The Forgotten Light

42. Darksen

Recalling past events, Darksen looked for the snow leopard he had promptly taken in and cared for many years ago, and which he had so thoughtlessly thrown out a few days ago. He couldn't remember what exactly he had said to him. He was so consumed with rage at the time that he didn't pay attention to the words coming out of his mouth, but since Keiran had disappeared, he must have heard something truly awful from the Prince. The Beast couldn't be easily hurt, especially with words.

The Prince sat down heavily on the courtyard wall. He had already checked the rooms where the snow leopard was trained, ate, was bathed and often stayed with other Invicta Beasts.

Keiran was nowhere to be found. He had to be somewhere in the city; he certainly hadn't crossed the walls of San Diego, unless someone had let him out. Darksen preferred not to even think how the snow leopard would have coped alone in the wilderness.

The sun was already beginning to rise. The girl didn't have much time left. If it weren't for the fact that Invicta's blood also flowed in her, the neferomine would have killed her long ago. But who could know when it would finally finish her off?

Before Kendra woke him up that night, he dreamed that Raysun's daughter was killed by a Noctis guard. Darksen watched it and did nothing. If he had wanted to, he probably could have changed her fate, but he was indifferent.

Now the situation was similar - it depended on him whether the rebel girl would survive the next hours. The desire to murder her had already been gone, and when he found out who she really was, he couldn't deny that he wasn't curious about her and what she was capable of. That's why he would have preferred her to remain unharmed for now.

However, she wasn't the reason he wanted to find Keiran. He felt a strong need to... apologize to him.

This strange feeling of guilt that had recently risen in him, was niggling him. He had never called the snow leopard his friend, as no such phenomenon existed among the Invicta Beings, but he didn't know what else the animal could be to him. Keiran listened quietly to his words when the Prince grieved for his father, he was by his side when he sat alone in his chamber, and during another war, this time with the inhabitants of Aeterna, the snow leopard had saved his life, dragging his inert body away from the fire toward the water...

Darksen leapt to his feet and jumped onto the wall, turning his gaze toward the ocean. The snow leopard loved water and since it wasn't anywhere in the castle, it had to be right there. He looked around carefully for the large white creature, but didn't see it anywhere. Nevertheless, he decided to check the beach.

Preferring not to risk someone seeing him open a portal, he jumped down into the courtyard and took a quick step toward the gate. The castle was built close to the edge of the cliff, he only had to leave the cobbled plaza with a fountain and almost a few steps away were stairs carved into the rock. This is where human wretches were led to the arena to fight to the death. The entrance to the arena, of course, began at the palace, and from there a long tunnel, lit by a million glowing scintillam stones, led the way. A much safer way into the arena than those breakneck rock stairs.

Saving himself from going down the path carved into the cliff, he hid behind a rock and focused his gaze on the path. From a bird's-eye view, he saw the short path ahead and its end. He stamped his foot, stopping the image, and then an incomprehensible, glittering sheet appeared before him. Ever since he discovered that he could open such gates, he had wondered what it even was. When he touched the sheet, he felt nothing, because it immediately drew him into itself. There, for a second he felt like he was flying, and the next he was already on the other side. The more he practiced, the better and faster he managed to create such a passage, and over time he even grasped how to make it not disappear.