Chapter 6

Faye discovers a painful truth about Shadow

             "Faye... how could such a thing happen to you? To become the prisonerof our enemies..." the princess muttered.

            Edra's condition was worrying her friends. She couldn't stand on her feet or speak louder. She was glaring daggers at everyone, especially at Blake. It's true that he recognised his fault for Faye's abduction, but the princess couldn't believe he was able to cause such a chaos. She didn't want anyone to stay near her, not even Asher. Edra refused to let them touch Faye's bracelet. Now that she was missing, the jewel gave her the feeling that her sister was with her. The two weren't blood releated, but that's how Edra liked to call her friend. Meanwhile, Rishima was helping Noah to count the fruits he gathered from the bushes nearby so that everyone could eat the same quantity. It became a battle to survive in such a place like the Forest of Venom. The earth wielder looked at her and the princess gestured her to come and talk to her. Rishima hesitated at first, but she sat next to her friend anyways. 

            "Ri, why are you so tensed?" Edra asked her friendly.

            "Why are you so kind with me?"

            "Is something bothering you? You can tell me."

            "I remember that you once said that whoever hurts you will get rid of those who hurt us."

            "Of course I'll do it. I won't allow anyone to put harm you. You're like my family. Come on, you we're thinking about that? I thought you knew it very well."

            "Yeah, sure thing..."

            "Alright, what's wrong with you? You're looking at me like I'm gonna kill you the next second."

            "I'm waiting for my punishment."

            "Excuse me?"

            "You heard me. I'm waiting for my punishment."

            "I'l never do such a thing. You are like a sister to me, just like Faye is."

            "You are too merciful."

            "Seriously, you're annoying me with this nonsense."

            "Forgive me." Rishima cried, hugging her. "I didn't do anything to stop the fight between Faye and Blake. I only told them to stop, but I should've inervened. Now she is held as a hostage and we can't find the assassins' headquarters."

            "Don't be so harsh with yourself. It's not your fault. Please, stop crying."

            Edra patted Rishima's back, still holding the bracelet.

            "Do you remember Faye's reaction when she received this bracelet on her birthday?"

            "I will always keep that image in mind. In five years since I've known her, I've never seen her so happy. She said she will never take it off."

            "When I think we've spent two days arguing on what gift we should buy..."

            "The jeweler shouted at us to come the next day because he was annoyed. How many hours have we discused? Four, I guess."

           "Indeed. I have to recognize it was pretty difficult to chose. At least, our efforts were rewarded."

           "She has a lot of preferences. That's how she is..." Edra giggled.

           "Hey, how are you feeling?" Noah asked the princess, putting his arm around her neck. "Sorry to interrupt your conversation."

           "Everything is alright. I'm a bit dizzy, but I'm fine."

           "You're lying. You look rather sad."

           "It's nothing."

           "You were talking about Faye, am I right?"

           "It's not so easy to trick you.."

           "It's tough, I know, but the only thing we can do is to hope. Just as you told us."

           "But Blake said..."
           "Rishima, he's just an idiot. Ok, it's true we're stuck in this forest, hungry, soaked, but we're alive. And still a team."
           "What about Faye? What if she was already killed? I can't stand this thought."

           "Hey, hey, hey, Edra, calm down. We're all afraid of that, but she's a smart girl. She doesn't give up easy and will fight until the end."

           "How much I wish to find and bring her back..."

           "We will do that. Trust me. We're The Nightfall team. We never abandon our friends in need."

 

           "What just happened?" Faye asked herself scared.

           The girl was still shocked after her pendant shined so bright. Ever since she had the necklace, she had never witnessed something like that. When she was little, she was always asking Axel to tell her the story of about the sun and the moon. Even if she heard it dozens of times, she didn't get enough of it, and her brother loved it, too.

           The story said that one ngiht, the moon was shining alone. Although she was surrounded by stars, she felt as if there was no one to understand her. On the other side of the world, the sun awoke to shine. The people were bowing and worshiping him, showing their faith and gratitude. The moon heard from a tiny star about this great being, who brought joy and light to the world. She owuld visit he places where he had been, and would always find that he had just left. Those who knew him spoke of his glory, and the moon felt unworthy to be in his presence. She continued to follow the sun. When before she was despaired, now she was even more hopeful, for she knew she was approaching him. She came closer and closer, until one glorious day, the moon stood before the sun. His light blotted out all her loneliness, all her pain. She stood bathed in wonder, being filled with happiness. As time passed, though his light was too bright to remember, it was also too powerful to forget. It seemed that she once had been a being full of light, just like the one she longed so much to meet.

           Faye hid the necklace when she saw Seth. He didn't say a word and grabbed her wrist fiercely. The girl struggled to get free, but she ended up being dragged out of the dungeon.

           "On your feet, filarian! I suppose you will tell the boss where your friends are if you want to live."

           "Let me go! I will never betray them to save my own life! I would rather die than endangering them."

           "You'll change your mind soon. I'm sure of this."

           "I told you to let me go, you creep!"

           "What did you say?"

           "I know you heard me very well."

           "After you give us information, I'll cut your tongue and I'll give it to eagles."

           Faye let out a deafening scream, hoping it will distract the assassin. To her surprise, the desperate method worked. The man covered his ears, giving her enough time to run. The girl sprinted down the hallway, looking for anything that could help her. She was shocked to see that the place was enormous. For ten minutes, Seth kept chasing her like crazy, thinking at a way to slow her down.

          "I'm gonna fill your skull with bullets when I catch you!" he yelled.

          That scrawny is damn fast, he thought. Seth took out his gun and shot the girl in the right leg. Faye gritted her teeth and leaned on a wall, but kept walking. Short after, she was shot in the other leg.

          "Let's see what you're gonna do now."

          To the man's surprise, Faye continued her way, trailing. She refused to surrend so easy. Even if those were her last moments, she would've fight until her last breath.

          "I didn't expect this from a girl. I thought you'll start crying and begging for your life."

           "What's all this fuss about?" a penetrating voice echoed.

            Both Faye and Seth froze when they saw a man with an imposing stature approaching them. Seth raised his hands and fell on his knees in sign of obedience. 

            "Well, well, well, so she's the filarian you were talking about. Shadow did an amazing job as always. Where is he?"

            "In his room, boss. I will go right not and..."

            "There's no need.  You can withdraw."

            After Seth left, the man grabbed Faye and threw her in a dark room. 

            "My, my, poor filthy filarian. Who could've thought that you'll end up as our prisoner?"

            "If you think I'll become a traitor, forget it. I won't do such a thing to my friends."

            "Is that so?"

            "Yes."

            "You're very brave and smart for a girl."

            "It's obviously that idiots are impressed by someone who has a brain. Am I right, Nyx Sarlic, leader of the Moon's Wolves?"

            "I guess I'm pretty famous since you know my name."

            "You'll be even more famous when king Daivat will put your head in a sword and will show it to the people."

            "It's alright to have dreams, especially dreams that will never come true."

            "I'm not so sure of that." 

            Nyx was rubbing his hands in satisfaction. After many tried, he finally had the key to acheive his goal: to destroy the Nightfall. However, he didn't expect the girl to be so stubborn. He had to find a way to subdue her. But how? With a snap of fingers, he lighted a few torches which were attached of the walls. Faye noticed in a corner of the room a headless mannequin dressed in a white gown. What scared her the most was that the gown was all stained with blood and torn in some places.

            "Isn't it beautiful?" Nyx asked.

            "How can you say this? It's destroyed."

            "This dress has a very interesting story. I'm sure I made you curious."

            Faye hiccoughed because of the piercing pain in her legs, but she agreed to hear about the garment.

            "Everything happened six years ago, but for me, it feels like yesterday. In these headquarters, a ten year old boy managed to hide his twenty year old sister for almost a month. That's the proof of a quick mind, especially a child's one. He knew every corner, every inch of this place so it wasn't too hard for him to find a hiding spot. The boy was feeling lonely and wanted his sister to stay with him. He even learned in secret how to use magic in order to bring her here. The things went smoothly, until the night I found out about all the plan."

           "What have you done to her?"

           "To them. Right here, in this room, they received their punishments. The girl was wearing the white dress you just saw. Her little brother described her in one of the letters he send as a white rose: caring, gentle and kind. You know, even the purest things can be tainted very easy. She had to pay a very big price so that the boy could live. I wanted to kill him, but she insisted to save him. Everything in this world comes at a price."

           "You can't be telling the truth! It's outrageous!"

           "She accepted this benevolent and unhindered. I just did what was supposed to be done." Nyx said in a matter-of-fact voice.

           "You monster, how could you? How could you kill her?" 

           "Ah, you misunderstood. After I finished, I just stabbed her so she won't die. What's more important, her brother saw what the consequences of his actions were."

           "That child..."

           "This is the law of the world: you make mistakes, you pay for them. At the end, I took this gown as a souvenir and threw that girl in the forest. I don't know how, but she managed to find her way back to her house. Too bad she was killed the next day." 

            "You..."

            "It wasn't our fault. It's the first time I'm saying this in my life. I discovered her corpse near our headquarters. Since she didn't have any weapons with her, it's clear that someone did it."

            Faye felt like the entire world crashed into her head. The only thing she could think about was the humiliation that girl suffered in order to protect her brother. She was able to give up on everything just to know that the little boy will have the chance to live. That was the power of sacrifice.

            "What happened with that little boy?" 

            "He became the one that made our name famous. Surprisingly, right? To think that Ally did this for him..."

            Before she could voice her thoughts, the door opened suddenly, revealing Shadow. Faye swallowed and turned her face away. 

            "The right person at the right time. Take her back to the dungeon. Make sure she doesn't try to do something crazy. We need her alive."

            Shadow bent his head and grasped Faye's waist and legs. The girl gasped in astonishment as he exited the room. She heard that name when the young assassin came in her cell. Everything made sense now. The people Nyx was talking about were Shadow and his sister. Faye's heart ached. When her brother died, she had her friends by her side, but Shadow was all alone. She knew how painful the loss of a dear person was. They were alike at this chapter. As she kept looking at him, Faye rested her head on his chest and let a tear to draw its path on her cheek. Shadow turned his head in her direction and unconsciously, tightened her gently.

            

Author's Note

Thank you so much for reading my story :)