The doors opened and for a moment a stood in the entrance. At first, I could understand who that was because of complete darkness around, but my confusion disappeared when the figure spoke.
"Domi, wake up! You have to get ready and go with me right now."
It was a gentle and charming voice, yet full of concern. Sure enough I knew that voice better than anything, a voice that for me was easily recognisable. It was my Mum's voice.
Since she came to my room, it only made clear one thing, and my concerns were rising. I still was extremely curious as to what was happening, so without hesitation I asked this question.
"Mum, what going on? Why is there some kind of pressure in my room?" The bits of nervousness were in my voice, it was hard to control it, given the circumstances.
"Sorry, Honey, we are short on time and you have to get ready. I will tell you about it after we get out of the mansion." Her voice was hasty, yet already close to normal. As always, it helped me come to my sensed and calm down my heart.
"Okay, Mum." Without further ado I got dressed and since I didn't have anything that important to take with me, except for the necklace that I was already wearing, we set off.
We weren't running, but it wasn't a stroll either. We were quite fast paced, yet looking at my Mum's face it wasn't really much different from normal, except for the fact that she looked a bit more tense and focused. Now I could see that better, while we were going through the corridors with better lightning, since some lights stay on for the whole nights.
She was holding my hand and I also noticed that she was wearing just her nightdress, despite having some coat above it. I also had some time to think about this situation more or less. It was still strange, I couldn't comprehend what could have happened, until concentrated on feeling space around as far as I could.
Then, I discovered something that horrified me. On the part of the territory around there were a lot of men, and most of them were really powerful. I also sensed that mana particles where fluctuating in several spots, I suppose it was where the battles were.
Soon, I also noticed that someone was coming in our direction ahead. It was most likely to be the invaders, because I didn't know their signature, so that's what I assumed. I didn't hesitate to tell my Mum about them.
"Mum, not far ahead there are two people coming in our direction. What should we do?" I was nervous, I didn't know who it was and what should we do, but I simply didn't have time to worry about it.
"Thank you, Sweetheart. But I already know about it, don't worry."
It wasn't long until we finally confronted them. They both were wearing fully equipped armour and it wasn't some light one. Their faces were covered a hood and helmet. But what made me feel unsettled was the fact that this armour was similar to our knights' one with but tiny differences.
When we stopped in front of them there was a silence for a second. Mum stepped in front, partly covering me. Then one of the unknown knight-looking people, or whoever he was, spoke first.
"Lady Cecilia, surrender and come with u-"
He wasn't able to even finish his sentence, my Mum cut his head off in a fraction of a second. The other person was stunned and he didn't even had time to react before his head went flying as did his friend's.
I was astonished by how my Mum killed them. She did it precisely and instantly, without fear or doubt. When we continued on our way through the mansion, I still thought about it. With one move of her hand and so little mana I didn't notice it at first. I was excited for a second.
Then I noticed someone lying on the floor around one of the turns. I couldn't sense any mana, so I didn't know whether they were alive or not nor did I know who it was. When we came a bit closer, I informed my Mum about it.
"Mum, in the next turn on the left there is someone lying on the ground."
"Thank you for telling me, but this person is already dead and we have to go in the other direction, so we can't waste any more time, Honey."
"But!…, okay, Mum." I still wanted to try and help them, however, I knew that we had to hurry as well, so I didn't argue. What bothered me, though, is that I had a bad feeling about this, my heart started racing as we came close to the turn.
When we finally arrived at the turn, my Mum tried to force me into going forward, however the body was very close to the lantern and I could see it very clearly and I noticed a so familiar strand of green hair. It caught my attention.
"Mum, wait! I have to see who is this!"
"No, Domi, we have to go!"
My Mum tried to make me go, but I resisted or more precisely, my body resisted. At this point my body was moving by itself, I could quite control neither it nor my mind.
Hundreds of thought were going through my head, I was feeling overwhelmed. I don't remember how got to the body, but I clearly remember what I saw.
The body was lying down, brutally murdered, slaughtered, both legs were cut off as well as right arm and a ton of blood all over the floor. It wasn't hard for me to recognise this person, it's just… I didn't want to believe that it was her… My heart refused, but my brain clearly showed me the picture of this person…
It was Chloe…
Cecilia's POV:
Damn, I should have let him see Chloe's body. I knew it was her, I felt it long ago, that she was dead. She probably stumbled upon those guys we met before. Looking at this, she was likely trying to go to Domi's room when everything started, but was intercepted halfway through. They cut her right arm and her legs and pierced her heart while she was crawling forward.
Domi is getting stronger and it's getting harder to hold him. Anyway, we had to get out as fast as we can.
After a few seconds he went into hysterics, he was bewailing. I immediately got down on my knees to match his height and hugged him, trying to calm him down. At the same time, I tried inserting a bit of my mana to slow his heart beat. It didn't help much, his heart was broken and mental damage was immense.
Anyway, we had to get out of the mansion, we were running out of time. I already regretted not using all my means to stop him from going here, however it was too late and couldn't be reversed.
When we continued to it wasn't that far already, the stairs to the underground training courts. I was holding Domi in my hands and made a hurry to get there. Down there were not only the training grounds, but also many other facilities as well as secret passage, even several of them. They are also made as a maze, so without knowing the layout it would be hard to navigate there.
When we approached the way to the underground, invaders already knew about us, as well as I did. I didn't want to waste time nor did I have such option, so I attacked immediately.
With swift and precise move of my hand the slash of my ice magic went in their direction, cutting two heads off immediately, but it wasn't over. The last three of them engaged instantly, they were stronger and probably more experienced as they dodged my first attack.
With my next attack I focused on a single target. I clenched my hand into a fist and this move released several ice cones pierced his body and he died right away. Meanwhile the other two got close to me, so I put up a wall of ice to block them.
It turned out that one of them was fast enough to accelerate and come through right before I was able to defend and nearly cut my leg. I was lucky that he wasn't that strong so the wound wasn't very deep.
Though it showed me that I wasn't fit to fight like I used to, so I didn't hesitate to use a very strong move to freeze everything and everyone around. At first, I hesitated to do it, since it was dangerous for me in this state and for Domi, but the situation was critical.
The remaining two invaders froze on the spot and died. I didn't have time to fully treat my wound to I just stopped the bleeding, though it was harder than I anticipated because their daggers were likely infused with magic.
Regardless, we continued to move.
Dominique's POV:
*Back to when he saw Chloe's body*
When I saw her, my mind went crazy, hundreds of thoughts and memories started flashing before my eyes, her voice, her scolding, her smile, everything. I lost it, I started crying my heart out, when I started screaming my Mum hugged me and I calmed down a bit.
After a minute or so I came back to my senses a bit. I remembered that my Mum was trying to tell me that we had to go, but I was silent. The tears were running down my face.
Then we encountered new knight-looking invaders. The fight broke out. At first Mum killed a few of them, then she got injured. Next, all I could remember was in a blur. It felt like the time slowed down. However, it didn't matter as my body was heavy anyway and I pretty much couldn't move.
Shortly after, we went forth. At first, we were going down the stairs for a minute or two, it wasn't anything special, it was just like I always did. When we finally arrived on the floor my Mum went straight ahead until she came across a wall, plain and simple, in a several metres from the stairs.
She ran her finger, probably infused with magic, in a circle on the wall and right after pushed some brick inside the wall. Next, the secret passage was revealed. It was way smaller than the corridor in the training chambers, but it still could fit two people standing shoulder to shoulder.
I was made put of stone and had lanterns all along the way. Mum didn't hesitate and moved on. After we entered the tunnel, the entrance closed soon after. My Mum was still carrying me in her arms since I was still shocked and broken, but I put my mind together and told her.
"Mum, you can put me down, I can walk by myself."
"Are you sure you are fine, Darling?" I could feel how worried she was. She knew well enough how serious the situation was and probably knew my current state, but I already calmed down somehow. Maybe the last fight and Mum's injury helped me to do so.
"Yes, I am sure, Mum. I can walk with my own legs now." My voice still sounded different from usual and it was understandable why.
Not without a doubt, but she let me go by myself: "Okay, but if you feel something off, you should tell me right away, deal?"
"Deal. By the way, where is Dad? Why isn't he with us?"
"He has to deal with those people that came to out house. Don't worry about him, he will be fine, Domi."
"I still have a bad feeling about this" I muttered under my breath. Nevertheless, we still had to escape the mansion, but I couldn't help but ask the questions that bothered me for quite some time already.
"Mum, where are we going? And who are these people? And why did they come to our home?"
"Oh, I already started wondering why didn't you ask me earlier about all this, but whatever. First of all, we are heading to the town nearby, there would be safe for now. Regarding those people, they are invaders and we don't know what they want and why they are here. The only thing we know is that they try to capture us and kill everybody else."
That answered some of my questions, but also made more of them.
…
After about ten minutes of wondering through the maze, we where out of the tunnel, successfully escaping from the mansion. There was a road close by. We headed there, as this road should lead to the town Mum talked about.
When we got to the cobblestone road, we continued moving for another 10 or so minutes, then out of the blue my Mum said:
"It should already be far enough. Domi, listen here. You have to continue walking towards the town and I have to return for your Dad. In the town, or somewhere on the way there you would meet a man with a hair colour similar to mine. I am sure you will recognise it, this man will help you out, don't worry about it. And I will come back to the mansion and help your Dad, after that we all will meet in the morning, okay?"
I was… speechless. I didn't expect it, but at some point, I felt it in my heart that Mum had to go there, so I didn't argue, nor did I really have any strength to do so.
"Okay, Mum. But I down't want you to gow *sob*" Tears started flowing uncontrollably, I couldn't do anything whatsoever. It was then, when I first time in my life saw this… my Mum, she was… crying… I clearly saw the tears on her face reflect the moonlight.
She got down and hugged me like never before. It continued for another minute or two, or three. I lost the count of time standing like this. But she had to go, as well as I did, but since we couldn't let each other go, she said this:
"Sorry, my Sweetheart, but we have to split up." With tears flowing down her face, she pushed me in the direction of the town, while sat on the same spot for a couple of second before getting up. It was too painful to look back, so I just continued walking forward.
…
I was exhausted, it was already more than twenty minutes of my walking. I was running out of physical strength, let alone mental, that was already gone when I split up with my Mum. It took my last bits of it. I even used up all of my mana to help me walk.
I didn't know how I was walking, but should I stop even for a moment, I would collapse. I knew I could do this. I still had my mission.
Then, after another minute I saw, I finally saw it. The lights from the streets and houses. Sun was already soon to raise, so people were already up. It was as close as it has never been before. It was in just five minutes or so.
When I got happy to see the town, I gathered my last bits of strength and accelerated to my finish point. But I overestimated myself, when the town was in the grasp of my hand fell down. It was a miracle that I didn't pass out.
Soon, I heard a voice, man's voice.
"Ho, look at who is here. I wonder why Cecilia is not with you. Ha, she doesn't change at all, does she? Anyway, we have to go, Domi." His voice sounded calm and strong, I wonder how I knew that. While still talking he took me in his hands and that's when I saw this. Beautiful silver hair, hair that I could never mistake. It was like my Mum's…