n

n

nBianca surveyed the spirits in front of her, her throat burning after speaking the ancient language. They rose at her command. As if on instincts, she felt powered.

n

"Pripremite se!

" Her voice boomed.

"Vas neprijatelj je vase izmenjeno ja!

"

nWatching his daughter with pride and awe, Daryn translated it for the others while she spoke the language.

"Prepare yourself. Your enemy is your altered self.

"

nThe spirits howled in unison. A man stepped in front of them.

"Bianca,

" he said with a proud smile.

nShe recognized him immediately.

"Grandfather!

" She exclaimed.

nCaleb and Daryn dismounted his horse and so did Bianca. They floated towards him.

"By Skadi!

" said Daryn. This was the first time he was seeing his father and that too in his spirit form. The moment was emotionally overwhelming.

"Father!

" Daryn fell on his knees right in front of Gayle and looked up at the silhouette of his body.

"I have been yearning to see you for so long father,

" he rasped.

nGayle bent down and placed his hand on his shoulders.

"So have I, my son. I was waiting for this day to arrive.

"

nDaryn felt his soul would shred for he was quivering.

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"I wanted to see you for so long, father that you were beginning to feel fictional,

" said Caleb.

"And then you just existed in dreams for us…

" Caleb cried.

"Please be real again for us. You have to come back.

" Caleb had felt the worst. When he returned, his father was already taken away by Sedora.

nGayle embraced both his sons. Their white bodies turned pale orange with the emotions passing between them. He looked up at his granddaughter and beckoned her to come to him. With a whimper, Bianca ran to him and embraced him. She could feel warmth flowing from him. And it felt good in so much icy chilliness.

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"Thank you for saving me that day Grandfather,

" she said.

"It cost you your life. How can I ever forget it? I will always be indebted to you.

"

nGayle smiled at his granddaughter.

"No my child. I am glad that I could be of some help. I have been waiting for this day, gathering these spirits, collecting them for you. Lead these souls and defeat Sedora. That would be my retribution. That is the only way my soul would rest in peace. I have full confidence in you.

"

nShe nodded and a whimper left her.

nGayle turned to his sons.

"Sedora had my body deep in her chamber, and her chamber is five levels below the palace. As soon as I died, Kar'den's men took my body to her.

" He remembered how deranged she looked and sounded. She was pumping his heart again and again.

"You can't leave me Gayle!

" she had screamed. Her cries had awakened the entire palace.

"You were the man that held all my cards! Come back!

" she pressed his heart. She used her dark magic to revive him, but nothing happened. Ultimately when she failed in every way to revive him, she picked up his body in the air and walked to her chamber. His body was stored in a hole that was carved in the gray stone of her chamber just beside her bed. He had watched her for many days as she denied him the last rites. Sedora hadn't come out of her chamber for the next fifteen days. Gayle had left her to do what was inevitable.

nGayle continued with sadness,

"She hasn't done anything to my body, and I feel that she might never part with it because then my soul will always hover in this realm. I have a feeling that she is going to deal with you even after my death. She will use my body as a trump card.

"

n

"Oh my God!

" said Daryn.

"Has she no guilt conscious? Has her lust for power driven her so far?

"

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"She has lost it, Daryn,

" said Gayle.

"Right now you should focus on defeating the Shadows. We will talk about it later.

" He looked at his elder son.

"Caleb, when you find my body, bury it in our ancestral grounds, near my ancestors.

"

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"Yes father,

" Caleb said. He promised it to himself to get his father's body intact.

nBianca looked at the spirits behind Gayle. They were waiting for her orders. They looked up at her as if they were eager to go for the battle.

nShe stepped in front of them and saw a huge army of white spirits standing all around the grassy knoll.

"Ima li vasu odanast?

"

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"Aa!

" A resounding yes echoed from them.

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"You have our allegiance,

" said Gayle.

"No lead us!

"

nBianca raised her chin with confidence and walked to Izar.

nThe kings mounted the horse and circled Bianca as the spirits began to recede from the center. There was turbulence in the ground and suddenly smoke oozed out of it. It swirled around the kings. At first it swirled slowly but soon it gained speed and spun faster. It covered them from all the sides.

nThunder and lightning marred the skies threatening a heavy rain through the dense clouds.

nShe felt she was ready. She raised her hand and a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky to her hand. The souls shrieked and cried and whispered. They raised their hands up and lightning began to appear in each one of their hands. This was the weapon they had to use with the Shadows.

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"Ubijte tela ovim oruzjem!

" Her throat burned more as she shouted out those orders.

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"We have to slay the bodies with this bolt in our hands!

" said Daryn. Only Dawn was able to do this kind of magic. And now he understood why Brantley insisted that she enhanced her magic when she was pregnant. It just naturally came to Bianca. All the threads segued so beautifully.

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"Marta!

" she yelled through the smoke that swirled like a whirlwind around them.

nAnd the spirits marched.

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"Where are we going first?

" asked Lazarus as his horse galloped in the wind.

n

"I saw the Shadows just in the area before we reached the werewolf realm. I suspect that now there must already be a large horde of them traveling towards the wizard kingdom. That's where we will go!

" said Bianca.

nThe queen of the souls led the army to the werewolf realm. She could smell the rotten bodies and the peculiar smell of the Shadows in the air as they neared. It was repulsive.

nAnd true to her estimate, there was a huge horde of Shadows that had thronged the forests surrounding the werewolf realm. As they neared, she found Ileus already fighting with them along with his Mozias and Dmitri.

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"Hanaã!

" she shouted.

nAnd the spirits attacked the Shadows.

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"Lazarus, I need you to trap them from the west!

" She commanded.

nLazarus nodded and turned his horse to the west. As if what to do, a portion of spirits accompanied him.

nShe gave similar orders to her father and uncle.

nOnce they had gone, Bianca unleashed her force upon the Shadows. Izar raced through the Shadows and her bolt pierced them, sliced them or burned them. Every time a Shadow burned, a shriek was heard—of the soul whose body was affected. It was as if they wanted to be released from this agony and go away. But Bianca couldn't release them now. She needed them—all of them.

nThe Shadows were surrounded from all sides in this region. Ileus was fighting a lost battle because it was the bolts of light that killed the Shadows.

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