DARIA — CAPITAL
THE GREAT LIBRARY
It was already nighttime in Daria.
"Wait, Thane! You're moving too fast!" Alexandra called, struggling to keep up.
"Run, Alexandra!" Thane replied without turning back.
His voice carried urgency.
Before she could reach him, he disappeared from sight.
Alexandra slowed, confusion setting in as she looked around.
"Where am I...? What's going on, Thane?"
There was no response.
She continued forward, following the direction he had taken. Her breathing became uneven as she pushed through the trees.
Then—
Movement.
Several men stepped out from the forest, surrounding her.
Their eyes locked onto her.
"An elf," one of them said. "I thought they were extinct. Is this the one that ran away from that lab?"
Another stepped forward.
"We can sell her. Tikka's black market will pay well."
Alexandra turned and ran, but the men immediately closed in.
Before they could reach her, a man appeared between them and Alexandra.
His movements were precise.
He dealt with them quickly, disabling each attacker without hesitation.
Within moments, the men were lying on the ground.
Alexandra's vision blurred.
Her body gave out.
She collapsed.
---
Alexandra woke up suddenly.
Her breathing was heavy.
The room was dark.
She slowly sat up, looking around her bedroom.
"It was that dream again..."
She placed a hand against her chest, trying to steady herself.
"That day..."
Her voice lowered.
"Damon saved me. If he hadn't... I wouldn't be here."
She looked down, her expression firm.
"I owe him everything. I have a place now because of him."
Her eyes softened.
"I will serve this kingdom with my life."
She lay back down.
"Thane... wherever you are... stay safe."
She closed her eyes.
---
TIKKA — LAKE VAIL
Thane sneezed once.
"A beautiful lady must have mentioned my name," he said.
Zinna laughed as she sat beside him on a tree branch.
Zinna had red hair and blue eyes.
He leaned forward slightly, watching the road below.
Their group of seven was positioned along the edge of the forest, waiting.
The wagon they planned to intercept would pass through this route.
They had been preparing for months.
A faint signal appeared in the distance.
"It's coming. It's here already," Zinna said.
Thane didn't respond immediately.
His attention remained fixed ahead.
"I don't trust this," he said.
Zinna looked at him.
"Why?"
"King Charlotte stopped the movement of gemstones between Fulton and Daria," Thane replied. "This shouldn't be happening. I don't detect any gems from that wagon."
He narrowed his eyes.
"I'm the only one capable of detecting them among us, and I can tell you there's nothing inside that wagon. Just a woman driving it and a man sitting inside."
He paused.
"Either this is the wrong wagon, or there's nothing in it."
Zinna shrugged.
"They could be hiding it. A barrier, maybe, so you wouldn't be able to detect anything."
Thane shook his head slightly.
"I should still be able to detect it. But I can't feel anything."
He scanned the area again.
"This doesn't make sense."
The sound of wheels approached.
The wagon came into view.
Only one person was driving it.
Thane's expression changed.
"This is wrong."
He focused on the wagon.
"I can't detect the second person."
Before he could say anything else, Zinna jumped down.
"Wait!" Thane shouted.
But it was too late.
Zinna rushed forward, drawing his sword.
A blade came from nowhere.
Zinna blocked it, stepping backward.
The woman driving the wagon stood up as the wagon came to a stop.
Three dark figures appeared beside her.
Shadows.
Three figures dressed entirely in black, resembling ninjas.
Zinna recognized them immediately.
But something was wrong.
They weren't real individuals.
They were constructs.
This...
This is from that story I hated when I was a kid.
"Fall back!" Thane shouted to the others.
Some of them retreated.
Others were already engaged.
They were struck down by different shadow creatures, each one shaped into something they feared.
Thane dropped from the tree and moved in.
A massive shadow figure struck him directly in the chest.
He raised a wind barrier, reducing the impact, but the force still sent him crashing into a tree.
Blood ran from his mouth.
He forced himself back onto his feet.
Nearby, Zinna stood frozen.
Terrified.
He couldn't face his fear.
"Zinna! Move!"
One of the shadows struck at Thane with a long sword.
Thane managed to block the attack.
He then struck Zinna across the face.
Zinna snapped out of his fear.
The woman watched them with a cold expression.
"Humans, drop dead! This will be the last light you'll ever see!"
Her voice rose with fury.
"None of you will escape, you little thieves! You've stressed the lord enough to make him come here himself. You'll pay for what you've done!"
She raised her weapon.
"Even the goddess Tova would never accept your souls!"
Her expression twisted with rage.
"Die! Die!"
Thane quickly assessed her.
"She's from the Tenebrous Umbra."
His eyes narrowed.
"Those shadow figures are manifestations. They reflect the fears of the people they're fighting, and this ability is sustained by her Dio."
He watched as the shadows continued to regenerate.
"They're also said to have the capacity to hold a high amount of Dio. Manifesting this many would require a lot of Dio to sustain."
His expression became serious.
"She's Third Rank... Gold."
The realization hit him.
"This isn't a normal operation."
He looked around.
"We were trapped and manipulated like rats."
His eyes widened.
"The intel was fake."
---
TIKKA — VAIL FOREST
"It's nice we got here that quickly. This should be the meeting spot with the man, right?" Kieran asked as he rested against a tree.
Riven leaned back, a wide grin spreading across his face as he counted the coins again in his mind.
"Selling out the captain for that amount was the right call," he said, his tone light but deliberate.
"Two hundred now, and four hundred after the job is finished. That's not something you ignore."
Kieran gave a short laugh, shaking his head.
"I'll make sure I never end up on the wrong side of you."
He chuckled.
"The way he looked when he realized it was a trap... I won't forget that."
Riven picked up a bottle and poured the drink into two cups, steady and controlled.
"Go on."
He handed one cup to Kieran.
"Let's finish this properly. A toast—to future business and friendship."
Kieran lifted the cup without hesitation and drank.
A few seconds passed.
Kieran's expression shifted.
He paused.
His grip tightened around the cup as his breathing became uneven.
"...What did you—"
He tried to speak, but the words didn't come out properly.
His chest tightened.
He coughed, struggling to draw air.
Riven watched him calmly.
"You really thought I'd split the money with you?" he asked.
"That was never going to happen."
Kieran staggered backward and fell to the ground.
He tried to stand again, but his body weakened quickly. His legs failed to support him.
"You..." he tried again, but his voice broke.
His breathing became shallow, each inhale weaker than the last.
Riven didn't move.
"People trust too easily," he continued. "You can read expressions, but that doesn't mean you understand intent."
He looked down at Kieran.
"Friends aren't always what you think they are."
Kieran collapsed to the ground.
His body went still after a few final, strained breaths.
---
TIKKA — LAKE VAIL
The fight between Thane and Zinna continued.
Zinna stepped backward, his grip tightening around his weapon.
"This is too much," he said, his voice unsteady. "Those things... they're not normal. It doesn't matter how much you cut them. They just keep regenerating."
Thane kept his eyes forward, focused despite the pressure.
"She's using your fear against you," he said. "Those forms aren't random. They're drawn from you."
He tightened his grip.
"If we don't adapt, we lose."
Zinna nodded once, forcing himself to steady his breathing.
"Then we switch targets."
He pointed toward the shadow creatures.
"I'll take the bear-shaped shadow. You handle the three ninjas!"
"Do it," Thane replied.
Zinna moved first, closing the distance.
As they switched positions, he swung his sword toward the arm of the bear-shaped manifestation.
The moment his blade connected, the creature's form shifted.
It changed instantly.
His strike passed through its structure with no resistance.
For a fraction of a second, Zinna hesitated.
That was enough.
The counterattack came immediately.
Zinna's arm was severed cleanly.
The bear-shaped shadow had transformed into one of the ninjas.
Meanwhile, the shadow Thane had been fighting had transformed into a bear.
Zinna dropped to his knees.
His body shook as the shock hit him before the pain fully registered.
Thane turned at the sound, his expression tightening.
"Zinna!"
The pressure around him increased as he was forced to defend against multiple attacks at once.
He pushed forward, trying to break through, but every movement cost him more strength.
Zinna struggled to stay conscious.
His vision blurred.
"I'm... losing it... Thane," he muttered weakly.
His body grew colder as he fought to remain awake.
Thane forced his way past one of the shadow figures, but more attacks came from different angles, forcing him to stop again.
"Stay with me, Zinna!"
Thane's voice echoed through the forest.
"Think of the kids! Think of your sister cooking! Don't let it all go to waste!"
A series of blades moved toward him from multiple directions.
Thane assessed the distance.
There was no clean escape.
But before the strikes could land—
The shadow forms destabilized.
They collapsed and vanished at once.
The source had run out of energy.
Thane remained standing for a moment longer.
Then he dropped to one knee, his strength nearly gone.
He looked toward Zinna.
"I can't move..." he said quietly. "I'm at my limit."
He forced himself upright again, but his body didn't respond properly.
Slowly, he sank back down, dragging himself across the ground.
Thane's body trembled as he forced himself forward.
Every movement felt heavier than the last.
"She's out of Dio..." he muttered under his breath, struggling to stay conscious.
"I'm out too..."
His eyes shifted toward Zinna's collapsed form.
"I can't... let him die."
His breathing became heavier.
"Not like this. Not after everything..."
He tried to push himself up, but his strength failed him.
His body dropped back down, barely able to respond.
"This... this is it..." he whispered. "I can't even move..."
Still, he forced his head up, his gaze lifting toward the sky as if holding onto the last bit of clarity he had left.
Then, slowly, he began to crawl again.
"No... please..."
His voice broke, unsteady and weak.
"Don't kill him..."
He coughed, swallowing hard before continuing.
"Let Zinna live... take me instead..."
His fingers dug into the ground as he dragged himself forward inch by inch.
"He doesn't deserve this..."
His breathing became uneven.
"He didn't choose this..."
He swallowed.
"If you want someone... then take me..."
His vision blurred, but he kept going.
"Do whatever you want to me... just... leave him..."
His voice dropped lower, fading with each word.
"I'm begging you... please... just let him live..."
His body finally gave out.
His head lowered, his strength completely gone.
"Zinna... live..."
The last word barely left his lips before everything went dark.
The woman stood over them, her expression cold and unmoved.
"Humans," she said flatly.
"Always the same."
Her gaze shifted between the two of them.
"You break easily."
She stepped closer.
"You depend on each other to feel strong, but when it matters, you fail."
She raised her weapon.
"You call yourselves survivors, but all I see is weakness. You cling to emotion, to attachment, to meaningless bonds that hold you back."
Her eyes narrowed.
"This trap was only possible because those you call your friends valued money over you."
Her voice remained steady, without hesitation.
"You think that makes you different."
She looked down at them.
"It doesn't. It makes you predictable."
She stepped closer to Thane.
"Begging won't change the outcome. It never does."
Her grip tightened slightly.
"Strength is the only thing that matters. Those who lack it are removed."
She turned her attention toward Zinna.
"That is the natural order."
A long red blade formed in her hand.
"You are no exception."
She moved to strike.
"Niamh. That's enough."
The voice cut through the battlefield, calm and absolute.
Niamh stopped immediately.
For a brief moment, there was silence.
"...Understood."
Her blade vanished.
"We shouldn't be this cruel to our guests," the man continued. "They could be of great help to me."
He looked toward the unconscious men.
"Put them in the wagon. We're taking them back to Fulton."
Niamh's expression changed.
"Fulton? That's impossible. They're humans. Taking them to Fulton breaks every law of the kingdom. It's unacceptable—"
Before she could continue, the man interrupted.
"Niamh, it's my burden. I'll take full responsibility for this."
His voice remained firm.
"We are taking them to Fulton."
Niamh stepped back without argument.
The order was clear.