Later that evening, most of the knights were sound asleep. However, a few of the Redwing leaders were still awake by the fire.

Van had taken out the Divine crystal he had received. It was given to him by Ray, which was smilingly was a gift from the Divine being. A crystal which held great power and was able to hold the Divine being herself was now in his hands.

Somehow, he was meant to harness this power to help him defeat the shadow. He closed his eyes and started to concentrate. Doing a little practice before the big event, the crystal started to light up, and to avoid the others from waking up, he cuffed his hands around the edge.

Breaking concentration, the light started to dim.

"The key to us winning all of this.

"

"Don't put too much pressure on yourself.

" A voice said from behind.

When Van turned around, he could see Roki had just come back from the forest.

"I just don't understand how I got involved in all of this,

" Van said.

"You don't need to understand,

" Harry said.

"If you think about it too much and make yourself go mad with the pressure, it won't change anything.

"

The next morning the weather was miserable. There was a sudden downpour, but this was to be expected as they got closer to the Shadow continent. The weather wasn't the nicest in that area.

Unsure whether it was the shadows doing or if it had always been like that. There weren't many that could even remember the times before the shadow existed.

Finally, they had stepped foot on the dark dead land, the trees were weak looking, and showed no signs of life, while the rivers were filled with lava. A few buildings would be seen in the distance but all crumpled and torn down, there was no sign of human life for miles and miles.

In the end, at some point, they needed to set up camp. The shadow continent was mostly a wasteland, and this posed a great threat, for there was nowhere safe to set up camp.

Eventually, all they could do was place their tents on where they were. The rain continued pouring down, and the knights were to stay in their tents for the night.

Roy, who excelled in fire magic, was finally coming to some use, as he was asked to help start fires in every one of the tents to gather some warmth.

For this expedition, Sir K and Harry were put in commanding charge. The group would mostly decide things together as they usually did, but if it came to it and forced to make a quick decision, it would be down to them.

And right now, in a large tent, the RedWing leaders had gathered as Lenny felt like he had a pressing matter to tell them all.

"I fear that the shadow may already know we are coming early,

" Lenny said.

"What makes you think that?

" Martha asked.

"The fact that a large army like this one has been travelling through the shadow continent, yet haven't encountered a single beast. Incidents used to happen at the border all the time, and even more so when we started to clear the land, yet right now there has been nothing.

"

"Can Bliss not look into the future again to see if it's changed?

" Kyle asked.

'I can, but we shouldn't rely on that, even the vision I see is just one of many, and perhaps it is one that is the result of the actions we are taking even now. It's best if we not try to get ahead of the future.

"

"We should continue to proceed.

" Sir K said.

"There might be other reasons for why it is like it is now. Maybe they are gathering forces for an attack or something else. If we are prepared for a trap or an ambush, then it won't really be a trap or ambush will it.

"

The words spoken by Sir K were simple, but it gave them confidence. Listening to Sir K, for many of them, it reminded them of a time when they were back at an academy. They never thought they would be travelling by his side to fight the shadow.

However, there was one person who was keeping a secret from them all; he didn't know why, but he thought it was best to keep it quiet. Ever since Van had stepped foot in the shadow continent, his crystal was pulsating with a strange power.

He was unaware of why, but it gave him confidence, in the strength he felt.

That night as they all slept, Harry was struggling with thoughts of his own. Gary, was someone who he saw as a rival. Ever since he had lost the kingdom tournament to him, he strived to be better and get stronger.

He was also the person who comforted him when he had no choice but to kill his father. It was a strange relationship, but other than Jack. He didn't feel a connection with any of the others.

He just felt distant. So far, they had lost two people to the shadow going over to the other side in Monk and Gary, and it looked like there was a chance that Slyvia might have as well. He was just hoping that this little trip of there's didn't send any more people over to the other side.

During the middle of the night, Harry awoke to find him pinned downed by a heavyweight. He tried to move his arms and legs but couldn't, and when he tried to make a noise to inform the others, there was nothing. Hovering above him, a strange dark beast covered in shadows looked down at him.

It had pointed ears and red eyes, at the same time, sharp white fangs.

'I can't shout!' Harry struggled. 'Is it some type of magic from the beast?'

The beast itself wasn't much bigger than Harry, but it was able to keep him pinned. From the corner of his eyes, he looked to the others to see if there was anyone who was awake.

Yet, there was no one. For some reason, the beast had chosen to attack him and only him. No one was around to see. The beast's jaws opened wide, and it's largemouth started to move towards his neck. If he didn't do anything now, then the beast would end his life there and then.

'I can't, I can't die like this. I need to figure out why, why my father chose to help things like you!' The anger within him rose, and he started to focus that into his Ki.

He could move now, but not enough to break free. Concentrating all his energy, he could just move his fingertips. He reached into his pouch the only thing he could grab, and pulled out a gold coin. Then flicking it as hard as possible.

It went flying through the air to hit Van who was sleeping by his side.

Van leapt to his feet, and upon seeing the beast, he yelled out on instinct.

"Best! Shadow Beast!

" It was a panic and a reminder of a time when he was here in the past.

The pulsing in his pouch was now strong , and the white light could be seen shining through. He pulled it out, and as his fingers touched a white beam of light came out.

Hammering into the beast. It pushed it off Harry and started to squirm and cry in pain as if it was burning.

The light eventually stopped, and the beast could be seen crawling out from the tent.

Harry drew his sword, ready to chase after the beast and kill it in case it did any harm to others, but when he exited from the tent, he could see the beast's body slowly disintegrating, burning away leaving nothing behind.

When everyone had gathered back in the tent, Harry had recalled to them all what had happened and what he had felt.

"This is a problem.

" Sir K said with his hand on his chin. His eyebrows were furrowed as he had a deep concern.

"This tent is located in the centre of the whole encampment. For it to reach us, then the beast would have gone past all the other tents.

"

"Which means?

" Kyle asked.

"It means it wasn't a random attack,

" Bliss said.

"They were aiming to come to this tent, and if that is the case, then we have to ask ourselves another question. Why did the beast choose to go after Harry, and not Van.

"

Everyone had turned to look at him, but even Harry didn't know the answer to this one.

"Thank you, you saved my life,

" Harry said to Van.

"Thanks, but it wasn't me; it was this crystal.

" He replied.

"Well, at least we know one thing,

" Lenny said.

"That beast was something known as a mind eater. It is silent, and when one is sleeping, it can inject a mist that emits from its body to paralyse its enemy. Although small in size it is actually considered a king tier beast.

"

Now the others were starting to understand Van's importance in all of this. With a single beam shot from the crystal he held, he was easily able to kill a king tier beast. He would certainly be a tide changer in the war.

*****

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