Hey, guys, welcome back to RFL 2: Into the Dark! Sorry I'm so late again, online classes kind of kicked me to the curb for a while, and of course, there's a lot of stressful stuff going on in the world right now. Writing is my escape from that stress, though, so I won't go into that too much here in particular - all I'll say here is that I hope that positive change will come soon, in terms of both the pandemic and social justice. Stay safe, everybody, but still let your voice be heard.

Now...let's get to reviews, shall we?

Thanks so much to Demi clayton, Guest, and Milly34k for reviewing! I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story, and I'm sorry I took so long to update!

Now, finally...on with the chapter.

Chapter 27: Twenty-Four Hours

From the Journal of Arios Fletcher

I am afraid I no longer know where I am.

The room I now occupy is not my own - in fact, it is quite different from any room I have seen in recent times. Rather than a frozen, hollowed out, underground cavern furnished with structures formed from ice, it seems as though I am in a room in an actual building, above the surface, for the first time in years.

I don't know how I got here. I can only assume that the Fearling within me blocked off my senses long enough to transport me away from New Iskald, but...for what reason?

I have limited information...I only know what the monster has permitted me to know, and what I have deduced afterwards. For some reason, it brought my journal along with him, and has given me control of my body for long enough to write these words. Perhaps my anxious attempts to discover even the smallest scraps of truth merely serve to amuse it.

This is...endlessly frustrating. In fact, I've already punched the silver walls around me and tried to kick down the door several times already in fits of pent-up anger. Unfortunately, all my efforts have granted me are a few bloodied knuckles and a slight limp. As such, I figured that once again trying to sort through my thoughts via writing would prove a more fruitful use of my time.

I suppose the first order of business is figuring out where I am. Unfortunately...I don't have a clue. As mentioned earlier, I have not been anywhere but New Iskald for years now, so I doubt I could recognize my current location even if I had somehow been here before at some point.

Though truthfully, I don't think that is the case. I have no recollection whatsoever of a silver-coated room such as this one. I do know that enchanted silver is heavily used in the decoration of Soluna's capital city, but it seems odd that a Fearling would hide me in such a densely populated location. Perhaps it is only messing with my mind to throw me off its trail.

I wouldn't put such a thing past the demon.

There are no windows in this room, nor do there seem to be any flaws in its polished silver walls or floor. The door is locked from the outside, and I have a tight black bangle around my left wrist that, no matter how hard I pull, I cannot remove. I believe this bangle is infused with some sort of curse that suppresses my own magic. It would seem that it will only come off when the Fearling is in control, allowing it access to both my natural ice magic and the other spells I know, while I am left powerless whenever the monster chooses to grant me awareness.

As I said before...it is endlessly frustrating. I am alone here in this dim room, only able to write in this journal by the light of a few candles I was so graciously left with. I know nothing of the outside world, or of the Fearling's overall plans.

Part of me does not want to know. This is the Fearling that used my hands to kill my father. This is the Fearling that seems to have tortured someone (but who, I wonder?) with my magic. This is...well, a Fearling. A primal being that feels nothing but a constant hunger for Fear. I shudder to think of what it might do next.

Another part of me still wishes to figure out its plans, if only to fool myself into believing I can do something to stop them. It is a ridiculous notion to be sure...I am quite thoroughly trapped and helpless. I cannot even reliably control my own body, let alone foil a demon's plans.

Still...nothing pains me more than sitting idly by while a Fear-hungry monster is on the loose. I wonder if anyone else is aware of its presence...

()()()()

Haunting memories of darkness, pain, and hallucinations flooded back into Jack's mind at the sight of the Fearling's glittering amber eyes. Even if they were only formed from translucent mist, they still did not fail to send dread coursing through his entire being, while a thick lump formed in his throat.

No, damn it! Jack inwardly scolded himself. Do not let him get to you! Stay calm...just stay calm…

Unfortunately, Jack felt a new wave of terror wash over him as Ebon's gaze came to rest directly on him. He wanted to turn away, but he found himself rooted to the spot as Ebon began to laugh.

"Ah, well if it isn't my favorite little energy source!" he exclaimed, a wide grin on his face. "Up and socializing already, are we? Impressive! I'd be upset, but then, I suppose I don't really need you anymore, do I?"

The boy opened his mouth to retort, to defend himself, to say anything, but he was not able to summon forth any words.

He just wasn't strong enough.

Of course, Ebon only laughed harder when Jack closed his mouth and looked down in shame. "Well...I guess expecting you to have fully recovered so soon would be a bit much, hm? I did break you quite thoroughly! Ah, memories…"

Suddenly, North stepped fully in front of Jack, drawing one of his swords and pointing it directly at Ebon's misty visage. "Fearling!" he bellowed, a fierce scowl on his face. "That is enough! We will not let you torment our boy any longer!"

The Fearling only smirked cruelly. "Aw, how sweet," he teased. "You're just one big, happy family down there, huh? Defending 'your boy' from the scary Fearling? Very cute and heartwarming, really. Only...do you accept constructive criticism? Because if I were you, I'd direct my focus to the tsardom being in imminent peril, instead." He chuckled nonchalantly. "Just a thought."

Aster's eyes narrowed into slits as he growled, "And what the hell is that s'posed ta mean, exactly?"

Ebon beamed. "Oh, I'm so glad you asked!" he replied brightly. "You see, while all of you were wasting time trying to figure out what you were going to do, I was...how should I put this…?" He paused briefly, putting a hand to his chin, pretending to be in deep thought. Then, he snapped his fingers, eyes lighting up once again. "Ah, yes, that's right! I was actually getting something done! Strange how that works."

"Enough of yer damn sass!" Aster demanded impatiently. "Just get ta the point!"

However, as expected, Ebon merely waved the Pooka off. "I know, I know, it's a foreign concept to you Guardians," he mockingly conceded. "But it's true, quick productivity can be quite useful." His large smile suddenly gained a decidedly wicked edge to it. "Especially when your ultimate goals are so lofty."

With that, he stepped to the side, revealing another figure a bit farther back in the mist image. It was a short man, dressed in fine, silver robes, and wearing a mask that had once resembled a full moon, but had been broken in half so that it now only covered the left side of his face, revealing several bruises and cuts on the right.

It was Tsar Lunar, and he was unconscious and in chains.

Jack's eyes widened in pure shock as he stared at the image, still at a loss for words. He had never liked the Tsar much-in fact, he still resented him quite strongly for his prior neglect-but even he could admit that the man's incapacitation was surely the worst-case scenario for the entirety of Soluna.

It did, after all, mean that the capital had fallen. Ebon had already begun his revolution, and not a single Guardian had been there to stop him.

The other Guardians were equally appalled. Aster spat out a few Motorean swears under his breath, Toothiana gave a sharp gasp as her hands flew up to cover her mouth, North was rendered speechless by his shock, and Sandy very nearly fell over in surprise. The others in attendance also shared their expressions of horror, as did the other various sprites that happened to be in the area at the time.

Jack, for his part, did not dare to move or even make a sound. The last thing he wanted was to give Ebon even more to taunt him about.

The Fearling, however, seemed to find more than enough amusement in the other's reactions instead. He threw his head back and laughed coldly. "Did you seriously believe that I wouldn't take advantage of an opportunity like this!?" he taunted. "Every single Guardian of Childhood holed up in an ice pit in the middle of the desert, all focused on babying their poor little boy instead of protecting the tsardom? Talk about a golden opportunity! Getting past all those frail mortal guards was just about the easiest thing I've ever done!"

Jack felt his heart sink like a stone as he realized the implications of Ebon's words. A golden opportunity… the young sprite thought numbly. The other Guardians were distracted by my condition...would they have gone back to the capital already had I not been so...disturbed? Am I the reason they weren't there…? Is this...my fault…?

Suddenly, he noticed Ebon grinning wolfishly at him once more. "Finally figured it out, did you, little Guardian? Did you think my only reason for breaking you was to prevent you from telling the others about my plans?" The monster shrugged casually with a chuckle. "That would have been nice had it worked out properly, sure, but that wasn't my main goal-you were always meant to be a distraction. I was listening in on that vision little Miss Callia showed you all that time ago...your fellow Guardians called you 'family'! Very sweet, very cute, very...usable." Ebon smirked. "How would they react, I wondered, if, when they eventually located their precious little boy, they found him as a pathetic, trembling mess? Surely, as 'Guardians of Childhood,' they would prioritize their youngest member's sanity over a runaway Fearling? And what do you know? Everything proceeded exactly as I hoped it would. Ha! I hope you know how much I appreciate your weak-minded sentimentality!"

Jack couldn't move, couldn't speak, could barely even breathe. He thought he heard one of the others say something to him, but he paid whoever it was no mind. The only thing he could even acknowledge at that point was his severe, overwhelming guilt.

I was a distraction… he thought, over and over again, struggling to swallow around the lump in his throat. A distraction...I...I thought he just meant to silence me, but he never really cared about that...he wanted me to keep the Guardians busy, so that he could infiltrate the Tsar's palace with little resistance...and we all played right into his hands...damn it all…

"Now…" Ebon continued, jolting Jack out of his thoughts, as well as silencing any of the others trying to comfort the boy. "Despite everything I've done, I'll have you know that I'm not entirely unreasonable."

"Could've fooled me," Aster growled savagely.

The Fearling ignored the Pooka without a second thought. "Out of the kindness of my heart...I've decided to wait a little while to actually unchain the Nightmare King."

There was a brief, stunned silence.

Tooth was the first to find her voice. "You mean you...haven't done it yet?" she asked incredulously. "He's still chained…?"

North's eyes narrowed suspiciously at the demon's misty image. "And what is benefit of that for you?"

Ebon shrugged. "Nothing, really. Just a bit more entertainment as you scramble to figure out a plan before I do release him." He grinned, baring his slightly pointed teeth. "From this moment, I'm giving you twenty-four hours to do whatever you'd like to try and stop me. Once that time is up, however, I'll remove the Nightmare King's chains, setting him and all my fellow Fearlings free. And just between you and me...I don't think any of them will be quite as willing to give you a fighting chance as I've been." Ebon shook his head in mock disappointment, though his grin never left his face. "Apparently, not everyone appreciates a good show as much as I do. Ah, well. Can't be helped. Anyway...enjoy your day! I'm sure I'll be seeing you all very soon!" With that, he turned away, the image in the mist beginning to fade.

"Wait!" Lily suddenly called out, causing Ebon to turn back to face her, one eyebrow raised. She bit her lip for a moment, hands shaking with nerves before she finally asked softly, "What have you done with the people you took with you…?"

The Fearling studied her briefly, then smirked. "Nothing, yet," he told her casually. "They all still think I'm poor orphan Arios, so incensed by the recent murder of his father that he's mustered up the courage to lead a revolution for the sake of his people...but of course, I doubt even I could maintain that act forever. In that case, I suppose once I unleash the Nightmare King, I'm just going to have to let some other Fearlings possess them all so they can't change their minds and switch sides." Ebon laughed. "Like I said, though, I haven't done anything yet, so no need to worry...anyway, goodbye!"

And on that chilling note, the mist over the underground lake vanished into nothingness.

Silence reigned for what felt like an eternity, until Simon shook his head and muttered, "Damn, that Fearling likes to talk."

Aster scoffed, his features still contorted into a scowl. "Yer tellin' me. The bastard practically spilled his whole damn plan, and we barely had ta ask a thing. Ya know what? I say we don't waste a single second more. We should charge right into the palace and beat that cocky demon's shadowy arse!"

"Hm...direct attack on palace may work well," North mused thoughtfully, one hand on his chin. "Ebon gave us one day, so he expects us to use it, no? He might not expect us to attack right away...element of surprise could be useful."

"Whoa, whoa, hold on," Tooth cut in, looking worried. "I want to end this just as much as you do, but don't forget that Ebon's already fooled us once before. Who's to say he won't have prepared for an immediate assault?"

Shiro and Rayla shared a concerned glance. "I have to agree with Toothiana," Shiro put in. "This Fearling has proven himself to be clever and cunning...we have to assume he's already thought of any plan we could come up with over these next twenty-four hours."

"Not to mention, I don't think he really has any motivation to keep his word…" Lily added hesitantly. She still appeared shaken from Ebon's closing words about the sprites he had brought with him, but seemed to be forcing her attention elsewhere. "For all we know, he's already retrieved the Nightmare King from his lair, and is keeping him in the palace. If we ran in and attacked, then Ebon could just unleash him right there and then, and we'd all be wiped out."

"But would we, really?" Simon questioned, one dark red eyebrow raised skeptically. "How do we know that the Nightmare King won't be weaker than usual upon waking up?"

Sandy shook his head and formed a few golden images in the air above him, which seemed to roughly say, Ebon's revolution has likely already caused much disturbance and Fear in the capital, if not the rest of Soluna as well by now. The Nightmare King and his Fearlings and Nightmares will awaken to find even more Fear than they had access to before. Rushing in as things are now would be far too risky.

"Ah...makes sense…" the archer sighed.

"As regrettable as it is, we would likely need the combined forces of every Guardian, every sprite here, and perhaps even some outside help in order to stand a chance against a powered-up Nightmare Army and the other snow sprites fighting on its side," Tooth pointed out sadly. "The five of us barely managed to chain Pitch Black last time, and that was when we were all prepared and at full strength." Jack didn't miss the slight, worried glance she gave him, but she continued speaking before he could really acknowledge it. "I really don't think we have the capability to face him head-on at this point."

"Yes…" Rayla agreed, though her expression was troubled. "The sprites of New Iskald are not prepared for battle either. Our magic is powerful, but largely ineffective against our own kind...not to mention the fact that nearly all of our trained guards sided with Ebon. Very few people who are familiar with combat remain here."

Aster crossed his arms, teeth gritted in frustration. "Well, then, what are we s'posed ta do?" he growled, though he seemed more irritated with the situation in general than with anyone who had spoken. "Just sit around on our arses and wait for the Nightmare King ta come back?"

"There's only one thing we can do," Jack finally spoke up, lifting his head to look at the others, who all proceeded to stare at him in surprise. "We...have to evacuate New Iskald."

"E...Evacuate?" Lily repeated, visibly nervous. "Just like that? Jack...we've all been hiding down here for years now...very few of us are going to be willing to emerge into the world again, especially now that Ebon's staged a revolution that once again paints snow sprites as villains…"

"I know," Jack said softly. He sighed and shook his head briefly. "Believe me, I...I know how it feels to want to keep hiding from everyone. I'm a snow sprite too, I know how the world sees us. But I'm sure you understand why none of us can stay here...Ebon knows where we are. He knows this place extremely well, from his time observing from within Arios. When those twenty-four hours are up...I'm almost certain that attacking this place will be the first thing he'll do. He'll no doubt want to get rid of us all early on so that we can't interfere in his or the Nightmare King's plans."

Lily's eyebrows creased, and she nodded slowly. "I...I know you're right...but…"

"But Lily is right as well," Rayla finished for her, a deep frown etched into her facial features. "This change will be sudden and stressful. It will put a great deal of pressure on New Iskald's remaining people…"

"With all due respect, ma'am," Simon put in reluctantly. "While that is certainly true, I really don't think we have a choice in the matter. An underground city isn't exactly the most defendable position I can think of...if the Nightmare King comes after us down here, we're essentially trapped."

Shiro nodded. "I agree," he stated firmly. "It will be difficult, but it's the only way to save our people's lives in the long run. If we want to survive, we must leave." The man paused for a moment, thinking. "...one question, though. Where would we go? We don't have much time to travel, after all."

To Jack's surprise, North grinned widely in response to Shiro's inquiry. "Is easy answer to that," he promised. "I will take you to Guardian base in Iskald with sleigh! Sleigh is magic, so it can get all the way across Soluna in no time at all. We can make multiple trips, and get everyone to safety by time twenty-four hours is up!"

Jack vaguely remembered the old Guardian stories he'd been told as a child including a magical sleigh pulled by flying reindeer that North rode around in, but suddenly realized that he'd never actually seen such a thing up to this point. Instead, North typically used his horse, Petrov, to get around.

Come to think of it, didn't I hear a sleigh being mentioned when Lily showed me that first Clairvoyance Charm back before I was captured…? the young sprite thought idly. I suppose North only uses it for special occasions, then...is that how they came to the desert? I didn't see any sort of sleigh when Aster and I were outside a few days ago...strange.

Figuring he would receive an answer soon enough, he brushed it off, turning his attention back to the conversation.

"What about our horses and livestock?" Lily asked curiously, some of her nerves apparently beginning to fade as a definitive plan was formed. "They take up a lot of space, and I'm sure none of them would take very well to flight…"

"Well, then, that's where I'll have ta come in," Aster said, nodding in her direction. "I can take any animals ya've got through my tunnels. They're magic as well, so the journey'll be just as fast."

A convenient excuse to not have to ride in the sleigh, I suppose, Jack thought, recalling overhearing the Pooka refer to the vehicle as a "death trap" in Lily's Clairvoyance Charm as well. Despite the gravity of the situation, as well as his lingering discomfort from seeing Ebon again, he found it difficult to suppress a smirk at the thought of the proud warrior rabbit harboring a secret fear of heights.

"So it's decided, then," Shiro declared, glancing at Rayla, who offered a nod of confirmation. "We'll use your sleigh and tunnels to evacuate the our remaining citizens to your Guardian base back in Iskald. And you're sure we'll be safe there?"

Toothiana nodded confidently. "Absolutely," she replied. "No living being at all has ever been able to locate even one of our bases, let alone a member of the Nightmare Army. We can and will get you out of here and into there without allowing a single one of you to be spotted, we promise."

"You have our profound gratitude, Guardians of Childhood," said Rayla, a tentative smile finally coming to her face. "I'll admit that many of us have doubted your integrity over the years due to our unfortunate circumstances, but I'm sure your aid will thoroughly erase those doubts, should this plan succeed. Truly, we thank you, from the bottom of our hearts."

Aster shook his head as though waving her off, but he couldn't hold back his slight grin. "Ah, don't mention it, really. We owe it ta ya ta make up for doin' nothin' ta help ya all this time. Wouldn't be right ta leave ya alone in the dark."

"Exactly," North agreed with a nod. "Now...there is no more time we can lose! Let us gather all sprites and tell them of plan. We will need to move fast to clear out city by tomorrow!"

As the others voiced their agreement, Jack merely took a deep breath, steeling himself for the hasty preparations to come. He might have been in no condition to fight, that was true, but there was no way he was going to stand by and let the other Guardians assist his fellow snow sprites without him.

They had a city to evacuate in what was now less than twenty-four hours, after all, and they were going to need every bit of help they could get in order to pull it off.

...God, Ebon's so fun to write XD Anyway, I hope you guys liked the chapter! Don't forget to leave a review to tell me what you think, and I'll see you in the next one! Stay safe, everyone!

For now, Sapphire316, out.