Iᴍᴘᴇʀɪᴜᴍ (Bᴏᴏᴋ 1) (editing)

Chapter 19- It's Just the Beginning (Part 2)

Previous Part

Theo took a deep breath before he turned to his friend. "As far as I am concerned that man sitting on the throne is not my father." He shook his head looking down. "That man was never a father to me. He has hurt and tortured more people in his lifetime and has gotten away with it time and time again. He does not deserve to be where he is today. And to know the truth..." He broke off gritting his teeth thinking of the words Rayna spoke on the events of that night. "To know the truth that he killed the man I looked up to then as a father, and possibly killed and framed the woman I considered a second mother is unforgivable." When he looked into Cyrus' eyes again, they were dark with anger. "But to know that he was almost the murderer of my best friend, the murderer of a child." He gripped the window sill tightly, trying to control his anger. "He deserves what's coming for him." Theo looked out the window once more eyes trained on her. "In the last forty-eight hours I have thanked the Gods a million times over that he did not succeed in that respect."

Both men stood looking out the window, as the night sky grew darker, growing a slight orange.

Part 2

Once the sky was covered in darkness and stars that was when they set out to the castle.

All of them dressed in dark clothing, the men in the Bellator uniforms and Rayna wore her black dress along with her mothers cape. Kalevi and Cyrus stayed behind, of course they tried to argue their way into going, but everyone agreed that everything that was happening in town it was best to keep them hidden. Rayna tried to argue the same thing for Theo, my the Gods forbid if they were to get caught, who knows what will happen to him. But each argued that Theo knew the castle better than anyone. As a child he would search the castle high and low, he knew the castle like the back of his hand; they needed him.

The dryads met them at the opening of the jungle to escort them; they only had three horses, two people to a horse to limit noise and suspicion. All the men had their helmets on, hiding their identity. And Rayna had on her cloak, along with a scarf to cover her face so only her eyes were seen.  She held on tight to Theo, growing more and more nervous as they neared their destination. She didn't doubt them to do the job right, to try their best. But she was having doubts in herself; in her powers. What if something goes wrong? What if she is not strong enough to cast the spell?

With one hand on the reins and the other over Rayna's hands Theo felt his nerves slip away as he followed the other two horses ahead. He knew in the end he would be safe; this was what he was trained for, to fight, to do what's right. And with Rayna there, he knew she would protect them.

Once they reached the end of their destination, Prince Coilleach was waiting for them.  Rayna felt her lips tug into a smile, though no one could see it. Once they stopped, Rayna jumped down from the horse without any help and went to her friend. Coilleach bent down to hug her. "Thank you for being here." Rayna whispered.

Coilleach pulled away and took her hands in his, "Where else would I be?"

Rayna smiled under the cloth and squeezed his hands back.  She took a deep breath, released his hands and turned to the men waiting for her. She pulled the cloth down from her mouth and spoke. "Alright, the way this will work is I will be cloaking all six of us under the spell. It's the only way. No one will be able to see, hear, or touch any one of us. The only ones that will be able to see us is each other." She waited to make sure each man understood. "If you pick something up, it will not make a sound under your touch. But do not drop anything or let anything go, because once it is released from your hands it will make a noise. Now I will be staying here, and when it nears time I will make the whistle noise I showed you all. Only we will be able to hear it. When you hear that whistle you will only have at most fifteen minutes before you are visible. I will walk forward with you to the edge of the jungle, and that is it. I will not be here when you get back so just run as fast as you can."