Casper shook his head with irritation. "Why should we even help the Revivium Empire? Are they not getting what they deserve?"
"I understand that sentiment, Cas, but there are innocent lives working within this empire and innocents out in the capital and in the territory of the Revivium Empire." I frowned, just thinking of the lives to be lost. "The mages here are mainly pompous jerks, but not all of them. Those innocents don't deserve to die."
"We need to hurry and find Matthieu and get back to the Lethium Empire to figure out what to do," Silas stated just as an ice wraith barreled into our invisibility shield, shattering it completely.
I couldn't believe that an ice wraith was inside the palace, but it looked like they had even gotten the most elusive monsters infected with that damn potion.
Bastian tossed the antidote at the ice wraith, and almost immediately, it backed off before fleeing the palace itself. "I don't have any more invisibility potion."
Jasper took that as a sign to shroud us in darkness before a roaming abominal spotted us, and a familiar magic signature fluttered through the air. I recognized it as Matthieu's.
"Matthieu's here. I can track the signature," I told them.
"No way." Jasper shook his head.
"We don't even know what's going on," Casper blurted in shock.
"I know you're capable, but I don't want anything to happen to you," Aimon murmured.
"Can you just wait for us to figure this out, love?" Bastian asked.
I licked my bottom lip, staring at the massive number of monsters in the palace with a frown. "I don't think--"
Silas grabbed me by the shoulders and smashed his lips against mine. It was a lingering kiss that made my heart beat wildly against my rib cage. "Run," he whispered harshly. "Find him, but don't you dare let your guard down, muse. We'll be right behind you."
I nodded, sprinting off into the palace without Jas's darkness shrouding me.
I could hear the guys entering the battle with the guards against the monsters behind me, and it was clear that they were trying to keep up but kept getting sidetracked by some sort of monster.
But I pushed on. The walls that were once adored with priceless tapestries were now torn and bloodstained. It was evidence of the brutal onslaught of monsters loose in the palace.
As I turned a corner, a dementid screeched at me. Its jagged teeth dripped with saliva and blood, and it charged toward me from a side chamber.
I threw my hand out, palm facing outward, and pushed its spirit from its vessel.
Without another thought, I continued to run down the long halls as I followed Matthieu's disgustingly slimy magic signature.
Adrenaline pumped through my veins as I navigated the twisted maze, encountering more monsters at every turn.
The palace was truly a battleground, even though the Allura Empire and the Lethium Empire had managed not to fall into such chaos.
Finally, I reached the throne room, the heart of the palace, where Matthieu's magical signature resonated powerfully.
The once majestic room was now a scene of devastation. Broken furniture, shattered stained glass windows, and the bodies of fallen guards lay strewn across the marble floor.
As I expected, Matthieu was not being held prisoner. Instead, he lounged lazily across the emperor's throne with his crown sitting lopsided on his head and a deranged smile on his face.
"I tracked your magical signature in spirit, and for the record, I saw your creepy ass shrine," I spat the words, burning holes into him with my glare, and swung the door shut behind me with a gust of wind.
He chuckled, but those small sounds turned into a maniacal, scary laugh as he whipped his legs over the side of the throne and stood up, holding his arms out and spinning around. "So, that means that you've seen all of the documents stating everything that evil lady has done! Can you believe Empress Hayes approved the potion experiments and testing on all of the monsters that were captured and put in the dungeons? How do you think they got out of their cells?"
"You were never captured." I shook my head. "I knew it."
"You know a lot of things, pretty little Fawn. You always have." He stopped spinning and strode toward me with a possessive glint in his eyes, looking a lot more sane than I had ever seen him before.
"Where is Empress Hayes?"
"She's dead!" His gleeful voice bounced off the walls.
