The Path I Walk
A strained silence settled between Karma, Elder Kwan, and Irelia as they silently made their way back to the court room.
A day had passed since they had given their speeches on behalf of the Dark Sovereign.
Today was the last day.
Today was the day in which a verdict would be given.
Subconsciously, Irelia swallowed as she tried to force her rising apprehension back down her throat.
"It's going to be fine, Irelia..." A voice finally broke the silence.
The warrior turned her head slightly and rewarded Karma with a sheepishly nervous smile. The enlightened one smiled back with a rather wry, understanding smile on her face.
Alas, Irelia sighed and tried again to quell her anxiety. She knew full well that the situation was now out of her hands, but such a fact only served to make her even more restless.
It was unbecoming of her to find herself in such a helpless situation.
As if he could read Irelia's feelings, Elder Kwan spoke up in attempt to ease Irelia's troubled mind.
"Miss Irelia... We have done all that we can..." Elder Kwan pushed in a soft, soothing tone, "Your anxiety is understandable, but there is nothing left to worry about. This is out of our hands. I'm sure they will make the right decision."
Irelia sighed rather heavily with understanding, but the elder's words did little to ease the looming sense of doom overcoming her.
The sense of foreboding only increased when the trio of Ionian's rounded a corner and caught a glimpse of the auditorium entrance.
Over twenty guards stood waiting at the entrance.
Instantly, Irelia paused in her brisk paced walk. Her eyes riveted on the unusually large amount of guards standing rapt at attention.
"...Irelia?" Elder Kwan's voice finally shook Irelia out of her trance.
Briefly, Irelia shook her head; dispelling the hesitation that had suddenly leapt into her head.
Finally, she started forward once again.
She barely made it four steps forward.
"Captain Lito." One of the guards spoke up as his eyes settled on the warrior.
The man stepped forward with a swift salute.
Irelia paused in her walking before nodding slightly with suspicious acknowledgement.
The soldier gulped nervously and glanced at the two elders flanking Irelia.
Finally he mustered the voice to speak.
"Ma'am... I'm afraid I can't let you in." The guard spoke in a timid tone, "I have orders to-"
Irelia stopped him mid-speech with a raise of her hand.
Her expression changing into an unreadable mask, Irelia spoke up in a low tone.
"What... did you just say?" Irelia almost growled.
"I have orders to take you-" the guard attempted to continue, but Irelia cut him off with an explosion.
"Before. That." Irelia demanded through gritted teeth
The guard and several of the guards behind him all shifted uncomfortably with Irelia's harsh tone.
Irelia, on the other hand, glowered as she froze the guard standing in front of her with an icy stare.
Finally, the guard swallowed and forced his voice out his mouth.
"I said, I'm afraid I cannot let you in." He managed in an extremely meek tone.
Before he could continue saying more, Irelia flashed forward and grabbed the man by the neck of his uniform.
"And why can't you let me in?" Irelia growled through gritted teeth.
"I...I...I h-h-h..." the man stuttered as he quaked with terror.
Finally, Karma stepped in and gently laid a hand on Irelia's outstretched arm.
"Irelia... let him speak..." the enlightened one whispered softly in attempt to calm Irelia's already spiked temper.
Finally, Irelia blinked and released her death grip on the guard.
She didn't break her withering gaze for a second.
"Now... you were saying?" Karma pushed forward in a gentle tone as she smiled serenely at the shaken guard.
"I... I... h-have... orders..." The guard managed before breaking off once again.
"You have orders to...?" Karma continued to push.
Irelia folded her arms across her chest with uncharacteristic impatience.
"I have orders... I have orders..." The man repeated dazedly.
"I have orders to escort Captian Irelia Lito, Elder Kwan, and Elder Karma to the capital building for protective confinement." The guard finally finished.
Irelia froze in her spot.
Karma, on the other hand, continued smoothly.
"Protective confinement?" the enlightened one questioned skeptically.
The guard nodded in affirmation, though he couldn't force more words out of his mouth.
Finally, Irelia recovered from her shock.
"Bullshit." Irelia whispered.
Every set of eyes turned to the warrior.
"What the fuck is this?" Irelia hissed as she unfolded her arms and advanced on the guard. "Is this some kind of sick joke?!"
The guard backed away fearfully as Irelia advanced towards him.
Thankfully, Karma stepped in between him and the fuming warrior.
Calmly, Karma spoke up in place of Irelia.
"May I see your orders?" Karma requested in as respectful a voice as possible.
Mutely, the guard dug into a pocket and pulled forth a neatly folded envelope. As he extended his arm to offer the parchment to the enlightened one, his hand shook so badly that the paper audibly rattled in the air.
"Thank you." Karma stated sharply as she pulled the paper out of the man's hands.
Slowly, she unfolded the letter and held it in a position such that Irelia too could read the orders.
Irelia read the letter once.
Then she read it again.
And finally she read it a third time.
When the warrior finally regained the voice to speak, her words trembled with rage.
"Who. Gave. This. Order." Irelia demanded in a seething low tone.
The guard gulped in fear but didn't speak up.
Before Irelia could further push the man, Karma once again stepped in.
"Perhaps you can tell us why we are being taken to protective custody?" Karma inquired in a tone that disguised the worry that she shared with Irelia.
Finally, the guard regained his voice and managed a few words.
"It... It's... There's a rumor..." the guard stuttered.
"You can't imprison ME on the basis of just a rumor." Irelia finally exploded, her typically patient demeanor giving way to her explosive temper.
The guard flinched as though Irelia had punched him.
"They... They... said... it was just a precaution..." the guard stammered.
"A precaution against what?!" Irelia demanded furiously, "Another assassination attempt?! I'm fully capable of defending myself and these two elders on my own!"
Before Irelia could continue her angry tirade. Elder Kwan reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. When Irelia turned around and caught his gaze, she let out another calming breath as she tried to restore her composure.
"Soldier..." Elder Kwan spoke up, "May I inquire as to what this rumor is?"
Still quaking in his shoes, the guard mustered the voice to speak up once more.
"T-The r-rumor i-is that... that that t-the Dark Sovereign h-has corrupted you with her magic." the soldier finally finished.
"BULLSHIT!" Irelia exploded yet again, causing everyone to flinch another time.
"That's completely ridiculous!" Irelia blasted, "Her powers are sealed! She doesn't have any way to corrupt anything! She never could corrupt anything!"
Irelia's voice finally cut out as her agitation swept every sense of reason out of her mind. With nothing else to do, she habitually began pacing about in a restless cloud of distress.
"Ma'am, I'm... I'm just trying to follow orders!" the guard managed in an extremely meek voice.
Irelia stopped in her pacing and turned to face the guard.
"Who started this rumor?" Irelia demanded furiously.
"I... I don't know!" the soldier stuttered in a fearful, but honest tone.
Irelia's eyes went blank for a moment as she realized how much damage such a mere rumor could do, how such a rumor could topple all of their efforts in a single swoop.
"How many people have heard this rumor?" Irelia demanded almost immediately after she snapped back to reality.
"I... I don't know! Everyone I think..." the guard continued to stutter.
Irelia's expression hardened, but beneath her unreadable demeanor, her heart sank to her feet.
"Get out." Irelia finally snarled and shoved the guard out of the way.
"Irelia wait! What are you going to do?!" Karma called out after the warrior.
"The truth!" Irelia yelled back, "I'm going to clear this up right now."
"But there isn't any time for more speakers... today..." Karma's voice faded into nothingness as the warrior completely ignored her and advanced towards the auditorium.
Just as she finished speaking, however, the rest of the twenty guards stepped in front of the doorway; blocking the entrance to the auditorium.
Irelia paused in front of them before finally speaking in a commanding tone.
"You can either get out of the way... Or I'll make you get out of the way." Irelia stated darkly.
Each of the guards fidgeted uncomfortably, but none of them moved.
"Ma'am, we are trying to protect you..." one of the soldiers voiced from within the wall of guards.
Irelia didn't even blink at the guard's statement.
"I asked you once. I'm not asking again." Irelia voiced in a dangerous tone.
Again, the guards fidgeted, but didn't move.
Finally, Irelia's patience snapped.
Clenching her right hand into her fist, the warrior called her blade into attention. The massive sword made a crisp ring as it spread into its lethal flower shaped form.
Behind her, Irelia thought she could hear Karma cry out in protest, but Irelia was deaf to the elder's words. Bloodlust had overcome her senses.
Bloodlust... and the drug being injected into her body.
The moment Irelia took a step forward, her vision blurred uncontrollably. Briefly, her hearing returned to her. Enough for her to hear a few of Karma's words.
"You didn't have to do that!" Karma's cry reached Irelia's ears.
Blinking, Irelia tried to focus as she turned to gaze at Karma.
Unfortunately, as she turned around, her eyes settled on something else.
Something that blinded her to the light of reason.
It was the guard that she had pushed passed. He was holding a sedative canister in his right hand.
The cartridge was empty.
Finally, Irelia turned her hazy gaze to inspect her body.
It didn't take long to find the dart.
Lodged in her shoulder, the tail end of the tranquilizer dart protruded out of her skin and into the air.
...
...
...
Irelia shut her eyes and took a deep, calm breath.
Raising her left hand, she clamped her fist over the tail end of the dart and yanked.
It was crude.
It was efficient.
Although a small trickle of blood leaked out of the puncture wound, the warrior paid the injury no attention.
She couldn't even if she wanted to.
She could only feel one thing.
Fury.
While Irelia slowly lost her grip on reality, Karma could only watch in horror as the warrior's eyes flickered until they burned with the flames of rage.
"What... have you done..." Karma whispered to the guard standing just before Irelia.
"Wha? I- AHHHH!" The guard screamed as Irelia finally moved.
Before anyone could think of stopping her, the warrior surged forward and grabbed the man by the belt and collar.
Blinded with pain and sedatives, Irelia couldn't hold back. Ever ounce of energy was used as she heaved the man completely off the ground, over her head, and then back to the earth in with a thundering crash. If her ears could still hear, they would have heard a sickening crunch as the man's head made contact with the ground. He was unconscious within milliseconds.
Somewhere in the back of Irelia's mind, she knew that the guard was unconscious and no longer presented a threat to her.
Her rage, however, thought differently.
Wordlessly, the warrior dashed to the guard's side and sent a sickeningly strong kick into his stomach.
The other nineteen guards immediately began sprinting towards her in attempt to stop her, but Irelia blindly flung her blade at them; causing them to dive to the floor as the massive sword flew over their heads.
It wasn't until Karma forcibly grabbed Irelia's shoulder that the warrior finally stopped attacking the unconscious man.
She attacked Karma instead.
Blindly, Irelia swung an arm out behind her, causing her massive floating blade to fly with lethal intention directly at Karma.
The enlightened one instantly shielded herself in a protective sphere as the blade lodged itself in the shield.
"Irelia!" Karma cried out, "Irelia! It's me! Karma! Stop!"
Finally, Irelia regained slight control of her senses.
"Karma?" Irelia thought dazedly to herself somewhere in the depths of her mind, "Karma? I know Karma..."
For a moment, Irelia's vision returned long enough for her to realize who it was she was attacking. Instantly, she stopped and blinked; horrified with the fact that she had just lashed out at her elder.
As Irelia hesitated and fought her drunken internal battle, she was finally tackled to the floor by the other guards.
She could barely feel them wrestle her to the ground; the drug finally overcoming all other senses including her fury. Vaguely, she could feel herself being pushed about; handled roughly as she was slowly subdued by the guards.
It all seemed so very distant, like she was detached from her body.
And yet, she couldn't give in to the call of darkness. Like a disease, a part of her mind resolutely refused to give in.
It gnawed at her fading conscience.
It gnawed...
Until she finally remembered a name.
Syndra.
Instantly, the single name provided the kindling flame to reignite her drive to forge onward.
In an inhuman display of raw strength, Irelia let out a roar of pain as she willed forth the last vestiges of her fading energy; using all of her strength to fling each and every one of the guards piled on top of her a clean ten feet away.
Her breathing now ragged and her vision essentially lost to darkness, Irelia blindly stumbled forward until she crashed into the auditorium doors.
In her blindness, Irelia couldn't find the handle.
She settled for the next best thing.
She threw herself through the door.
The moment she crashed through the doors, the sound of a collective gasp met Irelia's ears. It was then that she knew she had reached her destination.
Drunkenly, she heaved herself back to her feet and stumbled about.
Fighting the claws of unconsciousness that were tearing at her mind, Irelia blindly reached out to her side and grabbed the nearest member of the audience.
"Its... Not true..." Irelia blubbered almost incoherently.
The woman she grabbed blinked and attempted to support the warrior and prevent her from collapsing.
"Ah? What? What's not true?" the woman asked worriedly, "Are you okay? Do you need medical attention?"
Irelia shook her head vehemently.
She took a deep gulp of air before speaking again.
"Rumors... Not... True..." Irelia gasped for a final time.
The woman that Irelia was clinging to unfortunately seemed more concerned about Irelia herself as opposed to the message she was trying to convey.
"I'll get help, just stay here okay?" The woman encouraged in a hurried tone.
Inwardly, Irelia could only feel a sense of anger as her message was almost entirely ignored.
Alas, Irelia had pushed herself far beyond the limits of her physical condition. Her forcibly increased physical activity and resulting higher heart rate had caused the sedative in her body to spread far faster than it normally would have.
At long last, Irelia lost the battle against the sedative that had infected her system.
She collapsed, unconscious before she even hit the floor.
"Daddy! Who is that?"
"Mmm?"
"That girl, sitting by the street."
"That's something you should ignore, sis."
"Zelos, my son, I have taught you better than that. Never say such a thing again."
"... yes father..."
"Daddy? Who is she?"
"Oh come, Irelia, that is an orphan. A child that has no parents."
"No parents? I though Ionia was our parents..."
"Ahaha, that is true, Irelia, that is very true..."
"She's a weirdo."
"Zelos! What did I just say?"
"But look at her, she has white hair and glowing purple eyes. GLOWING EYES! Only monsters have those..."
"Zelos!"
""... sorry father..."
"I like her hair."
"What? Sis, you can't be serious. How can you like a freak."
"ZELOS!"
"Sorry fa-"
"It's pretty. Her eyes go well with her hair."
"Sis, you're really weird."
"Hmph! At least I'm nice. Besides, I'm sure she's nice too."
Irelia ran off in the direction of the little girl before her father or brother could stop her. When she finally stopped, she was standing a few feet away from the little girl.
"I like your hair!"
"..."
"Your eyes are really pretty too."
"..."
"Here you can have this."
Irelia held out a small loaf of bread that she was carrying among the other assortment of groceries in her arms.
Finally, the girl looked up and gazed straight into Irelia's eyes. She reached up and touched the proffered loaf of bread.
"Thanks..."
She took a bite and burst into flames.
Irelia stared in horror as she watched the girl burn.
Irelia screamed.
"KYAAAAAAAH!"-
"Irelia!" a voiced called.
"NO! THAT'S NOT HOW IT WENT!" Irelia screamed.
"Irelia, wake up! It's just a dream!" the same voice called again.
Finally, Irelia jerked awake.
Panting, the Ionian warrior glanced about her surroundings as she attempted to recover from her shock.
"It's okay, Irelia, it's just a dream." the soothing voice spoke for a third time.
Turning her gaze to the speaker, Irelia was relieved to find a familiar face floating beside her.
"It's just a dream..." Elder Kwan whispered again in the same gentle voice.
Irelia turned away and let out a shaky breath before burying her face in her hands.
After a few moments, she let her hands fall with a thump onto the bed beneath her. Sighing another time, the warrior turned her gaze to her feet. Tangled amongst her legs sat a blanket that was damp with sweat.
Still panting, Irelia raised her right hand and massaged her temple in another attempt to calm her racing mind.
At last, her breathing and heart rate returned to normal levels.
"How long?" Irelia finally spoke up in a hoarse voice.
"A few hours." Elder Kwan answered softly.
"Few hours..." Irelia murmured to herself.
Then it hit her.
"A FEW HOURS!" Irelia finally exploded.
As if Elder Kwan had expected such a response, he moved instantly to pacify the warrior.
"Irelia, now isn't the-"
"What happened! Where is she? Where is Syndra!" Irelia interrupted with a look of panic on her face.
Elder Kwan exercised unusual hesitation in answering.
It only agitated Irelia further.
"No..." Irelia finally whispered, taking Elder Kwan's hesitation as an indication of ill omen.
"No..." Irelia repeated, "Please no... They didn't..."
Elder Kwan continued his silence, but gazed straight into Irelia's eyes and slowly shook his head.
Instantly, Irelia panting returned and a daze look overtook her expression.
Raising both of her hands into the air, Irelia watched as both hands shook uncontrollably.
"What did they say? What happened?" Irelia finally managed to speak in a shaking voice.
Elder Kwan swallowed hard before finally speaking.
"When you got into the auditorium... She..." the elder hesitated.
"She what? What happened!" Irelia demanded.
"She thought you were being attacked." Elder Kwan finally finished.
Irelia's expression dropped like a stone.
"No... She didn't... Please tell me she didn't..." Irelia whispered.
"She threw herself off the stage to get to you. Tossed everyone out of the way until she was beside you. She tried to wake you up, but when you didn't, she panicked." Elder Kwan continued grimly.
"The guards... they tried to subdue her, but they couldn't do it. She must have thought they were trying to hurt you. She destroyed half of the auditorium despite having her powers dampened. She probably would have destroyed everything if she wasn't sealed... Pushed herself too hard and finally collapsed."
"How many died..." Irelia whispered, fearing the worst.
"No fatalities reported. Countless were injured though..." Elder Kwan replied.
Elder Kwan finally stopped in his speech and regarded Irelia with a worried gaze.
The warrior was frozen in place with a glassy stare to her eyes.
"It... It's my fault..." Irelia blamed herself unreasonably. "It's all my fault! It's-"
"It is not your fault, Irelia." Elder Kwan stated firmly.
"It is my fault!" Irelia continued as if Elder Kwan had not said anything.
"It's all my fault. Everything is my-"
"Enough!" Elder Kwan almost yelled.
Irelia blinked dazedly, but turned to stare at Elder Kwan.
"Irelia, listen to me very carefully." The elder continued.
The warrior trembled slightly, but her gaze didn't waver.
"Irelia, both Karma and I felt a very suspicious presence in the auditorium." Elder Kwan stated gravely.
Irelia continued to stare at the elder.
"The meeting today..." Elder Kwan continued, "It was supposed to be for a verdict and only a verdict. There were no plans for other speakers or hearings."
Irelia swallowed unconsciously.
"Someone... spoke?" Irelia asked dazedly, though she clearly didn't understand the question she was asking.
Elder Kwan met her gaze with his own intense stare.
"I did not recognize the man, but he played off of the rumor of your being corrupted and used your outburst to further exemplify his point." Elder Kwan finished in a hushed tone. He failed to notice that Irelia didn't comprehend a word he had spoken.
Irelia turned away with a blank look on her face.
"It is my fault then..." She finally murmured, stunned with her own foolishness.
"Irelia, you're missing the point! Someone is trying to-"
"Irelia, come here." A voice interrupted.
Both Irelia and Elder Kwan turned to gaze at the speaker. Neither of them had noticed Karma emerge from the restroom.
Mutely, Irelia pushed herself off of her bed and shuffled over to Karma.
Not even a second after Irelia arrived, Karma raised a hand and strongly slapped Irelia across the face.
"Ahow!" Irelia sounded in further shock.
Elder Kwan's jaw dropped open, out of surprise with the fact that Karma had actually physically struck another individual. An individual that was Irelia, no less.
Instinctively bringing a hand up to her stinging cheek, Irelia glared at Karma and finally spoke up in a demanding tone.
"What was that for!" Irelia demanded angrily, all traces of her former wallowing vanished.
"Now. That's better." Karma stated in a mildly satisfied manner.
"Please don't make me do that again." the enlightened one quickly added.
Irelia blinked with a clear lack of comprehension.
Elder Kwan, on the other hand, smiled wryly as he watched the warrior snap back into her normal personality.
Finally, Irelia brushed off her own feelings of anger and confusion and spoke up.
"Syndra." Irelia demanded for another time.
"Guilty." Karma answered back cruelly and bluntly.
Irelia flinched as though she had been struck again.
"But." Karma added, "That isn't the point."
Irelia snapped her gaze back to the enlightened one.
The warrior hesitated for a few moments before carefully choosing her next words.
"Where is she?" Irelia demanded as subtly as possible.
"Syndra is being held in the prison housed underneath the capital building." Karma answered smoothly, though she clearly understood why Irelia had asked such a question.
"Irelia... I..." Karma hesitated before continuing, "I know that what you said is true. I know that everything you said about her is true. I know that she has changed."
Karma paused and waited for Irelia's acknowledgement.
"It changes nothing." Irelia stated in a flat manner.
The warrior's voice quavered at her own words.
"I... I'm going to lose it again..." Irelia whispered into the air.
Elder Kwan glanced up at Karma the moment Irelia spoke.
The enlightened one briefly met his gaze before nodding slightly.
"Lose what?" Elder Kwan pushed subtly.
The elder knew full well what Irelia was referring to, but he wanted to make it clear in Irelia's mind about what she was about to lose.
"I'm... I'm going... I'm going to lose..." Irelia stammered until Elder Kwan spoke up in a commanding tone.
"What are you about to lose, Irelia!" Elder Kwan demanded in a startlingly powerful voice.
"My... my... family..." Irelia finally whispered in a stunned voice.
"Family is not something that you should lose twice." the elder replied in a hushed voice that strongly contrasted his previous tone.
Irelia twitched at that.
Finally, she turned and gazed straight at the elder.
Elder Kwan stared straight back at her with an unreadable expression on his face.
Blinking, the warrior's eyes sharpened into a razor edged gaze.
"If I didn't know better..." Irelia started with a suspicious edge to her voice, but Elder Kwan interrupted her with the barest of all smiles.
"Of course not. I am but showing you a path. You yourself must choose which path is yours." The elder replied cryptically.
At last, it became clear in Irelia's mind what both elders were attempting to say without actually saying it.
Though she was perhaps blind to her own emotions, the elders could both see that Irelia needed the loving warmth of family. They both knew that her ties to her country were holding her back. They also knew that those ties were fraying at an alarming rate as one bond tried to break the other.
If she continued to hesitate, she would lose the family that she had fought so hard to regain.
Finally, Irelia straightened her posture and drew in a deep breath. No longer did fear or hesitation show in her eyes, only pure and resolute determination.
Both Elder Kwan and Karma smiled inwardly as they witnessed the warrior's abrupt change in mindset.
Before Irelia could move, however, Karma spoke up in a completely offsetting tone.
"Say, Elder Kwan, did you know they don't lock the windows in protective confinement?" Karma inquired in a painfully obvious tone.
"Oh dear they don't?" Elder Kwan replied in an equally obvious tone, "What a terrible lack of security..."
Both elders then tactfully turned away from the one window in the room.
Irelia was gone in an instant.
It wasn't until a few moments passed that Elder Kwan broke the silence.
"I am... surprised that you agreed with me." The elder commented with a sideways glance at Karma.
Karma chuckled wryly.
"Whether I do or do not is irrelevant. She had already made her decision. All we did was expedite the rate at which she, herself, realized it." Karma answered.
Elder Kwan smiled at the enlightened one's words.
"So you don't agree with me then?" the elder pushed jokingly.
"Our Irelia..." Karma sighed, "has lived and breathed for Ionia for over a decade of service to her country. She deserves to have the love that she seeks."
Elder Kwan nodded mutely in agreement before adding his own input to Karma's words.
"I can only pray that she prepared for the challenges that face her." the elder answered with a pained look on his face.
"Oh?" Karma replied, "She is more than prepared for any challenge she has to face. I would be more concerned with whether or not Ionia is prepared to face the challenges she poses to it."
Elder Kwan sighed sadly in response.
"She does not deserve the pain this country will throw at her..." Elder Kwan spoke up in a regretful voice.
"No..." Karma answered
"Perhaps it is Ionia that does not deserve her."
Author's Notes:
And thus we are at the end of the first Irelia-centric chapter. It was a little bit strange, choosing not to include very much Syndra in this chapter, but we are indeed moving into the section of the story that focuses heavily on Irelia's development. Again, it's tempting for me to hint at where this is going, but I'm going to do my best to exercise restraint and not do that.
As far as some personal thoughts, I definitely chose to keep this chapter lighter in terms of character development. I felt like a small break was needed particularly after the fairly heavy development that I put in last chapter. I think I toned it down a small bit in this chapter, but definitely left some in it in. Hopefully it didn't turn out boring for you all. Perhaps the biggest thing that I'm a little bit afraid of is whether or not I'm keeping my entire cast of characters within character and not ooc. Ah, balance is such a difficult thing to achieve with dynamic characters... (no reference intended)
At this point, I would proceed to be a sell out and ask for more criticism etc, but I actually have something else to say:
Thank you very much, SoulCry, for featuring my story in a small blurb at the end of the last chapter of your story in Dancing in the Shadows. As such, I too will tilt my hat to you and promote your story as well. No, this is not a "you help me, so I'll help you" kind of deal, I actually had no idea that he/she planned to put such a shout out in the chapter. Regardless of that, I hope you all will give this story a read not because I am giving it a shout out of my own, but because it is a genuinely well written and interesting story.
Okay, now I can be a sellout. As always, thank you all for your continued support for this story. Do leave me a comment, review, or message should you have anything at all to say. Hope to see you all in the chapters to come.