The World Is Mine For The Taking

We rushed back to the room, our footsteps echoing down the hallway, only to find the door ajar, creaking slightly as it swung open.

"It can't be..." I mumbled under my breath, staring in disbelief at the open door.

"She's escaped..." Gabrielle's voice cut through the silence. "Why didn't you keep an eye on her?!"

"I didn't think she'd try to run!" I shot back. "She was out cold when I left, and I figured she wouldn't even have the strength to get out of bed."

This was a disaster. She was barely recovering from those nasty injuries, and if we didn't find her soon, the wounds would reopen. I'd used healing magic, but it was only enough to stop the bleeding temporarily. It wasn't a full fix—if she pushed herself too hard, she'd bleed out for sure.

"Did she say anything before passing out again?" Miss Gabrielle asked.

"She said... if she didn't get out now, the kingdom would be in danger. And something about needing to warn the magic knights."

Gabrielle's eyes darkened, her expression hardening as she processed my words. "So, she broke free from the brainwashing, huh?" she muttered to herself. Then, she whipped out her phone, a grim determination in her eyes. "I'm heading to the capital."

"The capital? Why?" I asked, frowning, confusion mixing with the rising panic.

"I need to see Master," she replied flatly.

"What? But what about her?! She's going to bleed out if we don't bring her back

now!

" I argued.

"Don't worry. I'll handle her myself. Something's going down that's bigger than Master realizes," she said.

***

Gabrielle's POV

I jumped into my car and sped down the winding roads toward the Capital City, my foot pressing hard against the pedal. The engine roared beneath me, but my mind was racing even faster. I couldn't shake the feeling that something huge was about to happen—something that Master hadn't fully grasped yet. From Angelica's frantic, broken words earlier, it sounded like Sesillian was plotting something big. I didn't know exactly what it was, but I could

feel

it in my gut—it was going to be ugly.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Not that I was worried about Master, not at all. He could handle himself, but it made sense to warn him before shit hit the fan. Maybe he could save a lot of people if he was prepared for whatever was coming.

I kept trying to call him, but every time, I got nothing but silence—his phone was dead. I tried Isabelle and the others too, but they weren't picking up either.

"Bad reception? Seriously? Master being unreachable is one thing, but all of them too?" I growled, gripping the steering wheel tighter.

The road blurred past as I scanned the surroundings, hoping for a glimpse of Angelica. Injured or not, she was one of the toughest knights out there. She could've easily taken command of the magic knights if she wanted. Better than Lilia, that's for sure.

As I sped along, a figure suddenly appeared ahead, crossing the road in a slow, unhurried stride. I pressed down on the brakes, but the car just lurched forward, gaining speed instead. Panic shot through me. I slammed my foot down on the brakes again, harder this time, but it was like the pedal wasn't even connected.

"What the...?" My pulse raced, and I glanced up at the figure, their face obscured in shadow, staring right at me as my car barreled toward them. Were they controlling it? Were they trying to get themselves

killed

?

No matter how hard I tried, the brakes wouldn't respond. The car kept accelerating, roaring louder as it ate up the distance between us. I blared the horn, lights flashing as I tried to warn them, but they didn't budge, standing there like they were daring me to run them over.

I had no other choice. I jerked the wheel hard to the side. The tires screeched as the car veered off the road, the sudden shift throwing me against the door. It hurtled toward a nearby building, and I barely had time to throw up my Guardian shield before the impact hit. I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for the crash.

When the car slammed into the building, the impact sent a jolt through me, but the shield absorbed most of the force. It was a rough ride, but it felt like a punch instead of the bone-breaking collision it could've been. I cracked my eyes open, my breath coming in shaky gasps.

Flames flickered from the hood of my car, heat rolling off in waves as the fire started to consume it.

I yanked off my seatbelt and stumbled out of the car, my legs shaky from the crash, the heat of the flames scorching my back. The building loomed above, charred and shadowed, like a monster with gaping jaws. My eyes swept over the rubble—empty, or so it seemed at first...

Then, I caught a glimpse—a figure, just a silhouette, perched in the darkness, staring down at me like some kind of twisted sentinel.

"Get out of the building, now!" I barked, my voice bouncing off the crumbling walls, carrying my urgency.

The figure shifted, melting into the shadows before vanishing from sight. It seemed like they were finally going to make a move.

I turned back toward the person I'd nearly run over, anger sparking hot in my chest like the flames behind me.

"Hey, you! Are you trying to get yourself killed?! Why did you stop in the middle of the road?!" I snapped.

But they just stood there, motionless, like a statue carved from shadow. It was like they couldn't even hear me, like I didn't exist.

"Are you even listening to me?!" I shouted again.

"The day... has come... for the prophecy to unfold..." The words slipped out of them, eerie and detached, like they were reciting from some ancient script.

"What...?"

"The darkness is coming. There should be no light. There should only be darkness," they intoned, their voice cold, empty.

This wasn't just some random lunatic, I'm guessing—this was one of those Eclipse fanatics.

"The light will be swallowed. The moon and the sun will vanish, leaving this world to drown in eternal darkness," another voice hissed behind me. I whipped around, and saw a group of figures emerged, their faces barely lit by the flickering glow of my burning car.

"We are the Eclipse, and the Lord we've awaited is finally coming," they droned in unison.

Their voices swirled around me. It took a heartbeat to realize the full extent of my predicament—I was surrounded, trapped in this circle of fanatics.

"And you... a believer of light... must be punished!" they roared, their arms shooting out, fingers pointed at me like blades.

My pulse spiked as I activated Guardian, a glowing shield forming around me just in time. It looked like getting to the Capital City wasn't going to be as easy as I thought.