Welcome back to Shadow of Darkness, haven't updated in a while I know. I'm holidays and probably should be studying for my trial HSC but ohh well.
Anyway here is the new chapter.

RECAP:

Later they were packed and ready to go they would be walking for a at least three more weeks before they would reach Del, Nic clenched his firsts as he thought about what would happen once he gets there, he was certain he wouldn't make it back alive, but the least her could do was let Tori and Dan get away.

'Soon king of Del, you shall meet your fate as I will meet mine' he thought as he looked at the full moon that graced the dark night sky with light.

CHAPTER 13 - Closer To The Truth

Leif and Barda were almost at the town of Parecole, after travelling nonstop they were sighing in relief when they saw the large gates that secluded the town from the outside world. Since the mass attack within near their town the citizens refused to let people in and out of the gates in fear that more would fall as a result. When they reached the gates Lief searched for guards stationed at the watch posts, all the while blocking the sun's rays with his hand.

Looking back at Barda he shrugged his shoulders unsure of what to do. Suddenly a voice broke the tranquillity of silence that settled over the two friends.

"Who are you and what do you want!" The voice hollered

Unable to see the owner to the voice Lief opted to shout back to the obviously hesitant guards trembling voice.

"I am Lief, King of Deltora. I am here to figure what happened to the small group of travellers that were killed not far from here."

There was a short silence until Lief and Barda heard the sharp sounds of the cranks and levers within the gates and the groaning of the wood in protest as the gates slowly opened to reveal a small old man, head smeared with white hairs that travelled past his shoulders and brushed softly against his lower back. He was dressed in a dark tunic that seemed a little too large on his small stature as it dragged lazily across the ground.

"Welcome to Parecole King Leif we have been expecting you. Please follow me." He said with a small bow of his head before heading down the path towards the town.

Lief and Barda willingly followed the old man catching up to him rather quickly due to his slow pace and falling into place to his left. The walk was silent as they passed houses and citizens who mumbled incoherent words that were undistinguishable from Lief's distance. Soon they came to a rather large building that was slightly dilapidated and in clear need of some repairs, they again followed the old man as he hobbled towards a desk that lay rest at the back of the room.

The old man carefully placed himself in the chair and looked at the young king and his companion motioning towards the two vacant chairs in a silent request. Understanding his plea the two friends plopped down in the chairs and stared intently at the man.

"Thank you for answering our request, this whole incident has had my citizens as well as myself on edge. I am Pheidias the mayor of this humble little town as you can see your presence has created a stir in the residents that reside here, they are anxious to figure out what happened." Pheidias said with a small smile as he introduced himself before regaining his serious expression.

"We only know minimal information to what occurred can you give us a more in depth analysis of what happened?" said Barda receiving a small nod from the old man across from them.

"As you vaguely aware a small group of travellers were making their way towards the city after leaving Likolea days earlier, however close to here they were brutally cut down by an unknown individual whose actions were both atrocious and unpardonable."

"Do you know who was in the small group?" Barda inquired

"Yes, the group consisted of three men, two women and 1 small child. None survived." The old man replied through gritted teeth. Leif visibly stiffened at the news that a child was slain, images of Jasmine and their child flashed through his mind at the thought.

Shaking his head to rid his mind of the though and regaining his composure Leif snapped his attention back to Pheidias as he continued his explanation.

"Sadly we have no leads on who the individual is, however we do know that they travelled from the south and it seems they are continuing south, headed towards Del."

Barda glanced over at Leif surprise written all over his face, while Lief had a distant emotionless look as he stared at the space between his feet. Thousands of thoughts and questions travelled through Lief's mind as he tried to let the information sink into his mind, this crazed maniac is headed for Del? What purpose would they have there? Could they be after Jasmine? Why?

Lief jumped to his feet startling both Barda and Pheidias. "Thank you for your help Pheidias, I will head back to Del immediately and insure this murderer is dealt with." Lief said as he bowed low for the old man.

Pheidias nodded in response and called two guards forward to accompany the King and his companion to the gates. The two bowed again and followed the two guards back through town and to the large wooden gates that adorned the stone walls. Once they were out of the perimeter of the gates it slammed shut behind them rendering the town once again separated from the wilderness.

"So what's the plan Lief?" Barda said after the momentary silence

"We have to get back to Del immediately to insure everyone is safe and to catch this guy before he can cause anymore damage." Leif replied as he mounted his horse. Shortly after they were on their way back to Del, one thought played repeatedly through Lief's mind as they walked away from Parecole.

'Who are you?'

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Nic, Tori and Dan walked in silence through the dark forest, the only sounds residing around them were the occasional hoot of an owl or the rustle of leaves as a soft wind travelled through the canopy above them. They trod unsteadily through the darkness Nic in the front followed closely by Tori who held the small of hand of Dan tightly in her own as he walked closely by her side.

They had been walking since earlier that morning and their muscles were crying out in protest, strained from their continued use over the span of the day. Finally they gave out and they reluctantly took shelter in the open roots of a large tree, a fire blazing in the middle supplying light in the surrounding darkness. Dan had settled beside Tori and feel asleep almost immediately clutching the older girls skirt tightly in his hands as his head came to rest in her lap, over the course of their travels Dan has become incredibly close to Tori seeing her as a mother figure, which she didn't seem to protest, and didn't usually leave her side unless Nic requested him to help.

Nic and Tori had also become closer during the time they spent together creating a bond similar to that of close friends, each night they would talk to one another and soon their friendship blossomed and both found a comforting feeling being seen as important to another. As Dan slept peacefully in the older girls lap, Nic and Tori spoke in hushed voices as to allow the boy some rest.

"How much longer do you reckon it will take to get to Del?" Tori asked as her fingers brushed absentmindedly through the young boys unruly light brown hair.

Looking up from the fire Nic started counting with his fingers, mumbling softly to himself as he calculated, after a minute or two of incoherent mumbling he turned to face Tori, staring intently into her blue eyes which sparkled with the dancing flames.

"Roughly about eleven to twelve days, give or take a few days." He replied sheepishly scratching the back of his head and bringing it ruffle his hair before coming to rest on his propped knee.

Tori nodded feeling the grip of sleep pulling her towards unconsciousness, before she knew it she was blissfully asleep leaving Nic to his thoughts. Nic once again turned his head to look at the woman that rested beside him, her lips parted slightly as she slept, her hair coming to rest over her face, strands moving slightly as she exhaled. Her face portrayed a peaceful expression one of innocence and unknowing of what was to come. Nic slowly moved his hand to brush the stray hairs away from her face placing them softly behind her ear, giving him a clearer view of her face. Was he really going to put her through all the hardships that seemed to loom over them as a result of his masters obsession with removing the King of Deltora from existence, a small smile graced his features as she stirred in her sleep bringing his hand closer to her face before drifting off again into a peaceful slumber. Retracting his hand he knew it was wrong of him to involve both Dan and Tori in his endeavours to kill the King of Deltora, he would go in alone when the time comes but for now her enjoyed their company. Sighing he let his body succumb to sleeps embrace and drifted into slumber.

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Nic found himself in the embrace of the darkness unable to see anything around him, he could feel the coolness on metal against his wrists, shackles. He struggles against them trying unsuccessfully to remove himself from the restraint, sweat travelled down his temple from his efforts as he trashed violently against the cold chains.

Maniacal laughter brought him out of his struggle as he looked around frantically to find the source of the laughter, his eyes skimmed the darkness trying to find something, anything in the darkness that surrounded him, his efforts were in vain as the laughing continued in the darkness around him. Desperate to get away from the horrid laughter he struggled harder against the shackles that dug into his flesh the more he thrashed and moved, digging further and further into his skin rubbing painfully against the now bloody wrist.

The laughter only got louder and louder, he could hear his heart pounding in his ears as he continued to struggle against the metal shackles.

"So you think you can protect them against me do you?" A dark voice boomed through the pitch blackness, red eyes shone contrastingly against the black surrounding them. The voice began to laugh once again as Nic stared into the piercing red eyes.

"No one is safe against me, you will all die at my hands and it is all thanks to you Nicholas." The voice echoed through the darkness.

Nic's eyes widened, because of him everyone will be collected by deaths bitter embrace soon enough no one will be able to escape and it was because of him.

The darkness began to recede revealing a figure before him, head bowed a sinister chuckle escaped its lips as it began trembling as its chuckle escalated into a uncontrollable fit of laughter. Nic again struggled against his restraints trying to escape its presence.

The figure stopped its manacle laughter and stood still once again, Nic didn't stop his struggling however he watched the figure, something about it looked similar but he couldn't piece together what it was. Then the figures head shot up red eyes blazing, filled with darkness and evil. Nic stumbled back at what he saw, the same green eyes, untameable light brown hair that stood up at all different angles and even the patch of stubble that adorned its chin. He was looking into the red eyes of an exact replica of himself surrounded in a dark red glow.

"WHO ARE YOU? WHATS GOING ON?!" Nic screamed, struggling once again to get free.

The other Nic simply laughed before stepping closer to Nic. "I am you, the part of you that you didn't know existed, the dark part that is fuelled by chaos and bloodshed. Alas don't you see I was the one who killed those travellers with the help of the Shadow Lord, he was the one that placed me inside of you as the perfect weapon. We will be unstoppable."

"NO. I REFUSE TO HELP YOU, YOU AREN'T ME! I WOULD NEVER DO THAT!" Nic shouted back, thrashing his legs in vain.

"Believe what you want but I am as much a part of you as you are of me. As I said before no one can escape me, you can't protect that useless girl or that puny child from me. I WILL DESTROY EVERYTHING YOU CARE ABOUT!"

The darkness shifted and the image of Tori and Dan laying lifeless on the floor morphed from the previous display. Dark Nic chuckled above the lifeless corpses resting his bloodied sword on his shoulder with one hand and licking the smeared blood of his other while staring at the still struggling Nic. He then dropped his sword and slowly walked towards Nic, his red eyes dancing with amusement, he stepped close to Nic bringing his lips close to his ear.

"You see no one is safe, not even yourself." He whispered before bringing his hands around Nic's neck and began to strangle him, he was helpless to stop him and soon he invited death as black began to dance across his vision.

"NOW DIE!"

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"NOOOOOOOO!" Nic shouted as he sat up gasping for breath clutching his neck, sweat covered his body. He looked to his left and saw the still slumbering Tori and Dan, he brought his hands up and rubbed his eyes proceeding to wipe the sweat from his brow, it was just a dream.

He got up and moved to the small stream a little ways from where they had set up camp, dipping his hands in the water he shuddered as the ice cold water nipped at his skin and splashed his face, letting the droplets of water slowly slide down his face and back into the stream. He stared at his reflection in the water, blurry from the ripples caused by the falling droplets, and brought his hand up to his face and prodded here and there, sighing he walked back towards camp and unceremoniously plopped himself down next to Tori, who slowly stirred and sluggishly opened her eyes and looked at Nic who was pale and his eyes unfocused on the fire. She slowly placed her hand on his knee startling the man who turned his head to look at her.

"Hey are you alright?" She asked quietly, watching closely to see his reaction.

What happened next startled her to say the least, Nic had wrapped his arms around her slim waist crushing her against his body and placing his head in the crook of her neck. Tori slowly brought her arms up and wrapped them around the man and let him rest on her shoulder, although she wouldn't admit it she enjoyed the feeling of being in his arms.

Being in her embrace Nic calmed down almost immediately and soon sleep once again consumed them, the traumas of earlier forgotten and a small smile was on both their sleeping faces.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lief sat beside the sleeping Barda, it was his turn to keep watch, the information Pheidias gave them gave the young king some idea of what they were dealing with, a merciless killer that slashed a blade without a second thought, he had to get back to Del to make sure everyone knew the danger this person posed. His thoughts once again thought of his wife and unborn child, he knew there were guards watching them every day, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen, he looked at the belt to make sure the emerald and ruby were the not pale. To his relief they both remained the same colour.

Laying back down he let his mind wander, he thought of his unborn child and what they would look like, would they have his personality or Jasmines, would it be a boy or a girl. He smiled at these thoughts, he couldn't wait, slowly his eyes began to close and soon he drifted into a pleasant slumber with a smile etched on his lips.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The morning after brought a surprise to Nic and Tori as they awoke to find themselves wrapped in each other's arms, they quickly jumped apart a deep blush spread across their cheeks as they realised that they fell asleep like that.

Dan awoke due to all the movement and stared at the older two curiously, whilst rubbing his eyes, he had obviously missed something during his slumber and he was determined to know what it was. He slowly stood up and grasped Tori's sleeve and shook her softly.

"Hey Tori what happened your face is all red, are you sick?" He asked innocently.

Tori shook her head and smiled at the little boy. "No everything is fine, isn't that right Nic?"

Nic unable to process any words simply nodded his head, the small boy knitted his eyebrows at their strange behaviour but brushed it away after his stomach let out a loud rumble in demand for food. They all chuckled and settled down for breakfast they had another days of travel ahead of them if they wanted to make it to Del in time.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lief and Barda were once again packing up their camp and getting ready to ride back to Del, at the speed they were going they would get there within the week. Getting on their horses they proceeded down the dirt track, it was a little to quite for their liking but they pressed on keeping a close eye on their surroundings.

After about half a day of travelling they spotted something in the distance of the forest, expecting the worst they unsheathed their swords and proceeded further into the forest when they got closer they realised that it was three individuals, one man with light brown unruly hair, a woman whose reddish-brown hair danced delicately around her and between the two grasping onto the woman's hand was a young boy whose head was adorned with light brown hair.

The pair could hear faint sections of their conversation, only small snippets. However they were able to deduce that the older man's name was Nic. Seeing that they posed no threat Lief and Barda headed over to the trio and stopped right in front of them.

Nic was surprised at the two men in front of him one not much older than himself with brown hair, dressed in a light blue tunic over a black jumpsuit with a dark blue cloak draped over his shoulders. His eyes never wavered from this one man.

"Who are you?" Tori asked politely to the new comers.

"I am Lief, King of Deltora and this is Barda. Where are you three headed?"

Nic's eyes widened, no it couldn't be could it?

I leave you with a cliffhanger, I apologize

Stay tuned for more sometime in the future, I thank all those of you that have reviewed, favorite and follow this story :)

Till next time

-Finalfantasyfreaks13