Chapter 253: Chapter 253: Back to Lechia

Lucas walked near the center of the group, his mind a restless storm. He could still see the settlement in his thoughts...the black mist creeping across the snow, the still bodies, and the emptiness that lingered long after the cries had faded. He looked ahead, but his gaze was distant, lost in the weight of what was coming. After a long silence, he finally spoke, his voice low.

"Princess Nyx," he said quietly, glancing at her, "what we saw back there...I’m afraid for Valerion. I don’t think our kingdom can withstand their full scale attack."

Nyx frowned. "I’ve been thinking the same thing," she admitted softly. "Our armies are strong, but strength means nothing against something like this. That mist...it devours everything it touches."

Selene, who had been walking just behind them, joined in. "Valerion’s borders are fortified, but those walls were built for men and beasts, not corruption that’s already within the walls. The rot doesn’t siege cities; it seeps into them." She shook her head, her voice trembling slightly despite her attempt to remain calm. "We came to Lechia seeking unity, but if it’s already begun, we may be too late."

Lira sighed, her breath misting in the cold air. "And even if the alliance forms," she said, "who will lead it? Half the kingdoms are already suspicious of one another. Some still think the rot is just a lie. They’ll never be prepared for what’s coming."

Lucas nodded grimly. "That’s what I fear most. They’ll argue and delay until it’s at their gates. By then..." His voice trailed off, heavy with unspoken dread.

Nyx’s expression softened. "You think too much, Xavier." she murmured, though her tone carried no reproach. "But maybe that’s what keeps you ahead of others. Still, we can’t let fear rule us now. The Empress believes there’s hope...and if she’s right about the Ice Belle, maybe there’s still a chance to fight back."

He looked toward the small creature fluttering near Mirielle, its pale glow casting faint ripples of light through the darkening air. "Maybe," he said quietly. "But even hope feels fragile when the world starts falling apart."

Selene glanced at him from the corner of her eye. "You sound like my father," she said softly. "He used to say that hope is a fool’s weapon...dull, but better than nothing when all other blades have failed."

Lucas managed a faint smile. "Then I suppose we’ll hold on to it until it breaks."

A little further ahead, the Empress and Seraphine walked side by side, Seraphine kept her gaze on the horizon, her thoughts far away. The Empress, for all her regal poise, looked weary, though she hid it behind a mask of composure. Neither spoke, yet their silence said enough. Both knew that the path ahead would be bloodier than any they had walked before.

From time to time, Seraphine would glance at the Empress as if wanting to say something...perhaps to ask whether Lechia truly stood a chance...but the words never came. Instead, she walked in silence, her mind weighed down by images she couldn’t erase.

Mirielle trudged through the snow beside Lucas and the girls, her shoulders trembling. Her sobs had quieted into soft whimpers, but the sorrow in her eyes had not dimmed. She clutched the small Ice Belle close, its tiny wings fluttering faintly against her chest. The little creature cooed softly, its light pulsating gently, trying to comfort her.

Nyx slowed her pace to walk beside Mirielle and placed a hand on her shoulder. "He’s watching over you," she said softly. "Your father wouldn’t want you to carry this pain alone."

Mirielle nodded faintly, her voice breaking. "I know... but it hurts."

Selene approached too, brushing a strand of hair from the girl’s tear-streaked face. "It will hurt for a while," she said. "But that’s how we remember those we’ve lost...through the pain and the love that remains."

The Ice Belle chirped again, nestling closer into Mirielle’s arms, the dark tension easing just a little. Lira smiled gently. "Even she can feel your heart," she said. "She doesn’t like seeing you sad."

Mirielle managed a faint, fragile smile through her tears and stroked the creature’s tiny head. "Thank you," she whispered, both to the Ice Belle and to her friends.

The journey back to Lechia had taken them more than a week, when the peaks of Lechia finally appeared on the horizon, the group felt a fleeting spark of relief. But as they drew closer, that feeling slowly gave way to unease. There was something wrong...not something that could be seen, but something that could be felt.

The wind that swept through carried no sound. No footsteps echoed from the walls. No murmurs, no marketplace noise, no distant clang of metal or the cry of merchants. It was as though the city had been hollowed out, its soul drawn away while its body remained standing.

He frowned and glanced toward the Empress. "Do you feel that?" he asked, his voice breaking the tense quiet.

She didn’t answer immediately. Her gaze lingered on the high, glimmering walls of the city...the same walls that had once shone with warmth and discipline, the same city that had radiated the strength of her people. But now... it was different. "Yes," she murmured finally, her tone grave. "The air is stagnant. Lechia has always been calm, but never lifeless. There’s something unnatural about this stillness."

Lira shifted uncomfortably beside Lucas. "It feels like walking into a dream," she said softly. "A bad one."

Nyx looked around, scanning the distant fields. "There’s no movement anywhere," she added. "Not a single patrol. No farmers, no sentries outside the gates."

Selene folded her arms, her voice low but sharp. "It’s too quiet, something happened here..."

Mirielle, cradling the small Ice Belle against her chest, whispered, "But there’s no mist. The rot left its mark in our settlement...black soil, corrupted air... but this place looks untouched."

The Empress gave her a faint nod. "That’s what troubles me," she said. "This silence isn’t the rot’s doing. It’s something else."

As they drew nearer to the great gates, the walls loomed above them, tall and proud as ever, adorned with banners that should have fluttered proudly in the breeze, but even the banners hung limp, unmoving.

Then, from atop the wall, came the sound of a shout. "Halt!"

The group froze. Several guards appeared along the parapet, their armor glinting in the pale light. Lucas’s heart eased slightly, there was life here after all. But that relief vanished almost as quickly as it came. The guards’ movements were strange, mechanical even, their faces pale and expressionless under their helmets.

One of them leaned over the edge, eyes wide as they fell upon the Empress. "Your Majesty?" he called, disbelief breaking through his otherwise empty tone. "It cannot be..."

The Empress took a step forward, her voice ringing clear and strong. "It is I, Empress of Lechia. Open the gates."

But instead of obeying, the guards stiffened. Murmurs rippled among them...confused, alarmed whispers that didn’t make sense to Lucas’s ears. One of them raised his elemental spear slightly, his hands trembling. "No one may enter!" he shouted back. "By order of the council...the gates stay sealed!"

Lucas blinked in shock. "The council?" he muttered under his breath. "What are they talking about?"

The Empress’s expression hardened. "What council?" she demanded, her voice rising like a thunderclap. "I am your Empress! Who dares issue orders in my absence?"

The guards hesitated. Their fear was palpable, but so was their confusion. One of them finally stepped forward, lowering his voice. "Forgive us, Your Majesty... but we were told you would not return. That you... that you perished."

The words struck like a blade through the cold air.

Selene’s eyes widened. "They think she’s dead?"

Nyx’s voice dropped to a whisper. "Who told them that?"

The Empress stared up at her own soldiers, her loyal guards, who now looked at her as if she were some kind of ghost. "Open the gates," she said again, quieter this time, though there was power in her tone that could have shattered ice.

But the guards didn’t move. One of them, trembling visibly, raised his spear once more. "We... we can’t, Your Majesty. The council forbids it. They said if anyone claiming to be you returned... we were to hold position. Please, forgive us... but we cannot disobey."

The group fell silent. Lucas could feel his pulse quickening. The air around them felt heavier by the second, as though the very city itself was watching. He turned to the Empress, who stood motionless, her eyes narrowing with something between disbelief and fury.

"Your Majesty," Lucas said quietly, "what’s happening here?"

But she didn’t answer him. Her gaze was fixed on the walls of her own kingdom, the kingdom that now barred her from entering. For the first time since Lucas had met her, the Empress of Lechia looked truly stunned.