Tales of chronicles

There was Lita, turning to discover Flare standing there with a cold yet protective expression plastered on her face; the normally composed demeanor had been replaced with deadly seriousness. One hand held a dagger whose bladed glimmer was aided by magic while her eyes remained glued on the shadowy figure.

"Flare?"

Lita said as if she were a whisper from shock.

"What are you doing here?"

Flare's view was locked on the figure.

"I've been watching. I knew you'd try to bail."

The shadowy person seemed to dissolve into the mist, with its voice echoing on departure.

"You cannot hide from your fate, Lita Vallerie. You will see soon enough..."

A lift came up in the fog, slightly revealing more of the desolate world beyond. Lita turned at Flare, a thousand questions racing through her mind.

"Why didn't you stop me?"

Flare returned her dagger to its sheath and stepped toward Lita, her face softening just a bit.

"I was ordered to keep you safe. But I can't keep you in the mansion forever. If you want to learn some truths, you will have to see the world as it really is."

"You told me I wasn't ready,"

Lita said in confusion, staring at her.

Flare's gaze fell on Lita's as a flicker of feeling passed between them.

"Perhaps you are. But that's not to say the world is ready for you." 

Lita heaves a deep sigh, quite heavy with the weight of what she was preparing to face ahead.

"Flare... that being said that I was going to be a queen. That the world would see me as my mother. Is that true?"

A moment of silence passed between Flare and then she spoke up

"Your mother's name scared many. There are some who would never see you as anyone else but her heir. But still, it is your choice what you want to become." 

They stood at that ruined world of dry land before them: And the Northern Kingdom? The Northern Princess is she really still alive?" 

"Yes,"

replied Flare, softly.

"The Northern Princess survived the devastation of her kingdom, and she has risen to power again. She seeks revenge against your mother, and if she finds out about you... she will come for you."

Lita's stomach twisted.

"So, I am not just putting myself in danger. I have been made a target."

Flare looked grim.

"That is why your mother hid you. She knows that if anybody finds out about you, a war would start. But now that you have stepped out of the mansion, there is no turning back. The world will know you exist."

The rush of fear within Lita was again accompanied by something else determination.

"What to do now?"

asked Lita. She was no longer the frightened little girl of days before. She had a choice before her and was prepared to step into a world, no matter how broken, whose reality faced her. 

Flare regarded her with a rare, small smile crosshatching her features.

"We move forward. But be ready, Lita, because your mother's enemies are already watching. And the Northern Princess... she's much closer than you think."

Lita and Flare took their last step together into the fog. The journey had hardly begun, but Lita was sure of one thing-she was never ever going to be known by the shadows of her mother's past. She would carve out her fate irrespective of what shadows lay ahead. 

Even as Lita and Flare moved further into the outside miasmic wasteland, the shadows continued to thicken, becoming increasingly oppressive. The fog twisted and curled around them, almost live, and it felt as if every step was that much further into something dark. Lita couldn't shake the feeling of being watched; Flare remained calm, her senses sharp.

Suddenly, a faint rustle could be heard in the depths of darkness. Lita felt her heartbeat speed up.

"Did you hear that?"

she whispered, her eyes scanning the shadows. 

Flare nodded, her hand already on the hilt of her dagger.

"We are not alone." 

Shapes began to emerge from the fog; tall, gaunt figures with small glowing eyes, ever shifting and distorted-as if they were not entirely solid with no sound made by their movement. Their presence posed something unsettling, unnatural, and seemed birthed from the mist itself. Faces were cloaked under the hoods while long limbs moved too smooth.

Lita stepped back automatically, fear gripping her.

"What are they?" 

Flare's eyes narrowed.

"Shades,"

she said quietly.

"Souls lost in the war. Twisted by magic and hatred, they linger in the shadows, just waiting to prey upon the living." 

Leading forward was towards Lita, piercing its glowing eyes onto her. Its hollow voice echoed oddly, as though coming from a great distance.

"Daughter of the Destroyer…"

it intoned venomously.

"We have waited for you." 

Lita's breath caught in her throat.

"Why are they here? What do they want from me?" 

Flare continued observing the shades that were slowly approaching, hand tightening on the grip of her weapon.

"They want vengeance. Your mother's powers destroyed their life, their home. These shades are all that remains of the people she once conquered."

A chill crawled Lita's spine.

"I am not like her!" 

The lead shade tilts a head, as if weighing her words.

"You bear her blood,"

it rasped.

"Therefore, in your veins runs her legacy. You cannot escape it." 

Before Lita got the chance to say something, the shade came upon her with alarming speed, limbs and claws outstretched. However, Flare was quicker. One quick sweep and her dagger was out and slicing through the shade, the enchanted light glinting along the edge of the blade. The shade let out a shriek and turned into mist before forming a few feet away.

"Easier said than done,"

Flare muttered as she positioned herself between Lita and the shades.

"Stay close." 

Lita nodded, breathing quickly. She felt disarmed and even if Flare was a very good fighter, there were just too many of them. The shades circled around, closing in slowly with their eyes burning with malice. Lita could feel their hatred, thirst for revenge, suffocating. 

"Daughter of the Destroyer," the shade hissed again.

"You cannot run from what you are. Your fate is sealed." 

Something stirred in very deep in Lita as the shades advanced. A warmth so strange began to blossom at the center of her chest and, with every second, burned hotter. Like some locked door within her had finally opened, releasing a power she never knew existed to her. Her fear began to retreat into something greater-the instinct to protect herself, to fight back. 

Without fully understanding what she was doing, Lita raised her hand, and a surge of energy shot through her body. A bright light erupted from her palm, piercing through the mist and striking one of the shades. The creature screamed, its form unraveling as the light consumed it.

 "What did you just do?"

Flare startledly glanced at Lita.

"You... you can use magic?" 

"Very surprised too, Lita stared at her hand. I don't know... I didn't know I could."

But there isn't time to ponder for the furious shades charged again towards Lita and Flare. Flare fought these furious creatures with speedy slices of her dagger, but Lita felt the embers growing stronger and stronger within her all the while, as if a storm were building up. 

Lita took a deep breath and concentrated on the energy within her before thrusting her hands forward. A wave of light burst from her to flood the area with blinding brilliance. The shades screamed as they were engulfed by the light, their twisted forms dissolving into nothingness. 

And when the light faded, the fog became thinner, and the shades disappeared in its dark recesses. Quaking all over, Lita's hands were glowing faintly with residual energy. She felt drained but exhilarated. Yes, she had power, and she had controlled it. 

Flare put her dagger back in her scabbard.