Moments after Frederick's carriage disappears from Max's vision and there's no one around him, he raises his arm and flings a shard of ice toward the alleyway behind him.
"You're not the stealthiest, are you?" he mocked the figure in the shadow, slowly coming to the light;
A pair of red eyes belonging to a cloaked figure, along her cheek is a fresh cut from the ice.
"Now why did you let it cut through your pretty face?"
The figure walked up to Max as he pulled the cloak off to reveal...
"Reyna Helianthus."
As if knowing it was her the entire time, his hand wipes the blood on her cheek - she does not flinch over the pain in the slightest. Max immediately used his light water magic to heal the wound.
"You know, spying on another kingdom's grounds could start a war - especially when it's the Princess of Helios-"
Reyna grabbed Max's wrist and twisted it, immediately shutting him up.
"How much did you hear?"
He lowers his gaze, eyes turned serious as he focused on hers
"Enough to know what my next move should be."
She replied matching his intensity.
Tension built up under the darkened street as they both refused to be the first ones to look away. The silence in the street crowded the empty spaces when the smallest sound of movement caused them both to break away at the same moment.
WHOOSH!
An arrow passed by their eyesight as Max's reflex summoned an ice shield big enough for the both of them.
"Get back here!"
He ordered, but Reyna's eyes were fixated on the five figures that appeared from the shadows; cloaked figures holding a weapon and prayer beads of some sort, a purple aura emanating around each one.
Without hesitation Reyna charged at one with full speed before Max could stop her impulse, creating a trail of fire.
"Shit!" he whispered to himself, trying to make sense of who these people were.
Hardly close from reaching his conclusion the cloaked figures all melted into a single being and devoured Reyna, taking her down to the shadow realm.
It was like seeing a comet getting engulfed by a black hole.
Next, the creature walked slowly approaching Max as he dropped his ice shield. He stared up at the moon as he figured out what he had to do.
Max's right eye turned into a glowing purple, holding his breath as much as he could. Fueled with anger and determination, he charges at the creature at full speed as he was swallowed whole into the darkness.