Chapter 88 The Battlefield
The corridor was still silent when everything began to crumble.
Not the walls.
The certainty.
The guards stood motionless, like statues that had witnessed something they couldn't explain. Kael watched the faded runes with an expression that mixed reverence and concern. Conrad stood before me, breathing heavily, as if still expecting something to try to pull me back.
But the real shock wasn't there.
It was spreading.
The first scream came from the courtyard.
Then another.
Then the unmistakable sound of dozens of voices overlapping.
Conrad turned immediately to the window at the end of the corridor. I walked behind him, still feeling the echo of what had happened in the cell vibrating under my skin.
When I looked down, I understood.
The people had gathered again before the castle.
But it wasn't like before.
It wasn't just protests.
It was division.
Half were shouting my name.
The other half demanded my departure.
Flags raised. Symbols torn. Alphas arguing amongst themselves. The tension in the air was as thick as it had been in the cell.
"The rumor spread," Kael murmured behind us. "The cell failed. They know."
"It didn't fail," I replied quietly. "It was overcome."
Conrad clenched his fist against the stone parapet.
"My mother won't back down after this," he said. "She'll use this as proof that you're uncontrollable."
"Then she'll have to prove it," I replied, feeling a new calm settle within me.
A movement in the courtyard caught my attention.
Solange appeared on the castle's main balcony.
Alone.
The murmur of the crowd grew.
She raised her hand.
Immediate silence.
And in that instant, even before she spoke, I knew:
She wasn't there to explain.
She was there to choose a side.
And what she said next could set the kingdom ablaze—or shatter it forever.
Solange remained silent for a few seconds, observing the people as if measuring each breath before speaking. The wind gently moved her hair, but her posture remained firm, unwavering.
When she finally opened her mouth, her voice echoed throughout the courtyard.
"Today you all saw something that cannot be ignored."
A murmur swept through the crowd.
Conrad stiffened beside me.
"A cell built to contain ancient magic... has been broken." She continued. "This is not a sign of safety. It's a sign of danger."
I felt the air change.
It was subtle.
But real.
She was channeling fear.
"It doesn't matter if the intention is good or not," Solange continued. "What matters is that forces we don't understand are growing within this castle."
Some people began to agree aloud. Others shouted my name in protest.
"But I also saw something today," she said, changing her tone slightly. "I saw that the Link responded. And that means there is still a possible balance."
Conrad frowned.
Me too.
Balance?
"Therefore," Solange declared, "the council will meet again at dawn. And we will decide... before everyone... what the future of the kingdom will be."
The crowd erupted in voices.
Fear.
Hope.
Anger.
All mixed together.
Solange then turned and went back into the castle without looking back.
The impact of her words vibrated in the air like distant thunder.
Conrad exhaled slowly.
"She's buying time," he said.
"No," Kael replied from behind us. "She's preparing something."
I looked at the courtyard again.
At the people.
At the fear etched on their faces.
And then I felt it.
A movement inside me.
Not pain.
Not exactly.
A pulse.
I put my hand to my stomach without thinking.
The baby was reacting.
But not to the crowd.
Not to the tension.
To the magic.
A cold wave ran down my spine.
"Conrad..." I murmured.
He immediately noticed my tone.
"What is it?"
Before I could answer, the mark on my chest burned.
Harsh.
Violent.
Kael felt it too.
I saw it in his eyes.
"Something is coming," he said.
And, in that instant, a scream tore through the courtyard again.
But it wasn't a scream of protest.
It was a scream of terror.
Shadows began to emerge among the people.
The Erasers weren't waiting for the council's decision.
They had come to seek chaos.
The first eraser emerged from the crowd as if born from a person's own shadow.
There was no warning.
There was no time.
The creature rose tall, distorted, made of dark smoke and broken contours, as if the world couldn't maintain its stable form. The scream that followed was collective.
Panic.
People began to run in all directions, bumping into each other, knocking down tents, children crying, guards trying to organize something impossible to control.
Then another eraser appeared.
And another.
"Protect the people!" Conrad shouted, already moving.
Kael raised his hands, releasing a wave of energy that pushed two creatures back, but didn't destroy them. They merely reorganized themselves, like smoke being blown away.
I felt it.
Even before I saw it.
The reaction within me.
The baby.
A strong, warm pulse that spread throughout my entire body.
My mark burned along with it.
It wasn't pain.
It was a calling.
"They came because of me..." I murmured, almost voiceless.
"No." Conrad held my face firmly. "They came because they are desperate."
Another eraser advanced towards a group of people lying on the ground.
My body moved before my mind.
I ran.
I felt Conrad call me, but I didn't stop.
When I reached the creature, it turned its distorted face towards me, as if recognizing me. The darkness within her stirred, restless.
I reached out.
The world fell silent for a second.
And then I pulled.
The dark energy poured out of her like a river being ripped from within a rock. The creature writhed, trying to resist, but couldn't.
The shadow entered me.
Cold.
Cutting.
But this time, something was different.
The energy didn't remain loose within my body.
It was absorbed.
Consumed.
Transformed.
I felt the baby react again, as if that force was being filtered before it could harm me.
The eraser crumbled into dark dust.
Around me, people stopped.
Silence.
Fear.
Disbelief.
I barely had time to breathe when another came.
And another.
Each time I drew on the energy, I felt my body heavier, more tired... but also more stable. As if something inside me was learning.
Or awakening.
When the last eraser fell, the entire courtyard was in absolute silence.
Hundreds of eyes on me.
Conrad arrived first, catching me before I lost my balance.
"Are you alright?" he asked, his voice heavy with concern.
I nodded, even without being sure.
Kael approached slowly, analyzing the air around him.
"They didn't come to kill," he said seriously. "They came to test."
A shiver ran down my spine.
To test.
The baby moved again inside me.
This time with more force.
Like an answer.
Like recognition.
I looked at Conrad.
At the people.
At the castle behind us.
And I understood, with frightening clarity. The war wasn't just beginning.
It had already begun.
And I...
wasn't just a target.
I was the battlefield.