Caden woke up and sat up quickly. Merill, kneeling near him, fell on his back in shock.
"Where's Cassandra?" Caden called.
"She ran into the town for help, we thought..." Merill couldn't answer and Caden ran to the town.
Cassandra fought several guards outside the gate.
"Enough!" Caden ran to them.
The guards stopped.
"And who are you?" the guard asked. Caden showed the document.
"Ah, and she... belongs to you? Sorry, sir..."
Cassandra did not hold herself and hit one of the guards with her fist into his jaw. Caden tore her away from them.
"Calm down! Calm..." Caden shouted.
"I'll kill him anyway..." Cassandra wiped her blood from the corner of her mouth.
"We're leaving..." Caden said, leading her back to the camp.
"What happened?" Merill asked.
"This isn't a town, it's a prison," Caden replied.
"What do you mean?" Stephan asked.
"We'll talk to Jedar," Caden said.
"But we don't know where he is," Stephan said.
"From the Wall, he'll probably head back to the Imperial City, maybe we'll meet him on the way," Merill said.
The group packed everything and mounted their horses. They travelled all the way to the Imperial City, where they stayed and arranged an audience with the high warden.
At night, Caden had another frightening dream. He stood at the gate to a malevolent-looking palace. Two dark shadows approached him.
There were voices calling, "Evil... Defend yourself, Caden."
Shadows drew swords. Caden did it too, and they both vanished under his strikes. Caden entered the palace. More and more shadows hurled at him as he went on, and the voices in his head became stronger and more urgent.
"Destroy the evil lair!" "Everyone must pay for their sins." "For your people."
Caden entered the great hall, a large shadow stood in front of the throne.
"It is him. The source of all evil. Kill him, Caden..." the voices were still whispering.
Caden ran with his sword before him, a black cloud appeared in front of him, Caden stabbed through it.
Now, his eyes really opened.
His sword was pierced in Merill's chest.
Cassandra grabbed his body while shouting, "What have you done!? You've gone completely mad! Merill..."
Soldiers with spears spread around Caden and the balconies above him were filled with crossbowmen.
"What have you done, Caden?" general Jedar said while standing in the centre of the room.
Caden did not want to believe his eyes, his head was in a rampage, ignoring the soldiers. He was busy not to faint.
"I'm sorry, but I can't save you now," Jedar said.
Caden felt a pinch and lost consciousness.592Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxxmTCvmSmd
