Chapter 2 The Tales we Dread

Miri's POV

"Many, many years ago, supernatural creatures said to have descended from heaven themselves landed in this world," my father began. "The four supernatural beings were: a demon king, a supreme dragon, a shadow ruler of the night and darkness, and lastly, a human warrior mage who possessed powerful magic called Myrridan.

"These four creatures divided the lands into four and each founded their own empire. The unenlightened people who once inhabited the land were now given mystical powers and identities in accordance with the empire they belonged to.

"The dragon shared his blood with his people, forming the Dragonian Empire, descendants of the dragon himself. The demon shared their essence, subdividing clans according to various gifted powers leaving only the royal family with the right to wield all three. The Shadow Empire shared their core, adapting quickly to this new structure due to the flexible nature of shadow powers. The human mage spread his magic across his people, and his empire thrived."

He paused briefly, his eyes glinting with intensity.

"But the human mage grew greedy. Wanting more land and power, he attacked the still-developing Demon Empire, the most unstable at the time, as their long assimilation process left them weak and incomplete.

"The humans launched a fierce battle, nearly wiping out the demon race. The Dragonian Empire chose silence. But the Shadow Empire, unable to tolerate the absurdity of the war, stepped in. They turned the tide, saving the Demon Empire.

"Afterward, the human empire was reduced to a realm under the rule of the Shadows. And after much deliberation, they jointly sealed the Myrridan bloodline in humans. But knowing exceptions would always exist, they made a decree: all humans born with Myrridan were to be either killed at birth or forever serve the Shadow Dynasty.

"This was done to prevent rebellion and to maintain the fragile peace we hold onto to this day."

Wow, I thought. No matter how many times I hear this story, it still amazes me. Maybe it's the way my dad tells it or maybe it's just the sheer stupidity of the mage warrior, throwing away his entire dynasty for a mere possibility of gaining more land. Like, did he seriously think no one would intervene? Did he think he could win even if the other three empires joined forces?

I sighed to myself. No need to delve into the thoughts of the long-dead.

Dad's voice pulled me out of my head. "Now, for my second story. This centers on the Shadow Empire and how it affected the human realm."

"For centuries, it has been proven that female royal Shadows are far more powerful than males. But female royals are born only once every several centuries. There have only been ten recorded in all of history the most recent being the lost princess.

"The queen of the Shadow Empire had just delivered the princess safely when a maiden nurse took her to clean her up... and then disappeared. Outside the palace, masked men ambushed and stole the baby.

"By the time they realized something was wrong, the culprits were already far away. The Shadows gave chase, but only one man was captured and he was revealed to be a Dragonian citizen.

"The Shadow Empire was furious. They stormed the Dragonian Empire in a siege, threatening to wipe out their royal family. The current Dragonian king swore innocence, and the princess wasn't found.

"Using the Essence Elixir, an artifact that detects any non-shadow who entered their realm recently, they located two more of the assailants. Upon interrogation, those men confessed: they had acted on personal grudges. The plan had been too risky, so they had thrown the princess at the outpost border... of the human realm."

My father's voice tightened.

"After this, Shadow security grew harsher. Tests to detect Myrridan became more advanced. Every child had to be registered. Orphans were tested, tracked, monitored. The princess had to be found at all costs.

"As reparations, the Dragonian prince was handed over to the Shadow Empire. He remains there to this day, not allowed to return home until the princess is found.

"It has been 14 years. And the unrest of her disappearance has twisted the once noble Shadow Empire into something oppressive and negligent. So, everyone, everywhere waits. Praying."

I didn't have any special feelings about this one. But I do wonder if those Dragonians had known what would happen, would they have still taken her?

Again, Dad's voice pulled me back. His tone was different now. Quieter. Heavier.

"These two stories are ones you're familiar with. But the last... is not. Your mother and I believe it's time you knew."

A chill ran through me. I obeyed his earlier instruction and stayed silent, only nodding slightly.

"This happened 14 years ago. Your mother had just given birth to the most beautiful baby girl. Shiny brown hair. The most entrancing eyes. We fell in love with her the moment we saw her.

"She was born weak... frail. It worried us. But, as the law required, we took her for testing on the second day.

"The results came back. She had no Myrridan.

"The official scanned her name: Miri Morvain. It cleared. We released a breath we didn't know we were holding.

"But... the test had taken a toll on our little girl. She couldn't handle it. She... she died."

I froze.

"We were supposed to report it. But we were overwhelmed with grief. We did nothing.

"We took her body to just outside the outpost border. We refused to bury her in human realm soil. We buried our baby with our own hands.

"And just as we turned to leave... we heard a cry. A baby's cry.

"We followed the sound and found the most beautiful baby girl. A good patch of silver hair. Eyes sparkling black with faint red streaks."

I was shaking.

"We don't know why, but... we took you. We gave you our daughter's name. We told no one.

"Later, we discovered you had Myrridan. But we already loved you. We couldn't lose you. So we planned.

"We built the secret room. We studied forbidden books to learn how to train you. When you were five, we began your training-physical strength and magical control.

"We made you act weak. Forbade you from telling anyone. We used our daughter's identity to protect you. That's why you must always wear your brown contact lenses when you go out."

I couldn't speak. I was stunned. Silent.

Mom reached for me, her eyes wet. "We didn't mean to lie to you, honey. We didn't know how to tell you. But we love you. We love you so much. Please don't ever doubt that our love for you wasn't real."

I looked at Torven. He lowered his head.

That was all the confirmation I needed.

I looked at the people who'd raised me... trembling, afraid, heads bowed. Waiting for me to speak.

I was still in shock. But I knew one thing-they loved me, and I loved them.

Without them, I wouldn't even be alive.

So I took a deep breath and forced my voice to sound as playful as always.

"Wait!!"

Their heads snapped up instantly.

With a giggle, I said,

"So you like, you quite literally took me from the bushes?"

There was a pause. Eyes widened. And then-

Torven burst out laughing.

Then Mom and Dad.

Then me.

We laughed so hard, clutching our stomachs, tears mixing with joy. Torven hugged me first, tightly. Then Mom. Then Dad.

"I love you guys so much," I whispered. "Never doubt that."

We snuggled tighter together.

But then-

The scene morphed before my eyes.

My hands, once holding my family... were now covered in blood.

I looked around frantically at my parents' bloodied bodies on the cold, hard pavement.

I ran to them, shaking them, screaming their names.

"Wake up!"

"Please!"

"Just one more time!"

Another scream tore through the air.

Torven. Bloodied but alive being carried away by masked figures.

I ran. I screamed his name. I reached out, tried to grab his hand.

So close. Just a few more steps.

Then one of the hooded figures turned his head... a full 180 degrees.

Still running. Still holding Torven.

"You can't do anything," he sneered.

"Can't save anyone."

"STOP!!!" I screamed.

His words echoed.

"Weak."

"Pathetic."

"Useless."

With one final, feral scream,

Everything went black.