<b>CHAPTER </b><b>103 </b>


    —


    Elias had arranged just the right kind of chaos Luke picking a fight with a pair of locals, loud enough to draw Arthur’s attention like a moth to me. With eyes elsewhere, the way out


    was ours.


    We slipped from the vige unseen, and headed straight for the ce where I’d ended the ck witch… and Mia.


    “So, are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Elias asked.


    “I’d really rather not. Not just yet anyway.” I said.


    “What do you mean? I know something is going on with you. You haven’t been yourself today. ” he said.


    “I know. Something isn’t right. And I need to try and figure it out.” I said.


    “What’s that?<b>” </b>He asked.


    “Something has been going on with me since I got here. I need to figure out what happened when I killed the ck witch.” I said.


    “Is that where we’re going?” He asked.


    “Yeah. To where I killed her.” I said.


    <b>“</b>Are you sure we’re going in the right direction?” He asked.


    “Positive. I know my way from here.” I said.


    The climb brought us into the clearing, the silence heavy, broken only by Flias hanging back, his gaze sweeping the ground. He wasn’t just watching he was pieci


    read the echoes of what had happened here.


    —


    it together, trying to


    As I began slowly reenacting everything that had happened here, my words heavy with memory, Elias shifted his weight and leaned back against the jagged rocks beside us. The stone caught the fading light, throwing fractured shadows across his face, and for a moment he looked carved from the ruins themselves–silent, immovable, watching me with an intensity that made it hard to tell whether he was listening or judging. His arms folded loosely across his chest, but the tension in his jaw betrayed him.


    I moved slowly, each step deliberate, as if the weight of memory itself held me back. My mind retraced every moment, every word, every flicker of dark magic that had passed between myself and the ck witch. The air seemed heavier with each recollection, as


    < CHAPTER 103


    though thend itself remembered too, and my body mirrored that burden–hesitant, unsteady, caught between the past and the present.


    <b>+25 </b>Points


    I tried to remember every facial feature, every movement that she made, every smirk, every word. But there was nothing here that I could actually think of that would make me start getting her memories.


    I knew that it was important for me to remember what happened that day, something up here happened that I didn’t realize at the time.


    “So, the dragon was over there. Right in front of you?” Elias asked.


    “Yeah. And Morgana is the one that went crazy when I killed the dragon. She was the mother of the dragons. She controlled them.” I said.


    “And how does Arthur know that she doesn’t have dragons behind that cloak of her tower?”


    He asked.


    “Exactly. He doesn’t know but he won’t admit it.” I said.


    “Another reason why you’re not going there alone.” He said.


    I turned to look out over the wastnd, remembering what the whole realm looked like the


    How lush the forest was, how beautiful thendscape was. And now it was reduced to ash and ck charcoal ground.


    “This ce is so foreign to me.” I said.


    “I know. But I’m sure you’re going to fix it.” Elias said.


    “I wouldn’t even know the first ce to start.” I said.


    “We’ll figure it out.” He said.


    “I think that’s what Arthur is hoping for me to do. But I don’t know how I would even start.” I said.


    I turned to look at Elias as I was talking but he didn’t know what I was really talking about and I didn’t tell him why we were up here. I didn’t want to say anything until I knew what was going on myself. I didn’t want to tell him about the visions that I was having.


    Elias was just about to say something when he suddenly froze. I looked at him strangely and walked over to him.


    I tried to shake him, but he waspletely unresponsive as he was just standing there.


    < CHAPTER 103


    “Rx. He’ll be alright.” A voice said behind me, so I turned around.


    +25 Points


    Morgana, the Ash Queen, was standing there staring at me. She was standing there casually, watching me and she waspletely alone.


    I raised my hand and a fireball appeared on my palm as I was ready to attack.


    “You aren’t going to need that.” She assured me, her tone smooth, almost mocking, as her gaze flicked briefly to the weapon in my hand.


    My grip tightened instinctively. “What the hell did you do to him?” I demanded, my voice sharper than I intended.


    “Nothing.” She replied calmly, as though the question barely merited an answer. “I just thought we should talk in private.”


    “Talk.” I repeated, forcing the word through clenched teeth. “Fine. What do you want?”


    She tilted her head, studying me with a strange mix of curiosity and amusement. “Well, I was really surprised to hear that you hade back. I didn’t think you would. I thought you killed my family and just… disappeared.”


    Her words cut through me like cold steel. My chest tightened. “Why would I do that?” I shot back. “I heard this ce had gone to s**t, and Arthur needed my help.”


    Sheughed then, a sharp, unsettling sound that echoed against the ruined walls around us. It wasn’t theughter of someone amused–it was bitter, edged with something darker. <fn6a05> Read full story at find?novel</fn6a05>


    “Arthur said he needed your help?” She repeated, savoring the words like they were some cruel joke. “I guess that’s one way of looking at it.”


    A knot twisted in my stomach. “What are you talking about?”


    Her smile thinned. “He’s always had a talent for bending the truth. For p ing his own spin on things. Surely you’ve noticed that by now.”


    I shook my head, unwilling to follow her lead. “Why don’t you cut the bullshit. Just restore the realm. Why would you do all of this?” My eyes swept across the wastnd surrounding us- the crumbling towers, the scorched earth, the faint stench of ash still lingering in the air.


    “Despite what Arthur has told you.” She said evenly, “I didn’t destroy thisnd.”


    “You really expect me to believe that?” My voice cracked slightly, the weight of everything pressing in.


    “I want to ask you something though.” She said.


    “And what the hell is that?<b>” </b>I asked.


    “I need you to trust me.” She said.


    “What<b>?</b><b>” </b>I was shocked.


    +25 Points


    “I know that I wasn’t on your side thest time you were here. But we now have an enemy inmon.” She said.


    “Let me guess. Arthur.” I said.


    “Yeah. He’s not to be trusted.” She said.


    “Well, neither are you as far as I’m concerned.” I said.


    “Well,” she shrugged, her eyes glinting, “you can believe what you want. But it’s the truth. I wouldn’t do this to my own home.”


    I stepped closer, searching her face for any sign of deception. “Then what the hell happened here? Who did this?”


    For a long moment, she said nothing. The silence stretched between us until it became unbearable. Finally, she turned her head, her gaze locking with mine–unyielding, cold, unflinching.


    “You did.”