Tower of Paradise

POV'S ARCEUS PENDRAGON.

I climbed the stairs to the second floor with deliberately slow steps, my fingers brushing against the cold railing while each step brought me closer to my destination. The heat between the thick stone walls and the absolute silence that reigned in the orphanage deeply disturbed me. It was an unnatural silence, too perfect for my taste, and my instincts screamed that something wasn't right.

As I ascended, Reinhardt was already waiting outside with the other children, all preparations were ready, except for the most crucial element: Cassie. The idea of failing at this point, when we were so close to freedom, tormented me.

I held my breath, swallowing hard and hoping the enemy hadn't discovered our plan.

Upon reaching the landing, I stopped, feeling how nerves accumulated in my stomach. I didn't have a clear plan about how I was going to handle Emilia, a notoriously difficult woman to deal with. How would I convince her? How would I distract her enough to take Cassie away? The options swirled in my head, each more unlikely than the last.

My hand hesitated over the doorknob. I exhaled a deep sigh — lately it seemed I was sighing more than usual — and finally pushed the door. The creaking of the hinges mixed with the dull echo of my own heartbeat, creating an unsettling symphony that resonated in my ears.

The room was immersed in darkness, illuminated only by the dim light of a flickering lamp filtering through a dust-covered window. To my surprise — and momentary relief — Emilia wasn't there. However, what I saw made my blood freeze in my veins.

My eyes fell on Cassie's motionless figure, lying on a bed against the wall. The impact of seeing her in that state was like a punch to the stomach. Her face, which had always been lit up by a smile and full of life, now looked pale and emaciated, like a flower withering under a relentless sun.

—Cassie...

I whispered, approaching the bed. My trembling hand brushed her cheek, and the cold of her skin startled me. Remorse hit me like a devastating wave. She was like this because of me. If I had been stronger, if I had found another way, she would never have had to use that ability that had left her in this state.

With all the care in the world, I slid one arm under her knees and another behind her back. As I lifted her, I was surprised at how light she had become, as if her very essence was fading along with her weight. We needed to find something that could help her, and soon.

As I descended the stairs with my precious cargo, the silence of the orphanage began to weigh on me more and more. It was unnatural, as if the entire building was holding its breath, waiting for the precise moment to exhale chaos. A stab of anxiety pierced my mind: something definitely wasn't right. Everything was turning out too easy.

I ignored my instincts that were screaming at me to stop and continued toward the exit. The courtyard was plunged into almost total darkness, but years of living in the shadows had given us all vision adapted to the gloom. In the distance, I distinguished the silhouettes of my siblings, with Reinhardt at the center of the circle they had formed, all holding hands.

A fleeting smile of relief illuminated their faces upon seeing me approach with Cassie. Even Reinhardt sketched a slight smile in response. For a moment, I felt we had succeeded.

How naive I was.

Right at that moment, when Reinhardt took out the teleportation scroll — our ticket to freedom —, the sound of something breaking came from behind.

A shot resonated like thunder in the night, breaking the false calm that had enveloped us. My body turned involuntarily, and for a moment, everything seemed to move in slow motion.

I swallowed the bile that had risen in my throat, the bitter taste remained in my mouth, but I ignored it to look at Cassie, her body flew through the air before crashing against the cold earth.

What the hell...?

The thought had barely formed in my mind when I felt something hit me. Confusion took over me as my foot seemed to get caught in something invisible. The world began to spin, and my vision clouded with white spots.

The impact against the ground was brutal. My head hit first, and pain exploded like a nova in my brain. I felt something "empty" in some part of my body, an emptiness that soon filled with a piercing agony that robbed me of breath. Blood gushed from my mouth as I curled up like a worm, but still, I tried to extend my trembling hand desperately seeking Cassie.

—Argh... ah...

The groans escaping my throat barely sounded human. The ground beneath my face had become a macabre canvas, stained with my blood and tears.

Through my blurry vision, I could distinguish the hooded silhouettes surrounding us. Their black attire made them look like living shadows, their faces hidden under hoods that only revealed an impenetrable darkness. They moved with an unnatural precision, closing the circle around us like predators cornering their prey.

Among the children who remained in the circle, I could feel their terror. Reinhardt held the scroll with trembling hands, caught in an impossible decision. Sacrifice two to save the rest? Risk everything to save us? I could see the conflict tearing him apart inside.

My injured and pain-filled body collapsed, falling onto my back, writhing like a fish suffocating out of water. My anguish was clearly of a different nature than before. It was as if my affliction didn't come from the outside but from my own flesh. I was agonizing as if there was something running out of control through my body, squeezing directly at my heart.

That's when she appeared.

Susan emerged from the shadows with that chilling smile we knew so well. She had short black hair and her eyes were an icy blue. Her skin impeccable as snow contrasted with her presence that made the air become denser, colder.

I knew I could never defeat this woman with my current strength. She was much stronger than that hobgoblin I had faced.

—Did you really think it would be so easy, little brats?@@novelbin@@

Her soft voice cut through the silence like a poisoned dagger.

She approached the group with measured steps, her presence dominating the scene like a dark queen in her court of shadows. The children were visibly trembling, some sobbing silently, others paralyzed by pure terror.

—Children, keep calm!

She ordered with a voice that pretended to be reassuring but only managed to increase our fear.

The four hooded figures moved as a single entity, their movements perfectly synchronized as they surrounded Cassie and me. One of them stepped forward, extending a hand toward my friend's motionless body.

I closed my eyes with regret. We were finished. There was no way to overcome this crisis. All our plans, all our hopes... were crumbling before my eyes.

And then, it happened.

Bang! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The sound was so powerful it erased everything else, as if the entire world had suddenly gone mute. I opened my eyes just in time to see how the night sky was torn apart, crossed by a golden flash that seemed to split the darkness itself.

—What is that?

The words escaped Reinhardt's lips before he could contain them.

Baaang!

A ray of golden light fell from the sky. The earth trembled under the impact, and a shock wave swept the area with such force that the cloaks of the hooded figures waved violently, like flags in the midst of a storm.

In the center of that blinding radiance, emerged a figure I knew too well. Her blonde hair shone like the sun in the midst of darkness, her presence as serene as always. The Iron Lady, Emilia, had arrived on the battlefield.