Chapter Two: Trapped
PEARCE
Pearce sat down leaning against the wide, sturdy trunk of one of the trees in the bone forest, and gazed up at the menacing blood-red clouds above him, deadpan. He had lost count of how long he had been stuck here—it felt like an eternity. The sky always remained red here in the Shadowland, so Pearce couldn't tell the difference between day and night.
His witch mother Izbella had told him much about this place. It was a labyrinth of despair, a knot of wrong turns, a blanket of fog weakening your resolve, a stench of lost souls that would do anything to claw their way out of this purgatory. It was the taste of fear in your mouth urging you forward, deeper into the maze, farther from any connection to time, sanity, or the living.
And I am sitting in the very depth of this hellhole, Pearce thought.
As stifling as life was on the Mountain with his controlling, maniacal grandfather known as the Wizard King, Pearce would've gladly returned to his domain rather than spending the rest of his life in the coldness of the Shadowland.
Pearce was almost killed by Whit and Wisty that day on the battlefield, during the war between the Wizard King's army and the people of the City. In order to prevent him from dying, he had shared his soul with one of the Lost Ones; in return, the Lost One would share his deathless strength with him. His father, The One Who Is The One, was the Undead that he shared his soul with. Pearce was a wizard who was half alive and half undead at the same time. When he had fallen through the black Portal pit that leads to the Underworld, he was sure that he would die. To his astonishment, however, it was the Undead part of his soul—The One's soul within him—that was killed when he fell through. Pearce himself was still alive. And now he was just the normal wizard that he had been all his life. His father's spirit living inside him like a parasite was gone forever. Pearce was no longer controlled by The One, following his orders and carrying out his bidding. For the first time in his life, he was free.
But not from the Lost Ones, unfortunately. From what Pearce could remember from the last battle in the City square, an army of kids had figured out a way to kill the Lost Ones by hugging them. It was a knowledge that shocked Pearce, as he thought his Shadowland comrades were invincible. His father—after seeing the Undead destroyed by love, by children—had commanded the Lost Ones to retreat and dive back into the Portal. Pearce soon tumbled in after them, and then the Portal was sealed, trapping them all in the Underworld. The Lost Ones wanted to get out, to return to the City in the Overworld. Pearce had told them that he'd find a way to get them out again, but that was just a lie in order to keep the Lost Ones from turning on him. He knew all along that there was no way out, that he and the Lost Ones were trapped in the Shadowland forever. But he decided to keep the truth from them. It wasn't long before the Lost grew impatient. They stopped believing in Pearce, and they did what he had been dreading: they turned on him. They tried to feast on his flesh, to devour him, but he sent a bright wave of white light at them with his magic before they could reach him, and the Lost Ones had fled. But that didn't stop the Undead from coming at Pearce again though. Every time they tried to feast on him, he had flashed his blinding white light at them, keeping the Lost at bay.
Ever since Pearce fell through the Portal into the Shadowland, his life quickly became a boring, repetitive circle. He spent the majority of what he assumed was daytime either wandering around the bone forest and the rest of Shadowland aimlessly, or avoiding the Lost Ones. There was no food in the Shadowland, so Pearce had to rely completely on his powers for survival. When he was hungry, he conjured whatever food he could think of with his magic, and savoured it. When he was thirsty, he created a bottle of water using his magic, and drank it in just a few gulps. He was glad that the food and water had sustained him. When what he assumed was night time had arrived, he climbed up a tree in the bone forest and slept. On the next day, he would do it all over again, and so on. There was really not much he could do in the Underworld, he had to admit.
He was always moving in the Shadowland. He never felt comfortable staying for long in one place. But he never dared to wander too far either, for fear of being lost forever.
Pearce sighed with boredom. He was completely on his own in Shadowland. Apart from the Lost Ones, he hadn't encountered any other live human beings since the day he arrived through the Portal. His family was dead. His Undead friends, who were so grateful to trade their world in the Shadowland for life in the City and who had once faithfully served him, had abandoned him and wanted to feast on his flesh instead. He had never felt such loneliness in his entire life. He hated living on the Mountain and everyone there, but at least he was surrounded by people and he had company. Here in Shadowland though…all he felt was emptiness.
His thoughts suddenly drifted to Byron Swain. Pearce was sure that he told Wisty that the Portal could only be closed from the inside. That brave little Firecracker was ready to sacrifice herself to save the City from destruction. It was Wisty who was supposed to have followed Pearce into the Shadowland. It was supposed to be Wisty who leaped into that black pit. She was the one who was supposed to be trapped here…with him…and not Byron Swain!
"You just had to be the hero, don't you?" Pearce said out loud, his voice full of loathing for Byron. He wished Byron was here to hear him.
Where the hell is he anyway? Pearce wondered. He hadn't seen Byron since his first day in Shadowland. Pearce had waited for Wisty to join him in this place; he waited for her to lock herself in. When he saw that it was Byron who entered instead of Wisty, it both enraged and disappointed him all at once. Pearce screamed endless curses at Byron and had fought him with a fury he never knew he had in him. Back then, he would have gladly tormented Byron until the end of his days if he hadn't fled from him.
Byron was somewhere here in the Shadowland. Pearce wondered how he must be doing. He wasn't certain if Byron was still alive. Unlike Pearce, Byron was just an ordinary teenager with no supernatural abilities. He couldn't conjure food and water with his mind like Pearce could. Byron had most likely starved himself to death. That thought almost made Pearce pity him.
But he didn't know that Byron was dead for sure.
Pearce stood up, feeling a renewed surge of strength in his body. I'm gonna go and search for him, Pearce thought to himself. It won't be an easy task, as Byron already fled as far away from him as possible on day one, but it'll give Pearce something interesting to do to pass his time.
It was a long way back to the location where Pearce arrived here through the black Portal pit. He figured it would be the best place to look for Byron first. When Pearce got there, he could immediately sense with his magic that Byron was nearby. Hmm…guess Byron didn't flee as far away from him as he thought. Pearce closed his eyes and concentrated on Byron Swain, trying to locate with magic exactly where he is. Images flashed before his eyes. In his mind, Pearce saw the River of Forever in a valley, a lush green hillside, and then the border of the bone forest.
I found him, Pearce's lips curled into a congratulatory smile. He headed in the direction on his left for a while, and then he turned right. After what he reckoned was about an hour and a half, Pearce finally reached the end of the bone forest. He stepped out onto the lush green hillside and walked up the slope. He paused at the lip of the valley and gazed at the River of Forever down below. He saw a few Half-Lights crossing the River over the ancient-looking drawbridge.
He turned and looked around the hillside. That's when he spotted a forlorn figure lying on the ground with his back facing up. The dark brown hair and the familiar filthy clothing that he wore confirmed that it was Byron.
Pearce approached him. He had never seen Byron so emaciated. He bent down to take a better look at him. Byron's face was dirty and his cheekbones were prominent. His eyes seemed to have been closed for a really long time. How long has he stayed like this? Pearce was curious to know.
He tilted Byron's head sideways, placed his fingers on his neck, and felt the rhythmic pulse. Pearce stood back up. So he is alive after all. Truth be told, Byron looked more dead than alive. He was so weak that he probably passed out a hundred days ago. Pearce shook his head at him sadly. Ordinary people like him have no chance of surviving in a place like Shadowland. No humans belonged here, whether they had supernatural abilities or were ordinary. Being a wizard, Pearce had always been a whole lot stronger than Byron.
After having spent an eternity in Shadowland feeling empty and lonely, Pearce would kill for someone's company right now, and Byron was the only company he had. He was the only other live human being in the Underworld. Although the two of them had gotten nowhere near being friends, Pearce would rather let Byron be furious at him and pick a fight with him than spend another eternity of desolation. When he does pick a fight with me, I know I'd win, Pearce smirked at the thought, and I'll make sure he doesn't flee from me this time. From now on, he intended for Byron to stay with him at all times. Why hadn't Pearce thought of that before?
So he kicked Byron gently at the waist several times. "Byron…it's time to wake up," he said playfully. Byron didn't even stir. He gave Byron a few harder kicks which proved just as useless. Growing a little impatient, Pearce went for a new tactic. He flipped over Byron's body so that he was lying on his back, and placed a hand on his chest. Instantaneously, he felt the electricity flow from his fingertips into his body. His magic made Byron's body shudder. Then Byron's eyes flew open and he sharply inhaled, startled by the electric shock.
Byron took a few deep breaths and propped himself up on his elbows. He jumped and recoiled in alarm when he saw Pearce, his eyes widening in fear. Byron exclaimed, "You!"
"Hello Byron. I paid you a little surprise visit," Pearce said with a voice that was both frisky and menacing.
Byron asked him, "How did you find me?"
"Magic," Pearce answered, "I had to use it to wake you up, too. You looked like you were practically dead to the world. How long were you passed out?"
"I don't know…" Byron's voice sounded weak and dry, "It must've been for a long time." He recoiled further from him.
"Life in the Shadowland must've been hard for you. You're lucky the Lost Ones haven't got to you yet," Pearce said in a quiet, velvety voice.
Byron suddenly demanded of him, "What are you doing here, Pearce?"
He replied, "I came to check whether you were alive."
"I'm surprised to see you're still alive too," Byron said. He huffed and looked away, "Look, if you're here to kill me, just get on with it. I did what I wanted to do. I saved the City and locked myself in. There's nothing for me here. It's about time I died."
Scratch the fact that Byron will pick a fight with him. He was in a much worse state than Pearce. He was dispirited and broken. He wouldn't even be able to hurt a fly if he wanted to. "Wow. I never knew you had such pessimism in you," Pearce told him while he tried not to laugh at how pathetic he sounded, "You should've asked me to kill you on the day we both arrived to this place. I would've gladly done it back then."
Byron was studying him carefully, "Right, I get it. Killing me would be too merciful of you. You're here to torment me instead."
Pearce answered him, feeling annoyed, "No. I lost my stomach for that. You see, Byron, we are the only people living in the Shadowland. We don't have anything to do here. We've got nobody to talk to. We only have each other's company. You must've spent an eternity feeling empty and lonely. You probably almost forgot how your life was like back when you were in the Overworld. You were barely alive when I found you." Pearce moved closer to him, "We need each other to survive. I can help you."
Suspicion crossed Byron's face. "You're going to help me? I highly doubt that, Pearce," his voice was unwavering. "You were psychopathic, sadistic, and malicious. You killed innocent children by melting their faces off," Byron's voice had begun to tremble. "You turned people into ash! You tried to bring doom upon the City! I never trusted you before, so why should I trust you now?"
"Because this is the Shadowland we're talking about! It's a place for Half-Lights and the Lost Ones. People like us…we don't belong here. We're not in the City in the Overworld where we could both do normal things," Pearce told him, "I know you think I'm psychopathic, sadistic, and malicious—everyone in the City thought that of me—but I don't want to be that person anymore. The Pearce you knew back then was controlled by a wicked father who never knew how to love; he was always following his father's orders and carrying out his father's bidding. I shared a soul with my father who was a Lost One. I was half alive and half undead at the same time. But when I fell through the black Portal pit, the Undead part of my soul was killed. Now I'm just the normal wizard I once had been all my life. The One's spirit living inside me like a parasite was gone forever. I'm done giving The One and the Wizard King what they want. I'm finally free."
Byron listened to him attentively while he explained.
"I'm not asking you for your friendship. You just need me to help you survive, Byron," Pearce urged, "I can protect you from the Lost Ones. It'll be better for us to stick together."
Byron hesitated, shrugged, and then said, "All right then. Apart from you, what other company have I got?"
Pearce was happy that he got someone to talk to. He observed Byron for a moment, and then acknowledged, "You're in a terrible state, Byron." He used magic to bring up a bottle of water with his mind. It appeared in his hand. He held it out to Byron who accepted it gratefully.
"Thanks," Byron said. He finished the bottle in less than a minute.
"What's your favourite food?" He asked Byron.
"Uh…pizza, I guess?"
"Do you have a particular flavour you like?" Pearce asked.
Byron replied, "Cheese and barbeque chicken."
At Byron's command, Pearce created a whole cheese and barbecue chicken pizza for him using his magic, complete with a cardboard box. Byron leaned forward and opened the lid, his mouth watering at the sight and smell of the delicious pizza.
Byron stared at it in disbelief, "I never thought I'd see pizza again ever in my life," he looked up at Pearce, "It must have been convenient for you, isn't it?"
Pearce quipped, "Magic always comes in handy. That's why I'm healthier and stronger than you. Come on, eat up."
He got up and paced on the lush green hillside while Byron devoured his favourite pizza.
After a few more minutes, Byron called to Pearce, "The food and water may be able to sustain us, but we can't go on like this forever. I mean, we're trapped here in Shadowland. We'll never be able to get out. Things won't ever be the same again. We'll die here eventually."
Pearce spoke after a moment, nodding. "I know that."
"Are you feeling better?" He asked after Byron had finished the pizza.
"Much better," Byron replied, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, "I still can't believe that you have it in you to help me."
"I can't believe it either," Pearce admitted.
Byron slowly stood up and stretched his arms and legs. He looked down in shock at Pearce's right hand as if noticing it for the first time, "It appears you grew a new right hand. I severed it with a sword during the last battle in the City square." He looked at Pearce's head and added, "All those wounds that Whit gave you on the head were gone as well. Was it your powers that healed you?"
Pearce nodded and confirmed, "Magic is always the answer."
Byron stared at him in awe, "That's incredible."
They paced the hillside for a while, unsure of what else to say to each other, until Byron asked Pearce, "So how are you going to protect me from the Lost Ones? Weren't they your comrades during the battle? Shouldn't they be obeying your every command?"
"The Lost Ones don't follow me anymore. My father got them to retreat back to Shadowland. The Portal between this place and the City was sealed, so the Lost couldn't return to the Overworld. I promised that I'd help get them out of here again, even though I knew I couldn't. The Lost Ones are trapped here just like us, but I kept that a secret from them. Soon they grew impatient; they stopped believing that I could help them. Therefore they turned against me. They tried to devour me like they did with all other humans who wandered in the Shadowland, but I stopped them with my magic," Pearce explained, "They made a few more attempts to feast on me, but my powers managed to keep them at bay."
Byron was processing all this information when suddenly they heard a high-pitched female scream.
"What was that?" Byron jumped and asked, alarm returning in his voice.
Pearce looked around sharply at the surroundings, and then pointed towards the bone forest, "It came from the bone forest. I think someone else is here."
Without giving Byron another glance, Pearce dashed back in the direction of the bone forest. He sensed that Byron was just a distance behind him. Pearce came to a halt when he reached a small clearing where the trees around him were sparse.
Before him was a dark swirling mass of Lost Ones. Their loud moaning was spine-chilling. Some of them were crooked, bent, and tall while others were short and hobbling. The Lost Ones were less-than-angelic human beings stuck in the labyrinth of Shadowland so long their very souls have rotted into a mass of stink and decay. They were monsters tormented by loss and demented with hunger for human flesh. They were evil people in life. The cold that came with them sought out human warmth and tried to suck it dry.
Byron covered his nose with his shirt at the stench of decay that emanated from their rotting souls. "I think I'm gonna be sick," his voice was muffled by the shirt over his mouth.
Pearce ignored him and watched the Lost Ones, who seemed to be dancing fast and joyfully in a circle, advancing on something. He couldn't make out what was in the middle of their circle as the indistinct and flickering shapes of the Lost hid it from his view.
"Help," the girl's scream came again, "SOMEBODY HELP ME!" Pearce realized that the voice was coming from behind the swirling mass of the Lost.
Pearce raised his arms over his head, his palms facing the Lost Ones before him, and summoned his magic. Immediately, a blinding white light appeared in front of his hands; it flickered for a few seconds, and then it gradually expanded and increased in brightness. He watched as the Lost Ones cringed and shrank as the light reached them. There was a whirling grey fog at the point where the light and the darkness met. Before long, the Lost Ones were retreating. They dispersed and floated away in different directions.
When the last of the Lost had withdrawn, Pearce was able to make out the figure crouched on the ground about thirty feet away. He saw that it was a young woman he had never seen before. She looked around nervously before standing back up. She caught Pearce's eye and turned to face him.
The girl looked to be about his age, around eighteen. She was slender and beautiful, with fair skin, light freckles, rosy cheeks, pink lips, and long strawberry-blonde hair tied into two-braided pigtails. Bangs covered her forehead.
Pearce was a little bemused at the way she was dressed. She wore a medium-length dark blue skirt, a black bodice with gold trim and green, red, yellow, and purple roses print on it, a light blue long-sleeved blouse, and a magenta cape with purple linings and small tassels on the edge. The girl seemed to have an intriguing style of fashion. He had never seen anybody in the Mountains or the City dressed like this. It looked even more out of place in the grimness and bleakness of the Shadowland.
"Where did that white light come from?" She called out to Pearce when she saw him. She glanced at Byron behind him and then back at Pearce, "Was it you who created it? Are you like a wizard or something?"
Pearce answered, "Yes to both of your questions-"
She interrupted him before he could finish, "So you are a wizard! You have magic. Oh my God, you're just like Hans!" She flinched and backed away from him a few steps, but then she shook her head fiercely and changed her mind, "N-Never mind that." She gestured in the direction the Lost Ones had fled, "What were those shadowy figures? They surrounded me. I saw them up-close. There was something hauntingly human about their shadowy faces, but they have no skin. And their eyes…there were no pupils in them, all I saw were slits…oh they have the most horrible, ravenous yellow eyes! The decaying arms, the slimy flesh, the clammy hands, and the stringy flesh dangling from their faces…it was hideous! The air around them chilled me to the bone, and if I smell that stench of decay one more time I swear I'm going to throw up. They can talk too! They keep chanting that they were going to eat me! What on earth were those things? "
"They were Lost Ones," Pearce told her before she could babble on further about how terrified she was of those 'shadowy figures.' He continued, "They were looking to get out of this place known as the Shadowland. They cling on to humans like you, and they want humans to help them find a way out. When that doesn't work, they settle for stealing your warmth and eating your flesh."
The girl started crying tears of happiness. She said gratefully, "If it wasn't for you, they would have feasted on me for sure. You saved me!" She let out a huge sigh of relief, ran over to Pearce, and hugged him. "Thank you! Thank you so much."
Pearce felt a bit at a loss for words. He hugged her back awkwardly and said, "You're welcome…?" He pulled away from the hug and held her by the shoulders at arm length so he could look at her. He cocked his eyebrows questioningly at her, hinting that he wanted to know her name.
She understood him instantly. She stepped back, shook her head fiercely and blinked a few times as if she had forgotten to do something important. "Oh, I'm sorry for forgetting to introduce myself," she smiled and said, "I'm Anna," and then she quickly added, "Princess Anna of Arendelle."
"You're a princess?" Pearce asked, suddenly feeling fascinated in getting to know this girl better. He took her hand, gently brought it to his lips, and kissed it politely. He looked up at her turquoise blue eyes, noticing that her cheeks had turned a darker shade of pink, and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Princess Anna. My name is Pearce." He made a gesture at Byron behind him and said, "And this is—"
Byron stepped forward and quickly cut him off, "I'm Byron Swain."
Anna smiled sweetly and said, "It's nice to meet you guys too. So you said this place we're in is called Shadowland?"
"Yes. It's a dreary place, a place for spirits such as Half-Lights and the Lost Ones. People like us don't belong here in the Underworld. The Shadowland is the last place you would want to be in, Anna." Pearce told her, and then asked her curiously, "How did you come by this place?"
And so Pearce and Byron listened with scrupulous attention as Anna told them her story. She told them about her deceased parents King Agnarr and Queen Iduna, her beloved older sister Elsa, her life in Arendelle, her reunion with Elsa and the rekindling of their relationship, and the night when Hans dethroned her sister and took over their kingdom. Pearce could tell that sharing those memories brought back a range of different emotions for Anna and overwhelmed her. Anna remembered every detail of it and told them everything, leaving nothing out.
"After telling me that he never loved me, Hans used his magic and cast me away from the great hall like I was nothing to him. I felt like I was being sucked into a vortex, my body was spinning like a tornado which made me incredibly dizzy, and when all of it stopped, I was in a completely different place," Anna shrugged and told them, "That was how I ended up here," she finished and looked at the ground sadly.
There was a long silence before Byron said quietly to her, "I'm sorry for everything that happened to you and your kingdom that night, Anna." He then suggested at Pearce, "From the way she described Hans, he sounded an awful lot like The One Who Is The One, like someone who will do anything to gain power and control."
Pearce's body shuddered at the mention of his wicked father. As much as he hated Byron saying it to him, Pearce knew that he was right. He told Byron, "You're right. I was thinking the same thing."
Anna piped up, "Who the heck is The One Who Is The One? Does he have an actual name?" She frowned at Byron and Pearce, "How did you guys come by the Shadowland? Is there a way out of here?"
The only way for Anna to understand how the two of them got here was for them to tell her their story. So Byron told Anna all about his life before, during, and after the New Order government in the City. It seemed that those memories were still fresh in his mind. Just like Anna, Byron was meticulous and left nothing out. Even though Byron was telling her the story of his life, he kept the focus mainly on Whit and Wisty Allgood, the witch and wizard, and how they saved their City thrice from destruction.
Pearce also filled Anna in on the roles he played in all of this. In a weird way, he somehow found that telling her about his fearsome, terrible deeds was enjoyable as well as entertaining. But as a consequence, he had to assure Anna that he was eager to change and that she didn't have to be afraid of him. He didn't want Anna to see him as an enemy.
Byron and Pearce then took turns in telling her about living in the Shadowland, if they could call it "living." To be honest, it was more about how both of them were endeavouring to survive.
"Oh wow, sounds like you two have been through an ordeal. I'm sorry too, for what happened to you both. " Anna commented after they had finished. She took a proper look at the bone forest for the first time, and then asked in a tone hinting that she was dreading the answer, "So this is it then. All the Portals between the Underworld and the Overworld are sealed, and we're trapped here forever? There is no way we will ever be able to get out of here again?"
Pearce replied, feeling melancholy, "I'm afraid not."
"So we will die here eventually?" Anna asked.
Pearce strode towards a bone tree and leaned against its trunk. "I can protect us from the Lost with my powers, but I can't do it forever. So…yep, I guess we will die eventually," he stared at the trees in the distance when he answered.
"But my sister Elsa…she will never give up on me," Anna said, "She will do whatever she can to find and save me."
"Anna, you don't even know if your sister is still alive. Hans cast you away before he decided on what he'll do with Elsa. He might have shut her in your castle's dungeons, or worse, he probably already killed her," Pearce said, as if this was no big deal for him.
His nonchalance angered Anna, "No, Elsa's too smart to give Hans that satisfaction," she spat at him, "Hans chained her up in a dungeon before, and she managed to escape that time. She can do it again."
"Okay, let's say that Elsa did manage to escape Arendelle and went on a quest—," Pearce made air quotes, and then continued, "—to find you. Are you sure she even knows the way to the City? What if she gets lost and never makes it there?" He hurried on before Anna could interrupt him, "If by any chance she did arrive at the City, found the mother Portal, and learned that it's sealed; how is she going to reopen it, with her cryokinetic mumbo jumbo? I wish her good luck with that."
Byron then told Anna, "I closed the mother Portal forever from the inside when I locked myself in. It cannot be reopened."
Anna said doubtfully, "You don't know that for sure, Byron. You guys haven't seen how powerful Elsa's ice magic can be. Maybe it'll work. Maybe my sister will find a way to get me, to get all of us, out of here."
"That's impossible," Pearce retorted.
Anna seemed to be getting impatient. She practically shouted at them, "I've never met anyone so despondent and pessimistic in my entire life!" Then she lowered her voice, "But I guess that's what spending an eternity in this hellhole does to someone. I'm going to the borders of Shadowland to search for the Portals. I might be able to find a loophole that can get me out." She started to walk away from them.
Byron stopped her by grabbing her arm. "No Anna, it's too dangerous. It's very easy to get lost in this place. You'll never make it. Plus, you don't know whether you're a Curve or not." Anyone who had access to the Underworld was a Curve.
"But I can't just sit here and do nothing! I have to try—" She protested.
Pearce cut her off and ordered, "Listen to him, Anna. He's trying to protect you. We both are. It's for the best."
"I don't need your protection," she glared at Byron and Pearce. She jerked her arm free from Byron's grasp and stalked past him. Pearce was getting close to being fed up by her stubbornness.
He darted towards Anna and stopped in front of her. She stepped sideways to try to get past him, but Pearce blocked her way. "If you leave our side, the Lost Ones will try to devour you the first chance they get, and you won't ever see your sister again. I know the Shadowland better than you do. You have to listen to me if you want to stay alive for now." It was not a question.
There were distant, spine-chilling moaning sounds that made Byron and Anna flinch.
"Lost Ones…they're coming for us again," Pearce told them urgently, "We better get a move on."
The three of them started to head back in the direction of the valley and the River of Forever, with Pearce in the lead.
"My sister has to come," Anna said, but she sounded more irresolute this time.
"Let us all hope she does," Pearce heard Byron say to Anna behind him.
There was a pause for several minutes as they walked: a brooding, menacing silence.
"Byron?" Anna sounded like she was on the verge of crying, "I'm scared," she whispered.
Byron confirmed in a kind and gentle voice, "I am too," and then he added, "But as long as we all stick together, you won't be. I'm glad of your company, Anna."
Anna forced a weak smiled in response. Pearce listened to their conversation without glancing behind him. He had always been treated with coldness when he was a child. The One and the Wizard King thought of him as a disappointment. They wanted to toughen up his delicate sensibilities. Pearce was glad that things were different now. After having spent almost all his life in desolation, he finally found some company, even if it was in the Shadowland. He hadn't been this close to anyone before. He hadn't felt such warmness like this in a very long time. He thought of Wisteria Allgood, his little firecracker, and of all the moments he spent with her disguised as Heath. The passion they felt for each other was hotter than fire; it was so real. He missed Wisty so much that it hurt. A tear rolled down his face. A tear of blood.
Author's Note:
I apologize for the delay of Anna arriving to the Shadowland, as that was probably what some readers would expect to see at the start of this chapter. I wanted to focus on Pearce and Byron's life in Shadowland first before they meet Anna.
Whit and Wisty Allgood will be in the next chapter.
Thank you so much for reading!