Magic Mirror and Princess Huma

The Shadows Strike Back

The heavy iron doors of the royal council room could barely hold back the rising panic as the chilling news spread like wildfire through the upper floors of the ancient castle The royal guards were immediately doubled at every single entrance and thick torches were lit in broad daylight to push back the unnatural gloom that clung stubbornly to the stone pillars and marble walls Yet no amount of roaring fire or blazing light could warm the freezing lifeless air that now filled the grand hall Huma stood silently by the tall arched window looking out over the royal gardens where the bright summer flowers had mysteriously withered overnight turning into brittle black ash at the slightest touch of the cold morning wind

The prince walked up quietly from behind her gently wrapping his thick warm velvet cloak around her shivering shoulders to shield her from the creeping chill His face was set in a hard determined line of focus though his eyes betrayed a deep burning worry that he tried hard to hide behind a mask of bravery He knew all too well that simply waiting inside the heavily fortified palace walls for the enemy to reveal itself was a losing game The dark malicious forces possessed the forbidden book of black sorcery and the broken razorsharp shards of the cursed magic mirror meaning they could strike from anywhere at any absolute second without a single warning.

Before the prince could utter a single word of comfort to calm her racing heart a piercing ear splitting shriek echoed sharply from the outer courtyards below It was not the sound of a wounded animal or a human in pain but rather a metallic screeching howl that made the massive glass windows vibrate dangerously in their frames Moments later the heavy oak doors of the grand hall blew open with a sudden violent gust of freezing wind extinguishing every single torch in the room in a split second and plunging them into pitch blackness The temperature dropped so severely and instantly that their breath turned into thick white mist swirling in the air.

From the exact center of the dark hall a swirling vortex of thick black smoke began to materialize out of nothingness hissing loudly like a nest of venomous snakes waking up from a deep slumber Out of the swirling, chaotic fog a tall ghostly figure slowly took shape a terrifying spectral illusion of the wicked queen herself her eyes burning with a furious unholy purple light and her translucent dark crown hovering menacingly above her head She did not walk across the floor she glided effortlessly across the frozen marble tiles her horrifying laughter echoing sharply against the high stone ceilings like rolling thunder

Did you truly foolishly believe that a simple glass coffin and a basic poison apple could erase my eternal existence from this earth the phantom queen hissed her voice sounding like grinding stones and freezing wind combined into a nightmare This entire kingdom belongs by right to my bloodline and that wretched ungrateful girl who stole my glory and my throne will pay for her insolence with her final breath

Before the royal guards stationed outside could break through the magically jammed doors, the spectral figure lunged forward with blinding unnatural speed extending a long shadowy hand directly toward Huma The prince reacted instantly drawing his heavy steel sword and throwing himself bravely between Huma and the attacking entity He slashed his sharp blade right through the dead center of the phantom but the heavy steel passed straight through the thick smoke as if it were nothing more than thin air sending a paralyzing electric shockwave straight through his arms and forcing him to drop to one knee.

The dark entity bypassed the prince entirely ignoring him as it wrapped its freezing shadowy tendrils tightly around Huma and lifted her off the ground as a suffocating darkness began to close in around her fading vision The ultimate battle for their lives their future and their true love had officially begun and escape was no longer an option.

(To Be Continued...)