Arthur and I set off for the castle and he seemed to know where he was going, but all I saw was absolutely nothing ahead of us. I couldn’t believe that thisnd was once so beautiful and lush and green but has all been turned to ash now.


    “So, how long until we get there?” I asked, shifting my weight and ncing at the invisible path ahead.


    “A couple of hours on foot.” Arthur said, his voice calm, but there was something in the way he said it that made me uneasy–like he was measuring more than just distance.


    “And what should I expect when we get there?” I asked again, unable to hide my curiosity.


    Arthur hesitated, squinting at the horizon as if the answer might reveal too much. “I’m… not exactly sure.” He said finally. “The castle–it’s nothing like mine. Too clean, too sterile. shy, almost… theatrical. She wanted to make a statement with it. And she definitely did. You’ll know it when you see it.”


    I frowned. “And the people inside? Her sister… She was called the Mother of Dragons. Should we expect dragons?”


    “No.” His voice dropped, almost to a whisper, and I caught a shadow cross his face.”


    Dragons… all animals, really. Gone. Every single one. When the realm died, they died. All at once. It was… incredible, in a bad way.”


    “Incredible? You mean terrifying?” I asked, trying to picture it. “They weren’t hunted? They


    didn’t vanish because of some curse or war?”


    “No.” He said, shaking his head slowly. “Nothing like that. One moment, everything was alive. The next… it just fell apart. It’s hard to describe. Like the world itself stopp


    caring.”


    “How<i>? </i>How <i>does </i>everything just die?” I pressed, my voice trembling despite myself.


    Arthur’s eyes darkened. “The Ash Queen. She cast a spell. Something we still don’t understand. And it was over. Life just… ended.”


    “Really?” I asked, leaning closer, drawn in despite the fear prickling my skin.


    “Why?” He asked, frowning. “What are you thinking?”


    “When I saw Morgana, she said it’s my fault.” I admitted, the words tasting bitter. “That killing the ck Witch… that’s what killed the realm.”


    Arthur stiffened. “What? That’s impossible. How could that even be?”


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    “I don’t know. Do you have any clue what she meant?”


    “No.<i>” </i>He said, his voice clipped. “I don’t. None at all.”


    I exhaled slowly, trying to calm the racing thoughts. “I had to ask. I couldn’t just leave it unsaid. When she told me, I didn’t know what to believe. I was… hoping it wasn’t true.”


    <i>“Of </i>course not.” He said firmly. “Killing the ck Witch couldn’t have caused any of this. Don’t let her words make you doubt yourself.”


    “Good.” I murmured, relief and lingering doubt tangled together.


    “You can’t believe anything she says. Ever. Lies are all she knows. Truth isn’t in her vocabry.” He added, his eyes searching mine.


    I nodded slowly. “Yeah… I’m starting to understand that.”


    He fell silent for a moment, as if weighing whether to continue. “There’s something you don’t know. Something… important. I wasn’t sure if I should tell you yet.”


    “What is it?” I asked, my curiosity sharpening.


    “Beneath the wastnd I once called home.” Arthur leaned closer, his voice dropping so low I almost felt it vibrate in my chest. “There’s a heart to this realm.” He said. “A pulsing core of magic. It used to control everything–the beauty, the life, the very essence of this ce. Everything you see–or used to see–was because of it.”


    I blinked. “So if magic controlled everything… what stopped it? It clearly isn’t working now, or this ce wouldn’t be… dead.”


    Arthur’s jaw tightened. “There’s only one person with enough power to do that. And if we want this realm to live again, we have to find out how to make it work–how to make it pulse again.”


    “The Ash Queen,” I whispered, the words tasting like ash.


    “It’s the only exnation that makes sense.” He said quietly. “I should have told you sooner,


    but


    you were nning an army. I feared that if we provoked her, she’d destroy itpletely before we even arrived.”


    I narrowed my eyes, unsettled. “Then why tell me now? Why risk it?”


    “Because Elias was there. And I don’t think he cares about this realm… not like you do. You’ve seen what it used to be. You know the beauty that was lost. You’d want to restore it. Him? He’d just kill the Queen and get back home. I can’t me him for wanting that… but that’s not what this world needs.”


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    <b>+25 </b>Points


    I exhaled slowly, the weight of his words settling into my chest like a stone. “I know. I agree. It’s not what this world needs.”


    Arthur’s gaze lingered on the horizon, silent for a long moment. Then he said softly, almost to himself, <b>“</b>If the heart of the realm can be awakened… maybe there’s hope. But if it can’t… then everything we’ve lost… will be lost forever.”


    Once we reached the castle Arthur stopped me from moving any closer and to me all I could see was nothing. There was nothing in front of me, but he knew that the castle was there.


    I was just about to raise my hand to feel the cloak for myself when it suddenly slipped away


    on its own.


    “What the hell just happened?” I asked.


    “She’s letting us in.” He said.


    “Why?” I asked. <fn2d09> This update is avable on Find_Novel(.</fn2d09>


    “Because it’s just us two. She wants you.” He said.


    “Should I be worried?” I asked.


    “No. I don’t believe she’s going to hurt you. If she was, she would have done it the other day when she had you alone.” He said.


    “Elias was with me.” I said.


    “He was frozen. She could have killed you then.” He said.


    “She knows my powers.” I said.


    “I know. But don’t worry about it. You’ll be fine.” He said.


    Arthur slowly started walking towards the castle, his steps measured and deliberate, and I followed closely behind, trying to match his pace. The path leading up to it was lined with twisted, dark trees whose branches seemed to reach out like skeletal fingers, casting eerie shadows over the cobblestones. I couldn’t help but nce up at the castle itself. Its design was unlike anything I had ever seen before–sleek and angr in some ces, yet ornate and ostentatious in others, almost as if different architectural styles had been mashed together intentionally. There was something unsettling about the way the spires jutted into the sky, sharp and glinting in the sunlight. It felt alien, not like anything from any world I knew. Somehow, it was both dazzling and menacing at the same time. More like the kind of ce an evil Queen would live in a fairytale, with grand halls designed to intimidate and impress anyone who dared approach. I could feel a shiver run down my spine, but I forced myself to keep walking.


    < CHAPTER 108


    +25 Points


    It hurt my neck looking up to the top of the castle because it was so impossibly high, its spires piercing the sky like jagged teeth. But what really caught me off guard was that there were no guards. Not a single soul in sight. No footsteps, no horses, no sign of life at all. It was eerily quiet.


    So we started approaching with extreme caution, every sense on high alert. I was ready to grab a bow from my quiver at any second, my fingers itching for the string. But Arthur seemed unusually calm, almost unnervingly so. Not something I would expect to see while we were about to walk into a Queen’s den. A possible evil Queen, no less. The silence made my skin crawl.