Chapter 4

The situation begins to be difficult on both sides

Faye was suddenly woken up by a thunderbolt. She would usually have been frightened, but this time, she was just standing still. She fixed her gaze on the ceiling, listening to the storm. It gave her a somehow comfortable feeling. It reminded her of the days when her brother was still alive. She used to run into his arms and cry when the weather was like that. The girl brought her knees to her chest and stroked her hair. 

"I wish Axel would be here with me. He would hug me and reassure me that everything will be alright. Then, he would kiss my forehead. Those days seem to be so distant..." 

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a key spinning into the door. 

"But it's the middle of the night!" Faye whispered scared. "This has to be my imagination."

The man who saved her a little while ago entered into the cell and locked the door back. He gestured her to get up, but the girl was too scared by his sudden appereance. That's not gonna end well for me, Faye thought. After a few moments, she decided to listen to him. He then streched his arms towards her. 

"Shall I do this too?"

He nodded. Faye did the exact same thing, but something wasn't right. He must've had a reason to come at her at that time of night, but all he was doing was acting weird. Slowly, the man revealed a katana. Faye's eyes widened at the sight of the sword and started to tremble with fear. 

"What do you want to do?" she asked him hesitantly.

The next thing she saw was the sword's blade cutting her chains. Faye looked at her freehands in bewilderment, then at the man. In her mind was a total mess. She had absolutely no idea what to do, but the worst thing was that she couldn't anticipate his next moves. Even if she was very good in understanding people, this time her ability wasn't too useful. His actions were really unreadable. Maybe he was trying to be nice with her so he would have the perfect chance to get rid of her, maybe he was just playing with her mind... 

"May I ask you why are you here?" Faye asked shyly.'

No answer. 

"Why don't you want to talk with me?"

Still no answer.

"Forget what I asked." the girl muttered.

"Why?" 

"You really heard me?"

"Yes."

The silence fell over the cell again. Faye simply stared at the man standing in front of her. He seemed like he was scared of talking with her. With a lot of effort, he managed to say two words since he has come. Plus, he was still holding the sword. The girl knew that just one mistake could bring her end. For a moment, she thought he was getting annoyed by her, so she didn't say any other word. Her gaze moved on the blade of the sword and the shock paralyzed her. A small, detailed drawing of a howling wolf head was carved on it. 

"That sign..." 

"Poor little thing..." the stranger said with a mocking voice.

"Stay away!" Faye yelled desperated, as she stepped back.

"Now you realise..."

"I told you to stay away from me!"

"Who do you think you are to command me?"

"I will say it one more time: stay away!"

"Or what?"

Faye's back touched the wall. There was no way to escape. The man approached her with small and firm steps, savoring her terror. He couldn't see the pain and suffering he was causing, couldn't hear the screams, cries, the voices of those who begged in vain for their lives. He didn't care about anything. He was fulfilling the orders given to him without hesitation. When the distance between them was only a few centimeters, he stopped. Faye felt like her heart was going to explode of panic. 

"Now what? This will be my end, right? If the answer is a 'yes', then go ahead. You can do whatever you want with me, but you won't hurt my friends. I'm willing to sacrifice myself for them."

Behind the mask, the assassin gasped. Those words seemed were familiar to him. 

"What's the matter? Shadow?" Faye asked with tears in her eyes.

The girl had a strange sensation as if an invisible hand was squeezing her heart. It was like she could feel his pain. Pain? Such a cold-hearted person could know this feeling?

"Ally..." the assassing whispered.

"What?"

Shadow just stood there like a statue. He was trying to stop the tears that threatened to draw their paths on his face. His heart ached so much all of a sudden that he put both his hands on his chest.

"Are you alright?"

Faye gathered all her courage and touched his hands. She closed her eyes as she was feeling their warmth. It didn't matter to her who was standing in front of her in that moment. She wanted to help him. That's what she always did. Shadow fell on his knees, gasping for air. Why was he feeling that way? How could her words cause such a turmoil in his soul? A long time ago, he made a vow to forget to forget about his wishes, his feelings, his soul... everything. 

"I'm not who you think I am." Faye whispered, kneeling.

"Your words... I've heard them before?"

"Are you alright? Is there anything I can do to help you?"

"Why would you ask me such a thing?" 

"You're in pain. I don't want to see anyone like this. Not even you."

"You fool... you're crazy."

Shadow got on his feet and walked towards the door as if nothing happened. He didn't understand how that girl could be so foolish. To get help from her? They were enemies. They were supposed to hate each other, not be merciful. 

"We're from different worlds. You can't do anything for me."

"Why not?"

"You are fighting against the evil, while I am fighting alongisde the evil. Do you know that helping your enemy means betrayal?"

"But that's..."

"You are like the sun. You bring happiness and light. I am like the moon. I bring pain and darkness."

Saying this, he left the cell. The man who tried to kill Faye was waiting for him at the top of the stairs impaciently.

"So, did she give information about there the Nightfall Team is?"

The answer was a nod in disapproval.

"We don't have time to jaw her! We must know right now where those filthy filarians are."

"Be patient, Seth. I will handle this."

The man opened his mouth in amazement when he heard the certainity in his words. So that's his real voice, he thought for a moment.

"How many times have I ever failed in my missions?" 

"Never. You've always done your job perfectly."

"Then trust me. I brought her here, she's my responsability."

Rishima, Noah, Blake and Zev decided to go back and tell their friends what they found. They were walking slowly wih their heads bent. Rishima was keeping Faye's bracelet, while Blake had the kunai. The gray-haired boy couldn't accept that the situation would end up like this. He was staring at the weapon, cursing under his breath. The problem was deadly serious because it involved their worst enemies. They met them only once, in Filaria, when the assassins were trying to get into the royal palace. The Nightfall surrounded them in the garden and Edra decided to fight with Shadow. Even if she was gifted with many abilities, his strenght was impressive. He tried to stab her with the kunai a few times, but only managed to hurt her right shoulder. After the assassins drained their opponents power, they retreated. The princess wanted to give a final hit to Shadow, but he simply disappeared. 

When the four friends arrived, Edra was awake. Asher was bandaging her wounds from head and arms, comforting her. Her face was emotionless and she was lost in her thoughts. She looked at Rishima and saw her eyes full of tears. The princess gestured her to come closer, but her friend refused. The girl was shaking, tightening the jewel in her fist. Blake swallowerd and looked away, keeping the kunai hidden behind. He realised it was his fault for what happened to Faye and chose to face the consequences. He knelt in front of Edra and bowed.

"Your Highness..."

"What's with this formality?"

"You must know something."

Blake asked Rishima to give him the bracelet. The earth wielder threw it in his head, crying.

"How could you?" she screamed.

"Blake..." Edra said scared.

"Princess, what I've done it's unforgivable."

"What happened?"

"Because of me... Faye... was kidnapped. By the Moon's Wolves."

The news were like e cold shower for the princess.

"Impossible..."

"We found her bracelet and a kunai with the..."

Edra took the jewel and caressed it as if it was a treasure. She glanced at the weapon and recognised it immediately. Her eyes were filled with rage as the image of Shadow apperead in her memory.

"Shadow is the one captured Faye." she said after a long pause, in a pained voice.

"You're insane!" the others said shocked.

"This kunai belongs to hi,/ I know for sure. He stabbed me three years ago in my right shoulder when he and his teammates tried to attack the palace."

"We must find him as quickly as possible." Blake said.

"Says the one who threw Faye directly in his trap."

"Rishima, stop! How was I supposed to know she will run directly into him? Alright, I recognise I made a huge mistake. What can I do now?" 

"We can't find her." Edra intervened.

"You have to be kidding me. You can do this within seconds. 

"I lost my powers."

The silence fell over the glade. Edra knew the secret of the Moon's Wolves. They had their headquarters hidden in the Forest of Venom and used magic to protect them. In this way, nobody would've been able to know where they came from or where they were retreating. Without her powers, Edra couldn't do anything.

"All we can do is to hope." she said solemnly.

"Edra, we're talking about Shadow, the most infamous assassin. You can't expect him to spare Faye's life. Plus, I bet she won't resist much time. Let's say we find her. Then what? She would be dead for sure. Why? Because that b*****d doesn't have mercy."

"Basicallu, we're stuck in every way." Zev concluded.

"Hold on, buddy! Are you saying that we can't find Faye and the way back to Filaria?" Noah asked scared.

"I'm sorry, guys..." Edra muttered, letting a tear to fall in her lap

Reviews

[Alex70]

Emotionally the first half of the story works for me. Faye's fear is compelling, but there are some problems in the logic of the story. There is a man that comes for Faye and she describes him as deaf and blind. Yet he speaks without difficulty and responds to her questions. (This may be explained in earlier chapters). There are a number of typos and grammatical errors.

Example: listening (to)the storm.
Rishima was keeping Faye('s) bracelet

The second half would need my reading the previous chapters to know what's going on. I did notice that in the second half the tense hasn't been settled on. It jumps around from present to past.
.

[LylaCrystal]

About Shadow, I tried to underline the fact that he didn't care about how those who were trying to gain his mercy. He simply followed the orders.
I will correct the mistakes that slipped into the text. Thank you very much for the review.