I hear the footsteps of the King approaching and crouch underneath the desk.

Even though I'm invisible, I don't want to take any chances. I don't even want to imagine what would happen if the invisibility glitches while he's here.

No don't think about that. That will only make you more nervous and probably more likely to do something that would give off sound.

I still my body as much as possible, trying to breathe lightly and shallowly.

Despite the chill air, cold sweat rolls between my shoulder blades as my heart thunders, threatening to pound out of my chest. The King stops somewhere in the middle of the room, looking around. As his eyes pass over my hiding spot, my heart squeezes.

Did he see me?

No, he's looking the other way now.

It's too early to be relieved though.

I remain crouched, even as my thighs shake and my ankle aches from the awkward position.

I don’t move when the King’s eyes run over me again and try not to even breathe despite the anxiety and fear running through me.

He’s not supposed to be here. They told me he was out and I thought it would be safe enough for me to sneak in.

He can’t see you, I remind myself, trying not to panic. You’re invisible.

But I’m not sure for how long. The Ravens warned me that this was a prototype and it tended to malfunction at inopportune moments.

Plus, time is running out.

Please, please, stay invisible.

The King walks through and sniffs around the air. It oddly reminds me of Wolf, but then a knock on the door splinters that thought.

"Your Highness. Will you be heading back to the meeting?"

"No," he responds to the Guard without facing him. "Clear the floor and search the entire castle. There might be an intruder."

Darn. Has he spoken to Caster already? In that short a time frame?

“Yes sir," I hear the guard say and they hurry to do his bidding, closing the door and locking me in with him once more.

The King sniffs the air a few more times, and then turns his back on me. He walks the other side of teh room where there's only a wall.

What is he doing over there?

Never mind that.

But with the King's back turned I figure it's time to somehow make my escape. He's still turned toward the stone wall and as I move I spot some grey runs drawn on the surface.

He lays his palm flat against it and mutters something to the wall.

The runes light up and the ground rumbles. My heart catches as the stones on either side of the rune shifts, revealing a hidden compartment inside.

A stone cabinet with shelves of glittering gems and orbs of all sizes.

Oh my God.

That's it.

That's probably where he keeps the boar and judging from all the gems, there there may be many other magic creatures that he keeps.

I glance from there to the window, trying to figure out my next steps. I should probably escape.

The King still has his back turned to me, so I should be able to creep silently to the window and get out of here while my invisibility retains.

But as I half emerge from my hiding spot, I hesitate for a millisecond, a part of me wondering if I could run for the shelves and grab the boar, just so I could have this win.

No, that would be stupidly dangerous. I need to escape. I know where he keeps the boar now and I can always come back later to take it.

He doesn’t seem to notice my presence but it’s only a matter of time. I need to get out while I still can.

I creep, my steps light on the cool pebbled floor. I hear sounds of scrapes against stone as the King appears to move things around but I ignore him, heading to the window.

I put my palms against the cold bars.

“I know you’re there Adria.”

I freeze.

Every thing within me drops, from my hopes to my stomach.

I turn around and the King is staring right at me, a cruel smile on his face.

He can see me.

I sharply glance down at myself and find that the shimmering mask still holds.

So how...

“Now, I may not be able to see you through whatever cursed magic you're using. But I can smell you, Adria. And very soon your magic will have no effect on me either.”

What is he talking about?

Who cares? Caution screams in my mind. Get out of here right now.

Before I can react, the King moves faster than I've ever seen a human move and grabs me.

Seriously. It all happens too fast for my brain to even fathom.

One second there's vast acres of space between us.

In the next, he's right in front of me, his hand grasping my collar.

And then, I'm being flung through the air.

A little cry escapes me as my back crashes into the wall, the jagged rocks spiking into my bones.

When I fall to the ground, it takes me a few seconds to realize that I got the wind knocked out of me. I recall all the tails of the great King's strength and power. At least they weren't exaggerated, I muse hysterically.

My brain is moving slowly and pain catches up to me later, but oh, what excruciating pain it is.

Every bone feels like it was shattered.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

I can't move. In fact, I don't want to ever move again so I don't have to feel such pain. Somehow in my mind, moving will make everything worse.

That was not a natural force. I have a distinct hazy thought even as my vision swims from the agony. How he moves is unnatural too.

I hear footsteps behind me as my heart jumps like a rabbit. Get up. Run. Move.

But anxiety and despair have me frozen as he reaches me.

To my surprise, he doesn't hit me again.

Instead, a clatter of stones hits the floor, and then a weird sensation travels over my body, like strange bands wrapping around me tightening, to the point of discomfort.

I groan, straining against them but they don't release me. Now, I'm truly trapped. I can't move.

I look down but don't see the ropes, only a shimmer as my body flickers back into being. The invisibility orb drops out of my pocket and lays beside my fingers shattered.

“That’s a lovely little stone isn’t it,” he says and at first I think he's talking about the invisibility orb but then he kicks a shiny blue gem into view, probably the one which he dropped. “That Farrow Witch was the best purchase I ever made because she revealed to me the wealth of powers we were sitting on in the North, if only we grasped courage and stopped fearing to take what was originally ours. For long, they've thought the North to be magic-poor, but we're one of the richest in magic there is. And that bitch of a Forest was keeping it all from us.

My vision is getting hazy as the bands tighten around me. I reach out my hand trying to see if I can expand the band enough to break but it doesn't work. When I struggle it only tightens more.

I hear amusement in the King's voice. "You won't get out of it, so you might as well stop. Although I do admire your gumption and the fact that you had the balls to try and sneak into my private chambers after attempting to deceive me in the first place, you will likely die here Adria Elvswick."

"How..." I cough and try to breathe but even that's difficult thanks the the bands squeezing me.

"How am I doing this? Like I said these magic gems are beautiful." His prosthetic comes into view and he bends over and holds out a scarlet gem. "This one can erase memory and let me implant whichever one I want. Would you like me to show you how it works?"

"No thank you." I cough and force out the next words. "So that’s how you did it with the Poisoner.”

“Of course. The technique isn’t perfect but it was enough to fool that Farrow witch of the Ravens.

No, it wasn’t. The Raven Lord knows what you did. You're not half as smart as you think you are.

And at least I draw some pride from that.

Then again, I'm the one squirming at his feet, so probably I'm not half as smart as I think I am either.

“Those Ravens thought they were so smart and untouchable with their magic. I wanted to show them that they weren't. I'm resting on a foundation much stronger than magic here.”

“Alchemy?” I choke out again and he grins at me.

“Smart girl. But not just any alchemy. The strongest there is." He walks over, and I see his prosthetic thunking away. "Did you ever hear the tale of the Griffin Hoarde and how they earned their unnatural strength?"

I can hear him working behind me as we talk, and the clatter of instruments being put together. I try to identify what they are. The heavy thud of magic stone, the clang of a blade, and a few other assorted noises that cannot bode well for me.

"It was said that the Griffins are descended from a race who could not wield magic. As the number of magic users grew, the clan was slowly persecuted until there were mere hundreds left. So, they prayed to the Guardian in control of all magic, so that she would grant them the ability to wield it.

The Guardian laughed in their face. And then they prayed to a different Guardian, one that ruled death and he listened. They struck a bargain with him that if they fed him the blood of their enemies, he would make them strong, powerful, indestructible, and impervious to magic."

I jerk now and the bands tighten even further. The story is a well-known tale, one of the many fairy tales used to scare Northern children. The Griffins were an army of barbarians who slayed magical beasts and conquered armies. They were also known for their barbaric slaying techniques and thirst for blood. It's said that they were slaves to blood lust because of the demon their ancestors had cursed them with. It is also why they had infertile lands where nothing could grow and they were forced to become contracted killers to earn enough to feed their clan.

"The process of forming the Griffin army wasn't easy," the king continues talking in a conversational tone as he works. I hear liquid now, drops of it, and the tang of blood stains the air. "You see, there were trials that each man had to face, and they had to subsume themselves in the very belly of fear and win. And once they won, the power was unleashed, all those who could not control the power and the fear, died."

And according to lore, so did multiple innocent people. The blood-lusted warriors killed indiscriminately when they were first possessed by the power. They killed men, women, and children their own brothers, mothers, and friends. The Griffin soil was stained with so much blood that nothing could grow for years.

There's no way a sane King would want to unleash such a curse on his people just for the few who would benefit from that strength.

"You know Northerners are said to be ancient cousins of the Griffins," he continues. "We certainly have their brute strength and their fearlessness. Our Elite trials are based on the Griffin Hoarde trials. We had all the makings of the fierce warrior race except that we had never made a deal with the guardian of death. No King has ever had the guts before. Until me."

"You weren't collecting all those items to just create a Cure for All Ills," I choke out. "You were trying to contract death."

"Ah. So you're catching on."

"That's impossible."

"It should have been," he says. "The ingredient to summon such a being would have been difficult if not impossible to find without a certain individual showing me the way. And slowly as I learned more, I discovered all the treasures the forest hid from us. I started to change myself first, become stronger more powerful, more fearless." He chuckles wildly. "I suppose my Chiefs think I've gone a bit mad with the power but that's just the nature of it. Now I just needed one last thing to complete the ritual. A conduit."

My stomach plunges even lower than I thought possible.

"I was going to use the Raven girl. She would have made an excellent one. I would have bound the Death Guardian's soul to hers. It would have healed her illness at first, but eventually, he would suck her life away till she was a husk, and then take over her body. She would make a perfect conduit. That's what my helper told me. And my dear Adria, so would you."

"No." I choke out beginning to struggle for real, now that I see the fate he has planned for me. A fate worse than death.

"Before, I could not use you. Another being was inside you already, and that angered me. But now you're bare. And through you, I shall lead an army of immortal soldiers."

“Don't do this, your highness," I plead seeing a dark cursed future. "Please. So many will die."

"Anyone who dies was simply not strong enough to live," he says as he footsteps get closer. "For too long I have lived under the feet of those damned Pangeans and had to bear the mockery of the arrogant Westerners. The Pangeans took everything from me! My wife. My sons!" When he bends in my face again, his eyes are crazed. "They took everything. Why should everyone else get a family when I don't?"

My eyes widen. He really is insane.

Still, I try to reach him. "Caster...your son..."

He snorts. "That boy is a weakling. He never had the spine of my first son, nor the brains of my second. He was simply a spare that was never meant to be King. If he dies, it's because he was meant to."

"Wolf," I try another angle. "Wolf would never forgive you if you kill me."

The King frowns and his eyes spark in annoyance and I think maybe I've reached him.

There is a rumor, a well-travelled one, that Wolf is the King’s illegitimate son. Wolf has similar colored eyes to the royal family. He and the King both share the same large frame and tanned skin. He and the King are both fearsome warriors.

It was a rumor that tormented Caster in my first life.

It was a rumor I originally planned to exploit in this life.

That was going to be the second phase of my plan after I found Errila. I would ask Errila to tell Wolf about his true parentage and then with that, we would plan for Wolf to take over as crown Prince and eventually King. It would not have been easy. Caster would have undoubtedly put up a fight.

But Wolf already had a reputation that inspired awe amongst the Northerners. His skills on the battlefield were legendary, enough that he might become a general in no time. With my knowledge of the future, he would become more politically savvy. And given the King's preference for Wolf, it would not take a lot to get him named Crown Prince instead of Caster.

And then after the King's eventual demise, Wolf would become the King of the North and I would be his advisor.

Together, we would save the North.

"Wolf will have to understand," the King says and I know I've lost.

I scream as a dagger is stabbed into my arm, dragging down, and slicing open my flesh.

The pain of the cut is accompanied by a burn, seeping into the me, driving my cries higher.

"That's right. You can scream all you want my room is soundproof thanks to the Runes at my door. The floor is also cleared. No one will hear you. You will be my tool, Adria Elvswick."

"I will be no one's tool," I bite out and then cry out again as he stabs me in my thigh. The pain continues. The screaming continues.

Two more cuts on my other limbs and I feel the burning everywhere. The pain is turning my vision dark. I want to pass out. I don't want to be awake anymore feeling this. I want to be anywhere but here. I want to give up.

No. You can't give up.

That thought is almost immediately accompanied by another.

Please, someone, help me.

And then I think about how stupid I was to come here alone. What was I trying to prove? That I could this on my own?

Now no one can help me. Wolf is too far away and no one else even knows where I am.

No one but me can stop this.

But then something happens.

I don't hear the door open, but I do hear someone shouting out in a loud horrified voice, "Father!"