Chapter 28
For the second time since leaving76Please respect copyright.PENANA0jX0BQ2wns
the Orange Fox, Vander cursed himself for not bringing a weapon with him. With76Please respect copyright.PENANABjBDqHOBLg
the guards walking towards him along with the crowd at his back he knew there76Please respect copyright.PENANACfZs7BxU4o
was no chance of escape. He was too scared to come up with an excuse to not be76Please respect copyright.PENANARj6OCa2EhL
him, but fear glued his tongue to the roof of his mouth. He didn’t want to die76Please respect copyright.PENANAooEXlKUpWK
here, there was too much that he needed to do.
“Stop!” Alex shouted over the76Please respect copyright.PENANA0GRNwXlnCR
crowd. He, along with the rest of his squad, pushed their way through and took76Please respect copyright.PENANAwyaYyFbBFZ
up positions around Vander. Their weapons were drawn, held out in front of76Please respect copyright.PENANAro1VMtsOnx
them, but they made no move to start fighting. “What are you doing?” Alex76Please respect copyright.PENANAvFyfvIR0XW
demanded the guards to answer.
“We heard the commotion, Blade.” A76Please respect copyright.PENANALM9arKP0oE
guard sneered. “That punk behind you is Vander, the king slayer. Hand him over76Please respect copyright.PENANA4j21OnYcBN
or we will kill you too.”
“Even if that was true ganging up76Please respect copyright.PENANAEFLeG8Ac6F
on an unarmed man isn’t very chivalrous of you.” Alex snorted. “Also, I heard76Please respect copyright.PENANA6hMQhMiub8
what you said about killing him for the Jilena’s bounty. From what I understand76Please respect copyright.PENANAlOHFpMW8vq
that was supposed to be pulled by Cuvera, so they are still trying to kill him?76Please respect copyright.PENANAbJDmS9acTl
That’s useful information.” The guard paled as he realized his mistake.
“But that’s definitely Vander and76Please respect copyright.PENANA2Aq51yzF3s
we kept him from fleeing.” The second guard looked a little smug. Alex looked76Please respect copyright.PENANAazmpE6DFET
back at Vander, but feigned ignorance.
“That’s not him.” He responded.76Please respect copyright.PENANAMvfw1GxS9X
Both the guards and mob muttered amongst themselves looking confused. Someone76Please respect copyright.PENANAXOjjrpLxLV
shouted, asking how he could be sure. Alex’s response stunned him: “Look at76Please respect copyright.PENANArcuotUEnXF
him. He doesn’t have the same hair or eye color.” Alex grabbed Vander by the76Please respect copyright.PENANAxH5ROz0dBk
back of his shirt, lifting him up for all to see. “This man is not him; you76Please respect copyright.PENANAwtJxqh3xTE
were ready to kill an innocent man because of what you thought.” Alex dropped76Please respect copyright.PENANAl4RHSXDWbX
him onto his feet. “On behalf of the King, I apologize.” Alex leaned in close76Please respect copyright.PENANA3nV02x5KWY
enough to whisper into his ear: “I’ll find you later, now go.”
Vander nodded his head. He didn’t76Please respect copyright.PENANA45BX7V4MfG
have to hide his fear as he walked through the guards towards the southern76Please respect copyright.PENANADxvcPf4F6B
district. The guards eyed him warily, not quite convinced of Alex’s claim, but76Please respect copyright.PENANAqQFKMnRuun
they wouldn’t do anything about it with all these witnesses around. They would76Please respect copyright.PENANAl2ylJqs05p
bide their time before coming back around. Though, he did notice one of the76Please respect copyright.PENANArbGPtjftea
guards slipping away from the group. If he hadn’t been Vander, he never would76Please respect copyright.PENANAv3QEdBoLiE
have noticed, but people weren’t as sneaky as they thought.
He quickly slipped down a corner76Please respect copyright.PENANAKulrWyR04z
once they were out of sight of the guard post. The one following him followed76Please respect copyright.PENANA0Rj9f7Z72B
him a couple of minutes later, but Vander was waiting for him. He grabbed the76Please respect copyright.PENANAuUv9GPeov0
man around his neck then dragged him kicking and screaming deeper into the dark76Please respect copyright.PENANA5j4rFhxWtp
alley. Luckily for him, unluckily for the guard, people screaming was76Please respect copyright.PENANADffx2aNu2R
commonplace around here and others knew better than to interfere which made76Please respect copyright.PENANAouBi7tb2re
things a lot easier.
“You’ll never get away with this.”76Please respect copyright.PENANAPj3J2XeHGZ
That guard grunted. Vander threw him into the wall. When the man bounced off,76Please respect copyright.PENANAJMLm6hdTAy
he was met with a left hook sending him spinning onto the ground. He walked76Please respect copyright.PENANArOMMDf443j
around, taunting the guard to stand up. He could hear the demon whispering in76Please respect copyright.PENANAd2sCf0C1sF
his ear to make this as painful as possible, something Vander himself wanted.76Please respect copyright.PENANAMFJiIsxYKG
This man tried to kill him, no questions asked, and he would be damned if he76Please respect copyright.PENANAt2Z8vONCdr
would play nice with someone like this.
The guard stood up, drawing his76Please respect copyright.PENANA7ugG2uZzfr
sword as he did so. With a cry he slashed at Vander who neatly side stepped76Please respect copyright.PENANAR1H5UALOod
away. While the guard was regaining his footing he was hit several times in the76Please respect copyright.PENANAIZrSWodSNB
face. A wad of blood hit the ground as the guard tried again, but this time he76Please respect copyright.PENANAeTAqf9z5eF
lunged at Vander knocking him over then straddled him. Vander grabbed the man’s76Please respect copyright.PENANAOyJ1qFfngH
elbow which made it difficult for him to use the sword. With his other hand,76Please respect copyright.PENANA3cxETswtj2
Vander grabbed the man’s shirt under the armor then drove both their heads76Please respect copyright.PENANAThLjWUE44a
together with a crack. The guard fell from Vander unconscious.
His head was splitting, but he was76Please respect copyright.PENANA6UxbP6aR9m
alive. He shoved the guard off him before shakily getting to his feet. Perhaps76Please respect copyright.PENANA8odWJ1hBz3
it was a bad idea to leave the comforts of the Orange Fox to investigate since76Please respect copyright.PENANAgY1uzB2FVe
now he may have been compromised. He would be worse off if he allowed this man76Please respect copyright.PENANAYKkrb1dFZc
to live. If he did there was no way that he would be left alone. Once Cuvera or76Please respect copyright.PENANAB2N1cPnIKb
the Jilena’s knew he was in the slums they would waste no time in trying to76Please respect copyright.PENANASpbgQtU0Hu
pull him out. But could he go through with killing a guard who was just doing76Please respect copyright.PENANAfyCSPbSzyq
his job?
The demon inside certainly thought76Please respect copyright.PENANAE6Ha5GTUlv
so. He taunted Vander saying everything he had worked to accomplish would come76Please respect copyright.PENANAnjzjkhavCX
crumbling down if the man lived. The slums were a perfect place to hide a body,76Please respect copyright.PENANA4WxWRHaMFa
no one would ever notice him. Soon enough he would be stripped of his armor,76Please respect copyright.PENANAow5MLYCLpB
weapon and money than likely torn apart by those hungry enough to eat human76Please respect copyright.PENANAF1rANYBj7J
meat. The cleanup would take care of itself, there was nothing more that could76Please respect copyright.PENANA4k310yxNIo
be done. It would be a mercy killing for this man, a safety killing for Vander.76Please respect copyright.PENANAGM5TgF6rTP
A win-win.
The demon’s reasoning was solid.76Please respect copyright.PENANAy7lL1Xr2tx
For a few moments Vander was really tempted to do as his inner self had said,76Please respect copyright.PENANAxLRj7lypuX
but that would only validate everything everyone thought about him. Then he76Please respect copyright.PENANA1pPbFhaQRM
truly would be a murderer, which was something he hadn’t wanted. So, he did the76Please respect copyright.PENANAWv5vVJ2R5x
only thing he could. He dragged the unconscious man to a corner where he would76Please respect copyright.PENANA2TeWQfOPod
be invisible from the street. Then he placed some trash over him in case anyone76Please respect copyright.PENANAnfxSC8hXlu
looked down here they would just see a pile of garbage. However, he did take76Please respect copyright.PENANAJh3UvwEFMi
the sword so the guard wouldn’t feel tempted to kill someone once he woke up76Please respect copyright.PENANAUYHzitP5FT
and realized Vander was gone.
With that done, he wasted no time76Please respect copyright.PENANAoZpEMO7Bpd
heading back towards the Fox. Right and Left gave him an odd glance, but a76Please respect copyright.PENANATvIIFd5tWi
quick glare made them keep their mouths shut. He slipped inside his room where76Please respect copyright.PENANAA8DoQa71MJ
Shea was sleeping comfortably on the bed. She didn’t even awaken when he came76Please respect copyright.PENANAxG3W46JeNY
inside so he decided to clean himself up so she wouldn’t get worried upon76Please respect copyright.PENANA6LgV2dJqJz
seeing his face. He placed the sword inside of the closet before stepping into76Please respect copyright.PENANAmZCIG0TSeC
the bathroom.
The damage he took from hitting76Please respect copyright.PENANA3PBxjAla89
the guard wasn’t much, but he was getting quite a large headache. He grabbed a76Please respect copyright.PENANAk6YRFXMyFe
glass of water, placing it on his head to cool down the swelling. With his76Please respect copyright.PENANAAePoOXL0t6
quicker healing it should go away after about an hour, so he quickly washed his76Please respect copyright.PENANASpoUb79JES
face and changed his clothes before taking his spot next to Shea. Moments his76Please respect copyright.PENANADgcqIQT32R
eyes were closed, and he was gently snoring away.
…
A cold breeze tickled his nose76Please respect copyright.PENANAnufxY2ExUQ
causing him to sneeze himself awake. As his eyes focused, he soon realized that76Please respect copyright.PENANAzhZS6e8uTs
he wasn’t in his room. He was lying on the grass which surrounded a large lake.76Please respect copyright.PENANAY6CPXwIE7j
There were trees all over the place along with a random wooden table in the76Please respect copyright.PENANA1KUBKBJZhk
middle of the clearing. Within the lake was a large wooden dock, but the water76Please respect copyright.PENANA2WqkVprOyS
was what intrigued him the most. It was crystal blue, but he couldn’t see more76Please respect copyright.PENANA9GDhY0gDAI
than a few inches down before it was swallowed by black. He could feel76Please respect copyright.PENANAN8T1I1LhGr
something swimming below the surface, but he couldn’t tell what it was.76Please respect copyright.PENANAilJk7gcTFp
However, it was very large and hungry. The question was though, how did he get76Please respect copyright.PENANApJwE2vRegQ
here and how did he know?
He got up from the ground feeling76Please respect copyright.PENANAhNxOxDZw2d
some sort of compulsion to head towards the table. As he grew closer, he saw76Please respect copyright.PENANAYgSGFQ6Lct
someone sitting there as if she has appeared from thin air. She had tanned76Please respect copyright.PENANA4sS3CzzlNC
skin, long brown hair, and was wearing clothing that didn’t quite fit being76Please respect copyright.PENANAEIAmvJTFhX
inside of a forest. She wore a sun dress without shoes or sleeves. As he walked76Please respect copyright.PENANAMEhtHphnZu
closer, he could feel the heat emanating from her body.
“Vander.” Her voice was soft, much76Please respect copyright.PENANAEX6QAA3JF4
like a whisper. Recognition flooded his body, but why would she be here? He76Please respect copyright.PENANA2Yj0XsHegd
didn’t have any sort of connection with her.
“Why are you here?” he asked. He76Please respect copyright.PENANAmH1mGOMnWB
looked around before he said something else. “Wherever here is.”
“You don’t recognize it?” Atza76Please respect copyright.PENANAEEP0YayIwx
smiled. “Though I guess not everyone can enter their hidden world, so I’m not76Please respect copyright.PENANAWniV9bE3GI
sure why I’m surprised.” This wasn’t like the Atza he had grown up hearing76Please respect copyright.PENANARQ3xtUa50v
about. She was kind and gentle, not the hot-headed firebird from the myths and76Please respect copyright.PENANAAqk5Iw7Y7R
stories.
“Hidden world?” She motioned for76Please respect copyright.PENANAvZLtVGBOKa
him to sit at the table, so he did. “I guess this feels a little familiar to76Please respect copyright.PENANAHTSauNeMso
me, but I’ve never seen it.”
“Hidden worlds tend to reflect how76Please respect copyright.PENANA6dvt7Ai9uN
people are as well as the things that matter to them.” She explained.76Please respect copyright.PENANAVMEf4dbaND
“According to this you prefer tranquility and relaxation, being surrounded by76Please respect copyright.PENANATppc2hkO8r
the woods as well as the gentle lapping of water against the shore. It’s all76Please respect copyright.PENANAoO71vLXkdv
very soothing.”
“It’s been a long time since I’ve76Please respect copyright.PENANAZr6MklI4hH
felt calm enough to relax.” He explained.
“And that’s why you and I are76Please respect copyright.PENANAfWXisWIH9b
here.” She beamed. “I wanted to talk to you when you are at your calmest, not76Please respect copyright.PENANAl1iEJcFTaJ
when the demon my niece gave you is constantly whispering in your ear.”
“You know about that?” she nodded76Please respect copyright.PENANAjdaorVkapa
her head. She went on to explain that every single one of Unna’s chosen had a76Please respect copyright.PENANAedT0Sg0bPB
demon they had to fight against almost all the time. It was a special little76Please respect copyright.PENANAYVBopd5Ow2
gift she gave them to try to get them to use her powers all the time, to give76Please respect copyright.PENANAdI4LzmSUJG
in to their inner thoughts and desires. It made it easier for her to control76Please respect copyright.PENANAgZaSiQ9c5B
them that way. “Charming.” He muttered, but he already knew all that. She must76Please respect copyright.PENANAczVKxBBQkG
have sensed his thoughts because she smiled, then said:
“Did you know your demon is inside76Please respect copyright.PENANAR8LocNSmes
that lake and that’s why you can’t see more than a few feet in?” Vander looked76Please respect copyright.PENANAuMSfNeewXG
at her then shook his head. Grinning, she snapped her fingers. Suddenly he was76Please respect copyright.PENANAqLJoDARjS8
in the middle of the very cold water at the center of the lake. She waved at76Please respect copyright.PENANAOgo9P5r2nN
him from the shore. “You better start swimming before he gets you.”
As soon as the words touched his76Please respect copyright.PENANAPvSV7fmO4A
ears, he could feel a very strong presence coming towards him from under the76Please respect copyright.PENANAnL5fzb89IK
water. Fear filled his body as he started to swim as fast as he could. A wave76Please respect copyright.PENANA8F9LhLztYX
of energy slammed into him propelling him forward but knocking him away from76Please respect copyright.PENANA3mx5jD0bJr
the docks. The water ripped as large ridges appeared on the back of something76Please respect copyright.PENANAzJMScpCDFq
truly monstrous. It was coming towards him, hunting him as if he were prey.76Please respect copyright.PENANAKnvv4LXHhT
Vander started swimming away from the fish, but the creature was quick. It76Please respect copyright.PENANAeRGv1HAFMj
quickly got ahead of Vander then turned around to collide head on. The head76Please respect copyright.PENANAuHww3kltyD
broke the water, revealing small eyes and a large mouth filled with rows upon76Please respect copyright.PENANAwoWSE6iW72
rows of teeth.
He did the only thing he could at76Please respect copyright.PENANA4Ty3yvwadO
that moment. He slapped a bunch of water into the demon’s eyes causing it to76Please respect copyright.PENANA2pm9HchYBI
veer off course because it could no longer see. The large tail slammed into76Please respect copyright.PENANApNmpqyha7S
Vander’s stomach knocking him out of the water back onto the ground where Atza76Please respect copyright.PENANAkOAy1aWM2y
stood smiling down at him.
“That was close.” She grinned.
“You almost got me killed.” He76Please respect copyright.PENANAhcCaUw5VEr
snapped. He got to his feet, but paused as he realized he wasn’t hurt. He76Please respect copyright.PENANA27ts42JCGa
looked back at the lake to see that it was perfect still once again.
“As long as you fear the demon it76Please respect copyright.PENANA0ssUVIJKPx
will keep coming for you.” She explained. “You need to learn to control your76Please respect copyright.PENANAjHsulG6Bd9
emotions and put aside your pride to learn to ask for help.” She cupped his76Please respect copyright.PENANAFrDaOOcNxf
head in her hands. “This world is relying on you Vander. We need you.” He76Please respect copyright.PENANA96WQUIoWLK
carefully removed his head from her hands.
“The deities have told me that for76Please respect copyright.PENANAA4vxfqXPv5
several months now.” He snorted. “But now when I need them, they are nowhere to76Please respect copyright.PENANATgZekmQ66E
be seen.”
“My family is embroiled in a76Please respect copyright.PENANAO0NqgDYf0Q
struggle amongst themselves.” She explained. “I’m not part of this land so I76Please respect copyright.PENANAvARMz6unun
don’t have the same restrictions, but I also cannot interfere with what they76Please respect copyright.PENANAMvy8vYeJ80
do. I’m only here to help guide you.”
“Guide me how?”
“I can’t explain more than that at76Please respect copyright.PENANAcG9PqKJwM4
this time.” She smiled sadly. “But you will need the help of the demon before76Please respect copyright.PENANAjbKUlusfA8
all this is over and if you can’t, we will all die.” He opened his mouth to ask76Please respect copyright.PENANAU1mrICwmI5
more, but she placed her hand on his chest. Once again, he felt himself flying76Please respect copyright.PENANAHaTZVePuMV
away, but this time it was up towards the sky.
He bolted away as he heard a knock76Please respect copyright.PENANA7lfdo01HDd
at the door.
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