So I'm sorry to say that I've had to put this story on the backburner. Hence why it took me so long to get this done. I've prioritized working on my manga projects over this (oh, have I said that I'm a manga artist too?). I'm afraid that writing this story is something I'm going to do on the side. I don't know when I'll be able to get more chapters out, but I really don't want to quit writing this story like I have for all my other stories. This one is too special to me as an avid Orianna fan. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 8: What Is Real?

(Read from Rona's POV)

Every muscle in my body seemed to shake. I felt a tear roll down my face as I reached my hand out to the man infront of me. His body, mangled beyond recognition. It was difficult to catch my breath. My emotions started to get the better of me.

"*sniff*...Connor...why...what happened…" I said through sobs.

The man continued to slowly limp towards me. I stumbled to my feet. My body was so weak, that it was difficult to even stay standing. I started to walk towards the mangled soldier as well. I had to help him...I had to save him...somehow.

I felt my body begin to burn. Magic began to churn inside of me. All my nerves seemed to tingle all at once. I knew it was happening again, but I couldn't seem to stop myself. My emotions just kept growing stronger and stronger.

The blonde haired man from before stepped out of the shadows. He looked at me with a manically joyous smile.

"YES! That's the emotion I wanted to see!" He said with a cackle. "Can you feel it? That immense power, welling up inside of you? You can save all those People, the women and children. You can even save Connor! Just let that power overtake you, and you can do unimaginable things!" The man said.

Images began to show themselves in my head. The image of this city, engulfed in flames. The bodies of people lined the streets. The only sound that could be heard was the screams. Over and over this image played itself through my mind...even though I knew none of it was real.

I was able to snap myself out my delusions slightly. Gritting my teeth so hard that I could feel blood start to fill my mouth. Everything I saw are only things that COULD happen. I let my mind ease up while wiping the tears from my eyes. The picture of Connor's mangled body started to slowly fade away. My mind seemed to finally regain control of itself.

"No...I will not become like you…." I replied.

I saw the man begin to burn with rage. His entire body became surrounded by dark energy that appeared to take the shape of a demon.

"YOU FOOL! WHY DO YOU DENY YOUR DESTINY!? YOU CANNOT STOP THIS!" The man screamed.

I breathed in deep. It would do no good to cry now. I let my heart calm itself before I reached for my wand. It was about time that I broke this spell I was in for good. I began to twist and turn my body, moving the wand around with me. All around, the wand made streaks in the air. The streaks began to form together to make a vine made of magic that flowed over me.

After the vines had wrapped around me a few times, I threw the wand up into the air. I could hear the sound of the world shaking. The magic vines began to spin around me, faster and faster. I clenched my fists as I could feel the immense magical pressure begin to well up in my body once again. I gritted my teeth again before saying the chant.

"From Darkness to Dusk, let the morning ignite. To break the chains of matter and fright. Burn the shadows, and open thine mind. Show me the truth that's buried inside."

In an instant, the magic that had surrounded me shot out like an explosion. I could see the world that I had been in begin to crack. A bright light shone through the seams. The images that surrounded me began to swirl in like a whirlpool, mixing themselves together. In the shadows I could see the figure of the man cloaked in darkness. Enraged, he let out a loud scream that almost deafened me.

"DAMN YOU! YOU DARE TO DEFY YOUR DESTINY!? I WILL HAVE THIS ENTIRE VILLAGE UP IN FLAMES FOR YOUR IGNORANCE!" The man said with a booming voice.

I grimaced as I forced out one more pulse of magical pressure. The man coated in darkness vanished into thin air. I could see the cracks in the world begin to grow even larger. The light that shone through continued to get brighter.

I would of been able to finish it with one more strong pulse, if it wasn't for what happened next. An instant burning sensation coursed through my left arm. Every nerve felt like it was getting pulled by a thousand horses. I shrieked in pain as I grabbed the arm with my other one.

"ngh...no...not now...I was so close." I said in a strained voice.

I could feel the magic of the world begin to collapse in on me. If I didn't do something soon, this unstable world would surely consume me along with it. I took my wand in the other hand. I knew how dangerous it was to switch the flow of magic, but I had no other choice. In a burst of energy, using everything I had left, I threw out one more gust of magical pressure.

I watched as the cracks from this world finally began to shatter. Light from the outside world shone in. I closed my eyes as my body was swept up in a tornado of mist. I was throwin about, left and right, but it didn't take too long before my backside was met with the cold sensation of polished granite.

I laid there for a bit, letting the magic that surrounded me die down. I eventually opened my eyes to a familiar sight. all around me stood tall pillars that lined an empty hall. All along the walls stood statues of soldiers and dukes. A long blue carpet laid through the center of the corridor.

I let a meek smile coarse my lips. It wasn't much, but this was definitely the place that I remembered. It hadn't changed afterall. In my sheer joy, I tried to throw my body up, but was instead thrown back down on my face. I underestimated just how exhausted I was. I decided to try again, a bit more slowly this time.

With a grunt, I forced myself back onto my feet. I had to grasp my arm as soon as I was up. The burning sensation had died down, but the pain was still there. I tried to move it, but it seemed like my muscles were numb all the way up to my shoulder.

"Nghh, I was afraid this would happen...It's gotten so much worse." I remarked.

After situating myself, I started to walk slowly towards the door. The place was completely empty. I would've questioned where the guards were, but after what I experienced, I was afraid to ask anymore questions.

I was about to start walking towards the entrance, before I realized something. I clasped my right hand together, expecting something to be there, but nothing was. I felt a knot form in my gut.

"MY WAND! WHERE'D IT GO!?" I yelled.

I frantically started searching around the area where I was. There weren't many places for the thing to fall or roll under as this room was...as I said, pretty empty. I felt around the floor. It was almost too dark to see much of anything.

"where where where where WHERE IS IT!?" I said in a panic.

Before long, I smacked my head on something as I was searching the ground. I fell back on my rear, rubbing the top of my skull. I didn't have time to exclaim anything aside from 'ow' before I saw the thing that I had hit start to collapse down onto me. I rolled to the side as fast as I could, just getting out of the way of a large suit of armour that crashed to pieces right beside me. It made such a loud noise, that I knew anyone in the castle would've been able to hear it.

I rubbed my left arm again after that little bit of adrenaline had left my body. Rolling like that all of a sudden, definitely didn't feel good on it. I got back onto my feet, and picked up one of the pieces from the armour suit. It was so heavy. I was sure it would have crushed me to death if it had landed on me.

"Hello, is anyone there?" A woman's voice echoed from behind me.

I jumped a little bit from surprise. I honestly didn't think there'd be anyone still here. I threw my head around, and looked in the direction of the voice. I noticed a light glow from the inside of an entrance. At first, all I could see was the light and the outline of a person. I laid the piece of plate armour that I had picked up, back onto the mess of other armour pieces.

"Uh...H-hello?" I asked hesitantly.

The woman slowly started to come into view more through the large doorway. I saw that she had very fancy curly blonde hair that had been pulled up into a bun. As she lightly jogged towards me, she held up the hem of her overly expensive looking dress. I wanted to gag when i saw her, but i resisted the urge. One things for sure, she must live in this castle if that was the attire she had.

"Um, excuse me miss, but may i ask what you're doing here?" The woman asked as her pace began to slow down when she got close to me. I could now see the woman in much greater detail, making me only want to gag more. The amount of makeup she had on could've bought a new house for myself.

"I am Ronalia Carmont, I was called here to deal with the Deathmage that is attacking this city." After saying that, I realized just how quiet everything was around me. You'd think if there was a massacre going on, there'd be alot more noise. It's not like these stone walls are soundproof.

The lady looked at me with a look of confusion, along with a creepy smile across her face to boot. She moved her head from side to side occasionally, as if she was trying to shake the answer out of her mouth.

Actually, now that i think about it, this woman is way too calm for what's going on now. I mean, i guess i shouldn't rule out the possibility that the Deathmage still has me under his spell, but still...either way, the look she was giving me was starting to creep me out.

"What do you mean? There is nothing wrong here. I think you are mistaken." The woman said in a shrill voice.

I stood in shock for a little while after hearing that. "There's...nothing wrong?...but...how can that be? I was summoned by the king himself!" I exclaimed in a frustrated tone.

The woman started to softly cackle under her breathe. She didn't say a word in response to me, she just staggered there, looking at me with those bloodshot eyes...the eyes of one who has been possessed. No, there was definitely something wrong.

I took off in a run towards the entrance where the woman had come from. I was still weak, so I couldn't move all that fast. I didn't look behind me at the woman. I was afraid of what I might see. I wasn't sure what was wrong with her, but I could definitely tell she wasn't normal. I didn't want to stick around to find out why.

As i got through the entrance, I was immediately halted by a putrid smell that was dispersed through the air. It smelled like burning flesh. Terrible thoughts started to wander through my brain as I imagined what those smells were coming from. I wanted to gag, but I was thankfully able to hold it in.

I looked around the hallway that I was in. A strange fog covered the air. At first I thought it was smoke due to the smell, but it felt more like steam. It made it hard to see anything, so I just decided to keep moving forward.

With my hand clenched over my face, I quickly began to make my way down the hall. Taking note of my surroundings as much as i could. I didn't want to run into something cause I couldn't see it in time. However, that didn't stop something from running into me.

Out of the mist I saw a large, gangly figure. It freaked me out so much, that I almost tripped on my own feet when I tried to stop. I wasn't given time to think as the figure let out a blood curdling howl before leaping at me.

I instinctively dropped to the floor as fast as I could, just barely getting out of the reach of the creature. I heard it tumble around a bit behind me. I immediately grabbed for my wand, forgetting that I had lost it. I cursed under my breath.

I hurriedly wobbled back onto my feet. I turned to look at where the creature had fallen. I could see his faint figure through the mist, slowly getting back up. He let out another roar that made my knees quiver. I tried to think of a spell that I could use, or just anything that i didn't need a wand for. The only thing that came to mind was healing magic, but that wasn't going to be very useful here.

I didn't have time to think about anything before the creature charged at me again. I immediately took off in the opposite direction. All around me was covered in the same mist. I couldn't see anything at all. I really hoped that this hallway went on for a while. If it even was a hallway for that matter.

I glanced behind me for a second. I was surprised to see the monster getting further away. I was expecting him to be a lot faster than that. I didn't want to assume that was the case though. I was going to keep up the pace until I lost him completely. At least, that's what the plan was until I slammed into something heavy and metal.

I let out a puff of air as the impact had winded me. I would've fallen back too if a pair of arms didn't pull me back in. I almost instantly realized that the object I had slammed into was a man. Both emotions of relief and terror filled my mind at the exact same time.

"Hey, slow down, you're gonna hurt yourself running like that." A familiar man's voice said.

I threw my head up as fast as I could to meet the man's eyes. The dark green from them seemed to almost glow in the mist. His black hair and beard were just as messy as gave a quirky smile, revealing his slightly crooked teeth. He smelled awful too, like he had just jumped into a swamp...I didn't mind though. I could feel tears begin to well up in my eyes.

"C...Connor...is...is it really you?" I said through sobs.

The man gave a slight nod before placing his hand on my head. He started to pet me like he always did when he saw me cry. I never liked when he would baby me like this, but in this situation, I wasn't about to push him away.

"Hey now, you look like you just saw a ghost." Connor said with a chuckle.

In a burst of tears, I wrapped my arms around the man. Barely being able to reach around his waist. I buried my head in his armour, letting the tears flow down the metal.

"I...i thought...I thought I'd lost you...I thought you...you we're dead." I said, barely being able to control my emotions.

I felt as the soldier placed his hands on my shoulder, gently pushing me off him. I looked up at him to see him kneel down in front of me. He had a stern look in his eyes.

"Hey, I don't want to hear you talking like that. So long as you're around, I will never stop protecting you. Don't you remember me telling you that?" He retorted. "Lord knows you need it."

I sniffed a few times before finally wiping the tears off of my face. I let a smile color my expression.

"Yeah...thank you." I replied.

Just then, I heard a loud roar echo all around me. I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sound of it. It caused the entire area to shake. I would've lost my balance, but Connor managed to catch me in time. The roar was different from last time. Whatever it was, it wasn't the same creature as before.

"CMON, WE NEED TO GO!" Connor yelled, grabbing my hand.

I didn't hesitate to follow Connor as he took off down the hall. I knew he was much faster than me, even with his armour on, but he slowed down his pace for my sake.

The area around continued to shake, even after the roar had stopped. Dust flew everywhere, blocking the view even more. I had to cover my mouth to avoid breathing any of it in. Thankfully, it seemed like Connor knew the area. He managed to catch every twist and turn we came across.

My foot eventually managed to catch on something that jutted out of the ground. Before I knew what happened, my body smacked onto the floor. My breathing seemed to stop for a second from the wind being knocked out of me again. I felt Connor's hand slip from mine. I looked up to see where he was, but he was nowhere in sight.

My eyes grew wide, as a sudden realization hit me. What if...that wasn't actually Connor? Was that another thing that that mage conjured up? Why would he even be here in the first place? Were just a few of the thoughts that rushed through my head at that time. I wanted to cry out, but I was to winded to get it out.

A sudden surge of terror shot through me as I heard the sound of another creature behind me. I threw my head around to look through the shadows. In the mist I saw the figure of something I couldn't even begin to describe. The monsters body seemed to fill the entire hall. Arms the size of pillars. A body the size of a troll.

I instinctively tried to force myself back onto my feet, but was met with a sharp pain in my foot. I fell back onto the ground. I looked down at my ankle to see it bright red and swollen. It was definitely sprang.

I initially started to drag myself away. The sounds of the beasts footsteps caused the entire area to shake again. I was too afraid to look back. I had hoped that this was something else from my illusions. For that matter, maybe none of this was actually real? This could be just some horrible nightmare again. That was what I wanted to believe anyway.

I stopped moving, hearing the footsteps once again begin to get closer to me. I gradually sat myself up straight. I breathed in a big breathe before calmly turning around. I looked up at the giant creature that towered over me. The mist still covering his overall appearance, only leaving his basic outline.

I took a big gulp after the beast took his final step. I slowly lifted my head to try and see his. It was like I was looking at a statue. Sweat poured down my forehead. I wanted to cry, but I didn't have the energy to. I clenched my fist, trying to calm myself...I decided to believe that none of this was real.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!?" I screamed as loud as I could. The sound echoed throughout the hallway, seeming to go on forever. I waited as the sound began to die down. After a while, the area grew quiet. The creature infront of me seemed even more like a statue now.

"Please...help me." Came a voice.

In an instant, the mist that surrounded the giant, seemed to blow away. The picture of the monster came into my full view. My eyes grew wide with shock. All around the beast's body jutted out bones. His skin seemed to have been ripped off and sewn back on multiple times. His upper torso was greatly larger than his lower body. His face, was the only part of him that was still normal...it was the face of a man. A regular man. I stared in disbelief not from the things appearance, but from what I knew it was.

"You...you're...a Fallyore." I said under my breath.

Just as I had said that, I saw a sword come flying from behind me. It stuck into the creature's chest, knocking him back a ways. He let out a shriek so loud that I had to cover my ears. I felt arms begin to wrap under me and lift me up. I fidgeted a little, but stopped as soon as I looked up at the person's face.

"CONNOR!" I screamed.

The man gave me guilty smile.

"Sorry it took me so long. To be honest, it's kinda hard to feel things with these gauntlets on. I didn't even notice for a while that I wasn't holding your hand anymore, hehe." The soldier said with a meek chuckle.

I really didn't want to be overdramatic, especially at a time like this, but I couldn't help but let a few more tears drop again. I pounded on the man's chest armour angrily.

"*sniff*...dammit Connor...i thought...i thought you were just another one of my illusions again. I thought...you weren't real." I responded with a slight shudder in my voice.

"Yeah...I know. I don't blame you for feeling that way. To be honest, I'm not even sure if I'm really here myself." The man added.

"Wait...what do you mean?" The woman asked.

Connor looked around a little bit, seeming to not want to make eye contact with me. He eventually shot me a quirky grin before placing me back down on the ground. I hobbled a little bit, grasping onto a jut in the wall. I tried to put pressure on my sprained leg, but quickly picked it back up again after a sharp pain shot through my body.

"Sorry, but...I think I should try and take care of this guy first before we continue chatting. Do you mind?" Connor said with a smirk.

I looked at him for a while with a concerned look. I turned to look at the creature. He swayed back at forth, pulling at the blade stuck in his chest. The words it said kept ringing themselves through my head…"please, help me"...did that beast actually say that? I wasn't sure what was real anymore. But one thing I knew for sure…

"Hey...you know what that thing is, right?" I asked.

"Yeah," Connor said with a nod, "I have no idea what it's doing here though."

"Well...do you think you can beat it?"

"Hm...dunno. Guess we'll have to find out."

With a scream, the monster yanked the blade out of it's chest, and sent it hurling back at us. Connor grabbed at the weapon, wrapping his fingers around the handle while it was still in mid air. With a hurl he swung the thing downward, whipping the blood off the metal. I couldn't help but smile at just how cool he looked right there, but I quickly shook that feeling off after I had just realized something very troubling.

"WAIT, this doesn't make me the damsel in distress, does it?"

The soldier tripped a little bit on his feet.

"SERIOUSLY, THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE WORRIED ABOUT!?"

"uh...I mean...do your best?"

Both me and Connor flinched as a large object came flying in between us, crashing on the wall behind. I watched as Connor lifted up his sword and charged at the beast. The thing didn't give him much time to react before its large hand wrapped around the soldier's body, and threw him to the side. It was so fast, I almost missed what happened.

"CONNOR, NO!" I yelled!

He slowly get back up on his feet, using his sword to support him. His armour got dented from the impact. I can only imagine how much strength that monster had. I could feel my body shake. I wanted to help, but what could I do...WAIT, THAT'S RIGHT!

I closed my eyes and began swirling my hands around, in front of me. I could feel the magic begin to well up inside me before I sent the power to my hands. In an instant, strands of water began to shoot out of my hands in various directions, eventually wrapping around Connor's body.

I saw him surprisingly glance at the magic that had just surrounded him. He looked up at me with a look of pure amazement.

"Wait, I thought you lost your wand, how are you doing magic?"

"Hehe, I've practiced how to do healing magic without it. It's not much, but at least it's something."

"Hmph well, it's good enough for me." Connor said as he threw his body back up.

The beast roared even louder, angrily swatting at the strands of the magic in the air. As soon as the thing's large hands made contact with the water, all of the magic that was in it faded, and the water came splashing down onto the ground. I was taken back after the flow had been cut so abruptly. I staggered a little bit, but was able to hold myself upright.

"HEY UGLY, DON'T LOSE FOCUS NOW!" I heard Connor yell as he picked up his sword again, using the creatures distraction to his advantage. With one swoop, I saw as one of the bones from it's back, crashed to the ground. Howls of pain echoed through the halls again.

I stared at Connor as he aggressively swung his blade in every direction, while also dodging the monsters attacks. I haven't seen him fight like this in a while. Watching him like now, he almost seemed like a different person-

...wait...hold on…

How did…

How did Connor know that I lost my wand?

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed. Sorry that I had to switch back to these two. I wish I could just focus on Ori, but Rona and Connor's side plot is too important to brush over. Next two chapters will be focusing solely on Ori, Mykale and Ember, so stay tuned...hopefully.