Page 19 of The Last Syphon

There were tales of people venturing there and never returning. Some believed the land was cursed. Haunted by those the Cursed King had murdered, their souls forever trapped within the kingdom, unable to move on. Unable to find peace.

Or there was an even scarier notion circling the kingdoms: the land was haunted by the Cursed King himself.

No one in their right mind would go anywhere near it…and that was exactly why she had to.

The idea first came to her the night before when Felix had suggested going south for more gold. The fear skating down her spine at the mere mention of it was enough to convince her it was the best place to go.

Not even the Crowned Prince would dare to follow.

Once Inara was done getting ready, she opened the door and stood in the doorway, staring back into the depressingly empty room. She thought she would be hit with a mixture of emotions.

Sadness. Grief. Confliction.

She felt none of those.

She felt…excited.

While Inara would miss her home and mostly everyone in it, this was her chance to have an adventure. An adventure that involved more than just thieving to make ends meet. An adventure that would have her see the realm—something she’d longed for for as long as she could remember. She wasn’t going to let the opportunity slip through her grasp.

Closing the door silently, she tiptoed past Felix’s room and down the rickety stairs, wincing with every step until she got to the bottom floor⁠—

“Ready to go?”

“Ah!” Inara spun, her hand flying to her chest in fright. Felix stood at the front door, a smirk on his face and humour dancing in his eyes. He was dressed similarly to her in big, heavy combat boots, dark pants, shirt, and cloak, the one difference being the sword strapped to his back.

“How—what?”

“You think, after all these years, that I don’t know you like the back of my hand?” He scoffed, hiking an eyebrow. “I knew you’d leave the second you found out how dangerous it is for you and the dragon to be here. And I knew you’d try to leave me behind in some misguided attempt to protect me, because I would do the same thing in your position. Well, tough shit. Where you go, I go. We made that pact a long time ago. Remember?”

Yes, she did. They had been barely seven years old, running around the village and causing absolute chaos. They swore to each other that they would leave Deadhaven together. Go on adventures side by side. Explore everything the realm had to offer. Never leave each other behind.

“It will be dangerous,” she said in an attempt to deter him.

He just shrugged. “Cool.”

“I have no idea what we’ll be doing.”

“I have no idea what I’m doing now.”

“We could die.”

He flashed her a wide, mischievous smile. “Sounds like fun.”

GONG! GONG! GONG!

The smiles dropped from their faces at the same time. Their eyes widened in horror.

They bolted out the door.

“Fates,” Felix breathed out, his gaze locked on the horizon.

Straddling the line between where Arelia ended and the Borderlands began was a portal. Large and circular in design with black smoke and lightning bordering the circumference and a giant puddle of dark water in the centre, dozens upon dozens of Arelian soldiers emerged. They stepped out in lines of six and took up formation along the tree line.

“They’re here,” Inara whispered, fear smothering her chest. “The Arelian Army.” It was easy to tell because of the armour; blood-red scales with the sigil of a dragon carved into the chest plate. They each held a shield in one hand, a pike in the other, and a sword strapped behind their back.

It wasn’t the visible weapons one had to be worried about, though. It was the weapons they couldn’t see. Their abilities.

The sound of an ear-piercing scream snapped Inara out of her shocked daze and right into action.