Chapter four; Shadows and mistakes.

Sup my peeps got nothing to say so onto the chapter.

"Well we thought you were dead!" Boomer had screamed at Brady in joy, clearly relieved that Brady was there with him. Brady had been lying awake for the past two hours, unable to sleep and not in the mood for sleep. Everyone had welcomed him in open arms and he was beyond relieved that they did, but he couldn't help but feel upset that deep down inside everyone was angry at him for leaving. Maybe he had thought differently a few hours ago on the beach, but for some reason he had a feeling that something was wrong. Of course he didn't want to leave the castle, but Kinkow did and still do deserve someone qualified on the thrown and that clearly wasn't him.

Angry at himself for brooding over the past and future, Brady got out of his bed and made his way through the castle. His wound was still really painful, but Mikayla's stitching work was ten times better than her father's so it was lasting much longer. His thoughts now went to the Elders who had yet to come and speak to him. They didn't exactly make an appearance and Mason had said that they needed time to prepare themselves for some kind of a meeting.

Brady sighed as he walked down the castle steps. He was obviously not going to get some rest tonight, but when he reached the bottom he felt that something was amiss. He got this feeling that someone or rather something was watching him.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" The young king bellowed as he looked around. Out of the corner at the far end of the throne room someone stepped forward, no not someone, something, a shadow to be exact.

"Kinkow will be thrown into the Dark once more King Brady and there is nothing you can do to stop it." Brady felt something tear at his side. As he quickly pulled his shirt over his head he noticed that his stitches were being torn out of his side leaving nothing but scar tissue. He has felt this sort of pain before. It was Dark-side magic. He let out a yelp in pain as he could do nothing but stare at this. Though when stitches were pulled out of your skin it was never really sore, but if it was done with this sort of magic it was a thousand times worse than the wound itself and drained half of your energy.

The shadow then sped forward and pressed him against one of the walls. "Consider this a warning. If you tell anyone about this I will do something much worse to that woman of yours." The shadow picked Brady up by his throat and gave it a squeeze. "Just think how much she'll scream your name…"

"Brady?" Mikayla asked as she cautiously entered the room. She pulled out her machete as she noticed the two struggling figures.

"Should I test it now or wait for another time?" The shadow asked. Brady knew its voice from somewhere and let out a scream in absolute rage. He just couldn't place a name or a face on the voice.

"If you touch her I'll tear you limb from limb!"

"Brady!" Mikayla yelled as she ran across the room to reach him.

"We shall see, dude…"With that the shadow disappeared and dropped Brady to the ground. The way the shadow said dude brought more anger into Brady's heart. The young King wanted to let out another cry in rage, but before he could he found that Mikayla was draped around his neck. The next thing that happened was Mason and his triplets came rushing in. As they did, Mason turned on the lights.

"What in the name of bananas happened?" Boomer asked as he noticed the two hugging figures.

"Someone broke into the castle and attacked King Brady." Mikayla said as she helped Brady up, but as soon as she let go of his hand he lost all the power in his legs.

"My King!" Mason shouted as he caught Brady before he hit the ground. Brady could feel that half of his energy was down the drain. He felt so weak and so pathetic.

"Lock down the castle! Assemble the guards! We're going to find who did this to my brother and…" Boomer exclaimed before Brady cut him off.

"No, it's suicidal going after him. We'll consult with the Elders in the morning." Brady said as Mason helped him stand and allowed him to support himself on the enormous Sasquatch.

"You know who did this to you, Brady?" Mikayla asked worriedly.

"Yeah," Brady said as he looked down in thought. "He is the one that gave me those scars on my back." Brady stated with venom in his words.

"Then we need to find him even more so, Brady!" Boz insisted.

"I will not put Mason, Mikayla or any other guard at risk because of me. We will consult the Elders first before we do anything else."

"It is probably best to consult the Elders first." Mason sighed signalling that he agreed.

"Fine, but if the Elders say we have to go after him, we are going after him." Boomer stated as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Believe me if they're any bit of wise as they say they are, they will be against it." Brady stated as Mason helped him forward, but Mikayla stopped her father.

"I'll take him, daddy." Mikayla said as she already took Brady's left arm.

"I'm fine. I can get there…" Mikayla cut him off in irritation.

"Brady Parker, if you say that you can get there yourself I will personally kill you myself." Without another word Brady allowed her to help him up the stairs leaving Mason, Boomer and Boz awestruck.

Mikayla noticed that Brady's stitches were removed and nothing but scar tissue was left. "Wow, I didn't know that you heal this fast?"

"I don't. He cast a spell that comes from the Dark-side as a warning." Brady said as anger boiled up in his throat. "I wish I hadn't left. Now everyone might get hurt because of me."

"What do you mean Brady? Boomer and Boz defeated the Dark-side three years ago." Mikayla said, clearly not following the raven haired boy. "And how would you be the result of…" Brady cut her off with a sad expression.

"They only delayed it, Mikayla. Believe me, I know. I knew the moment he picked me up by my throat. I knew the moment he threatened to hurt y…" Brady caught himself. He sighed in frustration. Why couldn't he just move on? She is and never was interested and never would be.

"Who did he threaten, Brady?" Mikayla asked as they reached the bedroom.

"The point is I put my faith into someone who turned his back on me. I put my faith in him so I would live, but because of my ignorance that he chose the wrong path again." Brady said completely ignoring her question.

"Brady, who is he?" Mikayla asked concernedly.

"I'd rather not talk about it now." Brady sighed in irritation. Mikayla nodded as she helped him to his bed. Before she left he grabbed her wrist. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yes of course, Brady." Mikayla smiled. She was just thankful that he was back and it was amazing to be close to him again… She stopped herself as her mind wanted to carry on. She was the reason that he left and she had no idea how to even apologize. According to her she shouldn't even have butterflies in her stomach for Brady.

"I wanted to know if you were angry with me for leaving the castle. I was a coward to run back then." Brady sighed as he looked at her.

"No, I was angry at myself, because…" Brady cut her off as he didn't want the conversation to go into the direction he knew it was going in.

"Don't be. It was my choice to leave. I wasn't a good king in anyways." Brady stated as he stared straight into her brown eyes.

"Brady," Before Mikayla could continue Brady pulled her into a hug. She was completely caught off guard by this and almost forgot to hug him back.

"Thank you for helping me up the stairs." Brady pointed out as he let go. Mikayla smiled at him softly.

"It was nothing I've had to carry you up the stairs, more than once." Mikayla giggled.

"Yeah, but I never said thank you," Brady said as he looked down ashamedly. "So thank you."

"You're welcome, my King." Mikayla smiled as she left the room.

Brady sighed as he lay back down on his bed. Why couldn't he just move on?

The plot thickens my pupils… Until next time…