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L ilith looked to Felicia who was clearly tense.

“Do you want me to stay?” she whispered.

Felicia shook her head. Lilith squeezed her hand to reassure her, then turned to follow Amiriel, Arlen, and their team.

They strolled through the encampment without speaking, until they reached a large meeting tent.

Once safely inside, Arlen grabbed Lilith in a bear hug. Beside her Locke tensed.

“Arlen.” She wrapped her arms around her brother. “Where is Jasper?” She felt tears form. He pulled back and looked into his sister's green eyes.

“Lilith, thank the gods. Jasper is here, likely roaming around right now looking for me. We're fine. You, on the other hand. Dad was beside himself when you didn’t return home. We’ve been so worried.

” Arlen scanned her. “You look different.” He shared a look with Amiriel and continued, “Before we chat, we need to ask for weapons.”

Locke looked to Lilith. She felt his presence in her mind. We cannot relinquish our weapons. I will not. His voice rang through her mind.

She scowled. You don't need to make things complicated, these people are our allies.

He let out a frustrated groan, I will give up my sword when I know that we’re not at risk of being held against our will. Lilith thought he had a good point.

Arlen and the others were just watching their silent exchange.

“Your weapons?” He held his hand out in front of Lilith.

Her hand went to the hilt of her short sword as she answered them, “We will be keeping our weapons.” Arlen, frustrated at his sister, stepped towards Lilith to grab her sword, but was blocked by Locke. He placed an outstretched arm to shield her.

“She said no,” Locke growled in a voice that sounded like the prince’s. Lilith’s eyes widened, he was fighting for her autonomy. Unlike her brother, who once again allowed others to take advantage of her.

Annoyed by them, she spoke, “Enough of this. There are larger problems at hand. You cannot head into the Void. It’s too dangerous. We barely made it out.”

Locke, who had been glaring at the others, added, “We can assume that every village lost to the Void suffered the same fate as the one we observed. Do we have an estimate as to the numbers of townspeople that didn’t evacuate in time? Do you know what you’re up against?”

Amiriel scrutinized Locke, but answered like a commander: “We only know what the general tells us. So far we’re told that the darkness spreading from the Void has claimed fourteen towns in total.

Eight towns were lost prior to the formation of the barrier.

We estimated the losses then to be around eighteen thousand people.

Now with the barrier breaking, the darkness has absorbed six more towns.

Only those that were on the outskirts had enough time to attempt to evacuate, so we can assume that the probable loss is around twenty thousand souls. ”

Locke looked to no one in particular, “So if we assume the original eighteen thousand souls eventually perished over the fifty years, our army has to face twenty thousand people, plus whatever creatures lurk there. With all the new recruits coming from students, how many people do we have in our army?”

Amiriel clenched his teeth. “Roughly three hundred students were recruited. So we have at most, ten thousand soldiers.” Lilith tensed. Those were not great odds.

The general came in with some soldiers and Felicia, who had red puffy eyes and a bruise forming on her cheek. Lilith reached up and gently brushed her thumb along the forming mark, then turned to give the general a menacing stare. Felicia took Lilith’s hand and gave it a squeeze.

The flap to the tent opened once more, and in walked Lord Elwin, Lord Helmer, and Mistress Rhodes.

Lilith’s vision blurred as she watched Lord Elwin stand across from her. She moved her free hand to grip on the hilt of her sword. Lord Helmer, who was quick to take in her shift in demeanour stood beside her and placed his hand on her shoulder. “Easy,” he whispered to her.

She couldn’t help the rise in her anger pulsing through her veins as Lord Elwin casually smiled at her. Locke moved more of himself in front of her, to block Lord Elwin’s view. She concentrated on her breathing and braced her hand on Locke’s back. Amiriel moved to draw his sword.

“You have lied to us.” General Flavian flared her nostrils at Locke .

Locke glared back at Felicia, who mouthed, “I didn’t say anything.”

“You can drop your mask, Prince Demetrius. I told them who you really were.” Lord Helmer nodded to the royal.

The illusionary magic faded. The long blonde hair shrunk to reveal his dark blue hair.

His wispy figure grew into the broad chested warrior.

His slender face took on the sharp features of the prince. He gave everyone a polite nod.

“I ordered the prince to travel with discretion. Travelling to Vanguard was too risky, though it seems they encountered issues along the way anyway. Please, tell us what you know of the darkness.”

He told them of what was left of Glattonshire, of what the darkness did to the townspeople, and of the creature that came from the black mist. A soldier beside the general took note of what was shared.

Demetrius nodded to Lilith, and she felt him press into her mind.

I will have your back no matter what. His voice soothed her.

She faced the general, “We unknowingly went into the boundaries of the Void.” The general glared at her daughter, but Lilith continued, “The villagers that we encountered were lost to the darkness. There was a creature that came from the dark mist, it smelled our scent and they all chased after us. We got separated as we ran for the boundary.” She thought of Silver, “I couldn’t leave Silver.

He’s my friend. The creature attacked him and I tried to get us to safety.

It was too fast, so I fought back. I burned them all and I killed the beast.” Her words were whispers at the end.

She didn’t dare look at her brother. Did he think her a monster ?

“How did you get away from the creature exactly?” Lord Helmer asked them.

Lilith cleared her throat. “I threw everything I had at it. It seemed most affected by fire. I speared it with ice, tied it with earth magic, and electrocuted it with lightning.”

General Flavian scoffed, “You expect me to believe this girl defeated one of the creatures from the Void? Whole towns lost. People with magic themselves and yet this one girl fought it. Not only that, but you also killed a horde of berserk villagers?”

Lord Helmer answered, “You misjudge this woman. She is more capable than you or Lord Elwin believe.”

Lord Elwin laughed, “How dare you. You know nothing of what that child is capable of. If anything, it only furthers my resolve that what I did was for the best. Why do they still have their weapons?”

“Father.” Amiriel growled. The tent was filled with tension.

A deep feeling of unease exuded from everyone.

It overwhelmed Lilith, making her dizzy from the conflicting emotions scattering around her.

Exhaustion filled her body. She was tired of having to deal with these people.

Tired of holding back. She wanted to let her anger take over.

Act on the feelings of hate that brewed against Lord Elwin. She wanted revenge.

“We should seize her,” Lord Elwin declared. “Soldiers, take her.” The general nodded at a few of the soldiers, who moved forward, crowding them. Lilith and Felicia pulled out their weapons and sank into defensive positions.

Prince Demetrius raised his hands, motioning for everyone to calm down. At the same time, the yellow haired female next to Amiriel smiled and sent a shock of electricity blasting into Lilith.