Pushing me forward, Darius escorted me through the inner courtyard until we approached another patrol. Two giant Dragonborn guards crossed their pikes over the main entrance. Massive horns extended from their heads, and their reptilian eyes narrowed at me.

I recoiled from them with a gasp.

"Who goes there?" the larger one demanded.

"It's a Halcían wench--look at her clothes," the other said before I could respond. He hawked up phlegm as though he wanted to spit at me. With a grimace, I turned my face away.

"Consider your next action very carefully," Lord Darius told the guard as he approached.

Both guards flinched at his voice, which boomed across the entire courtyard. Civilians and guards alike halted mid-step to stare agape at us.

The barbarian swallowed whatever grotesque gunk he had gathered in his mouth. "Just clearing my throat, my Lord," he muttered under his breath.

"A wise choice." The implied threat hung in the air like dead weight. "Let us enter without delay."

"As you wish, my Lord."

The powerful muscles of the Dragonborn guards rippled with effort as they opened the twenty-foot-tall wooden doors at the castle entrance. Lord Darius glared at the guards as he strode past them with me in tow.

"So, you have an audience with Death?" the smaller guard said with a sneer as I walked past. "Good luck."

"You're gonna need it," the other guard said as they both sniggered behind my back.

Once we'd entered the foyer, Darius raised his hand. Confused, I came to an abrupt halt and gave him a quizzical look.

The barbarians doubled over and screamed in pain. I jumped back in shock. When Darius lowered his hand, their cursing ceased, and they dropped to the ground.

Right before the doors shut with an ominous thud, I caught a glance of new sentries carrying away their injured comrades while others guarded the entrance.

"Magic has its benefits, as you will soon discover," the Shadow Rider whispered to me. "I desalinated their blood and gave them crippling muscle cramps."

"Why would you do that?" I asked, wide-eyed.

"No one disrespects royalty, minor or not," he replied. "Besides, they repulse me."

Darius grasped my wrist, and a chill crawled up my forearm, through my neck, and to my head. A headache burst inside my forehead as though he had frozen my brain.

"That being said, if you put so much as one toe out of line from here on out," he said with a vile hiss, "I will freeze you forever."

"I didn't do anything!" I said with a furrowed brow. "I swear! It was the guards."

"Just remember my words," he said, shoving me away. My headache vanished as quickly as it came. "An eternity of boredom is probably the worst kind of punishment for you."

I gave him a defiant stare.

"Walk," he ordered as he gave me a gentle nudge forward.

He ushered me through the foyer, adorned with ornate woolen rugs and polished wooden décor. The walls were made of pure oak and shone under the light of a hundred beeswax candles ensconced in wrought-iron chandeliers.

I'd never seen such luxury. Not even in my own home. When Lord Darius opened the giant wooden doors to the Great Hall, I gasped in shock.

Two stone tigers were rearing onto their hind legs, teeth bared in a ferocious display of aggression. In their right claws, each tiger gripped a metal chain leading to a tethered dragon. In their left claws, they squeezed a frantic falcon as it fought to break free. 

"Tigers--the national symbol of the Gatál," Darius said with wry, mirthless chuckle.

The gargoyles made me want to vomit.

"Tigers embody the values prized by the Gatál," he continued. "Intelligence. Passion. Power. Strength. Adventure." He paused before he added, "As well as the conquest of inferior races."

"It represents the Gatál subjugating the Dragonborn and the Halcíans," I murmured under my breath with a shudder. "That's horrific."

"Quiet!" When he wrenched me towards him, I crashed against his dark leather armor with a yelp. "Your words are treasonous. Just ... don't speak. At all."

A sinister rumble reverberated in his chest before he pushed me away. 

"That's an order."

"Fine."

If I had any other choice ...

Our boot heels clicked on the black marble as we walked across the Great Hall. In my vivid imagination, I could see hundreds of Halcíans gossiping, drinking, eating, and waltzing.

The height of the Halcían monarchy.

Some nobles laughed while others schemed for greater power. Many flirted with handsome suitors. But none of them ever dreamed their empire would fall to the Gatál.

Deep in my own dreams, I didn't watch where I was going, and I almost slipped on the polished floor. "Be mindful of your steps, little spitfire," he whispered as he pulled me in a different direction. "It's this way."

We meandered through halls of dark stone lit only by oil lamps and torches. As we made our way through the labyrinthine passageways, I realized I'd never find my way back on my own.

When we reached a giant wrought-iron door, the Shadow Rider muttered an incantation. The door swung open of its own accord. He gestured to me, indicating that I should go inside.

My breath hitched as I peered down the dark corridor from the doorway. I couldn't even see ten feet in front of me. "What is this place?" I asked.

"A place of nightmares," he replied.

"No way, I'm not going in there! Hey!"

Darius grabbed my arm and almost dragged me inside. When the Shadow Rider raised his palm, the door slammed shut with a thud followed by a series of clanking noises. In the pitch dark, my eyes refused to adjust. The only source of ventilation were narrow slits along the wall that hardly let in a single ray of the dull moonlight.

I wondered how the masked Rider could see a foot in front of him.

With tentative steps, I held my arms out in front of me. I had no idea where to place my feet. Yet he strode forward with purpose. "Follow me," the Shadow Rider whispered. "Move!"

I can't see, you idiot!

My skin crawled as my eyes slowly adjusted to the smallest bits of light. The cold stone walls seemed to press upon me as we ventured deeper into the belly of the monstrous castle. Evil oozed from the walls as putrid smells of rotten food and blood assaulted my senses.

"Does this lead to the dungeon?" I asked with a shudder.

"More or less," came his cryptic reply.

When I took my next step, I lost my concentration. My foot gave way with an eerie snap. I cried out in pain as I fell to the ground. I tried to rise to my feet and gasped as pain shot up my leg. I lifted my foot off the ground and sucked in air through my teeth.

"Helena!" the Shadow Rider shouted as he rushed to my side. "You're injured. Let me see."

With a groan, I shook my head and tried to hobble.

"Here." Lord Darius offered me his arm so that I could steady myself as I favored my injured foot. "Show me."

Leaning against him, I pulled off my leather boot with a grimace and gave it a tentative touch. Heat radiated from the injury, and a hard knot had already begun to form on the surface.

"Let me help," he said as he gestured to the wall with the torch.

"No, thanks. I'll manage."

Darius scoffed. "Lord Hesse should not see any weakness, or he'll strike."

Wrapping his arm around me, the Shadow Rider supported most of my weight as I hobbled towards the wall. I sank to the floor and extended my injured leg out in front of me.

With the gentlest touch, Darius lay my foot in his lap, and I drew a sharp breath. "Gods above!" I exclaimed as the stinging pain made my eyes water.

"Easy, now."

Muttering an incantation in a guttural language I didn't recognize, Darius cupped his hands around my swollen ankle. My foot grew cold. Ice cold--like frostbite.

"What are you doing?" I asked, frantic.

"Shh!" he admonished me. "Let me concentrate."

Strands of wispy mist rose from the floor and gathered in the air. The dark magic swirled above my ankle before it pierced the outer surface with the pain of a thousand pinpricks.

My ankle burned as the magic weaved fibers inside my foot, sewing the bones, muscles, and ligaments back together. I squeezed my eyes shut as my breath came in labored gasps.

I refused to cry.

"Not long now," Darius murmured as he traced his hand midway up my calf. Tingles burned wherever his gauntlets grazed my skin.

My parents would have been mortified to hear that stranger--much less a Shadow Rider--had touched my leg as he'd done. "Please, don't!" I said as I tried to wrench my leg from his grasp.

"I'm trying to heal you ... nothing more," he said in a calm tone as he held me steady and pointed at the injury. "You fractured one of your bones and injured some soft tissue here."

I stared at him, wide-eyed. "How can you tell?"

"I can see it," he replied.

What?!

When he released my foot, I prepared myself for the pain that never came. Filled with disbelief, I stared at my ankle, which no longer showed any trace of swelling or damage. I touched it gingerly, but all the soreness had vanished.

"Now move it from side to side," he commanded. "Up and down. Rotate." He nodded in satisfaction as he placed my foot down on the floor. "Good. You have a full range of motion."

The Rider had accelerated my body's healing and cured me in a matter of seconds.

How on Paxus ...?

"Wait!" I exclaimed in a whisper. "How do you know my mother's craft?"

"Your mother aligned herself with light magic, whereas I'm a master of darkness. A dark healer. A dark scientist."

"I don't understand," I said with a furrowed brow. "You're leading me like a lamb to the slaughter, yet you healed my broken ankle."

Extending his gloved hand towards me, the Shadow Rider helped me to my feet. 

"You don't have to stay here, Helena." He steadied me as I put on my boot. "Choose to train with me. Lord Hesse will give you the choice. You're a Gatál noble--he has to listen."

I shook my head. "I won't become a Shadow Rider."

"I'm a man of my word," he replied. "If you stay under my command and follow my orders, you won't suffer."

"Don't ask me to do the impossible," I said through clenched teeth.

"No one said anything about becoming a Shadow Rider." He lifted my chin until I met his gaze. "It's my oath to protect you, and I will. If you let me."

A part of me remained suspicious. Yet it was my mother's dying wish to train with him. In the belly of the beast, I couldn't face the dark lord on my own. Not yet. 

Ignoring the voice of fear, I nodded. "Fine, I'll train with you."

Being brave was one thing. But in this world, Lord Darius was my only anchor in a vast, tumultuous sea. If I rejected my one chance to survive, I'd drown in its icy depths. 

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A/N: Thank you so much for reading. If you enjoyed this chapter, please vote and/or comment. :) If you have any feedback or constructive critique you'd like to share, please let me know!