"Guards!" King Griffin called and two men adorned in knights’ armors walked in, their hands on the hilt of their swords. The messenger panicked. Did he really mean what he said? He searched for his face and he knew the guy was not the type to joke. His face answered it all.

"Please don’t kill me! I will swear my loyalty to you," he pleaded.

King Griffin seemed deep in thought giving the messenger some hope. He looked at the messenger skeptically and smiled. That smile! The messenger knew he was as good as dead. "I thought you would be loyal by disclosing the cause of the king’s death." Griffin said searching for the messenger’s face. "See. You can’t even disclose a simple secret." And turning to the guards, "You know what to do." He smiled at the messenger and started walking away.

"Send his mutilated body to Valoria. Tell the queen that it is a gesture of kindness from her good friends." He said before he closed the door behind. The messenger’s face was laced with panic. He was discussing his body as if it were some toy or doll. He was human!

"Wait!" He called but Griffin had already gone. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"No one will save you so you better keep quiet." One of the knights sneered.

"Don’t touch me." The messenger said and drew his sword in a defensive stance.

"Or what?" The other knight asked.

"Or I’ll kill you," he said pointing his sword at the two knights simultaneously.

"You will kill us with that?" The knights asked sarcastically as if the sword was a piece of stick.

"Play time is over. Kill him now," the other knight said and the other nodded. One of the knights disappeared into thin air making the messenger to swallow in fear.

King Griffin walked through the hallways and paused as if he was expecting something. A scream filled the hallways and he smiled contentedly. But then, another feeling swirled inside him. What was this feeling? This occurred when someone tried to summon him. He closed his eyes and concentrated. After a few minutes, he shot his eyes wide in surprise. It was Isadora. Was she in danger? It was unlike her to summon him, not unless she needed something important, or when she was in danger.

There was only one way to find out. He vanished into thin air before he materialized in the Valorian palace. He looked around and noticed that he was in her room. But the silence in it signaled no sign of life present. So that meant she was not here. If not in her room, then where would she be? In Alexander’s room? No! She could not be so naïve to summon him in such a place.

The feeling swirled in him again, stronger this time and he could feel the pull towards a certain hallway. He materialized into the hallway and saw a closed room. Yes! That was it. He could feel her calling intensify at that room. Closing his mind, he concentrated before he vanished and appeared in the room.

He looked around and saw Isadora standing a few steps away. But what was with that face? She looked pale with a pained expression on her face. His gaze travelled further southwards and he nearly jumped at the sight he saw. Blood was oozing out continuously from her wrist. What the hell had happened to her? He was willing to bring hell on Valoria for hurting Isadora. But again, that thought vanished when he saw her holding a dagger with the other hand. If he was angry then, he should panic now. He, of all the people knew what that dagger carried.

Isadora dreamy eyes seemed to recognize a blurry figure of her uncle and she was more than glad that he came. If he had not, she couldn’t even bring herself to think what would have befallen her.

"Uncle?" She called faintly before the world began spinning around her and she knew she was falling. She braced herself for the coming pain before a strong pair of hands held her by her waist before she could kiss the hard floor.

"What happened to you Isadora?" She could hear the worry and care in his voice. The last person Isadora wanted to see worried was her uncle. But for now, worry was the only formidable weapon she could use to save Alexander.

Her dreamy eyes met his as her dry lips tried to make some words. But nothing came out. Gods! The poison was acting first. She never thought it would be so venomous to even curb her words. No wonder Alexander fainted after only a few minutes. Just what the hell had her uncle put on the dagger. Thinking about Alex, she wondered just how immune he was. Calculating her current condition, she knew she can’t last another hour if something was not done soon. But again, she had lost a lot of blood.

Griffin placed her on the bed before he vanished and came sooner with a piece of cloth which he tied around her wrist. That would at least help stop the bleeding. He then gathered her in his arms and vanished into thin air.

Isadora opened her dreamy eyes to only find herself in another place. She was still in Griffin’s arms as he paced through the hallways. She studied her new environment and her eyes widened in surprise. Oh Gods no! This was not part of the plan. She saw the familiar throne hall as she passed and that now confirmed her fear. They were in Crescia!

"Get the healer!" King Griffin yelled and she could see a knight ran before the sound of a door being kicked echoed in her ears. In one swift move across the room, she was already being laid on a bed. She was sure that Griffin had teleported. Maybe walking was not as fun as she thought.

This scent! The familiarity in it. This was her room! Oh, how she had missed it! She could hear King Griffin yell orders but that slowly turned into distant voices. She tried to keep her eyes open but her eyelids felt as heavy as a load. She could see a blurry figure of a woman walk in the room before everything turned dark. She succumbed in the darkness with everything, her mind taking her to the dream world.