Once Walked With Dragons
Chapter Twenty Seven

The following night, chaos reigned over the nearest village. Sharzak had unleashed the Shadows and other monsters on the none-suspecting villagers. Within minutes, the ward around the village had been poisoned and destroyed. Houses were plundered, life stock was killed. Some of the villagers tried to fight back, but they were only met with defeat. Several others ran in terror, thinking they would escape the horror by hiding in the forest, but a darker evil than the Shadows lurked there.

A sudden burst of purple fire erupted from the edge of the forest, throwing the villagers in every direction.

A moment later, Keara came walking out of the forest, a cloud of flames at her feet. No one could understand how Keara would want to harm them. She had always protected them.

Terrified eyes stared at her. But Crucis Salerra did not comprehend the confused looks on the faces of the villagers. It only saw fear in their eyes, which somehow strengthened it even more. No expression showed in Keara’s eyes, no sadness, no remorse. She had become hollow inside. The village had grown completely quiet. Only the sound of the crackling fire remained. The Shadows all stared at Keara, waiting for her to make a move.

Out of nowhere, an arrow came flying towards Keara. She caught it in one hand without flinching. A moment later, the arrow burst into flame and quickly became nothing but ash in her hand. Without even blinking, Keara launched herself forward, flying over the heads of terrified villagers and attacked the owner of the arrow. He did not even have a chance to scream before she ended his life. Only then, did the Shadows continue their rampage.

Much later that night, Keara and the Shadows returned to the Haunted Castle. Spattered with blood, Keara did not even react when Sharzak gave her his cruellest smile. Without a single word, she departed to her room.

Once there, she grabbed a rag off one of the chairs and started wiping herself clean. She sat down by the window, folding her wings around her, desperately trying to remember what she had lost. But unfortunately she would not discover it as long as she remained under Sharzak’s control.

He kept flooding her mind with dark images, ensuring that she never thought of anything else, except her dark purpose.

Their rampages continued for several days. Those that were lucky to survive travelled to Varden Castle to report these unusual occurrences. They thought it necessary that everyone knew what now lurked in the darkest parts of the forest.