Chapter 56

Chapter 56
Chapter 56
After dawn broke, golden light spilled across the fields as Isabella led the five candidates for the Son of Light toward the edge of the human kingdom.

As they passed through scattered villages, the quiet morning routines of the people were gently interrupted. Farmers paused in their plowing, women looked up from washing clothes by the stream, and children froze mid-play to stare at the strange procession. There was something unmistakable about Isabella, it was her aura of authority, the calm confidence in her eyes, and the presence of raw power that seemed to hum around her like wind through trees.

At first, the villagers only glanced, curious. But as recognition dawned, so did reverence. A low murmur began to ripple among the people.

“Is that... the High Elementalist?”

“It is! Isabella herself!”

“And the ones with her… do you think they’re...?”

“They must be. Chosen ones, perhaps. You can see it in their stride.”

Heads turned. Hushed voices grew into wide-eyed speculation. Some elders stepped forward with trembling hands clasped in greeting. Isabella offered a slight nod in acknowledgment, her face composed, but her mind alert. She didn’t stop to explain. There was no time for stories.

Still, the murmurs followed them down the dusty road like shadows. Rumors would spread. Questions would rise. The world was watching again.

They pressed on, the landscape beginning to shift, the greenery thinning out.

Then they rounded a quiet bend—

And stopped.

Before them lay a village, or what remained of one.

Nova slowed her steps as the sight of charred homes and collapsed rooftops came into view. The air still held the bitter sting of smoke, the acrid scent clinging to the earth like a ghost refusing to leave. Around the remains of what had once been a peaceful village, soldiers from the human kingdom moved carefully through the wreckage—lifting broken beams, sifting through blackened belongings, and covering the bodies they found with rough, woolen cloth.

One soldier, a young man with ash smudged across his cheeks and weariness etched deep into his brow, caught sight of Nova. His eyes widened in recognition, and he quickly stepped forward.

“Princess Nova,” he said, bowing stiffly, respect clear in his voice. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

Nova nodded once, her gaze scanning the destruction behind him. “What happened?”

The soldier looked back at the wreckage, his expression darkening. “It happened last night. Just after dusk, something… attacked.” He swallowed hard. “A group of unknown creatures. Fast, brutal, nothing like we’ve seen before. They came out of nowhere, tore through the village… slaughtered every adult.”

Nova’s stomach twisted. “And the children?”

“That’s the strange part,” he said, lowering his voice. “They didn’t kill the children. They took them. Every single one. Gone without a trace.” He shook his head, still struggling to make sense of it. “No one knows where they’ve been taken, or why. We’re investigating, but…” He gestured helplessly to the ruins. “There’s not much left to find.”

Nova turned toward the village, her heart heavy with a growing dread. Burned homes. Slain parents. Vanished children.

A faint sound rose from somewhere within the ruins—soft at first, like a muffled cough or a shifting of gravel. Nova turned toward it, eyes narrowing as she searched the rubble. Then, from the shadow of an old stone well at the edge of the village square, a small, soot-covered hand grasped the rim.

A child—no older than six—emerged slowly from the dry well, his face streaked with ash and dried tears. His clothes were torn, his skin smudged with smoke and dirt, and he trembled with every step he took. For a moment, he stood frozen, his wide eyes darting from soldier to stranger—until he spotted Nova.

With a broken cry, he ran straight toward her, arms outstretched.

Nova dropped to one knee just in time to catch him. He threw himself into her arms, sobbing so hard it rattled through his thin frame. She held him tightly, one hand smoothing his soot-caked hair, the other steadying his shaking back.

“Shhh,” she whispered gently. “You’re safe now.”

The boy pulled back slightly, tears still rolling down his cheeks. “Are you…” His voice cracked. “Are you really the princess? The one from the stories?”

Nova nodded, her throat tight. “Yes, I am.”

His face crumpled again. “Then you have to help us,” he pleaded. “Please…”

Nova nodded again, more firmly this time. “I will. Tell me what happened.”

The child sniffled, drawing in a ragged breath. “They came in the night. A whole group of them… monsters in black cloaks. We couldn’t see their faces. They didn’t talk. They didn’t yell. They just came, like shadows.”

Nova exchanged a grim glance with Isabella, who had moved closer, listening in silence.

“They didn’t kill us at first,” the boy continued. “They just… took the other kids. All of them. I don’t know where. My papa—he picked me up and dropped me in the dry well. He told me to stay quiet. Not to make a sound. So I didn’t…”

His little fists clenched around the fabric of Nova’s cloak.

“And then I heard the screams.”

Nova’s hand tightened protectively around his shoulder. “You did so well,” she said softly. “You were very brave.”

The boy nodded, but his eyes were distant, filled with images too heavy for someone so small. “I don’t know where they took them. I just… I want my mama.”

Nova closed her eyes for a moment, her jaw set. Then she stood, gently lifting the child in her arms.

Isabella stood a few paces behind Nova, her eyes fixed on the trembling child in her arms. Her usually calm expression was now taut with unease. The child's account of cloaked figures appearing out of the darkness had shaken her more than she let on.
She stepped forward, her voice low but urgent. “This isn’t just some random attack. These creatures… the way they move in silence, hidden in shadows—it matches everything we know about them. They might be shadows.”
James glanced at her sharply. “You mean the servants of the Demon God?”
Isabella nodded. “Yes. And if it’s them, then this isn’t just destruction—it’s something worse. Something planned.” She folded her arms tightly across her chest, her brows furrowed. “But why would they take only the children? What does the demon want with them?”
No one had an answer.
Her gaze drifted across the scorched village, the blackened husks of once-vibrant homes still smoldering in places. Her fists clenched at her sides. “Whatever it is, it won’t be for anything good. He’s gathering something—pieces of a plan we haven’t seen clearly yet. But I can feel it… it’s dark. It’s evil.”
She turned to face the others, her voice gaining resolve. “We can’t waste time here. The most urgent task now is to return to the Elemental Academy. The five of you,” she said, her eyes sweeping over Nova, Samuel, James, Lestat, and Oliver, “you must begin your elemental training immediately.”
Samuel stepped forward. “You mean… start learning how to fight?”
“Not just fight,” Isabella said firmly. “You were all reborn into this world for a reason. The prophecy says the Sons of Light are the only ones who can seal the darkness again. But without mastery of your elements, you’ll stand no chance against what’s coming.”
Nova looked down at the child in her arms, who was already dri
fting into exhausted sleep. Her jaw tightened. “Then let’s not waste another minute.”