Chapter 29 The Shadow Wielders
Sebastian didn’t feel the piercing growl that tore out of his chest, he only realized it had happened when the walls echoed it back at him.
When the shadow wielder took Fernanda, he automatically went numb. Everything happened in a flash, Sebastian thought he had her because one moment, her hand had been in his reach. The next, shadows swallowed her whole, leaving only the cold bite of air where she stood with her captor.
He reverted back to his human form, staring at that empty space, as if sheer will could pull her back. But everything remained unchanged, much to his building rage.
A low, dangerous tremor started in his palms, traveling up his arms, tightening around his lungs like barbed wire. Sebastian's eyes darkened as something sinister twisted within him. He wanted to burn down everything. They dared take his wife, how bold and foolish of them.
Soldiers scattered as he ripped through the hall, destroying anything that dared remind him he had failed. "Your highness please. You need to be calm!" Anderson said In a panicked tone.
"Do not!" Sebastian snarled at his advisor, his body visibly trembling from rage. "Do not tell me to keep calm when my wife has just been adopted by some fuckers, Advisor."
The whole hall was as silent as a graveyard.
"I had been right there. I promised her safety. And now she is gone. And it's all my fault. My... fault." Amidst the rage burning through him, Sebastian felt like breaking down. The thought of anything happening to her stabbed him straight through his heart.
He could fight an army. He could command fear itself. But he had been powerless against the darkness that claimed her. As he stood amid the wreckage of himself, chest heaving, the silence mocked him. For the first time in a long while, Sebastian felt something break inside him. And it wasn’t because of the memories of his mother.
It took less than a minute for Levi to fight off the illusion in his head. And even lesser for him to realize that Maya was the one who made him saw what wasn't there. "So you are that dangerous huh?" He said with a smirk.
He got on the second horse and immediately began racing to catch up with her. Maya had gone quite far despite the steep pathways of the mountain, she was determined to get away. She knew the probability of Levi catching up with her was high.
She looked back to see if anyone was on her tail and sighed in relief when she saw no one. But just as she shifted her focus back to the road ahead, the shadow of a man standing in the middle of it made her loose control. Her horse shrieked in fear and threw her off its back before galloping away.
Maya forced herself to breathe as the fall from the horse's back knocked some air out of her lungs. She glanced up to see Levi approaching her. He picked her up with ease and placed her over his shoulder, "I must admit, you did a good job trying to escape me." He said, walking over to her horse.
"Put me down now!" Maya shrieked, thrashing against his large frame. Levi suddenly stilled, making Maya also stop struggling to get off him.
He had heard a creak in the forest that surrounded them and even though where he picked the signal was still at a farther distance from where they were, Levi knew whatever was approaching was coming at them fast.
But he didn't let Maya down, thinking it was still one of her illusions. "Nice try witch, but playtime is over." He stated, as he continued to walk.
"What do you mean? I didn't do anything." She replied breathlessly against his back. "Whatever you heard wasn't my doing."
Levi scoffed, "Yeah sure it isn't." He said and just as he placed her down, a blast of shadow shot from the woods behind him. Levi was ready, he immediately dodged the blast swiftly while still firmly holding Maya against his shoulder.
Three cloaked figures stepped out of the woods with a shadow like aura surrounding them. "Let her go now." One of them spoke.
Maya gasped softly, she recognized the voice that spoke. She knew them. They were members of the order and had definitely came for her.
She had no idea whether or not they wanted her alive or dead but the only standing in their way was Levi.
"And who the hell are you?" He demanded, wrapping, still firmly holding her in place. All three of them exchanged glances before responding simultaneously with an attack.
Levi once again moved as fast as lightening, dodging the thread like shadows that were shot at him. "Put me down vice commander, I'm the one they want." Maya told him agitatedly.
Levi didn't respond, his calculative eyes scanned everywhere, searching for the shadow wielders. He was studying them. He is unable to shift to his Lycan form because he was carrying Maya but he could put up a strong defense.
One of them shot out from nowhere, hoping to land a blow on the Lycan. Unfortunately for him, Levi struck him with an icy spike just as he got near. The shadow wielder fell lifeless onto the ground immediately.
He finally placed Maya down, "Don't even think of running away." He commanded, his whole demeanor had turned cold. A shiver ran down Maya's spine just by looking at him.
Another shadow wielder appeared as a whirlwind of darkness, Levi conjured another spike and shot it through the whirlwind, taking the second shadow wielder down.
The fight seemed easy until the third one snuck up behind Maya and placed a sharp dagger against her throat. "Don't move." The third shadow wielder, a female, told Maya with gritted teeth.
"Nina," Maya thought.
"If you so much as take a step, I'll slit her throat this instant." She told Levi. Levi didn't move but he smirked, "What makes you think she's that important enough for you to hold her as a leverage against me." He said.
Maya also wondered the same thing, will Levi actually do as Nina had said? Did he really wanted her alive that much?
Nina cocked her head to the side, "I'm willing to bet on that." She said, vanishing with Maya in a flash.