“It makes sense,” I said, the weight of my revelation hanging heavy in the air. “No one has seen him. We have no leads, and now this girl appears out of nowhere? You don’t find that strange?”
Julian’s face twisted in confusion, his shock evident as he stared at me, his mouth slightly agape. “Yes, I do,” he said finally, his voice edged with disbelief. “But how could a human shadow?”
I ran a hand through my hair, my brows pinched in thought. “I don’t think she’s fully human,” I admitted. “Her scent—it’s… confusing.”
“He wouldn’t,” Julian breathed again, his voice barely above a whisper. “Why would he put the humans at risk, especially now with these attacks, the Daka?!” His voice grew louder with each word. Julian’s eyes widened as he stood up, disbelief etched across his face.
“I don’t fully understand it myself, but I’m sure he opened that damn door,” I spat out, pushing out of the chair I had straddled and starting to pace.
“He can't be that delusional.” Julian's voice was shaky with anger. “What he did to you was unforgivable, but this? This is far worse. We know nothing about humans. We have no way of closing that door again—he’s put both our realms in danger!” Julian hissed, starting to pace himself.
“I need to find him,” I said firmly, locking eyes with Julian.
Julian threw his hand to his forehead in frustration. “Go to the human realm? Are you out of your mind? What if it’s a trap?” Julian’s voice rose in alarm. “You can’t risk getting trapped there. You need to go back home and—”
“And do what?” I interrupted, my anger flaring. “He stole my magic, Julian. My own damn brother!” I loomed over him, my voice a fierce growl. “This girl was a sign. We know where he is now!”
“Xavier—” Julian started, but I cut him off again.
“We have Daka destroying villages and witches uprising, and I need my powers to stop this before it escalates into another full-blown war! He’s left us exposed at the worst possible time, and we have to find him if we stand any chance of stopping this before it's too late.”
“We can't let the witches know the realm to the humans is open,” Julian spat. “Those rumors…You can't go anywhere near that door.”
“My brother—” I began, but Julian cut me off.
“Your brother is on his own now. The witches track your every move; there are spies everywhere. We cannot risk drawing unwanted attention to that realm. Not now.”
I growled, clenching my fists as the weight of his words sank in. The witches. After all this time, they still worshiped their dead queen, still clung to Morgana’s twisted legacy. Four centuries… and peace was still a distant dream.
Morgana nearly destroyed us once. Her thirst for revenge against our kind, fueled by dark magic, threatened to annihilateus all. She tore open a rift to another realm, unleashing the Daka—poisonous creatures that still haunt our lands to this day. Their twisted forms spilled into our world like a plague, leaving nothing but ruin in their wake.
But my parents stopped her. They took her spellbook, drained her magic, and stripped her of her immortality. In his final moments, my father created a rift to a non-magical realm, trapping Morgana there—the very realm my brother has now recklessly reopened.
That day, my parents and the book were lost, leaving me and my brother orphaned. I was only five; my brother, three. But before they died, they managed to seal the human realm, saving us and our kingdom.
The rift that allowed the Daka to enter however, remains a festering wound in our world. And without the book, there’s been no way to close it.
Despite the fragile peace my uncle was able to obtain following the war, unrest has stirred once again. The witches have been gathering, whispering rumors of Morgana’s return. Fear has spread with their whispers, but that was all they were—rumors. Morgana would be long dead by now.
Yet the witches found power without her. They'd learned to tame the Daka, now riding them into our villages, spreading chaos. What was once a scattered threat has now turned into organized assaults. Their control over the Daka transformed them from a nuisance into a veritable army.
With these rumors circulating… if they discovered her prison was open…
“This is bad, Julian,” I growled.
He nodded, eyes glazed with thought before clearing his throatandbreaking the silence. “Aria will be here in the morning. Should we inform her about the situation?” he asked nervously.
“Not yet,” I said firmly.
Julian nodded, his expression reflecting his understanding. “As you wish, Your Majesty.”
I shot Julian a sidelong glare. He knew how much I loathed being called that, but that was what I was—King of Nexia. Three territories under my rule, under my protection, and my brother just endangered us all.
Chapter 5
Zara
As I stepped into the training grounds the following day, the cool, crisp morning greeted me, and the smell of earthy, damp soil filled my nose. After Cynthia had left, I finally managed to get some decent rest, though lingering exhaustion still weighed heavily on me.
