The Shattered Remains: Ethereal Ashes

Chapter Two: A Wild Dream

Chapter Two: A Wild Dream

Ryder's pov

World: Grimpass Silverwood

Kai paced back in forth across the dark floorboards of the office hallway anxiously. His eyes stared down at the floor as he pondered over what the Queen could possibly want. We were all anxious but Kai seemed the most agitated; a fact that made Kai extremely hard to work with. He hated surprises, especially involving the Queen of Grimpass. She was a woman who took what you had and just gave you nothing in return; except for the chance to be one of her many slaves.

In spite of these...rumors, the king had still insisted on marrying her, despite all the protests and warnings he had received from everyone else. But he persisted nonetheless, despite knowing that it would most likely end up with death.

Now me, Kai, Kayden, Rome, and Damon were awaiting the queen's arrival, all sitting silently on the edge of our seats waiting for the doors to open. The room felt tense, almost uncomfortable.

The double doors opened suddenly and all our heads snapped toward the doorway, waiting to see who came in. As soon as the door closed behind the newcomer, Kai was the first to stand up, his eyes widened. I followed suit as I rose to my feet and quickly joined my friends who I called brothers.

The queen stood in the center of the room smiling smugly, her blue eyes gleaming dangerously. She wore a simple grey dress that matched her hair perfectly, the sleeves trailing elegantly to her elbows. Her black hair was tied in a neat ponytail and her face was adorned with makeup that covered her sharp features, her eyebrows perfectly shaped and her pink lips glossed lightly. Even without the make up her icy blue eyes seemed intimidating and dangerous.

After staring at the queen in absolute silence for a few moments, I walked forward and bowed slightly as the queen motioned for me to rise.

"Your Majesty " I addressed her as I straightened up. She nodded and gestured for me to continue speaking. I took a deep breath before responding.

"May I ask how and why you are here? How did you find us?" I asked cautiously.

Her smile widened. She took slow steps toward me as I remained standing, keeping eye contact as I awaited her response.

"Why do you think I'm here, sonny boy?" She responded, her voice laced with malicious amusement.

I furrowed my brows confused. She couldn't possibly have tracked us down through the network, or even the AI robotic system that ran this entire world. And even if she did track us down through it, she could have easily just hacked the system itself. So what the hell was she doing here?

A small smirk formed on the corners of her lip before disappearing and being replaced with a cold look.

"Don't look so surprised, sweetheart" She mocked. "I've been watching over you since you were born, Do you really think that I'd waste resources tracking you down, or wasting time, for no reason?" She asked me sarcastically.

"You're smart and I admire that, but you don't know everything. You have a lot to learn." She continued, her icy tone making my skin feel cold.

She stopped and stared at each and every one of us as she raised a perfect eyebrow, a sly grin plastered on her face.

This made no sense at all. All of us looked at each other and then to the queen, confused.

"What is this nonsense you're talking about?" Rome demanded. She crossed her arms over her chest as she rolled her eyes at Rome's ignorance.

"Oh please don't act ignorant, Rome. You know as well as anyone what I am referring to. The mythical." She replied sternly. Rome narrowed his eyes at her and glared furiously. She simply laughed before continuing. "Truly, you're such a childish man,"

The queen scoffed. Rome clenched his jaw tightly together while glaring daggers at her. I'm surprised he hasn't attacked her yet considering her attitude towards him. She obviously knows his history. I can tell from the way her eyes bore into Rome, and the smirk growing ever larger on her face.

"I don't care what you are saying. There is no such thing, nor has there ever been one." Roman argued defensively, taking a step closer to the queen, ready to attack if necessary.

"And why is that?" She challenged him. Rome ignored her question and instead replied with a question of his own, "How would you know? Are you just a crazy old hag who believes in fairy tales and ghosts? Or are you one of them?" He questioned.

"How dare you speak to your queen like that," She hissed menacingly. The queen advanced slowly toward Rome. Her lips parted into a cruel sneer as her blue eyes glimmered with venomous intent.

Her eyes pierced through Romans skull and his eyes never backed away from hers in fear. Her aura radiated around her and the temperature in the room dropped significantly. I could feel my heart beating erratically and my skin tingling uncomfortably. He seemed unfazed by the threatening aura surrounding her, seemingly immune to her threats.

He kept his gaze locked onto her icy blue irises, his face remaining emotionless as she continued to stare intently at him. After a short moment, she stepped back slightly and regained her composure. Her expression became more neutral as her eyes returned to their normal color. However, she didn't respond to Rome's question and merely stared at him. Her gaze lingered on him as she studied him before returning to meet his gaze.

The two continued to gaze at one another before the Queen broke the tension and turned her head toward me.

"Well I've got things to attend to, sonny boy. Let's keep this little meeting between myself and you private, shall we? And remember: if you breathe a single word of this to anyone, you'll regret it." She warned.

Without bothering to wait for my reply, she spun around and left the room without another word or glance in our direction. Just like that, she was gone, leaving us all stunned with shock.

We sat in complete silence, none of us daring to move and speak until Rome spoke. He broke the silence first.

"What the f**k just happened?" He demanded. The others looked at him with confusion and slight concern as they attempted to gather their thoughts.

"Did she just say to keep this meeting private, I mean all she did was threaten Rome and tell us she came her because of the mythical," Kayden finally replied, sounding completely confused.

"That's exactly what she said. What's going on?!" I added confused "And how did she even find us?" I inquired.

Rome groaned loudly. "Of course, she found us," He exclaimed irritatedly "She's f*****g delusional! If she actually thinks that she's some kind of god, then she must be stupid! I don't buy it! None of this makes any sense whatsoever, let alone that whole mythical s**t! " He ranted in exasperation. I frowned slightly at his statement; however, I couldn't argue with him. It did seem strange though; and if anything, I was more perplexed than Rome at this point.

"It doesn't make any damn sense!" Damon agreed angrily. "But we have no choice. We need to talk to Ryker about it, right now!" He demanded and Kayden nodded frantically in agreement. "But first, we should get dressed. We have work to do." Damon stated.

In that moment, it was hard to tell whether we had all fallen asleep and entered some strange dreamland, or whether the reality we had known all along had finally revealed itself to be a wild dream