8 Whispers in the Dark

She sat on her horse, her white hair stirring in the cold wind of the early morning. Her emerald-green eyes were locked onto the shattered stone in her hand. Everything about her—from her expression to her trembling fingers—indicated that she was in a state of shock.

For years, this stone was the only hope she had. But now, in just a matter of a second, it all evaporated into thin air.

Her household guards solemnly followed behind on their own horses. They didn't dare to utter a single word. It was known that the head of the household was a passionate and decisive woman. She didn't care about politics at all, for she believed that strength came first before anything else. Talking with fists wasn't always the best tactic, but what could those old farts do if she decided to use them? Maybe she wasn't all that wrong, they thought.

"I won't be coming with you," she finally said without turning around.

She put two fingers in her mouth and whistled. After a few seconds, the wind rose and a giant creature with an eagle's head and a lion's body descended from the sky.

"My lady, what shall we tell the city lord?" asked the captain of the guard.

"Whatever you want."

She climbed off her horse and walked up to the gryphon, a noble beast with two pairs of feathered white wings; a black cat was hanging from one of them. She picked it up using both hands, to which the cat responded mischievously. But after seeing the pain and sorrow in her owner's eyes, the cat calmed down and cuddled up to her.

"You are not going with me; it's too dangerous," she said, looking dotingly at the cute ball of fur.

She handed him to the guards behind her, and after all was said and done, she and the gryphon disappeared above the clouds. The people of the Fifth Southgate City continued with their daily routines without noticing any of it.

***

In the middle of the city stood a grand mansion. It was luxurious but didn't stand out like the city hall and its majestic ninety-nine-layered tower; the tallest building in the city. But it had an oppressive aura of authority to it; no one would dare to cross its borders.

In the main hall, two people were having a casual conversation. One of them was whickered tall man with a closely trimmed beard. He smiled and sipped wine while listening to the man next to him, who was the owner of this place.

Having negotiated one of the best deals of his life, Torbud was in a good mood today; his rebellious brother was finally under his full control, just as it should have always been. Soon, he would be sent to the borders of the empire, tasked with teaching the young generation. Naturally, his merits will be passed on to the city.

"The Forbidden Territory is active once again," he suddenly changed the topic.

The man he was talking to furrowed his brows. This was the reason for his presence. The emperor wanted to avoid another disaster, so this time, he sent an elite member of the Imperial Court to take over this mission.

"Let's wait and see what the intelligence corps have to say," the man replied.

"I've summoned the House of Lords. They should be here in no time."

And sure, soon carriages started to arrive outside the walls of the mansion, lining up in front of the main entrance gates. The household guards of the Evergreen family could be found among them; there were just a dozen or so. Their captain wore a dark green outfit that matched the solemn procession.

They were greeted by a man who donned the face of a ruler, despite only being a guard. He glanced down at them from his giant of a horse and waved his hand indistinctively – a gesture for them to come in.

"Hmm? Where is lady Kathryn?" he called out to them when they were already past the gates.

"She is preoccupied with a more pressing matter at the moment," the captain answered dryly.

"Well, she better be."

***

It wasn't clear who build the mansion, but they were a master of their craft. Walls made of polished white marble and exotic trees that grew in neat rows on both sides of the main road – everything screamed style and luxury.

Inside the main building, the guests sat at a long conference table. Many of them were secretly stealing glances at the man with a seven-pointed star embroidered on his white robes, and who sat next to Torbud at the head of the table.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to Gobleck Wernicke, a member of the Imperial Court, who rushed here all the way from the Imperial City, and who only serves at the pleasure of His Imperial Majesty," Torbud gestured at the man sitting next to him. "From now on, he will be in charge of our mission."

Some heaved a sigh of relief, while others became vigilant. It was a rare occurrence for the Imperial Court to meddle in such matters. Whether it was a good thing or not was yet to be determined.

"It seems that someone is missing. Captain Reyson, can you explain?" Torbud asked a fierce-looking middle-aged man with slightly unkempt hair and a saber attached to his waist.

Reyson took a deep breath and slowly stood up. "My lord, lady Kathryn received bad news this morning and had to act on them without any delay. I'm afraid she won't be able to join us."

This girl is such a pain in the ass, Torbud thought silently to himself; he would undoubtedly go crazy if she and his brother decided to join hands one day.

"A pity. I had a special role for her," he smiled at Reyson.

The room descended into silence. Torbud took out a scroll and with a wave of his hand, everyone received a copy. There weren't a lot of people in the room; less than a hundred but more than a few dozen.

"Take your time and familiarize yourselves with it. You have an hour."

***

Meanwhile, Kathryn flew on her gryphon and eventually entered the Forbidden Territory. After noticing that the creature started gasping for breath, she gave an order, and they landed on open terrain; the nearest forest was tens of kilometers away. This was a barren land with very few living creatures – a relatively safe place.

She removed a pill from her spatial ring and gave it to her mount; it would shorten the time it took to get used to the local atmosphere. During the next quarter of an hour, she stood guard while patiently waiting for the medicine to kick in.

After that, they didn't waste time and continued on their journey. She wasn't sure where to start searching, but she speculated that the flash she saw this morning could have originated from the place she was looking for. But the problem was, the flash was extremely short-lived and too far away from the city; she only knew the general direction.

Her soul was constantly on high alert, scanning the surroundings for potential threats. She managed to avoid most of the battles, while her revolving Profound Core took care of those who didn't know better but to stand in her way.

As she moved deeper into the Forbidden Territory, Kathryn tried to spend as little energy as possible. She went into hiding every now and then to stay in her peak condition, while relying on her companion to cover her back.

"Storm, " she called him. He was not as powerful as her owner, but three times as fast; enough to keep both of them alive for a short period of time.

When Kathryn noticed that the earth had turned black and lifeless, she knew she was heading in the right direction; the maps in her possession didn't include this anomaly, which meant that it became like this not that long ago. Soon, she saw a huge scar that stretched to the horizon. Just looking at it sent shivers down her spine.

She decided to continue her journey on foot in fear of getting easily spotted. The scars, though, left a deep impression on Kathryn and made her reflect on her decision to enter the Forbidden Territory alone. But after remembering the reason she came here in the first place, she gritted her teeth and continued onwards.

Not too long after, she arrived at the edge of a cliff. Before her eyes lay a deep gorge, the bottom of which was hidden in the darkness. The scars were crawling out of it like the legs of a giant spider; she has never seen anything like this.

She took a few steps back and grabbed her head; something was suppressing her very soul.

"N-no, I can't go down there... Storm!"

She suddenly realized that her beast was about to collapse. She took another pill and shoved it down Storm's throat.

"We are leaving." This decision was hard for her to make; it meant that she might never know what happened to Kirk. "I'm still not strong enough..."

She gave the abyss a final glance, determined to leave this place. But when she turned around, to her shock, she found out that she was alone. Storm was nowhere to be found; he disappeared without making as much as a single noise.

She looked around until she heard a loud, piercing sound from the opposite side of the gorge, hidden behind a veil of dark clouds. Suddenly, it felt as if the world around her had sunk a few meters.

She shivered as her soul was almost split in half. Something lifted her from the ground and carried her toward the cliff. A moment later, she was already falling. She heard whispers, millions of them. But she didn't know where they came from or to whom they belonged.

***

Her fall lasted forever. She felt as though she were in a dream. In that dream, she saw a man whose body was mutilated beyond recognition. He was kept in a cave as a prisoner; the darkness was his jailer. Sometimes he would smile, sometimes he would rave like a madman, other times he would stare blankly at the wall in front of him. But when she saw those obsidian eyes, she felt as if she were struck by a bolt of lightning.

Thirty-three years have passed since she last saw him. Back then, when the news finally arrived and everything became clear, she cried like a little girl before her parents, begging for their help. But they, of course, were powerless.

The news spread quickly, and soon, the entire empire knew about the tragedy that befell the Fifth Southgate City. The emperor even sent one of his best warriors to scout the place—Dargren the Sword God. But what he found forever remained a mystery.

The Fifth Southgate City was in a state of shock; over a hundred experts disappeared overnight. But Kathryn didn't have time to worry about them; the only person she cared about was Kirk. During the next year, she visited the Forbidden Territory more than anyone else of her age.

Every time she got lost, she would break one of those shiny little objects she massacred her entire room for, which would then teleport her to a safe place. But eventually, she ran out of every single treasure in her possession. When her father learned about it, he forbade her from leaving the city for a full year.

But now all of this seemed irrelevant. She finally found him, or...

Her thoughts were in a mess.

She saw the world through a layer of darkness. The sounds were muffled but she could hear him repeating the same word, "Kate..."

She stretched out her hand in a failed attempt to reach him, for the scene had already changed.

The next scene blinded her with a tempest of chaos. But when she looked down, she saw his lonely figure lying on the black ground. Her heart began to thud faster; it was the same black ground from before... But she couldn't remember when or where she had seen it.

All she knew was that Kirk was alive. Then suddenly, something exploded behind her and Kirk disappeared. There was no blood and no screaming, only silence.

Then she saw another scene. This time, the land looked much more peaceful. Kirk was laying naked on the ground in the middle of this sanctuary of life, safe and sound.

She sighed in relief.

She noticed that he looked almost the same as he did that day. She quickly realized something and looked around. It was an ancient forest where trees reached the height of small mountains.

After a wave of dizziness, she was pulled out of her dream.