The Guardians Of Aneroma

11. The Realm Of The Dark

Daniel couldn't understand why the Golden Knight cared so much about Grace. He had been sending a lot of letters, making immediate decisions to start search parties and even sent to Sam to keep an eye on Quenria and Alorema. 

On the other hand, there was Queen Elena, who had been very quiet after she found the broken pieces of the pendant. She seemed like she didn't want to make an effort to look for the very same person who destroyed the only relic that could save the world from an impending danger. Still, she listened to the panicking voices of Daniel and Rachael and helped them. Not to mention, she was treating Daniel coldly, for he was another human, aware of the existence of Aneroma. All because of Grace.

What they were unaware of, and probably won't notice because of their panic, was that Grace wasn't in North Aneroma. She was somewhere in the south. The realm of all that was mysterious and dangerous. The realm of the dark, as Aneromians called it.

Grace lied on the cold hard ground, in a cell, shoved in the dungeons. 

Grace was unconscious, but what woke her up was her aching body, especially her back, where she felt something tug it. After hours of complete silence, she let out a groan. Her eyes fluttered open. 

With great effort, she sat up. She found her distorted image in the reflecting rocky walls of the cell. She was glowing. Glowing so much she couldn't see any distinctive feature of hers. Just blue light. 

She felt her back heavy. She felt it with her hands until her fingers touched.. a pair of small wings. Grace flinched as soon as she touched them. She caressed them again to grasp their shape. 

They were small butterfly wings. Grace wondered if they were still growing, since their tiny size was nothing she had ever seen in Aneroma. Grace breathed in and out, trying to regulate her fast breathing. 

"Oh, my God." She whispered. It all clicked. 

When she absorbed the magic of the pendant, it merged with her human body. She wondered if she could summon her sword, but she was already weak enough. She decided to wait before she could try. 

However, the idea of her merging with fairy magic was rather cool yet scary. She trembled as chills ran down her spine. 

Is it me, or is it really really cold here?

She fiddled with her mother's bracelet on her wrist and thought of an escape plan. 

With one decisive look at the bars, she got up and banged on the cells, the gold bracelet in her hand emitting a great sound when hitting against the metal rods. 

A guard came and sneered, "What do you want?" 

"Get me out of here." Grace said calmly, yet with eyes full of fury. 

"No, though, I shall tell the Queen you have awoken for interrogation." 

Interrogation?

The guard turned and proceeded on his way to the doors of the dungeons. "Wait!" Grace called for him, "There is a mad.. unicorn in my cell!" He looked at her skeptically. "Come on! It wouldn't hurt to come and help me!" Grace pushed. 

The guard approached with a look of deep distrust. Once he was close enough, Grace stuck out her arm and gripped his armour, then pulled him hard until his head slammed against the bars. 

Grace did it again, and again until his head lolled to the side, resting on his shoulder, then rolling back. He dropped to the ground. 

Her heart was beating hard and fast as she looked at the fallen guard. Her lips twitched into a proud smile. She took a look around before she pulled his limp body towards the bars.