Thud. Thud. Thud. The sound of approaching footsteps. I remained silent, hoping against hope that no one would think to check behind the statue.

"Nothing down this hall!" called a familiar voice—Jake's. "Regroup and check the spare rooms!"

The guards zipped around, one by one, leaving me and Emma alone once more in the passageway. I waited several moments before getting up. Carrying Emma was no easy feat—though her body was limp, my drainage of energy had weakened my muscles. Lugging her out of the castle and to the Falls sounded nearly impossible.

But I'd come to learn something since the day I found out I was the Chosen One—nothing was impossible, which was both a bad thing and a good thing.

I hoisted Emma upon my shoulders and back and then I was on my way. A few voices spoke from afar. I halted, took consideration of my surroundings, and made for the sole place I could think to flee to.

Right off the bat, I knew something was off. As I crossed through the hallways, I recognized the eerie silence. It was almost too quiet...

Were the king and queen still with Jackson? Or had they returned to the Throne Room? And had the priest followed me?

I was taking too many risks here. Any second and the Guards would reappear, leaving me defenseless. I had to think wisely about this—one wrong move and I was finished. Would I be executed for this? It was likely. But would King Richard go to such drastic measures? I mean, I was the Chosen One. As much as he hated to admit it, he needed me. I was indispensable—this world's only hope. It would be all but astute to kill me off.

Now, at least.

Two corridors appeared. I knew one, the one going straightforward, led to the scullery. There were no rooms beyond that point. It would be mindless to head for a dead end. If I made any sort of noise, within seconds the Royal Guard would be on my tail and I would be surrounded. The other way led to two more corridors—one of which I came from the Throne Room. As for the other, I had no idea where I would end up should I take that path.

Going the way I came from would be the opposite of wise. However, going down a path I had no clue would take me would be just as senseless.

The Guards had already scoured the hall with the statue, but who is to say they wouldn't return for a secondary search? That being said, how would I know they didn't go the opposite way? What if the other direction led to the spare rooms, where they claimed they'd be headed?

It was worth the risk. Cautiously, I set ahead for the corridor other than the one I came from. My footsteps were light as I turned the corner. Fear coated my insides all around. I tried calming my nerves, but I was taking such a big leap here that nothing helped.

I was relieved when I found this corridor held a row of doors on one side and another corridor on the other. Now the question was: should I try to hide in a room or keep sneaking through the corridors?

Sure enough, the Guards would check here if they hadn't already. Though come to think of it now, when I saw those guards checking near the statue earlier, it only looked like very few of them.

Did this mean the guards split up and searched for me? And would that also mean that currently, at this moment, there could very well be guards checking the rooms beside me? Or the other side of this corridor?

It was haunting to think about. Dread undid my brain as I tried to think of something—anything—to do. In a panic, I raced down the corridor with no second thoughts.

My heart was pounding. The corridor had nothing but one door inside of it—a huge, very circular door. A name had been printed on it, but the sign was scratched and worn out so that I could make out the letters I and Y.

"This must be an ancient part of the castle," I muttered to myself.

I could feel myself running out of options slowly. If I turned back, I would surely be found. But... how would I know what lurked beyond this door?

I had to try—with caution, and as quietly as I could, I pushed open the door, which was rather easy considering it looked decades old.

Dust flew in all directions. Pushing past the layers of flying filth, I made my way down a sloping hallway. Every left to a right, every right when up. I was beginning to lose my head when I finally reached the end—a dead-end, regrettably.

Nothing but a square wall faced me now. Out of desperation, or maybe exhaustion, or possibly both, I pushed the square. It creaked open with surprisingly little effort, leading me into a large dark room.

Long rectangular shadows cast over the wooden floorboards which squeaked with every step I took. Rows of bookshelves, lined with dusty tomes, came into view—I felt like I was surrounded by a labyrinth of towering walls.

But I knew this wasn't a labyrinth. It was the library—the place Jackson had taken the king and queen. If I got caught, it would be the end of the line for me...

Just in between every bookcase, though, there was the slightest bit of room a slim someone could fit through. I inched my way down the bookshelves until I reached an opening with a door.

From afar, I could hear low voices deep in conversation. I backed away slowly to ensure I couldn't be seen, then made a left so I could sneak by the whispering folk, which happened to be by the other end of the opening.

I crept past the leftwards bookshelf until I reached the end, then made a right. I kept getting closer until I could finally make out the owners of the distant voices.

There stood the weary Jackson Scorch, waving his hands around, clearly explaining pure and utter nonsense to the queen and king, who stood inches away, looking mildly interested in what he had to say.

"So..." said the king in his resonant voice. "You believe your coma is connected to... er... the rising of the Shadow King?"

"Precisely," Jackson said in the most believable he could muster.

I would be flabbergasted if the queen and king believed him, for the way he was shaking and his eyes darted in different areas told it all—he was lying.

Yet, the king went on to say, "Well, if such is true, we may very well have to have our Seer, Madam Rosalee, look into it. Now, are we done here? I believe I have a dying daughter back in the throne room."

In those words, I had to contain every bone in my body from attacking the king. How could he speak so casually about it—' my dying daughter'? Emma was more than just dying. She was ruined. She would likely be traumatized eternally, and he only spoke so calmly.

The violet Emma that I held in my arms was fading. I could feel her body getting lighter, her soul leaving it.

"No..." I mouthed.

I had to do something... but how could I sneak past the three of them without their noticing? I only wished I had my satchel at my side. Maybe then I could use the Lady Stopper to turn me and Emma invisible. This would a lot simpler that way.

Unfortunately, I did not have the Lady Stopper. Or my satchel. I had no idea where it could be at this very moment.

But that was the least of my worries—my focus was on saving Emma, and solely that.

I could hear the bookshelf from which I entered the library creak open slowly. Panic flooded every inch of my body, inside and out. I was trapped, I would be cornered. There was no escape.

Please don't notice us, I prayed. Please, please, please. Walk past us. In the names of the Five Lands, please.

"Is anybody in here?" called the voices of the Royal Guard, all at once.

More panic, more fear, and whatever other bad feeling existed—it all drowned what little bravery had remained within me. I was lost now—I would be defeated. It would be my demise, my funeral. The one that no one would attend. Not Emma—not if she were dead, nor Jake, nor any living creature, would attend the funeral of a traitor.

Traitor. The word echoed in my ear until everything grew fuzzy.

Shadows appeared—figures wearing men's cloaks, looking haughty as ever. I flinched at the sight of them. At least a dozen men could be sighted, and all I had was my magic.

My weakening magic against twelve well-trained knights. As if this day could not get any worse...

"Yes!" shouted the king in response. "We are here!"

"Your Majesty?" called the leader. "What in the Five Lands are you doing down here?"

"This kind sir wanted to speak with me about, er, a certain something," the king appeared suddenly, in the opening. The men ignored the two of us, though I'm sure at least one spotted me and moved past the bookcases to greet their sire.

"Sir... um..." Jake approached the king nervously. "She... Emma... was taken. By whom, we don't know yet. All we know is... that man needs to be arrested."

He pointed a spidery finger at Jackson Scorch.

"Mr. Scorch here?" Queen Charlotte finally spoke. "But why?"

"We have reason to believe he led you away from the throne room as a diversion," Jake explained.

Hot red anger broiled in my body. I felt ready to burst with it—how could they all be so blind and arrogant? We were doing this for Emma. To save Emma.

"Then that means..." the king turned to his wife. "...it was him."

"He would not dare," gasped the queen. "Would he?"

"He would if he felt like getting executed," said the king.

At last, they turned to their men.

"We know who did it," he said. "It was Dylan Castro. The Chosen One. Catch him. Bring him back here for his execution. I wanna see his face when he gets his head chopped off. No honorable peasant defies his king. Or steals away his daughter. This ends tonight."

I gulped down a lump of anxiety. I had to flee and I had to do it now, or I would be slaughtered. Slain like a runt. Why must life be so cruel?

I crawled my way past the conversing voices, dragging Emma along with me. We made it to the other side of the library where there happened to be a back door.

Without thinking about what I was doing, without even making up my mind first, I pushed the door open and ran; I hoisted Emma onto my shoulders and bolted for the Entrance Hall.

It could've been hours before I reached it, and still, I did not stop. I mean, it was a life-and-death situation. I was no longer targeted by just monsters. I was now being earmarked by the people I once called my friends...

...humans.

There was no escape. I could never show my face in the Hark Kingdom. My chances of being seen as a hero were overtaken by the fact that I...

...was a traitor. A dishonorable peasant.

I saw the doors, grand as they were, and ran even faster for them. It was like freedom... Sweet freedom. Me and Emma... we could be happy together, living beside the Azure Falls...

My dreams of being a hero no longer mattered... all that mattered now was saving her... and loving her... with all my heart... because Emma deserved it... she deserved true love... not fabricated fatherly love... but true romantic love...

And I would the be the one to give it to her.

I reached the doors. They flung open with a wave of my hand.

The cold night air rushed to my skin, freezing it like ice. I ignored the rigid pains and pushed past the icy breeze.

Then...

Everything turned to darkness. The setting sun vanished abruptly, as though it had never been there in the first place. It was a pitch-black sky—no moon, illuminating the kingdom, no stars shining brightly overhead.

...Pure blackness overpowered the village. Villagers came screaming, their eyes pitch black. They looked like fixed monsters, their mouths hung open in horror, their bodies slowly crumbling to dust.

A carriage appeared from thin air—a Stygian carriage, blending in with the sky. It rode its way towards the castle. Streaks of inkiness flowed from behind the carriage. The scent of death seemed to be striding with the coach.

Two Friesian horses pulled the coach, looking mystical and violent at the same time.

In a short time, the carriage seemed to be only fifty feet away. Forty... thirty...

Some surviving villagers fell to their knees, begging, pleading with me.

"Let us live," they choked. "Don't let us see the darkness as they have. Let us live."

Holding onto Emma with one arm, I used the other to help pull a few of the villagers up.

I couldn't save everyone though... and the darkness was looming, getting closer...

It was only a matter of time before they would reach the palace. And when they did... who knows what sort of chaos would take place then.

I rushed what little villagers I had rescued to the castle, told them to alert as many people as they could, and had them take Emma to safety.

Then I turned to face the coach, which had stopped and was now only about twenty feet away.

I could feel the darkness drain my power slowly. Whatever was riding this stagecoach was powerful. So powerful, I was sapped off my magic.

Defenseless and afraid, I felt like running back inside. But I knew my duty as the Chosen One wasn't to run away. It was to face evil.

The coach door opened. I thought a foot would appear. Instead, the tail of a shadow hovering in the air could be seen just below the door. The shadow floated its way out of the coach and towards me.

"Greetings, Chosen One," its distorted, disdained tone brought icy terror to my insides. "We meet again. Except now I have more power—more control. And it is today that I shall destroy you."

"Umbra?" I choked.

"King Umbra," he corrected me firmly, his shadowy eyes flinging daggers at me. "What? Shocked the Shadow King came so suddenly? Did I not give you and your kind enough time to prepare?" He cackled maliciously. "Well, that's unfortunate."

I came to a sudden realization: between everything that had been happening--Emma's possible death, the Lilu Cave, the Azure Falls--I had been so distracted that I forgot all about my preparations. My plan against Umbra. The impending war. Everything. I and so many others had been so blind that we forgot... monsters still existed, and the moment we turned our backs to them...

...was the moment our world would shatter.

If I desired any chance of beating Umbra, all of the Elements, all of the Sages' Descendants, we all had to come together. Not just for war. For eternity. There could no longer be any divisions. I think that's why the darkness came in the first place. The tapestry of humanity had ripped, and I, the Chosen One, had to be the one to bring it all together again.

My duty wasn't just to protect mankind and defeat monsters. It was to bring these ruined lands together again.

Coming to this realization, I no longer looked at Umbra with fear. But with disgust. With resentment. And with the utter yearning to see his world get ripped apart.