Chapter 138 The Scientist.

Chapter 138 The Scientist.
Camille's POV.

The goodbye was harder than I had anticipated. Standing at the iron gates of the palace, I held Josh’s hands one last time, feeling the warmth of his skin—a reminder of why we fought so hard for this peace. Lorenzo stood tall beside him, his expression a mask of princely stoicism, though the slight tremble in his fingers gave away his fear. My son has never experienced a war before and he must be very worried about his mother.

That sure warms my heart.

"Come back to us, Camille," Josh whispered, pulling me into a final, lingering kiss. He has seen a lot of deaths during the last war and I understand that he has every reason to be afriad right now, but they need to have some fate in me. Things are going to work out eventually.

"I will Josh, " I promised. I turned to my son, ruffling his messy hair. "Take care of your father, Lorenzo. He’s a handful when I’m not around."

Lorenzo managed a small, brave smile. "I will, Mom. Just... be careful." He came forward and pulled me into a hug.

"I will son."

With a final nod to my family, I signaled to the company. Beside me, Linus stepped to the front with a cold, professional focus. No more words were needed as we began our journey heading to the witches Kingdom.

Hopefully, this won't escalate into a world war like the last time.



We traveled for three days, the landscape shifting from the fertile valleys of our kingdom into the gnarled, ancient woods that served as a buffer between territories. The trees here were thick and suffocating, their branches clawing at the sky. On the fourth evening, as the sun began to dip below the tree line, I gave the order to set up camp in a small clearing.

"We will rest for six hours," I told the men. "Then we comtinue on our way through the border."

The camp was quiet, the only sounds being the crackle of a small fire and the occasional footsteps of my men walking around. I was sitting with Linus, reading a book already missing my husband and my son. I couldn’t wait to go back to them.

Life has been perfect so far. It would be a shame if all we fought hard for only ends up in ruin.

All of a sudden, an unnatural chill settled over the clearing. The birds went silent, a weird smell took over the air and everyone at the camp were suddenly on high alert.

"Something’s wrong," Linus hissed, his hand flying to the hilt of his sword.

I was in agreement as I anxiously looked around. Truthfully, something was very wrong. The woods hasnt been dangerous ever since the shadow monsters were defeated. What could be going on?

Out of the shadows of the trees, they emerged. My heart nearly stopped at the sight of them. They were dark, shifting masses of ink and malice—shadow monsters.

"Impossible!" I exclaimed shooting up from the floor and drawing my blade. "Lord Helios is dead! These things shouldn't exist!" How the hell are they still here?! Lord Khaos took out every single one of them.

"Protect the Queen!" Linus screamed and all the men drew out their blades and stood in front of me.

I pushed them aside and stood at the front. "I may be a Queen but I'm also a warrior. I don't need your protections."

The monsters let out silent, bone-chilling screeches as they lunged. I braced for the impact, expecting the overwhelming, power I remembered from the war. But as my sword sliced through the first creature, it dissipated with a weak hiss.

I stared at the remains in shock and confusion. They weren't solid; they were brittle. "They're weak!" I called out to my men. "Cut them down!"

My soldiers, wasted no time. They were fast and made quick work of the creatures. They were like pale imitations of the originals—hollow and lacking the terrifying weight of Helios’s magic. As the last of the shadows faded into nothingness, the clearing fell into a sudden, heavy silence.

Then, we heard it. The sound of heavy, frantic breathing and the crunch of dry leaves. Someone was running through the brush just beyond the clearing. I sniffed the air. It smelt human.

"After him!" Linus barked.

A handful of our fastest scouts blurred into motion, their vampire speed carrying them into the woods like streaks of lightning. A few moments later, they returned, dragging a man between them.

He was a mess. He was wearing a dusty, heavy-duty backpack and clothes that were clearly not from our world—denim pants and a tattered, waterproof jacket. But it was the device strapped to his right forearm that caught my attention. it was a tangled mess of wires, metal, and a pulsing, iridescent crystal that hummed with a sickly golden light.

The man was terrified, his chest heaving as he stared at us with wide, panicked eyes. He looked up at the scouts, then at me, and his hand flew to the device. He tapped a frantic command into a small keypad, but the crystal only sputtered and went dark.

"Oh fuck, It’s dead!" he whimpered, his voice trembling. "No, no, please... not right now buddy. This is real danger!"

I frowned as I watch him. Wait a minute, is he using that to create shadow monsters?

Linus stepped forward, his expression thunderous. He grabbed the man by the collar, lifting him nearly off the ground, flashing his fangs and snarling into his face. "Who are you? You’re human. How are you calling those things?"

The man looked like he was on the verge of a breakdown. He looks both terrified amazed. "I'm... I'm Dr. Thomas. I'm a scientist. Please, don't hurt me! I... I can help you. I've always known that creatures like you guys existed and I've been trying to create something similar and more powerful than your kind. My research lead me to your world, but now I think I'm lost."

I stepped closer, my eyes fixed on the strange human. "A human and a scientist? How did a human gain the knowledge to create shadow monsters? That is the magic of a dead god, and how the hell did you even find the supernatural world? Unless a supernatural creature lead you to the portal, then there is no way you would have found it out yourself."

Thomas gulped. "I didn't know! I was just walking home one day... and I found it. A light. It was in an alleyway, glowing like a fallen star. When I touched it, it was like a download... pages and pages of equations, biology, energy signatures... I couldn't stop myself. I had to build it. It was like someone else's memory was projected into me, and I suddenly knew everything about your world and how to create powerful creatures using the light."

He looked at the device on his arm with awe. "The
light lead me here. I’ve been wandering these woods for weeks, trying to find someone, anyone at all. I didn't mean to attack you guys, I was just scared."

I exchanged a look with Linus. A human had found a remnant of Helios’s power—perhaps a fragment of his soul or a lingering echo of his creative spark—and had used human technology to bridge the gap between science and magic. It was a terrifying thought. If one human could do this, what would happen if the knowledge spread?

"You created something dangerous Dr Thomas ," I said, my voice low and dangerous. "Do you have any idea how much blood has been spilled because of those creatures you’ve created?"

"It was just an experiment okay, I really mean no harm" he defended.

I looked at the scientist, then toward the direction of the Witches' Kingdom. If there was a civil war among the witches, and now a human appearing with the ability to replicate Helios’s monsters, the peace I had worked so hard for was more fragile than I ever imagined.

"Linus," I said, my decision made. "This man is too dangerous to be left alone, and he is too valuable to be killed. Bind him, he is our hostage now."

"What about the witches, your highness?" Linus asked.

"We continue to the border soon. Make sure to keep an eye on the human," I replied, looking at the darkened woods.

As Thomas was led away in chains, his device stripped from his arm, I looked up at the moon in concern. The peace hadn't ended yet, but the shadows were definitely returning.