Omega's Rebirth-Chapter 637: Something Familiar ()
The Shadow Tower... the actual shadow tower, Xenon could not believe it, but as he stood at the balcony for the hundredth time these days and gazed down to the great distance below,
The wide expanse of the dark lands stretched far on as the only view on one side and the vast blackened woods on the other, with its trees ashen and without life, it once again became apparent to Xenon that they indeed were in the only structure still left standing in one piece in all the dark lands.
The most regal and equally most terrifying structure in these forbidden swamps... a place even more forbidden and shunned by the dragon kind than the swamps itself.
The Shadow Tower was many things, a dark terrible tower as Ida had said...a place where much darkness and all manner of depravity had been done.
But Xenon knew it best as the castle and home to the Dark Lord and his council.
"This is madness... how in the stronghold were we portaled here? Of all the destinations in the world to be sent to?" Xenon muttered, his hands clenched tightly at his sides.
Xenon had asked this question many times but he still could not find an answer, with Verothrax still unconscious and Ida ignorant of it all, there was no one to provide a suitable answer.
Xenon’s movement and the surge of his rage sent a sharp ache spreading across his back and Xenon gripped the railing for balance, his brows furrowed in disgust at the chilling cold feeling of the surface of the railing.
Xenon had come to realize every surface of the castle was much the same. As cold as ice...it was in some ways similar to the freezing stone walls of Dragon Keep, but at the same time, the aura exuded from the walls of the shadow tower was entirely different.
The aura around was thick and potent with a dark energy, the kind that could be felt subtly when dark magic was wielded anywhere else in the world and slightly more potent from shadow beasts that loomed the blackened woods.
But here in the shadow tower, that aura was at its most potent. It had seeped so deeply into the walls over the centuries that the tower served as home to the most powerful wielders of dark magic,
Into every crack and crevice that the walls practically lived and breathed that dark energy. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞
Even after being left desolate for so long, it was disturbing to see that the dark energy had not dispersed in the slightest and it was no wonder the darkness and decay of the dark lands equally never faded.
Xenon held tightly onto the railing, his eyes examining the dark lands for a long moment.
Xenon did not attempt to do any more than that, he already knew he would not be able to take dragon form just yet, but even so, he had tried repeatedly in the first few days here, to no avail,
It was clear to Xenon that even if he did want to scout his environment, it was not a possibility for the time being, he could only stare out from the height of this tower, day and night, for only as far as his sight allowed till he made sufficient recovery.
It was impossible to tell from this point the effect of Verothrax’s magic backfire, the amount of destruction that had been caused was unknown to Xenon and even more concerning to him was the wellbeing of Neveah and Jian.
Xenon’s heart clenched in worry as he thought back to the words he had said to Neveah before leaving her side.
"I would be back in a short time... how long has it been now? I was unconscious for more than a week and since I regained consciousness, a good while has gone by too." Xenon muttered to himself.
The nights were longer than the days out in the dark lands. With the sun rising and setting differently, it was truly a feat to keep track of exactly how much time had passed as the days blended into one another and oftentimes, the sun did not rise for too long to have been just a day.
And sometimes the sun rose and set multiple times in a short span of time. This far out into the dark lands was every bit as horrid as Xenon remembered it to be all those centuries ago.
"A cursed place..." Xenon murmured to himself in disdain.
Xenon breathed a sigh as he stepped away from the balcony, heading out of the room.
Xenon strode down the hallway, keeping his eyes straight ahead. He had already gotten more than enough time to be disgusted by every sight on the way to where Verothrax was, there was no longer any need for that.
If Xenon was one who looked on the bright side of things, he would have noted the fact that in the time that had passed, he had recovered a lot already and could now move about at will.
Xenon knew it would not be long now before he could shift without any trouble, but there still remained one concern... Verothrax.
Xenon pushed open the door and stepped in to see Ida wiping Verothrax’s forehead with a wet cloth.
"What are you doing?!" Xenon hissed coldly.
Ida jumped in surprise, she had not heard Xenon coming and she scurried away from Verothrax.
"I...he is burning up again. I am only trying to bring down his fever." Ida explained to Xenon in the usual trembling tone.
Xenon growled low in the back of his throat.
As many times as he had seen Ida and her disturbing iron mask in these days, Xenon still could not help how disturbing her presence was to him... for some reason, her presence unsettled Xenon greatly and had him on his guard, like there was something to protect against.
Ida posed no physical threat, this was true. Xenon had confirmed that in these days, but he still could not doubt his instincts...there was something there... something disturbingly familiar, something he could not quite place his finger on...
