Nyx woke up to a void that felt so heavy that it was suffocating her. She tried to move but couldn't.
"Where am I?" Her voice echoed.
"Between." Someone answered. "The place where forgotten things go."
Slowly, Nyx's eyes adjusted to her surroundings. She looked around and saw herself in a throne room made of crystallized shadows.
Umbra, now in human form was sitting on the throne. His features were sharp, skin was like midnight, and his silver eyes were glowing like stars.
"The First King." Nyx said, remembering what Umbra had told her before she lost her consciousness. "You said you'd explain everything."
"And so I shall." Umbra stood up from the throne and walked towards her. "But first, answer me, Nyx Keller, Do you believe in truth? Even when it destroys everything you thought you knew?"
"Truth is all I have left."
"Good." Umbra extended his hand. "Then see what they erased from history and what they feared enough to curse me for eternity."
Nyx hesitated; taking that hand meant trusting a creature who'd kidnapped her, imprisoned her, stolen her from Raziel's protection. But she needed answers. She took Umbra's hand.
Everything around her exploded in light. Nyx stood in the same throne room, but it was alive now.
On the walls of the room, she saw beasts and humans living together.
"Three hundred years ago." Umbra started. "Before the five kingdoms. We coexisted. Together, we built paradise."
Nyx saw human children and beast cubs playing together.
"What happened?" Nyx whispered.
The scene shifted. A crack split the sky wide open. Humans came through it with weapons, and hunger for power.
"Conquerors."Umbra continued. "From a dying earth, they brought bonding magic."
Nyx watched in horror as the new humans began enslaving beasts. A wolf warrior was forced to slaughter his own pack. A bear was made to kill her own cubs.
"I tried diplomacy." Umbra said. The vision showed him meeting with human leaders, begging for peace. "I believed we could negotiate but I was wrong."
The vision shifted to a bedroom. Umbra entered to find his mate; a beautiful lioness; dead, her neck torn out by her own claws and a human was standing beside her body, smiling.
"I went to my council." Umbra continued. "I ordered my most five trusted advisors that we had to go to war, but they refused ."
The vision blurred and fast-forwarded through the five advisors' secret meetings, their negotiations with humans.
"They made a deal. They would help the humans overthrow me and in exchange, the humans would be defeated publicly, go underground. Then advisors would split the kingdom into five territories and together, in secret, they would rule the Beastworld."
Nyx watched as the five advisors used magic with human bonding power to curse Umbra.
"They rewrote history." Umbra said. "They made themselves heroes and me a myth. They staged the human genocide, killed the innocent humans who'd always lived here, kept the corrupted humans hidden in their territories as they built their kingdoms on my throne's ashes."
The vision ended. Nyx was back in the shadow throne room.
"That's…" Nyx pulled away from him. "That can't be true."
"Why would I lie?" Umbra asked. "What do I gain from your trust that I can't take by force?"
Nyx wanted to argue, but he was right. Umbra could have tortured her or used shadow magic to control her mind.
"Even if it's true, that was three hundred years ago. The current five kings aren't responsible for their ancestor's crimes."
"No." Umbra agreed. "But they benefit from it. They rule on a throne that isn't theirs and as long as the lie continues, the Beastworld will remain weak, and corrupt."
"So what do you want from me?"
"Help me expose the truth. Help me destroy their fkingdoms ." Umbra walked closer. "You're perfect for this, Nyx Keller. You've already disrupted their power just by surviving, and most importantly…" Umbra smiled. "Raziel Ashmane loves you."
"What? He doesn't…"
"Please. I've watched him search for you with madness." Umbra's smile widened. "Love is a tool and you, little human, are the tool that can turn kingdoms upside down."
"I won't betray him."
"I'm not asking you to. I'm asking you to save him from living a life built on lies." Umbra walked towards the throne and sat down. "Help me restore truth. In exchange, I give you what you truly want."
"Which is?" She asked.
"Freedom. Not the conditional survival that the five kings have offered you, not the cage Raziel keeps you in. I'll given you actual freedom to choose your own path, make your own decisions, and live without trials and judgment."
The offer was tempting. Nyx thought for a moment.
"I need time to think." Nyx replied.
"Of course. Take all the time you need." Umbra gestured, and a door appeared in the shadow. "There is a chamber inside where you can rest, heal, and think. When you're ready, we'll talk again."
Nyx walked toward the door slowly but then paused.
"If you're so powerful, why do you need me? Why not just expose the truth yourself?"
"Because I'm a shadow, a myth, a monster in their stories. But you?" Umbra's silver eyes gleamed. "You're proof that everything they believe is wrong. You're the human who survived. They're beginning to respect you. When you speak, they'll listen to you."
Nyx nodded and walked through the door.
Meanwhile, Raziel stood at the edge of the Deep Shadows, the most dangerous region of the Beastworld. Behind him stood Darius and Korran, the only two kings who'd volunteered to search with Razeil themselves.
"The trail leads here." Darius said. "My pack can sense shadow portal residue. But going further…"
"Is suicide." Korran finished. "Even for us. The creatures in the Deep Shadows are older than our kingdoms. They don't care about our authority."
"I don't care." Raziel said. "She's in there. I can feel it."
"Feel it?" Darius walked closer.
"I'm going in. You don't have to follow." Razeil said.
"You'll die in there alone." Korran said.
"Then I die but I'm not abandoning her."
"You're in love with her." Darius said.
Raziel didn't deny.
"Does it matter?"
"It explains the madness." Darius exchanged a look with Korran. "Fine. We go together but not without a plan."
Darius howled and few seconds later, Zephyr descended from the sky.
"You called?" He folded his wings. "Please tell me you're not actually going into the Deep Shadows."
"We are." Raziel said. "Nyx is in there."
"How do you know?"
"Because there's no other place to hide from five kingdoms' searchers? Whoever took her needed a place even we wouldn't go."
Zephyr thought for a minute.
"You have logic." He pulled out a scroll and sketched something. "Here. This is what aerial scouting shows. There are ancient ruins approximately three miles in. If I were hiding something precious, that's where I'd choose."
"Thank you." Raziel took the map.
"I'm also preparing extraction protocols in case you idiots actually survive." Zephyr flew back. "Try not to die. The political headache would be exhausting."
Then Sylthis emerged from the shadows.
"I've been investigating shadow portal magic. There are exactly three beings in the Beastworld capable of that level of power. Two are dead. The third…" They paused. "Shouldn't exist."
"Explain." Raziel said.
"Legends speak of The First King, Umbra. He supposedly died three hundred years ago when the kingdoms split. But what if he didn't die? What if he was imprisoned?"
"You think a myth kidnapped Nyx?" Darius scoffed.
"I think myths exist for a reason." Sylthis walked closer to the Deep Shadow's edge. "And I think something very old and powerful has taken an interest in our little human. The question is why."
"I'll ask when I find him." Raziel walked forward.
"Wait." Sylthis grabbed his arm. "If it is Umbra, he can kill you."
"Then he can kill me after he releases Nyx."
"You'd die for her?"
"Without hesitation."
Sylthis looked at him for a moment, then released his arm.
"Interesting. I'll keep watch from the edge. If you're not back in three hours, I'll assume you're dead and announce a succession crisis." He said and disappeared.
"So optimistic." Korran muttered.
The three kings stood at the edge of the Deep Shadows. Behind them were their armies, their territories, their responsibilities, and ahead was darkness, danger, and possibly death.
"Last chance to reconsider." Darius said.
Raziel stepped forward without answering. After a moment, Darius and Korran followed. Then, the Deep Shadows swallowed them.