Serene’s POV

Suri was circling all around Kilamin who in return watched him with keen interest.

"You met Suri, seems like he is already fond of you." I chuckled, Suri spotted me and stopping his rounds, galloped towards me.

I patted him on the head and made my way to Kilamin. Zeph had his assignments to finish so he left me in Kilamin’s care. We began our duel while Suri sat down to watch us.

"How are you now? Any headaches?" I inquired while dodging his sword.

"I feel perfectly fine, don’t worry." We practiced for an hour while Suri watched us lazily. Then we called it a day before Kilamin dropped me in my room.

The next few weeks went by in a blur. I resumed my training with Kilamin and the new Slayer who was sent to control my new power, in case it resurfaced. His name was Fadiam and he was a Warlock, he was almost the age of Kilamin.

His power was to restrict someone’s power within one one-meter radius. He stayed close to me every time Kilamin and I practiced. Kilamin asked me to try using it again but I was so afraid of hurting him or someone else that it didn’t manifest.

I was so afraid of it that I hoped and wished that it won’t. Kilamin felt like I was holding back so he began to push my boundaries but no matter what he tried, that power seemed to have gone dormant.

Suri was mostly with me when we trained on the ground. He was particularly fond of Kilamin but not really of Zeph. Especially whenever Zeph would wrap his arms around me or kiss me, Suri would openly growl at him, as if announcing he was jealous. Both of them threw dirty looks at each which always made me laugh.

The winter season was in full swing now and with heavy snows it was becoming a challenge to train outside. But, Kilamin was adamant and wanted me to learn to train in every situation and weather.

My nightmares were becoming more intense as well and at times it was hard to sleep for days.

One cold moonless night, Ayrden and I were taking a walk on the grounds. I was feeling extremely uneasy that day, so Ayrden and I decided to go out for a bit. We were wrapped in woolen coats.

Suri was sitting under a tree, napping. When I felt something crawl up my neck and nudge at my brain. It was just a feeling, but it began to spread.

I tried to fight it, having a clue what was going on. I fought the invasion by bringing up my shield. My heart had elevated and my palms were becoming sweaty even in cold weather.

"Ayrden," I squealed but I saw her eyes had turned black and she gave me a menacing look.

Before I could realize what was happening a gigantic bird swooped down from the sky and grabbed me by my shoulders. I screamed when the bird’s claws pierced my skin. My body instantly went numb, its talons had some kind of

paralyzing agent. It began to fly up, taking me with it.

Suri came running and began to howl menacingly at the bird jumping up and down trying to reach my foot. Ayrden just stood there staring at me with black eyes and I realized that she was not herself anymore.

I began to lose consciousness as the bird flew away with me. When I came to my senses again, we were still flying, it was dark and the cold wind rushed past me. My brain wasn’t functioning properly as if part of it had been invaded and screamed to head over to the Dark Realm.

I could see the pulsating boundary of the Dark Realm in the distance. Struggling with all my remaining senses I tried to get myself free but my energy had been fully drained and my struggles had no effect on the bird. I was losing my mind fast as we approached the boundary.

The bird stopped inches away from the boundary and flung me inside the black and violet thick jelly of the Dark Realm. I screamed and prepared myself to get burnt but nothing happened and I smoothly crossed the threshold and fell on the ground with a ’thud’. Cold inside chilled me to the bone.

My leg got scraped as I fell and a scream escaped my throat. Darkness filled my brain and my limbs wouldn’t even move. Everything was pitch black there, I could hear the scuttling of legs all around me as if something was trying to crawl all around.

Something with hundreds of legs began to crawl on my legs and belly, I screamed as fear gripped me, and my whole body shook. I was being bitten on my hands and legs. My cries of anguish filled the air.

A wolf-like creature with piercing yellow eyes and horns on its head came prancing towards me. It was the size of a large horse. It stared at me for a while with its intelligent eyes and then it opened its mouth to reveal its sharp fangs at me.

I tried to cower away from it but it dug its fangs deep into my left shoulder. They broke my skin and I could feel the blood rushing out and forming a pool on the ground. A shrill scream escaped my throat as I tried to claw its face.

It was of no use, it dragged me away on the cold rough ground. I could feel my clothes tearing from being dragged and blood seeping out from several wounds. The coldness of the place made my blood freeze over as pings of pain after pain rippled through my entire body.

I could feel several creatures around me, and as my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I could see grotesque creatures watching me with their heinous eyes. They could sense my fear for they made noises that seemed like slogans of victory as if announcing they finally got me.

I was aware that it was Kilamin’s intense training that had made it possible for me to not lose all of my consciousness and fall under her spell, completely.

The creature dragged me to a clearing, there were no vines that mostly covered the terrain of the Dark Realm. The rotten smell of this Realm burnt my nose as I tried to keep some part of my mind under my control.

I observed that the plants and trees of the Dark Realm were mostly black and dark green and were laden with fresh snow. Trees were humongous as this part of the Dark Realm seemed to be some kind of a giant haunted forest. The smell was unbearable though.

The creature threw me in the middle of the clearing while hundreds of different kinds of creatures crawled out of the forest and gathered all around me. Standing and watching me intently as if waiting for someone’s arrival or command.

Another creature stepped forward, it had an extremely elongated head and a body that resembled a 10 feet tall praying mantis. Its front arms were shaped like sharp spears and its beady eyes were a mixture of orange and red.

It towered over me as if ready to devour, I scampered back trying to escape its grasp as its spear-like arms descended on my legs. They pierced my skin and impaled me to the ground, immobilizing me.

A painful shriek left my lips as the pain rippled from my legs and traveled throughout my body. Tears spilled from my eyes. I tried to move but there was no escape, nowhere to run and hide.

What was about to happen? Why was I here? It seemed like all my nightmares were taking a reality check. "Let me go," I screamed at the creature keeping me hostage. That only seemed to enrage it more as it took out its claws from my legs and stabbed me with it again, this time on my thighs.

The pain was unbearable and I writhed and screamed until my voice became hoarse. The creatures growled and shrieked too as if enjoying my pain. I wasn’t sure why I was brought here and why the creatures were torturing me. But one thing was for sure, they didn’t want to kill me, yet.

My whole body was trembling from the pain and cold. I was losing blood fast and my body had been drained of every ounce of energy. I didn’t have my bow with me so I couldn’t even attack them. I felt utterly helpless at that moment. Was this how I was going to die? How meaningless my life had become? I thought of Zeph and my heart ached. He must be worried sick by now.

Then I heard someone approaching, and a wave of excitement shot through the creatures standing all around me. They howled, growled, and pounced in excitement, seeing whoever made their way toward me. I tried to raise my head and see who it was and instantly regretted doing that.

I shrieked at the sight which met my eyes.