Shadow portals

Shadow portals
Chapter 178

Ruby’s POV

‘’Ruby… we need to go get your sister and her family out of there…’’ My dad’s voice reached me his words heavy with so much concern as he stood up from the couch. 

‘’Hold on Dad,’’ I quickly said to him, trying to keep my own voice steady even as my heart hammered against my ribs. I hurried over to Thane, who seemed to have finally ended the call with whoever it was he had been speaking. 

‘’What’s the situation? Is this it? Is he finally here?’’ I asked. I didn't even need to speak much for Thane to already understand exactly what I was getting at. 

‘’I’m not sure Ruby but I doubt it is. During the last war, the dark shadow portal set up by Tautia had stayed open for about a week before he could even activate it, so maybe it would be the same with this one… it’s just that this one looks a bit different…’’ Thane ended, and I could see the deep lines appearing even deeper on his forehead as he stared back at the television screen. 

‘’What would be different about it? We should still have a week to plan out something like a countermeasure before it fully opens, but right now I need to go get my elder sister. She lives right over at the outskirts with her family and might be in danger. I could see that black portal stuff swallowing things in its path on the news just now,’’ I ended, my voice rising with a bit of desperation. We couldn't just sit here and watch them get swallowed by that darkness while we debated timelines.

‘’No, no. You would stay put, you and your dad… I’ll go over there and get her myself,’’ Thane immediately rejected my plan with a sharp shake of his head as he looked at me like my words were the worst idea for his sanity.

‘’Hey… nothing is going to happen okay? We still have a week and besides, even if it looks different, the worst that could happen is that the days might not be a full week. It’s safe for now,’’ I said calmly. 

My hand fell on his upper arm, feeling the rock-hard muscle beneath his sleeve as he mulled over my words. He was clearly struggling with the idea of letting me anywhere near that thing. ‘’I need to be there too. Who knows, my help might be needed, and besides, you will be there with me the whole time,’’ I said, forcing a small smile up at him to try and break through his worry.

‘’I would like to come too..’’ I suddenly heard my father’s voice behind me. He sounded determined with his jaw set in a way that told me there was no point in arguing with him either. 

‘’Thane, it would be fine. Nothing would happen,’’ I said in finality as I gave him a firm tap on his arm. ‘’We should get moving. I’m not sure we have a lot of time, and I don't want us to miss my sister before she tries to leave on her own.’’ I said, and that finally seemed to convince Thane, though he still looked like he wasn't fully convinced this was the right move as he sighed. 

‘’Let’s head out,’’ he finally said. Lucas was the first to bound out the door, and we all followed suit. The second I stepped out the front door, I was met with a pitch-black darkness. This wasn't even like the normal dark of the night since there were no stars or even a moon to light the way outside. The sky was just a void, sucking the light out of everything. The atmosphere seemed to have gotten significantly chiller and colder in the few minutes too making me shiver.

‘’Damn!’’ I whispered under my breath. I was already grateful for the thick jacket Thane had made me wear. Giving a quick glance at my father, I saw he was also in a leather jacket, so at least we were prepared for the cold. A black SUV suddenly came to a screeching stop right in front of us, the headlights cutting through the darkness as Lucas stepped forward to pull the heavy door open, and we slowly began to file into the car.

‘’Wait, Lucas, have you seen Ash? I haven't seen her in a while… and Ryoid too… and Lumine…’’ My eyebrows furrowed as I pushed at the car door, holding it open for a second. That was strange. How could they all just go missing just like that at a time like this? 

‘’I haven't either, when we get back I’ll search for them,’’ Lucas hurriedly replied. He sounded like he had only just been reminded that they had been missing. 

I sent a short nod his way. I really needed to have a talk with Ash before I came to any kind of final conclusion about what I saw. For all I knew, it could have been a completely different dark elf that day, and I wasn't about to start pointing fingers without proof. I hopped into the back of the SUV, and then Thane followed suit, his face still buried in his phone screen. 

In no time, the headlights of the car were cutting through the dark and we went cruising right out of the mansion’s massive gates. We sped down the winding roads, the tires screeching slightly on the pavement before we finally burst out onto the highway. The roads were every bit as crowded as I would have expected as people tried to flee the city, and our driver went weaving through them, heading straight for the outskirts where my sister lived.

The entire car was crowded in a. Thane still had his face buried in his phone with his fingers moving sharply over the glass as he sent out text after text. Right now, Lucas was doing the exact same thing with his jaw set tight. They were really making the whole thing look so serious, which was starting to get under my skin. I mean, Thane had said we would have a week before things got real. 

They were acting like it was all going to happen today, like the world was ending in the next five minutes. I, on the other hand, slowly drifted into deep thoughts. I couldn't help but wonder if when the time finally came, how exactly would I kill Tautia and the rest of those shadow wielders? I was supposed to be the rainbow dragon, the only one that could actually get them killed for good, but I didn't feel like a god. I felt like a girl in a hoodie. That question sat heavily on my shoulders as I mulled over everything that could possibly go wrong.

The sudden transition of the car from the perfectly smooth highway to the bumpy, cracked roads of the outskirts snapped me out of my head. I looked up to see Dad was already directing the driver on exactly where to head to reach my sister’s place. My head turned to Thane, who was on a call again.

‘’I want you all on standby. You can't exactly predict this. All your forces should be on site and ready to move at a moment's notice,’’ he gave his last order with his eyes fixed on the window. but just then, the car was slammed over with a sudden force. It felt like a  train had hit us from the side.

The SUV went tumbling and rolling over a few times, the world spinning in a blur as the glass shattered and we were tossed around like milk in a gallon, my head snapping back as I felt the impact. I could feel strong, solid arms wrap around me, pulling me into a protective chest as the car finally came to a stop on its side.

I heard Thane growl full of pure rage, as his shadow sword suddenly materialized in his hand. With one sharp powerful move, he swung the blade and split the car wide open in two. What met my eyes as the metal fell apart was another shadow portal, and it was pulling hard at the car right now. The vacuum was trying to suck us and the wreck car into the black void. 

Thane was quick to react, sticking his sword through the floor of the car and anchoring it deep into the ground to keep it still while we all scrambled out of the wreck. Lucas was already on his feet, supporting my father and making sure he stayed on the ground too.

When I finally stood up and looked around, I was met with another massive shock. There was absolutely nothing in front of me for miles. To be more accurate, everything in the area seemed to have been razed to the ground, houses and trees leveled as if they had never existed. More and more shadow portals had been set up across the land.

But the most terrifying sight of all was that dark shadow in the distance. It looked like a multitude of wax shadow army  that stretched as far as the eye could see. Somehow, I could feel the rainbow cortex in my chest speed up even faster at the sight and my flames seemed to be called to attention.

Lucas’s words seemed to be the cake on the icing that confirmed my worst fears. ‘’It's the shadow army.’’

Shit. This was as impromptu as it could get.