#wlbts

[trvjs]

"Ang mangarap na mapantayan si Zamiel para bumagay sa kanya... ay sa susunod na habang buhay na lang."

— What Lies Beneath The Sand, Jonaxx

Kabanata 29

[desteenmae]

—Astherielle Seraphine Zaldua, WLBTS 🌼

[deesteen]

When Zamiel Mercadejas cannot stop making you fall harder and harder to him... #JonaxxWLBTSKab38

[haunting-kind-of-high]

What Lies Beyond The Shadow (Part 1)

Based on a conversation in the Fanders Group Chat about Thomas’ last video :) ((Title idea comes from @coolsassystudentsweetsme) –

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Warnings: Mention of death, fire

Tag list: @imin-loveanon, @musicphanpie-b, @coolsassystudentsweetsme, @ajumbleofwords, @serenefreakgeek —

Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there lived a prince by the name of Roman. Even though he was vain, and some would even say slightly narcissistic, he did whatever he could to satisfy his people. Roman was undaunted and he has put away multiple villains and evildoers who terrorised the civilians and rumour has it that he even slayed a dragon. Every week people would come to the Royal Palace to ask Prince Roman for help. And today was no different.

The small town of Darlea, not far from the Royal Palace, was terrorised by a sorcerer who went by the name Virgil, also known as the Shadow Sorcerer. For weeks, people would disappear in the middle of the night. A day later, their head would appear on someone’s doorstep. The mayor of the town had already asked Roman for help, but the Prince could not find the perpetrator of these horrors. Until, two weeks later, the Shadow Sorcerer appeared in front of the town hall. His black outfit made him nearly invisible in the darkness of the night, if it wasn’t for his deep purple hair that stood out, even at that time of night. The corners of his mouth curled upwards in a smirk as the sorcerer looked at the grand building in front of him. With it’s marble statues and pillars, the town hall was easily the most beautiful building of Darlea. In one of the offices, Virgil could see the mayor going through all the paperwork that the disappearances gave him. The Shadow Sorcerer raised his hand and concentrated on one of the candles in the office. Slowly but surely, the candle fell over and flames spawned on the floor. With a little help from the Sorcerer, the fire had consumed the mayor’s desk in no time. The mayor looked around in a panic and as he looked out of the window, he noticed the smirking sorcerer, just before the flames grew and restricted his view. In mere seconds, the fire spread and the town hall went up in flames.

Woken up by the fire and the screams that came from the town hall, the Darleans gathered on the square and they noticed the purple haired male. He just grinned at the sleep drunk people around him. As they stood there, fire after fire started, consuming house after house. Screams and cries for help filled the night. Children cried for their parents or siblings. Parents tried to save their kids from the destruction of flames. And no matter how hard they tried to extinguish the flames, it would not work. The spell was too strong to be broken by the civilians.

As soon as she had noticed the Shadow Sorcerer, a young woman, Valerie, ran to the stables to retrieve her horse and rushed to the Royal Palace, for she believed Prince Roman would be able to rescue them. It wasn’t long before Valerie arrived in front of the Palace, where she was stopped by two guards. “Please, excuse me,” she started, before they could ask her about her intentions, “I need to talk to the Prince. The Shadow Sorcerer has been signalled in Darlea. He has set the town hall ablaze.”

As the two guards looked in the distance, they could see the fire and the smoke coming from the city and without hesitation, let the girl pass. They brought her horse to the stables as someone escorted her to the prince. He had been asleep when Valerie arrived and he was not amused that his rest had been interrupted. However, when he heard what the young woman had to say, all those irritations were forgotten. The Shadow Sorcerer was an infamous figure. Every once in a while, he would show up and wreak havoc on a city. This would last a few weeks, and then he would disappear again. No one knew where he lived and no one had been able to capture him. If Roman would be able to defeat him, that would give his already impeccable reputation a huge boost! Not to mention that the Sorcerer had destroyed ten towns in the last fifteen months. Ten too many.

Roman rushed out of his bedroom and prepared himself for a battle. In a matter of minutes, he was ready to go. His white horse was saddled and ready to go. Without a second thought, the prince, joined by Valerie, hurried to the burning town.

As the two approached, Valerie teared up as she saw how the city where she grew up was consumed by fire. The screams grew louder every second and it soon became unbearable. Her house, her school, her friend’s houses, her memories. All gone. Lost to fire. Roman noticed the way Valerie looked at her home town and his heart ached. He could see the pain in her eyes. How horrible that must feel! To see your house, your town burn before your very eyes. “Stay here,” Roman told the girl, “I will take care of it. Don’t worry.” With those words, he ran towards the burning city. The Prince halted for a second before taking a deep breath and running forwards. When he made his way through the alleyways, Roman noted that the flames seemed to avoid him. He halted and took a few careful steps closer to one of the burning houses. And indeed, the fire recoiled! Mesmerized by this information, Roman stood there for a few short moments, until the screams of the citizens pulled him out of his trance. Roman started running towards the centre of the city, where he hoped he could find Virgil. The flames grew higher and hotter the closer he came. Until Roman arrived at the town hall. In the middle of the fire, grinning widely, he saw him. The Shadow Sorcerer. “Prince Roman! There you are,” the villain smiled, “I was afraid you wouldn’t show up.” Roman scowled, gripping his sword in anger. But before he could make a witty remark or even draw his sword, the Sorcerer continued. “I’d love to stay here and talk, but I can’t. I’ll see you later, Princey!” He made a salute to the prince before he vanished in a cloud of smoke. And with him, the fire disappeared. Roman looked around, mesmerized. The sorcerer had waited for him to show up. He had wanted this. With a frustrated groan, Roman turned around and left the ruined town. The sorcerer had made a fool out of him! This was unacceptable! He couldn’t just do that! Roman left the city and he told Valerie he couldn’t defeat the villain and he promised her that he would find him and get rid of him once and for all. He had to.

[haunting-kind-of-high]

What Lies Beyond The Shadow (Part 3)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 4 Part 5

Warnings: Blood, gore in general, death, pretty detailed and gory description of corpses, gore

(I did mark the gore, just in case)

Tag list: @imin-loveanon, @musicphanpie-b, @ajumbleofwords, @coolsassystudentsweetsme, @serenefreakgeek

—

A door slammed shut, waking up Logan and Patton, and probably everyone in the inn. Roman had rushed into the room the three of them shared, practically fuming.

“Roman?” Patton asked sleepily, reaching for the glasses on his nightstand. “What is going on?”

Logan stifled a yawn as he sat up, reached for his glasses and turned to the prince, who had started packing up his stuff. 

“We need to leave at once,” he managed to get out, “the Sorcerer was here. He’s gone now, but if we leave immediately, we might find out where he’s gone.”

“Roman, kiddo, calm down,” Patton said slowly, walking towards the prince and grabbing his hands to try and stop him from packing. Roman looked at the slightly older male, ready to protest, as he continued talking: 

“You need to take a deep breath and cool down a bit. You’re agitated, you shouldn’t make reckless decisions like this before you’re completely calm. Take your time to cool down.” Roman frowned. The way Patton addressed him felt patronizing to him. He was the prince of this land, for Heaven’s sake! He didn’t need to be patronized, he didn’t need to be protected. He knew perfectly well what he could do. But before he could voice any of these thoughts, Logan spoke up:

“Exactly. Besides, we don’t know when or where he will speak up again, we don’t even know where he lives. How would we know where to go?”

“We don’t have to know any of that,” Roman answered, trying to pull his hands from Patton’s grip. “You remember the note he left for me, right? He must have known we were coming! So wherever we go, I think he will be there!”

“He might not,” Logan said. 

“If we don’t try, we’ll never know,” Roman locked eyes with Patton as he spoke. The latter looked down, avoiding the Prince’s eyes as thoughts raced through his head. 

“Do you even know what you’re saying?” Patton asked softly, as if he was afraid to offend anyone with his words. He slowly looked up again, but his eyes still didn’t meet Roman’s. “You’d willingly put all the inhabitants of whatever place we’d go to in danger, just because the sorcerer might show up? He had escaped you twice now. Do you really think that won’t happen a third time? Do you really think this time will be any different?”

“I have to try it, Patton,” Roman snapped, finally freeing his hands from Patton’s surprisingly firm grasp. “Right now, everyone is in danger. We don’t know when the Sorcerer could strike again. He could show up anywhere at any given moment.” 

“But if you’re right, then visiting another town would put its inhabitants in immediate danger! Are you actually willing to sacrifice innocent lives just to have the chance to meet with the Shadow Sorcerer again?”

“It’s for a good cause,” Roman argued, “if I fight and defeat the Sorcerer, I could save millions of lives!”

“But we don’t know if you would defeat him,” Logan helped Patton, “I think you should at least make a plan before engaging.” 

Roman sighed and looked at his two advisers in front of him. He knew he couldn’t argue with them, but it didn’t feel right. Sure, Logan and Patton tried their best to help him but it wasn’t their battle to fight! He was the one who had to fight the Sorcerer. Why couldn’t he be the one to decide what they would do? But still, the prince nodded and agreed. 

“Fine. Have you got any suggestions?”

After a long day of discussing possible tactics, the trio had come up with exactly nothing. Their best plan was to ask a few of the best wielders of magic in the land to help them, but Logan quickly reminded them that they had already tried to beat Virgil, and it was impossible: his skills were unequaled. And to be fair, that was all they could think of. How does one defeat a wielder of magic as powerful as the Shadow Sorcerer without any resources to match? 

“Isn’t there a way to disable his magic?” Patton suggested. “A weakness, something that disturbs his magic abilities?” 

“Well, there is something,” Logan started, “but I cannot guarantee it will work.” “That’s better than nothing,” Roman said eagerly, “what is it?” 

Then, Logan started to explain. There was a gemstone, called the Magic Stone, or Fallar. People claimed that that gem was created by the Heavenly - or the gods - in the Early Ages, long before any human walked the earth. It was said that this gemstone had the power to absorb any magic in its surroundings. There were just two problems: Fallar was found only in the Western Highlands, a mountain range in the west of the land, and its power had never been tested. It was never confirmed, nor was it refuted. Logan himself believed it was a mere legend, but Roman and Patton immediately agreed that they had to try it. After having talked to the innkeeper about this, the three discovered that a couple that lived in Mauta, a town not far away, sold amulets that would protect one from magic. They remembered that there were a number of Fallar amulets, too. 

“Then we have to go there,” Roman stated as he looked at his two companions. The two nodded and thanked the innkeeper. They paid for their room and left to retrieve their horses. 

Two days of traveling later, the trio arrived in Mauta. The ambiance in the town was the complete opposite of Ninda. The people seemed unconcerned, even cheerful. The three left their horses in a stable near an inn and searched for the people that sold the amulets. 

After a while of searching, Patton decides to ask one of the Mautans for help. They told them where to go to find the small shop. The shop, ran by two people named Joan and Talyn, was located in a small and dark alleyway near the edge of the town. Patton thanked the girl who had helped him and he led his friends to the shop.

The alley was, indeed, small, dark and sketchy, but nonetheless, the three walked on and found the store. It was just as small dark as the alley. It was full of tables with small statues, necklaces, and rings.

As soon as they entered the store, two people approached them. 

“Prince Roman,” the one with an orange hat spoke as they bowed their head, “it is an honor! How may I help you?” 

“I was told you sell Fallar amulets,” Roman said as he nodded his head in response, “and I am in need of one.” 

“Of course,” they turned to their partner, “Talyn, could you retrieve them?” Talyn nodded and hurried out of the room, only to return a few moments later with a wooden box. They placed it on one of the tables and opened it. The box was filled with dark orange amulets of all sizes and shapes. 

“That is all we have, Your Highness,” Joan announced as Roman looked at the contents of the box. “Is there anything you would like?”

“That depends,” Roman answered, “is the difference in size of the gem of importance?” 

“Yes, it is, Your Highness,” Talyn answered, “the bigger the amulet, the more magic it can absorb.” 

“I see,” Roman nodded as he studied the different gemstones. His eyes quickly landed on what he believed was the biggest one; a necklace with a large orange stone in the shape of a teardrop. He reached for the necklace and carefully lifted it up, studying the gem and turning to Joan and Talyn. 

“I would like to purchase this one.” 

“As you wish, Your Highness,” Joan nodded as Talyn closed the box and brought it back to where it came from. Joan led Roman, Patton, and Logan to the counter and after they had paid for the amulet, the three left the shop. 

After they had bought the necklace, the trio got themselves a room in an inn nearby and decided to go through all their options. After a meal - the best meal they had in a while - the three went up to their room and they attempted to come up with a new plan. When they had spent multiple hours doing this, Logan suggested that they get some rest and the other two agreed. 

That night was peaceful. Roman was the first to wake up after a good night’s rest and he noticed there were no distressed screams to be heard outside and he believed that all was good. That the Sorcerer hadn’t shown up. The Prince waited for Logan and Patton to wake up and the three of them walked downstairs to get themselves some breakfast. They had just found a table and were about to sit down when the stable master ran up to them, panting. 

“I am sorry to disturb you, Your Highness,” they breathed, “but there is something I think you should see.” 

“What is it?” Roman asked, turning around to look at the person in front of him. 

“I think it would be best if I just showed you,” they responded, still trying to catch their breath. 

“Alright then,” Roman looked at Logan and Patton, “lead the way.” 

The stable master led the three males outside, in the direction of the stables. At first, Roman had suspected something had happened to his horse, but what he saw, was so much worse. The scene before him made his stomach turn and his knees weak.

(Gore coming up, if you don’t want to read this, I’d suggest you skip this bit. You won’t miss too much, just a description)

 Before him, he saw five people pinned to the wall of the stable. The first was a man, he appeared to be sixty years old. The last was a girl, probably no older than five. The only thing holding their bodies up, was a single black nail through their throat. Blood trickled down from the wounds, onto their clothes, leaving red and brown stains everywhere. It dripped onto their shoulder, to their hands and finally, it hit the cobblestones below, staining them. Some of them showed bruised on their face, shoulders or arms. Their heads hung limb to one side, eyes staring into the distance. Their fingernails were chipped and broken, fingertips bleeding, making clear that they hadn’t gone down without putting up a fight. 

(Gore over! It’s safe (: )

“Sweet Heavens,” Roman gasped as he laid eyes on the scene before him. Logan and Patton made similar sounds of disgust. Roman stumbled backward and he felt like he could throw up any minute. He quickly averted his eyes and tried to think of anything else. 

“Did no one hear anything?” Logan asked in disbelief, not taking his eyes off the five corpses before him. 

“No one,” the stable master replied, “it must have happened at night, but even then, I’m surprised we did not even hear the nails being hit into the wall.”

“That’s because they weren’t hit,” Roman muttered to himself. Logan, who stood next to the prince as he said that, looked at him in confusion. 

“What do you mean? That they magically appea- oh. You… you might be right.”  Roman raised an eyebrow at this statement and he was about to make a remark, as he noticed something sticking out of a pocket of the jacket the first corpse was wearing. He carefully approached the body and quickly grabbed the thing. It was a note, stained with old blood. Roman folded the paper open and, in the same handwriting he had seen a few days prior, he read a single word: 

Roman, 

The Prince looked up and handed the note to Logan, who quickly read it. 

“Is this the Sorcerer?” He asked as he showed Patton the note. Roman nodded. 

“But what does it mean?” Patton asked. “What does he want to say?”

“I don’t know,” Logan replied as he looked at the man next to him. He turned to Roman, who stood next to the old man’s corpse, doing anything to not look at it. “Are there any other notes?”

Roman looked at Logan for a few seconds, until he realized his friend wanted him to search the other bodies. And he did, reluctantly. He searched the other bodies and found a note on all of them. He walked back to Logan and Patton and they opened the notes. All four of the notes had just a few words scribbled on them. All in the same, messy handwriting:

Come find me,

Cursed Woods,

I’ll be waiting.

Don’t disappoint me. 

[haunting-kind-of-high]

Masterlist What Lies Beyond The Shadow

Here’s a quick masterlist for my fic What Lies Beyond The Shadow, so I can link to this more easily haha. Also so it’s all in one place :)

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3 

Part 4

Part 5

Epilogue

[haunting-kind-of-high]

What Lies Beyond The Shadow (Part 5)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Warnings: slight angst, major character death, mentions of (feeling like) suffocating, mentions of possible “symptoms” of a panic attack, bit of self-hate, description of violent fantasies and gore, illusion of being trapped and a bit of cleithrophobia, slight gore

Tag list: @imin-loveanon, @musicphanpie-b, @ajumbleofwords, @coolsassystudentsweetsme, @serenefreakgeek

Notes: I couldn’t run this through any spelling check, so I apologise for any mistakes haha. Also, this is the final chapter of WLBTS, but I might still write an epilogue after this, I’ll have to see. Stay tuned for that maybe :)

Carefully, Roman entered the woods. He tried to stick to the path as well as he could, knowing very well he might have to leave it some time anyway. At first, Roman had thought that these so-called ‘Cursed Woods’ were just normal woods, that the curse was just a tale to keep children away from the forest. But as he went further into the woods, the leaves allowed less light to shine through and the tree trunk grew thicker. More than once, Roman thought he heard something, but when he turned to face the noise, his sword drawn, he saw nothing. The prince wandered around for what must have been hours and he encountered nothing. No birds, no deer, no sorcerer. He paused a few times for a sip of water or some food, but except for those times, the prince never stopped moving.

How long had he been there? Who knew? The canopy above didn’t allow any sunlight to come through, creating an eternal night. The perfect hiding place for someone who was known as The Shadow Sorcerer, Roman thought to himself.

Roman had been in the woods for ages and with every passing second, he became more paranoid. Every sound he heard - or he thought he heard - made him turn his head. He never saw anything. Sometimes. Roman thought he saw the dark figure of a man in the shadows, but when he turned to investigate, he saw nothing. It was as if he was going insane. A few times, the prince thought he heard a branch snapping, but when he turned around, he saw nothing. It was truly driving him crazy.

Hours later, maybe even a day later, Roman upon a hill, a little over hundred meters high, in a clearing in the woods. It broke through the canopy of leaves above him, but it still let no light pass. This particular hill was the only in the vicinity and Roman could not recall seeing it on his way to the woods. Nevertheless, he approached the hill cautiously. On the side of this hill, the prince could make out something that appeared to be a cave. Roman looked inside and could definitely make out something that looked like it could be furniture and a large container that contained a liquid emitting a deep purple glow. Roman stepped into the cave and immediately felt something was off. The place was cloaked in darkness, but not the normal type. It was a weird, artificial darkness. One that not only impedes your vision, but also one you could feel. The kind that sticks to your skin and clouds your mind. The kind that suffocates you and follows you. The kind that sticks to you even when you left it far behind you.

Roman slowly walked forwards, making sure not to run into anything, as he looked around for a sign of the sorcerer. He pressed his back against the wall, so his enemy could not surprise him from behind, and reached for his sword. He waited. But he saw nothing.

“Princey, there you are,” the Sorcerer’s voice spoke out of nowhere, “I was worried you wouldn’t find it.” Roman looked around, trying to determine where the voice had come from, but he couldn’t see anything that even looked like a human body.

“Where are you?” Roman caught a tremble in his voice and cursed himself. His voice was shaking. He, Prince Roman, the Undaunted, the one who had slain a dragon, was scared.

“Well, I’m certainly not there,” a voice whispered from behind Roman. The prince turned his head, but was faced with nothing.

“Come on,” he called, “show yourself and face me like a man! Or are you too cowardly to stand against me in a fight?”

“You’ve got gall, Princey,” the Sorcerer’s voice whispered in Roman’s ear, “I admire that.”

Roman stepped forward and turned around, looking for his nemesis. Finally, the prince saw the shape of a man in the shadows. Roman looked down at the amulet around his neck and he could see a faint orange glow. It seemed to calm him, until he noticed the darkness around him grew darker and colder. He moved his head up and saw that the sorcerer had moved closer to him. The darkness grew with every step the sorcerer took. But then, it stopped. Roman felt a cold presence on his chest and looked down at the amulet. The orange gem slowly turned darker, even black. At that same time, the darkness slowly faded away, until… it stopped. The amulet stopped emitting the cold and it had turned completely black. Pitch black. It had absorbed all energy it could, but it wasn’t enough. The hope that had filled Roman’s heart when he discovered the amulet worked, had quickly left again. Virgil had also noticed the amulet Roman wore around his neck and he scowled.

“Fallar,” he commented, with a hint of something that could be taken as amusement, “did you really think that would help you?”

Instead of replying, Roman drew his sword and attempted to stab the sorcerer in front of him, but his enemy simply disappeared in black smoke for a second before reappearing in the same spot a few seconds later. “You need to find another tactic, Princey,” he smirked, “you’re getting predictable.” Roman scowled and gripped onto the hilt on his sword so tightly that his knuckles turned white. He knew he couldn’t hit the sorcerer like this, but it was his only idea. He didn’t even seem affected by the power of the gem. That was what truly frightened the prince. How powerful was the Shadow Sorcerer really? Roman realized he didn’t know the full extent of his enemy’s powers. He was the most powerful magic wielder is the land, he knew that, but how powerful did that make him?

“I’m sorry did I say anything wrong?” Virgil asked as he saw the look on the prince’s face. “Sensitive spot? Trigger maybe?” 

Roman didn’t answer. He couldn’t. It was as if his throat was being squeezed. No air could enter, no air could leave. He couldn’t breathe. His mind was clouded with panicked thoughts and he knew that if he could see more, his vision would be spotted. He couldn’t focus, he couldn’t answer. He couldn’t even think of the snarky remark he wanted to make. What was happening? 

Air. That’s it. He needed air. 

As fast as he could, Roman ran out of the cave, back into the woods. He had to get out of that cave. His chest tightened and he felt like he couldn’t breathe. His head was spinning and his hands were shaking too much to handle his sword properly. Whatever that cave did to him, it was not good. Even though Roman had made it outside, the chilly darkness of the cave stuck to him. It followed him, even outside. The prince heard a low chuckle and the sound of leaves crunching behind him.

“What’s wrong Roman?” the voice asked with a hint of amusement. Roman clutched his chest as he turned to the sorcerer behind him.

“You… you shut up,” he struggled to utter those words and he cursed himself for his weakness. What had happened to the prince that faced danger head on? The prince that his people asked whenever they needed help? Why could he not talk? Why did he feel so anxious all of a sudden? Roman looked at the sorcerer and despite his shortness of breath, despite his worries and fears that tortured his brain, he felt the hatred rise up. He got up and pointed his sword at the villain. Despite his shaking, the prince took a few steps forwards and with difficulty, he managed to say:

“You don’t deserve to talk. You don’t deserve…this,” Roman paused and took a few deep breaths in order to steady his breathing. “You don’t deserve this world. You don’t deserve anything. You will pay for everything you’ve done.”

“Yeah, sure,” Virgil answered, “but you need to catch up with me first.” And with those words, he disappeared once again. It was as if a huge weight was lifted off of Roman’s chest and he fell to his knees. His mind was untroubled again and his chest did not feel as tight, though his breathing was unsteady and he was shaking still. The prince let go of his sword and ran a hand through his hair as he tried to calm himself down.  He did not understand what had happened. How could he have been so weak? How could he let himself fail like that? The Sorcerer would not have expected him to strike, he could have attacked and maybe wounded him! Why didn’t he do it?

Roman sat there for a while, calming down his breathing and eating a bit to stop himself from shaking. When he felt like he had recovered enough to proceed, the prince got up and walked back into the forest. Now he had to find the Sorcerer again. But where would he be? Would he be hiding again? Or would he wait for Roman to go back into the woods and surprise him there? But, no matter what the sorcerer would do, Roman knew he had no choice; he had to continue his search in the woods. 

How big were these woods? Roman felt like he had been there for days and because of the darkness, he could not determine if he was going in circles or not. His supplies were running out and he was tired. His small… breakdown had cost the prince a lot of energy and he had to pause more often than before it. Frequently, he looked down at the amulet. The gemstone was still as black as the night around him, it had never regained any of its original orange colour. That meant the sorcerer was still around.  

“Where are you?” Roman called out in frustration. “I know you’re out there! Stop playing this childish game and face me!” He had had enough. He had wandered around for hours without aim, without having any idea where he was going, without facing his enemy. He was tired, he was frustrated and he was mad. All the prince wanted at that point, was to pierce the Sorcerer’s chest with his sword and watch the life bleed out of him. He wanted to separate his head from his neck and watch his body drop to the floor. He wanted to get rid of this monster that had been terrorizing the land for ages. It was as if he enjoyed it. As if it was just a game for him to kill people and watch how the entire city, the entire land erupted in chaos upon his appearance. It was enough, he had to be stopped. And this was the only way to do it. 

“As you wish, Your Highness,” a voice spoke mockingly as a figure emerged from the darkness. Roman could barely make out his features in the shadows around him. 

“It’s time we settle this,” Roman said as he drew his sword again, “and put an end to this.”

“But of course,” the Sorcerer smirked, “we must.” At this point, Roman wished he could back out. He wanted to run away just like a coward, but he knew he couldn’t. He had to fight the man in front of him. He had to defeat him and keep his people safe. He couldn’t back out. So the prince just nodded and raised his sword. 

“We must,” he repeated.   

Roman held onto his sword as tight as he could. Attacking the Sorcerer now would not work; he had to wait for the right moment to surprise him. It was all he could do. The prince didn’t show his enemy that in reality, he was nervous. He was scared that he would fail, scared that he would let his people down, but he never showed this. He couldn’t. 

But, as Roman snapped out of this trance, he realised he didn’t see anything. Before, he could vaguely see the trees around him, the shape of the Sorcerer’s body in front of him. But now, he saw nothing. He couldn’t even feel the breeze that he had felt seconds earlier. It was as if he was trapped. In fact, he didn’t see a door, he didn’t see anything but darkness. The prince looked around as he tried to find a way out of there. He walked, but he made no noticeable progress. He could feel no trees near him, no walls, he wasn’t even sure he felt a floor underneath his feet. Roman started to panic as he looked around him. He knew this was a trick, something to scare him, but he couldn’t help but panic. He was trapped in this…darkness. There was nothing around but a black void and he couldn’t get out. That was enough to make him panic, even though he tried his best to stay calm. 

“What’s wrong, Roman?” a voice asked out of the darkness. “Something bothering you?” 

“You are,” Roman replied softly, closing his eyes to shut out the darkness, “you are what’s bothering me. Why can’t you just face me? Are you scared you’ll lose to me in a fair battle?” 

“Sorry, Your Highness, but this is what I do.” Roman growled and opened his eyes in frustration. 

“All you do is toying with people’s minds!” he yelled at the void around him. “You do what you do because that’s all you can do! You dodge and avoid but you never cast an attack. Because you can’t. You’re just a coward who wouldn’t last a minute in a fair fight!” 

Suddenly, the darkness disappeared and Roman was faced again with the face of the Sorcerer in front of him. Even though it was dark, the prince could see his enemy’s face. And it was all but amused. His eyes were cold and practically radiated anger. 

“You think so?” The Sorcerer stepped closer. Where his voice had been laced with malice and contempt, it was now cold and full of fury. “Do you actually think you could beat me in a fight? I have taken out men twice your size without batting an eye, don’t tell me you think you’re better than them.” 

Even though Roman hadn’t thought it possible, the shadowy forest grew darker and darker until it was so dark that he could hardly see his enemy, even though he was right in front of him. 

“Do you really think you could last in a fight against me? Do you really think you could defeat me? You’re no match for me.” 

Roman, taken aback by this response, put a few steps back to put more space between him and the furious sorcerer. It may not have been wise to talk about him the way Roman did, but that was too late now. He had said it, and he’d have to undergo the consequences. Maybe this would make the sorcerer eager to prove himself. So eager that he might make a sloppy mistake, which would give Roman the chance to attack. So he swallowed his fears, straightened his back and said: 

“Maybe I do.” Bad idea. “Maybe I do think I can defeat you. So what if I do?” Really bad idea. Instead of an actual reply, the sorcerer vanished in a cloud of black smoke that quickly expanded and closed in around Roman. The prince tried to make his way through the smoke, but as soon as he stepped into it, he felt all oxygen leave his body. He couldn’t breathe. So he ran back. 

“I’ll show you ‘so what’,” the Sorcerer’s voice growled. Roman looked around, trying to discover where the voice came from, but there was nothing to give away any location. 

“Are you back at your mind games again?” Roman yelled overconfidently. “Can you really not do without them?” 

“It’s as I said, Roman,” Virgil replied softly, “this is what I do.” 

Suddenly, as he had spoken the last word, the Sorcerer appeared in front of Roman and, with a flick of his wrist, made the prince fall to his knees. His chest tightened again. His breathing became shallow again. Though this time, his mind wasn’t clouded with troubled thoughts. This time, his hands didn’t start shaking. But he couldn’t breathe. Roman gasped for air, trying to get enough oxygen to sustain him, but he struggled. The prince’s hands shot to his throat, as if that would help him calm his breathing. After a few moments, Roman’s ears started ringing as his body screamed at him for oxygen. His vision started to blur. And just as the prince thought he was going to die, just as he was about to give up, the pressure disappeared. Roman gasped and fell forwards, catching himself with his hands and he tried to steady his breathing. He heard the sorcerer chuckling, but it sounded so far away.

“You truly are no match for me, Princey,” the Sorcerer scoffed. He picked up the sword Roman had dropped and studied it. 

“Doesn’t look bad,” he commented with a smug smile. “wouldn’t it be fitting if I killed you woth your own weapon?” At these words, Roman looked up and pushed himself up and looked at the sorcerer, still panting. It was then that he realised he had let go of his sword and that it was currently being held up by his enemy. Virgil pressed the tip of the sword against Roman’s throat and their eyes met. Roman tried to step back, but he found he could not move a muscle. He wasn’t even paralysed by fear, he really could not move. Virgil’s mouth curled into a smirk and a glimmer of malice appeared in his brown eyes. 

“Stop this right now,” Roman ordered firmly, trying to challenge Virgil. Maybe that would anger him enough to let down his guard and allow Roman to fight back again. “This does not prove anything. You still rely on your magic. If anything, this proves that you’re nothing without magic.”  In just a second, Virgil’s smirk changed into a grimace and his eyes seemed to be burning with rage. 

“I must say, I did enjoy this little… game, Roman,” he spoke, dangerously calm, “but this has gone on for far too long. It time to end this.” And with that, he pulled back the sword and drove it through the prince’s chest, until the tip stuck out of his back. Crimson stained Roman’s pristine clothes as he fell to his knees. The pain was unbearable, but he didn’t scream, it felt like too much at that moment. As he fell to the floor, the world seemed to go in slow motion. The pain drowned out anything else as he lost blood quickly. 

“As I said,” Virgil said, as Roman closed his eyes, “no match for me.” 

And it was dark. For good. 

[haunting-kind-of-high]

What Lies Beyond The Shadow (Part 2)

Part 1 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Warnings: (mention of) death, reference to choking/hanging/strangulation, slight gore, description of a corpse

Tag list: (I’m just tagging everyone I tagged in the last one, tell me if you don’t want to be tagged (: ) @imin-loveanon, @ajumbleofwords, @musicphanpie-b, @coolsassystudentsweetsme, @serenefreakgeek

My friends also helped me out with a few small parts in this chapter, so thanks (:

—

In the weeks that followed, Virgil never showed his face again. Darlea was left alone and its inhabitants could focus solely on getting their lives back on track. The royal family helped where they could, but Roman was distracted. All he could think of was the Shadow Sorcerer. Roman had promised the girl that he would find the perpetrator. He couldn’t break his promise. He wouldn’t. There was just one problem, though. No one knew where he lived. He always disappeared in shadows, no one knew where he went. The prince offered aid to the Darleans four days per week. The other days, he searched for the man that he quickly dubbed his nemesis, or he discussed his options with his two confidants and advisers. And today was one of those days. Roman and his advisers, Logan and Patton, had locked themselves in a room and hadn’t left in a few hours.

“I just think you should let it go,” Logan stated, “no one has ever been able to locate him, I don’t know if you will succeed.” “But I promised the girl that I would defeat him! I cannot break a promise like that!” “You tried your best to find him,” Logan said, “but it simply isn’t possible.”   “But there’s a lot of options we haven’t tried out yet!” Patton protested, grabbing a map and marking all the areas Roman had cleared out yet. “As you can see,” Patton started to explain, “we still need to visit the south, southwest, and southeast. The Sorcerer could be hiding there! We shouldn’t give up yet!” “But we should also keep in mind that the Prince has other business to attend to as well, he cannot keep hunting the Sorcerer and forsake his duties as the prince of this land! If we investigate the south, we will be gone for a week, at the least.” “Well, I am certain I can afford to be absent for a week or so,” Roman answered, looking at the map in front of him. “I am sure mother and father will understand, it is all for the safety of our people, after all.” “I am not sure it will be worth it,” Logan said. “We won’t know if we won’t try,” Patton replied. Roman nodded and got up. He had made up his mind long ago: he would hunt the sorcerer down, even if it killed him. As long as he would keep his people safe from that monster, he didn’t care what happened to him. “You are right, Patton. We have to go there. If we don’t, we might regret it.” Reluctantly, Logan concurred. He’d prefer to keep Roman here, keep him safe. He knew that the Sorcerer was dangerous and, even though Roman was a skilled fighter, Logan feared that the prince would not last in a fight against Virgil. Of course, he would never say this to Roman’s face. The prince would not take it well. After a short discussion about their next plan, the three left the room and prepared to inform the king and queen of their intentions.

A week later, the king and queen were persuaded, arrangements had been made and Roman was ready to go. He would go down to the south accompanied only by Logan and Patton. After a long goodbye from his parents, Roman stepped out of the palace, only to be greeted by his two companions and their horses. The prince approached his own horse and pressed a kiss on her nose before mounting her. “Are we ready to go, Logan?” Roman asked as he slowly approached him. “All ready,” Logan confirmed. “Then lead the way!”

For five days the three traveled without anything unusual happening. But on the sixth day, as they reached a village named Ninda, they noticed something was off. The people were tense and anxious, even the animals in the village and its surroundings seemed on edge. As Logan and Patton brought the horses to a stable and searched for an inn, Roman visited the mayor to inquire about Ninda’s situation. “Prince Roman!” The mayor exclaimed, hastily getting up as the royalty entered his office. “I’m glad you are here! We have reason to believe the Shadow Sorcerer has shown up a few nights ago.” That one sentence was enough to make Roman forget all about keeping up his regal appearance. Eagerly, he strode up to the mayor’s desk and looked at the man. “You do? Please, tell me about what happened.” The mayor sighed as he looked up at the prince in front of him and he started the story.

Two days ago, two young twin sisters had disappeared. No one had paid attention to it at first, as the two would regularly wander through the meadows or the nearby forest. It was when the sun had set and they hadn’t returned, that their dads started to worry. The whole village had helped the two in the search for their daughters, but they were unsuccessful. Until the next evening. The town had gathered in the local theatre for the annual Celebration of the Sun, a local holiday. When the Celebration was about to begin, the crew lowered the bars that hung above the stage to reveal the scenery for the play. That was when the dead girls were discovered, both tied to one of the bars by a black noose around their neck. The crew was baffled; how could this have happened without anyone noticing it? When did it happen?

As you can imagine, the theatre was filled with screams and shocked murmurs. Parents trying to console their children, people bursting into tears. Chaos. The celebration was canceled. The Shadow Sorcerer had eclipsed the Sun and its holiday and brought a wicked darkness over the village, staying true to his name. When the crew had untied the knots that had tied the girls to the bar, they found one of them had a note on her-

“A note?” Roman furrowed his brow. “What kind of note?” Instead of answering, the mayor grabbed a small paper on his desk and handed it to the prince. Roman took it and folded it open. In a messy, almost childlike handwriting, Roman read one sentence that made his heart beat faster:

Tell the prince I’m looking forward to our next meeting.

“He’s mocking me,” Roman grumbled as he paced the room Logan and Patton had found, “this is ridiculous!” “Roman, you should calm down,” Logan said as he looked at Roman from his chair, “he’s just doing this to get to you.” “Well, it’s working.” Logan sighed and looked to Patton for help. The latter turned to Roman and carefully started: “Roman, listen… I know you want to get rid of him. We all do! But you should calm down if you want to go after him. If you’re angry like this, you might make reckless decisions.” “How am I to calm down if this guy is clearly just playing a game?” Roman snapped. “He is so close yet I can’t find him. Do you have any idea how frustrating that is?”  “I have got a pretty good idea from being here with you,” Patton muttered softly. “What was that?” “Nothing.”

The next day, Roman was woken up by loud screams outside the inn. He got up and slowly walked to the window to see what was going on. All he saw, was a number of people running out of the city hall as quickly as they could. Without any hesitation, Roman changed and ran towards the building everyone was so eager to abandon. As he stepped inside, he noticed that the halls seemed darker than they had the day before. Knowing this could only mean one thing, Roman gripped his sword and slowly progressed, making sure to look in every room he passed. When the prince passed the mayor’s office, he saw the mayor laying on the floor. A bit of dark red blood trickled down his neck and stained the wooden floor. Roman rushed in and examined the room. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. As the prince approached the mayor’s corpse, he noticed that his neck was bruised and the blood came from five small wounds that appeared to be made by claws, or very sharp nails. The skin around the wounds seemed almost black, at least darker than the mayor’s own skin tone. His face was pale, his eyes bloodshot and the skin behind his ears showed slight bruising. “Sorry about him,” a low voice spoke behind Roman. It sounded anything but sorry. The prince got up and turned around as fast as he could. As expected, he was met with the face of the Shadow Sorcerer. “Excuse me?” Roman asked, not quite sure what to say to this figure. “You heard me, Princey,” - Roman scowled at the given nickname - “I’m sorry about him. But I had to do something to get you to come over here.” Roman unsheathed his sword and prepared to swing it at the sorcerer, but he simply disappeared in a cloud of smoke and reappeared behind Roman. “Is this a game to you?” The prince asked as he turned around, looking for his enemy. He was getting more and more fed up with the way this guy acted. It was as if he didn’t even care about what happened, as long as he could have his fun. He didn’t care about others, he didn’t care if they suffered because of him. If he enjoyed it, it was all fine. “Maybe it is,” Virgil responded, “but that just means you’re losing.” Roman quickly threw his sword at the sorcerer, hoping to catch him off guard and hit him, but Virgil saw it coming and vanished before the weapon could hit it. With a thud, it embedded itself in the wall. The sorcerer appeared several inches from his previous spot. “I’m sorry, but my time is up,” he announced, almost sounding remorseful, “I’ll see you another day.” Before Roman could even utter a single word in response, the sorcerer vanished again. And he didn’t come back, leaving Roman alone with the mayor’s corpse. He had escaped the prince. Again.