Chapter 37 Misplaced Loyalty
”No Stop!” The shadow wielder yelled just as they were about to get teleported elsewhere from Sabrina's workshop. ”It's too late shadow wielder, you didn't speak soon enough.” Levi responded before everything happened.
Whatever happened next did in an instant, like the flash of a lightening. Levi could feel his body surrendering to the force of the shadows that erupted from nowhere and engulfed both him and the shadow Wielder.
They found themselves in the middle of a forest. Levi was taken aback by the sudden transportation but he kept calm and took a quick glance around the fog filled forest to see if there was any approaching danger.
When he was sure there was none, he violently jerked the shadow wielder's head backwards and said in a very low tone, "I believe we aren't here by mistake shadow wielder. Now behave and lead us both to wherever your secret order dwells."
”If you think I'd just take you anywhere then you are fooling yourself, I'd rather die–” The man flinched immediately he felt the tip of a dagger across his throat. "Careful. I have absolutely no problem wasting you right this instant. And I will still get my answers." Levi's tone was lone and harsh.
”So, are you willing to sacrifice yourself to protect the order?”
The shadow wielder swallowed hard, his breath coming uneven as Levi’s dagger pressed closer, the cold edge promising finality rather than threat.
Silence stretched between them, thick and heavy, until the man finally exhaled a defeated breath. “You won’t make it far,” he said hoarsely. “You don’t understand what you’re walking into.”
Levi leaned closer, his voice low and unyielding. “You mistake ignorance for weakness. Start walking.”
The forest loomed around them, ancient and suffocating. Fog clung to the ground, curling around twisted roots and towering trees whose canopies blocked out what little moonlight dared to reach the forest floor. Every sound carried too far, every snap of a twig echoing like a warning.
Levi kept the shadow wielder moving ahead of him, close enough that escape was impossible but far enough that any sudden movement would be fatal. After several minutes of tense silence, Levi spoke again.
“How far?” he asked.
The shadow wielder hesitated. Levi twisted the dagger slightly, just enough to draw a sharp breath from him.
“Several kilometers,” the man muttered. “The teleportation does not bring outsiders directly to the base. It never does.”
Levi frowned. “You could teleport again.”
The shadow wielder shook his head. “The stone is bound to one bearer at a time. It responds to identity, not possession. Only I would be transported.”
Levi cursed under his breath. Leaving the man behind was not an option. Killing him would be even worse.
“Then walk,” Levi said curtly. “And pray you are not lying.”
They moved deeper into the forest, the path narrowing, the air growing colder. Levi stayed alert, his senses stretched thin. He memorized every marking on the trees, every unnatural bend in the terrain. This place was warded, subtly but deliberately. It reminded him of the way the Abyss felt, alive and watching.
“Why do you follow them?” Levi asked suddenly.
The shadow wielder stiffened. “Because they gave us purpose.”
“And taking a queen from her kingdom serves that purpose?” Levi pressed.
“You don’t understand what she is,” the man snapped, then immediately flinched.
Levi said nothing, but the grip on his dagger tightened. Every word confirmed what he already feared. Fernanda was not simply collateral. She was the objective.
They walked for hours. The forest gradually thinned, the fog lifting just enough to reveal stone markers carved with sigils Levi did not recognize. When the shadow wielder slowed, Levi knew they were close.
“Stop,” the man whispered. “From here, they will sense you.”
Levi’s gaze hardened. “Then walk faster.”
Maya’s hands trembled as she pressed her palms against the cold iron bars of her cell. Her magic flared uselessly beneath her skin, responding to her desperation but unable to manifest beyond it. The walls were reinforced, layered with runes that drank magic like water.
She had tried everything. Force. Precision. Even subtle manipulation. Nothing worked.
Panting, she sank back onto the narrow cot, her head falling into her hands. She could still feel the echo of her power screaming to be used, to be unleashed, and the helplessness was suffocating.
Think, Maya. Think.
Her thoughts drifted, unwillingly, to Fernanda. To the look in her eyes the last time she saw her. Confused. Afraid. Still trusting, despite everything.
The sound of approaching footsteps made her stiffen. She looked up just as the shadows at the edge of the corridor shifted, revealing Damon.
Her heart leapt. She surged to her feet, gripping the bars. “Where is she?” she demanded. “Where is Fernanda?”
Damon stopped a few paces away, his expression unreadable. “That is the first thing you ask me.”
“Yes,” Maya snapped. “Because you took her. Because she trusted you. Because you promised answers, not chains.”
Damon’s eyes darkened. “And yet here you are, more concerned about her than the purpose you swore yourself to.”
Maya shook her head, anger and fear tangling in her chest. “You don’t get to question my loyalty. I never exposed the order. I never betrayed our secrets.”
“And yet you failed,” Damon replied coolly. “You grew attached. You hesitated. You placed one life above the balance of the realm.”
“She is not just one life,” Maya shot back. “She is a person. She is scared and alone and you are treating her like a tool.”
Damon stepped closer, his voice dropping. “The catalyst is needed for the greater good. Without her, the realm fractures beyond repair.”
“And if she breaks in the process?” Maya demanded. “What then?”
Silence followed. Not the thoughtful kind, but the dangerous kind.
Damon straightened. “Until you set your head straight, you will remain here. You need to remember your duty as one of us.”
Maya’s voice cracked despite her effort to stay strong. “You’re wrong,” she whispered. “And when this is over, you will see it.”
Damon turned away without another word, his footsteps fading into the distance.
Maya slid down the bars, her resolve hardening. If the order would not listen, then she would find another way. Magic resistant walls or not, no prison was perfect.
And she would not let Fernanda face this alone.
Levi crouched at the edge of the clearing, eyes locked on the structure ahead. Stone rose from the earth like a scar, half-hidden by wards and illusion. If he had not been led directly to it, he would have walked past without noticing a thing.
The shadow wielder trembled. “This is as far as I go.”
Levi’s lips curved into a grim smile. “No,” he said quietly. “This is where you earn your life.”
He shoved the man forward, emerald pendant warm in his palm, pulsing with borrowed power. Whatever awaited him inside, Levi knew one thing with absolute certainty.
He was not turning back.