She gasped loudly.
Dainara woke up suddenly, her heart beating faster than it had ever beaten before. She looked around: she was lying on her bed, but something was wrong…
- "The shadows…The shadows attacked us"- she remembered- "What am I doing here? Where is everybody?"
She tried to get up but her whole body hurt so much, as if her limbs had been paralyzed for a long time. Her skin, that was slowly getting its colour back, was still cold and her beautiful wedding gown was torn.
Dainara made her way to the door limping and opened it. Everything was dark in the palace, which corridors were only illuminated by the dim light of the sunrise.
Dainara went downstairs as fast as she was able to in order to find Nana and the others. All she could hear was silence, and she was very worried about that.
- "Nana!"- she shouted- "Nana, can you hear me?"
She reached the end of the stairs and looked around her: the hall of the palace was destroyed and water had started flooding it. Suddenly, she saw some servants lying dead on the floor.
- "Oh, by Avo!"- she exclaimed horrified.
Dainara turned around and made her way towards the ballroom, where they had celebrated the party the previous night.
- "Nana…Captain…everyone…Please, be fine"- she thought anxiously.
When she arrived, she tried to open the doors quickly, but they seemed to be stuck.
- "Oh, please, open"- she said turning the knobs desperately.
She took a candlestick that lied on the floor by her feet and hit the knobs as strongly as her strength allowed her to. As soon as the doors opened, she entered the room and observed the scene in horror: the floor was full of corpses, one on top of the other, and what once was a party full of happiness and joy, now was a grim scenery of sadness and death. The happiest day of her life had quickly turned into her worst nightmare.
Dainara walked among the bodies, her whole body shaking as she tried to find Nana and her friends among them. Suddenly, she looked up and spotted the body of Captain André, lying on the floor next to Morgan and some of her servants.
- "Captain…"- she said approaching him as a tear rolled down her cheek.
Dainara turned her face and saw what she had most feared: Nana lied next to her, lifeless.
- "No…This can't be true. This is not happening".
She went by her side slowly and fell down to her knees, crying inconsolably.
- "Nana…Nana, don't leave me, please! I need you…I love you"- she said as she hugged her body tightly.
She remained there, among the bodies, wishing to die and join them…wondering why she had survived.
And in her grief, she remembered…
- "Lucious…where are you?"
She looked at Nana one last time and got up slowly, walking around the rooms of her palace, now full of dead servants, but Lucious couldn't be found there. She then made her way towards the main door, leaving the palace and heading towards the village. When she saw her beloved Oakvale destroyed, claimed by the growing marsh that was expanding all over the area, her heart sunk.
No…It wasn't him…He couldn't have done this, he promised her.
- "Lucious!"- she shouted, almost out of breath- "Lucious!"
Her voice echoed in the emptiness of the village, where no one could hear her anymore.
Suddenly, an acute pain in her belly made her fall to the floor. The pain got so intense that she was not able to get up and, for a moment, she thought she was going to die right there. She held her belly tightly, screaming and breathing heavily, unsure of what was happening to her. Soon, her doubts were cleared up as blood started dying her white dress, turning its lower part red.
Dainara lied on the floor, weakened and unable to go on. Everyone she loved was dead, maybe even Lucious, and she had lost the child she was expecting.
- "Why am I alive?"- she thought- "I should be dead, I should have joined the rest".
She was about to faint when a black figure passed next to her, making her regain her strength, and went towards the forest.
Dainara got up and went after it.
- "Lucious? Is that you?"- she said, trying to follow the figure's trail.
The figure went deep into the forest and disappeared inside an old temple. Dainara followed it quickly.
- "Lucious! Wait!"
She walked around corridors and chambers unafraid, as reaching Lucious was the only thing that concerned her. Suddenly, the figure disappeared and she found herself inside a huge chamber, where three shadows awaited her. Dainara frowned and walked backwards in fear.
- "What…are you?"- she asked.
- "We are the Shadow Judges"- said one of them.
Dainara's eyes were wide-open as she went backwards until she crashed against the wall.
- "You…You destroyed Oakvale"- she said with a shaky voice.
- "We didn't. The man who made a wish did…Your beloved Lucious did".
Dainara shook her head, refusing to believe what she was hearing.
- "He did not…He promised me"- she said, starting to make her way towards the exit slowly- "I need to see him, I need him…Where is he?"
The shadows remained silent for a moment and looked at each other.
- "He is dead"- said one of them firmly.
Dead…They told her he was dead and yet he was standing right in front of her.
Reaver looked at her, breathing heavily, the expression of his face showing a mixture of disbelief and almost fear.
- "Who are you?"- he asked harshly- "What do you want from me?"
She scoffed sadly.
- "Have you changed so much that you have even forgotten about me?"
Reaver remained still and shook his head.
- "You cannot be…She…She's dead. I held her…"- he said, trying to make his voice as firm as possible.
- "I wish I were dead, I wish I had died along with the rest that you killed that night so that I hadn't seen what you have become"- she replied bitterly.
Reaver frowned. The memories…They hurt so much. She couldn't be Dainara, he had seen her die…
- "You…you are an imposter"- he said firmly, his voice going back to his normal self- "I do not know what you may have heard about me and my past, but it is definitely a lie. I never cared for anybody, so if you believe that you are going to get whatever it is that you want by pretending to be some lost love of mine, you are very mistaken, my dear".
As he said these words, and despite his conviction that she was nothing but an imposter, his heart ached.
Dainara, whose eyes were full of tears, nodded.
- "You are right, I'm very mistaken. You are not the man I was looking for"- she said as she turned around, ready to leave his office.
Reaver looked at her defiantly.
- "If you ever dare to come here again…I shall kill you"- he said, every word hurting him as it left from his lips.
She stopped walking.
- "Don't worry. I won't"- she replied, not even turning around to look at him.
As soon as she left the room, Reaver closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
It couldn't be her, he was sure she wasn't…but why did she look so much like her? Her long red hair was not as shiny as it used to be, her eyes looked so tired, her skin was paler and she looked so sad. But she was as beautiful as his beloved Dainara was, the same lovely voice, the same fiery eyes. Maybe she had learnt about his past somehow and she had made herself look like Dainara…In any case, he had to watch her every move.
Suddenly, Barry opened the door.
- "Master Weaver, are you alwight? What did this mysterious woman want?"
- "Ask two of my men to follow her. I need to know where she goes"- he ordered him- "And cancel all my appointments for this week".
- "But…"
- "Go!"- he shouted violently.
Barry left the room quickly, leaving Reaver alone. He walked towards the back of his desk and opened the little cabinet, taking the bottle of wine and drinking from it directly.
- "I need to forget, I can't save her anymore…"- he took a long sip from the bottle- "I'm not that man, I'm not him…I'm Reaver".
Dainara walked as fast as she could back to the Royal Castle, her hood back on her head to conceal the tears that filled her eyes and rolled down her cheeks.
When she arrived, she entered through the back door that led to the kitchen and made her way quickly towards her room, trying to be unnoticed. As she was about to open the door of her room, a voice stopped her.
- "Guardian!"
She turned around and saw Queen Nichole walking towards her with a look of concern on her face.
- "Where have you been all morning? I was looking for you but no one seemed to know where you were".
Dainara looked down, unsure of what to say.
- "I just…went for a walk".
The Queen frowned.
- "For a walk? I looked for you all around Bowerstone Market and you didn't seem to be there".
Dainara remained silent.
- "And then I remembered that you were asking me about Reaver"- the Queen went on- "And it occurred to me that maybe you had been reckless enough as to visit him. I was really worried!"
Dainara still remained silent, avoiding eye contact with the Queen. She knew that the monarch would be so angry if she knew that she had ignored her warnings…
Queen Nichole crossed her arms and scoffed.
- "You went to visit Reaver, didn't you?"
- "I'm sorry, Your Majesty"- said Dainara, still looking down.
- "Why did you do that? Why are you so interested in him?"
Dainara looked up slowly.
- "I thought…he might know something about the man I was looking for".
The Queen raised her eyebrows and sighed deeply. Her father used to tell her that Reaver was a pirate back in his times, and the man she was looking for was also a pirate, so Reaver indeed could have some information about him.
- "Then why didn't you tell me so? Why didn't you ask me to go with you? Reaver is a very dangerous man, if you bother him…Did he hurt you?"
Dainara shook her head slowly and opened the door of her room. Both women entered and sat down on the bed. They remained silent for a moment until the Queen spoke again.
- "Was it worth the visit? Did he know anything about the man you seek?"
- "He did"- replied Dainara with a shaky voice.
- "And? Do you know where he is?"
A tear rolled down Dainara's cheek, falling on her lap.
- "He is dead".
The sadness of her voice moved the Queen.
- "Are you sure he was telling the truth? Maybe he just said it to get rid of you and…"
- "I'm sure"- she interrupted the Queen- "He killed him".
Queen Nichole looked at her with wide-open eyes and frowned.
- "He…killed him?"- she shook her head in disbelief- "Why? Why did he do it?"
- "I…I don't know"- replied Dainara, unable to hold back her tears.
The Queen placed her hand on her back, trying to comfort her.
- "Was this man someone close to you?"
Dainara raised her head and looked at the Queen sadly.
- "He was my husband".
The Queen closed her eyes as tears were filling them. She hadn't known the Guardian for long, but she felt very sorry for her and wished there was something she could do to ease her pain.
- "I'm very sorry"- she said- "I cannot bring your husband back, but I swear I will make Reaver pay for what he did".
Dainara got up and walked towards the mirror.
- "It doesn't matter, Your Majesty"- she replied, looking at her dark reflection- "My time here is over. I'm going where I belong and I will finally join my people".
The Queen frowned and also got up, walking towards her.
- "Your time is over? Join your people? Do you mean kill yourself?"- she asked angrily- "Your husband may be dead, but you can still find happiness…"
- "Happiness left me a long time ago, Your Majesty. Only grief and despair are left for me, now I'm sure of it. I shouldn't even be alive…"
Queen Nichole placed herself right behind her and looked at her hooded reflection on the mirror.
- "I can hardly see you, but you seem quite young"- she said sweetly- "I'm sure you can still be happy. Think of your loved ones, think of your husband…do you think they would like you to just give up and join them in death?"
The Queen walked slowly towards the door.
- "Stay here for a while before doing anything rash. Think about it, about how wonderful life can be despite the bad things that happen to us"- she said, opening the door- "I also lost people very dear to me, but I'm never going to stop enjoying life because I know that's what they would want me to do".
Dainara looked at her in silence.
When Queen Nichole was about to leave, her voice stopped her.
- "My name is Dainara".
The Queen looked at her and smiled before leaving the room.
A day had passed since Reaver's encounter with the hooded woman. Even though he had spent all this time inside his manor, his servants had hardly seen him: as soon as she had left, he had locked himself inside his office, occasionally ordering Barry to leave one more bottle of wine at the door.
Mrs. Norrington frowned as she saw Barry make his way towards Reaver's office, holding yet another bottle of wine for him.
- "Give it to me"- she told him, taking the bottle from his hands- "I'll take it".
- "But Master Weaver…"
- "Go on with your duties"- she said, making her towards the office and ignoring Barry's complaints.
When she reached the office, she knocked.
- "Master Reaver, are you alright?"
- "Leave the bottle and leave me alone!"- he replied in a drunken sounding voice.
Mrs. Norrington took a deep breath and opened the door. She knew it was a risky thing to do, but she couldn't allow her Master to go on drinking forever.
- "Master…"
- "I thought I was pretty clear when I asked you to leave me alone, didn't I? Then give me the bottle and get out of here before you regret it!"
Reaver was sitting on the floor, resting his body against the wall. The upper part of his black shirt was untied and on his right hand he was holding an empty bottle of wine which he placed on top of a big pile of empty bottles.
- "Master, if I may say so…"
- "You may not"- he cut her harshly- "This is your last chance to leave before I lose my patience".
Mrs. Norrington left the bottle on top of his desk and looked at him frowning. Suddenly, someone knocked on the door and Barry appeared before them.
Reaver sighed deeply.
- "Does everyone in this manor have a death wish?"- he said angrily, reaching for his pistol.
- "Master Weaver, the guards who followed the woman are back"- said Barry quickly.
Reaver got up from the floor and took the bottle from the desk, taking a long sip.
- "Ask them to come in".
Soon, the guards were inside the room, looking at their Master in fear.
- "I hope for your sake that you followed her every move. I want to know everything she did, everywhere she went"- he said threateningly.
- "We followed her since she left from here and we haven't lost sight of her, Master"- said one of them.
- "Very good. And where did she go?"
The guards looked at each other.
- "She…she went to the Royal Castle, Master. And she hasn't left it since she arrived".
Reaver stopped drinking and frowned.
- "The Royal Castle? Are you sure she actually entered the Castle?"
- "We are, Master. And we are sure she's still inside"- the other guard added firmly.
Reaver left the bottle on his desk and remained thoughtful for a moment.
The Royal Castle…what was she doing there? Was she related to the Queen? Had the Queen sent her to torture him? Maybe she had learnt about his beloved Dainara somehow…Maybe one day her father had heard him shout her name at night when they had allied to destroy Lucien…
He looked around and saw Barry and Mrs. Norrington staring at him, like expecting him to say something.
- "Come on, everyone out of my office before I start practicing my marksmanship on you. All out, chop-chop!"
Everyone left the room quickly, leaving him alone with his thoughts.
He had to know, he had to find out who this mysterious woman was and what her relation to the Queen was…and there was only one way to clear up his doubts.