ShadowBound: The Need For Power-Chapter 358: Not Emotions

Mystica and Magnus emerged into Lucy’s private study, finding her already seated behind her desk, a flicker of restlessness betraying her normally composed posture.

The moment her gaze landed on them, a faint light returned to Lucy’s eyes.

"Did you get her? Or was Liam’s gut wrong this time?" she asked, her tone calm but threaded with urgency.

"Right now, I’d rather believe Liam’s instincts are right," Mystica replied, her voice smooth and steady. "But the only way to confirm whether Eliv or Berg is a hybrid is by reaching out to the Crescent Kingdom. If Sheila truly made it there, then they’re clear."

Lucy said nothing for a beat, her silence stretching as she studied Magnus. Then, without sparing him a glance, she spoke.

"Ease up, Magnus. Sheila being taken... and that isn’t your fault."

Magnus twitched subtly. He wore the same relaxed expression he always did, but inside, his nerves were tightly coiled. He had been stewing in the guilt of letting Sheila slip through his fingers. He’d hidden it well from Liam and Mabel—but not from Lucy. She was too sharp, especially with those she’d known for years.

Without a word, Lucy placed her hand atop a secured orb embedded in her polished mahogany desk. The orb flared gently with light, and within moments, a magical projection shimmered into being—King Valemir and Queen Elanora, seated grimly upon their thrones.

"Queen Lucy," Valemir began, his voice stripped of any diplomatic polish. "I hope this call isn’t to bring me bad news about my daughter. Because Eliv and Berg haven’t arrived yet." His eyes were cold.

Mystica exhaled slowly, her eyes shutting for a breath. Magnus’ jaw tightened, his fists clenched.

But Lucy, ever composed, remained still as stone.

"Well, since you’ve said it yourself, I believe I needn’t say much," she said with steady calm.

Valemir’s expression hardened as he snapped, "What are you implying? That two of my most trusted people are hybrids? That they’ve handed my daughter over to Sylvathar?!"

"Not two," Mystica corrected. "Maybe just one. Though it could be both... Still, knowing the kind of man Thuden was, I doubt a demon like Sylvathar would seek friendship with him."

"You’re seriously standing there, telling me Eliv Borges—Grand Primordial Mage of the Crescent Kingdom—the same man who trained my daughter when she was barely old enough to hold a staff, would betray me? Betray her? For what—some twisted alliance with a demon?"

"I understand your anger," Lucy said, eyes steady and voice like calm ice. "I do. But now isn’t the time to let emotion run the show. Every moment we waste is a moment further from saving Sheila. Alive."

Valemir stared at her, clearly boiling under the surface. The way Lucy kept her cool only stoked his rage—after all, this wasn’t her daughter.

"Fine, Rature. Let’s say I calm down. Let’s say Eliv is a hybrid. He came to your land. Your Academy. The place you so boldly claimed was the safest haven for my daughter because your Second Blade was protecting her."

He gestured mockingly.

"Well, I see my daughter’s ’protector’ standing right there. But I don’t see my daughter."

Magnus stood like stone, but his jaw was clenched so tight it trembled. The guilt already weighed heavy—Valemir’s words only dug it deeper.

Lucy’s eyes narrowed, her voice sharp as a blade drawn in the cold.

"Valemir, you seem to forget something critical. Without my efforts—without the work of my Kingdom—you’d still be wandering blind in the dark. Crescent, Solara—both would be clueless."

She leaned forward slightly.

"And since your emotions are clearly fogging your head, allow me to clear it for you. You’ve had Eliv Borges in your court for decades. You never once suspected a thing. Never once considered him a threat."

She paused, letting the weight of her words settle.

"Even now, when things are spiraling, you still trusted him to come here and take your daughter back. And yet, you expect my knight—my man—to spot in a single glance what you failed to see in a lifetime?"

Valemir’s mouth opened to speak, but the words died before they came.

"You should be thankful," Lucy said coldly, "that your daughter was welcomed into my land, protected, sheltered, and cared for—before you go casting blame for your blindness and your failure."

Her voice rang with finality, the truth stinging with the weight of it.

Valemir’s projection flickered faintly as his silence thickened. Though he was nothing more than light and will shaped by arcane power, the fury burning in his gaze was unmistakably real—an anger that slammed against Lucy’s composed stillness like waves breaking upon an unshaken cliff.

"You speak with such arrogance, Lucy," he said at last, his voice low and biting. "But don’t mistake your clever tongue for innocence. You may have offered her shelter, but she was mine to protect. And now... she’s gone."

"She wasn’t just yours," Magnus spoke, his voice quiet but firm. His head was still bowed, but his eyes rose slowly to meet the king’s spectral image. "She was my responsibility. I failed her. That part’s not up for debate."

Lucy gave him a sidelong glance—neither scolding nor sympathetic. Simply assessing. Calm and measured.

"You failed once," she said coolly. "Don’t fail again by letting guilt steer your next move."

Valemir’s image shifted slightly, his fingers curling around the arm of his throne, jaw tense.

"Where do you think Sylvathar has taken her?"

Mystica stepped forward, her expression composed but serious. "Truthfully? We have no idea. Sylvathar isn’t a demon dumb enough to just be in obvious places. We are... essentially blind."

Valemir exhaled through clenched teeth, voice laced with a bitter edge. "Then my daughter is already gone."

Silence answered him—until Lucy’s voice cut through it like a blade.

"No, she isn’t," she said. "Sylvathar needs her alive. He’s not going to kill her—at least not until he finds a way to extract her divine light. Until that’s done, Sheila is alive. That gives us a window. Maybe not a large one... but a chance, nonetheless."

"And if we want that chance to count, we need to move now," Magnus added. His voice was firmer now, the earlier tremor in his hands replaced by conviction, though his fists remained clenched at his sides.

Valemir gave a slow nod, though the anger hadn’t left his face.

"Then I’ll have Caelum and Sylas pull back from their current sweep in Zone 1. Get them to begin a focused search. Hit every place they can reach."

Lucy’s brow furrowed. "They’re still in Zone 1?"

"They are," Valemir confirmed. "According to the latest reports, hybrids started showing up out of nowhere—dozens at a time. Nothing civilians would notice or panic over yet, and they’re weak. But they just keep showing up. If the trend continues, public order could break."

Mystica and Lucy exchanged a sharp look. The pieces were falling into place now.

First, the wave of weak hybrids. Zones 8 and 9 had seen it. And now, Zone 1. It was no coincidence.

It was a coordinated diversion.

The increase in hybrid appearances had clearly been orchestrated to pull the Kingdoms’ strongest protectors—those best suited to guard Sheila—away from her. With Eliv attending the summit, it made perfect sense that he had leaked intel about the upcoming sweeps. That leak gave Mourne and the others time to flood those areas with hybrids, spreading their forces thin. Galen, Sylas, Caelum, Tharionson—all had been pulled into wide-scale hybrid suppression missions.

And while they were occupied, the real enemy made his move.

Galen had only returned early because he had Liam with him—Liam’s innate ability to sense hybrid energy allowed them to clear zones faster than expected. But the others weren’t so lucky. They were stuck using Dove’s detection crystals, which had only a forty-meter radius—barely enough to locate anything effectively in a war-scale sweep. Their progress would be far slower.

Lucy’s thoughts sharpened. ’If that weren’t the case, if things had been normal, Valemir never would’ve trusted his daughter’s safety to an aging mage like Eliv. He would’ve sent Caelum. Sylas. Or both. Knights with a lifetime of experience and instincts honed for battle, not political relics past their prime.

But because of the sweeps—because of the orchestrated chaos—Valemir had no choice but to improvise. He had to entrust Sheila to Eliv and Berg.’.

’And that,’ Lucy realized, ’was the critical failure.’

"Well, if that happens, and a full-scale war breaks out without warning, we’ll have a bigger crisis than just hybrids," Lucy finally spoke, her voice sharp but composed. "We need to keep these weak hybrids in check. The last thing we want is public panic spiraling out of control."

"We’re dealing with the same issue here," she added, "though not as intense as yours, I believe. Regardless—get Caelum and Sylas moving. They must sweep every corner, every ruin, every village. I’ll alert the Solara Kingdom and have them start their own internal scans immediately."

"Understood," Valemir replied. "Contact me the moment you find anything."

With that, his projection flickered once—then vanished entirely.

Now left in the quiet of the study, the air tense but still, Lucy let out a soft sigh and leaned back in her chair.

"Where do we even begin?" Mystica asked, arms folded. "Sylvathar’s a greenish demon—his aura’s deeply elemental, like the old forest lords. He’d most likely hide somewhere buried in nature. But he’s not foolish enough to pick somewhere easily tracked."

"Yeah, you right," a familiar voice cut in as an open portal shimmered to life in the room.

Liam stepped through it, his tone casual Behind him, Mabel followed, her expression unreadable.

"Sylvathar isn’t stupid," Liam continued, "And I’d advise you have everyone head to the Land of Ruins."

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