Veil of Shadows

Chapter 68. Endless

"Here it is," Wolf murmured. "Notch's throne room."

"Well, let's get this over with then," Red said from behind them. After a few seconds of nothing happening, she snapped, "Are we going in or not?"

Mid looked over her shoulder at the rest of the group, then back to the throne room, painstakingly scanning it. "I can't see him. He isn't there." She said quietly.

This was met with uneasy silence from the Hero Squad, broken only when Toxic whispered "Something isn't right." So they stayed just outside the throne room, not setting foot inside, every muscle tensed for something to materialize in front of them.

From behind them where she stood unnoticed, Wraith said "I'm sorry."

Barely a heartbeat later, there was a sound of steel on muscle and bone, and Dave screamed as her knife was stabbed between his ribs and up into his heart.

"NO-" Pro yelled, cut off as a powerful blast of energy forced them into the throne room, knocking them all off their feet and sending them flying and crashing to the floor.

Dave lay still, the knife still lodged in his body, blood leaking from the stab wound. Mid pulled herself over to him and grabbed the knife, slipping it out of him, then placing a hand on his chest. "He's not breathing," she said, then closed her eyes and summoned her magic to try to heal the injury.

It was like slamming into a mental wall. It jarred her so much that her hand jerked away from Dave's body and her eyes flew open. "What the hell?" She barked, trying to use her magic again. Once more, she was met with the wall. The...barrier between her and her magic. She looked up at the two figures who walked into the room.

One masked, and the other...King Notch.

"You spelled this place to nullify our magic," Pro breathed.

King Notch gave her a grim nod. "Indeed. The three of us are exempt, of course."

The one wearing the mask gestured behind him, and Wraith followed, dragging an unconscious Equinox behind her by the arm. Ranger pushed herself to her feet, eyes widening as she saw him.

Mid's eyes, however, narrowed on Wraith. "What, are you his dog now?" She jerked her thumb toward the masked man. Wraith held her gaze calmly, but her jaw tightened ever so slightly.

The masked man looked over at Wraith and Equinox, then nodded once. Wraith unsheathed her second knife and grabbed Equinox, wrenching his head back to expose his neck. Ranger tried to lunge toward him, stopped by Blaze's grip on her wrist, holding her back.

Wraith pressed the razor-sharp knife against the boy's throat, and everyone froze.

"It seems this boy means something to you," the masked man said, his voice quiet, but deep and gravelly. He looked at Ranger, seeming to keep his eyes on her for a moment longer than usual. "Especially to you. He tried to save your apprentice, yes? He fought for her. Would be a shame if he died too, wouldn't it?"

"Let him go." Ranger growled, trying to yank her arm free from Blaze's grasp.

Blaze didn't relent. "If you attack them, they will kill Equinox," she said, even though it was obvious from the fire in her eyes that her own temper was rising quickly - and soon, Ranger might well have to be the one to drag her away from the fight.

"We can still fight." Pro said forcefully. "We don't rely that heavily on our magic. Hell, I didn't even have magic for most of my life! We can still do this."

Mid addressed Wraith again, catching the assassin's attention. "I sensed truth in the letter you sent." She said, stepping forward, pinning her with a stare. "If that was a trap, how did I sense truth?"