Treasures of Andalia Chronicles: Ring of Flames

Chapter Sixteen: There's a Shadow Behind every Golden Light

KATYA

Sweat trickled down my forehead as I trooped cautiously on the dark alleyways of the palace, avoiding the bright stare of the light. I tried to make my footsteps as light as possible, moving stealthily from one corner to another. I squeezed the bundled necessity and food in my arms—tightly so it wouldn't fall. I tucked my unkept hair under the shabby, black cloak. Mud splattered on my face, hiding the pale skin that gleamed with the slightest touch of moonlight.

I would have used a glamour to disguise myself but I'm an elemental mage. I couldn't perform spells, and even if I could, the night of the Lunar fest still hasn't ended. Empyreans were at their weakest, and the Tellurians took advantage of that. A weak elemental mage like me could do little to no damage to an army that big.

Prince Caius proclaimed himself as the ruler of Ravalor as of now, and they plan to execute the royal family on his coronation day. He's doing this to pacify any ideas of rebellion from the people. He allied himself with that barbaric Tellurian king just for this moment. I couldn't believe that the kind prince I always see is just an illusion. It turns out he was quite rotten on the inside. He killed his own mother and imprisoned the royalty that survived in the dungeons.

That's where I'm going right now. Princess Aleiah saved me, and my brother when we were in despair. Now, it's my time to save the princess.

On my last turn, I arrived at the dungeons only to see several soldiers guarding the front. All of them were heavily armed, while I only had food, extra clothes, and a small dagger.

I couldn't get in.

I halted in my tracks and hid behind the wagons filled with corpses of both Ravalorian and Valerian soldiers. Blood leaked from the spaces between the woods. The pungent smell of rust suffocated me. I wrinkled my nose and covered my nostrils with my hand.

The smell was unbearable. Flies hovered in the air, attracted to the strong smell of blood. My stomach churned, turning upside down, cold sweat ran down my cheeks as I got lightheaded from the smell.

I shook my head and forced my eyes closed, slowly moved inches away from the wagon but even with the distance I placed between the wagon and myself, the thought of mutilated corpses and the smell of blood sent shivers down my spine.

I felt sick. Too sick.

How could the Tellurians kill us that easily?

They don't even hold value to the lives of their own people. All the corpses, Ravalorian and Valerian alike, were burned mercilessly without any proper funeral rites. Those soldiers who survived were forced to treat their comrades like their friendship never truly mattered. The mere thought of the disrespect fuels my rage. But I didn't dare to fight, especially when two great empires joined together.

I thought so hard to find a way to get in but without any power and weapons, it proved difficult to infiltrate the dungeons without getting caught. I studied my surroundings, looked for useful things to aid in my infiltration. Then, a thought crossed my mind but it involved the body of a soldier's corpse. I hesitated, recoiling in disgust. I backed away from the wagon, hid behind the shadows. I gathered my strength and determination but I kept on wavering.

I exhaled loudly and clenched my hands into a fist. Though I'm not that confident that pretending as a soldier would be successful because there's always a chance that they'll see through my disguise, and the thought scared me but this is something that I have to do to save the princess.

"All right, you can do this, Katya. You can always make a run if the situation gets worse, then come back for reinforcements," I mumbled, trying to convince myself.