Enter the Shadows: Book One of the RTS Series (First Full Draft)

Chapter Twenty-Six

Daniel

While he would've never said it out loud, Daniel was afraid. Standing in this world felt wrong, as if any moment something was going to jump out and attack them. Not to mention there was a feeling of being in this place that reminded him of the arena where he experienced his trials. Perhaps reality marble was what made the place look the way it did?

"We should keep moving," he said after a while, "if we stay put for too long whatever lives here might find us."

"I think that's a good idea," Robin agreed and walked forward to close the gap between the three of them. When he spoke again, he had lowered his voice a bit. "We should also do our best to avoid drawing attention; we don't know who's watching us right now."

Whoever it is, we're not strong enough to face them. Daniel told himself. If this was a world made with reality marble, he knew without a shadow of a doubt that an Esoteric was nearby. Thinking back to the shadow that followed him several days earlier, he knew it was some kind of Esoteric. However, the presence for them was unlike any that he had sensed before. This one was sinister, vile, one that made him feel sick. What kind of person could they be at the mercy of?

"Where should we go?" he heard Leala ask.

He scanned the area; beyond the garden that looked more like it was a painting rather than real, a house loomed not too far away. The design of this house eerily looked similar to the Marchand estate, though it wasn't nearly as stately. It was smaller than the Marchand estate for sure, but it seemed to loom over the garden as if it were watching the three of them.

"I don't know... it looks really suspicious..." Robin looked at the house wearily.

"Well, we don't really have any other options. Unless you have a better plan."

Robin gave Daniel a look. But then sighed. "Right... But please be careful."

Without waiting too much on an answer from Robin, Daniel walked towards the mansion. Pushing past painted bushes and flowers, all the while scanning the area for any threats. Looking at the trees, Daniel could see several ravens sitting amongst the branches. Watching him as he went along with gleaming red eyes. One of them let out a shrill caw, causing Leala to jump and let out a yelp.

"Keep your voice down!" Daniel snapped at her.

"I'm sorry! It scared me!" She defended. "I mean...did you see it?!

Daniel, perplexed, turned to look closer at the birds. The one that cawed was standing closest to the three of them, and he noticed immediately that something was wrong. Its neck was bent so the head hung sideways, almost like something had bent it crooked. Daniel barely resisted the urge to scream himself. "I...I get that it freaked you out, but we still need to be careful. We don't know what kind of person or things are living here and what they're capable of."

Robin crossed his arms. "Apparently they're the kind of people who like Victorian style architecture and have an unkindness of zombie ravens. Not much to go off of but that's what we have so far."

Leala looked at Daniel, her expression a little more serious though her eyes were rimmed with red. "What kind of information do you have about this? I...I get you don't know who or what we're dealing with, but why are you trying to take charge?"

A part of Daniel knew deep down he was going to have to explain himself at some point, but how would he explain? He had no idea how much Leala and Robin knew about his world. On one hand, he could feel some of power coming from Leala unlike anything he'd ever heard of before. On the other, neither of them had recognized him as a Marchand. It was possible there was more they didn't know than what they did know, but after everything Daniel had gone through trying to get to this city he wasn't going to risk lowering his guard until he knew definitively how much they knew.