PROPHECY'S BLADE

CHAPTER 16 -FROM CRADLE TO ABYSS

The four companions, shaken but alive, hurtled back towards the Imperial Realm. Fike, ever the chatterbox, couldn't contain his astonishment. "Damn, I can't believe what I just saw," he sputtered, glancing at the unconscious Alex and the worried Jayden. Jarad, his face etched with concern, nodded silently.

"So, no one's going to talk about the sinister burst of energy Alex unleashed?" Fike prodded, unable to resist the urge to break the tense silence. Jarad cut him off. "Fike, enough. Alex and Jayden have been through hell," he said, his voice gruff but kind. "And yes, I'm curious too. That power...it saved us from the Midnight Guardian itself."

Jayden, his gaze fixed on Alex, swallowed hard. "Don't worry," he choked out, his voice tight with worry. "Hey, Jay, are you okay?" Jarad asked, placing a hand on his son's shoulder. Jayden met his father's eyes, his own filled with despair. "How is it not my fault, Dad?" he cried. "If I were stronger, I could have done something...instead of being helpless like this. I can't take it anymore."

Jarad, with the wisdom of a thousand battles etched in his eyes, offered a reassuring smile. "Jayden," he said softly, "you're the finest assassin in the world. What we faced...the Midnight Guardian...a creature only whispered about in bedtime stories, a myth, a legend so old it seemed unreal. We don't know its origins, its power, anything except its age and might. You did your best, son."

Jayden, finding solace in his father's words, nodded gratefully. "You always know what to say, Dad," he murmured. Jarad chuckled, the sound gruff but warm. "I'm your father, after all," he said, squeezing his son's shoulder.

Suddenly, the portal flickered, distorting the landscape around them. Jarad's brow furrowed. "Fike, what's happening? Is something wrong?" he asked, his voice laced with anxiety. Fike, beads of sweat forming on his forehead, stammered, "N-no, nothing's wrong! At first, I thought someone was trying to hijack the portal, open another inside mine...but it was just my nerves. I'm drained from all that happened, that's all."

But Jayden, his senses honed by years of training, felt a prickle of unease. "Fike, I'm afraid your intuition isn't wrong," he said, his voice barely a whisper. "I can feel someone's presence here...a powerful one." Fike scoffed. "What? No way! No one can do that," he scoffed, his bravado masking his growing fear. Jarad, his eyes narrowed, nodded grimly. "Fike, I think Jayden's right. Prepare yourselves. Protect Alex."

A suffocating darkness engulfed them, the air thick with unseen menace. Footsteps echoed in the void, their source shrouded in shadow. Fike whimpered, "Master, what's happening? I can't see anything!" Jarad, his hand gripping his staff, gritted his teeth. "Someone's approaching," he muttered, his voice a low growl. Jayden, his blood pounding in his ears, snarled, "This is getting old."

Then, just as abruptly as it had begun, the darkness lifted. Fike blinked, relief washing over him. "See, everything's normal," he said, a nervous chuckle escaping his lips. But Jayden's blood ran cold. "No, Alex is gone!" he cried, his voice echoing in the eerily silent void. Jarad's eyes widened in horror. "What?" he gasped, his gaze darting around the empty space where their young ward had been.

And then, from the swirling depths of a newly opened portal, a figure emerged. Tall, cloaked in shadows, an aura of power radiating from him, it was Luke Imperia, one of the four enigmatic figures who ruled the Imperial Realm.

"You people have stumbled upon truths you were not meant to see, secrets you should not have known," Luke Imperia declared, his voice like the rasp of dry leaves. His eyes, gleaming with an unsettling power, met theirs. The weight of his presence pressed down upon them, suffocating and heavy.

The force of his aura sent them reeling, spitting blood, their bodies collapsing under the immense pressure. Luke Imperia, his gaze lingering on the unconscious.

HEYY THANK YOU FOR READING !! THAT'S THE END OF CHAPTER 16!!