACED BY DIVINE ASCENSION

Chapter 11 - The Spells From Shadows

The conditions of Randall Carson and his fellow slaves never worsened, but they never improved either. There were no more plans for liberation, no matter how much they, especially Randall, tried to come up with any. It made him even sadder than he previously was, which he did not know was possible, particularly in the early mornings. A little while after waking up, he would still be too sleepy to think about it, but by the time he got his breakfast, he would remember it and eat his food with a desperate look. He felt responsible for everything and thus had a harder time communicating with his comrades than before. They, particularly Agatha, who was the only genuinely close person to him, noticed his increasing estrangement, but it did not affect him. Until he came up with a plan, he could not allow anything else to affect him.

Fortunately, a plan came to him when he least expected it. On a rather gloomy and grey morning, when he was, once again, sadly eating his porridge with a strong taste of onion, a letter engulfed in purple light landed right above his bowl. Concealing it in his left hand, he waited for the breakfast to be over so he could read it without anyone else in the room. It was a smarter move than he believed it would be, for he would not have been able to hide his shock otherwise. Shortly after being left alone, he read the letter in his head, and it went like this:

Dear Randall,

I have started to realise the extent of my mistakes as of late. I have never done enough to help those in need, as I considered myself to be the most important part of everything. I hope I will be able to make you, as well as everyone else I have wronged, understand just how sorry I am and how eager I am to amend my foibles, no matter how hard the ordeal is going to be. A few months ago, I provided enough resources for the Maguires and their army to win the battle of Peros, but it was only the beginning. By this point, you might be wondering what I could possibly do to get you out of your situation. I myself never thought I could do much, at least not quickly, but I have done some research, and everything is abundantly clear now. The source of Melinda's newfound power and inability to be killed, otherwise known as Hemingway's book, is kept in the dungeon everyone else thought was abandoned. Notify your friends with haste, for I have already notified everyone I could so we can go on a mission to steal her book and nullify her immortality spell. If you distrust me or are confused about anything in general, do not hesitate to ask me, for this mission is of absolute importance. Any wrong step could mean doom.

Best wishes,

Maria Thorne

Randall was of the opinion that she did not need to have signed it at all, for the first sentence alone had made it more than clear who the writer was. He was also of the opinion that this was a bit strange, for although he believed in redemption, he did not think that she would have wanted to achieve it. However, he tried not to dwell on it too much, and, after a couple of minutes, he approached Agatha and a few others, who were just as surprised as he was, but still willing to do anything to earn their freedom. Together, they all wrote an answer to the letter, asking for more information about the mission, and several days later, everything was organised.

It was a morning like any other, so Melinda visited them only to give orders and check how they are doing. Her visit lasted not more than a few minutes, for there was not a single thing she could have complained about, so she left them with their guards as she would have on any other day. He and all those around him worked hard, waiting for the guards to go on their lunch break with immense anticipation, stopping solely to see if they would move from their positions from time to time. After four hours of work, Randall, Agatha, and the few others who decided to go with them began to sneak away from their positions, prompting a random person to ask this:

"You people, where have you decided to go and why? You are well aware that the Empress will punish you severely if she sees you wandering around."

Randall frowned, not knowing if to reveal their secret or not. The benefits would be that this person would leave them alone, and perhaps even express his support, and he would not have to hide anything anymore, but there was always a way for the secret to be revealed to the Empress in that case, and the odds of her finding out about the mission were already too high for his liking. He stood there like a statue for several seconds before deciding what to do, letting out a deep sigh as he said the following: