The Traitor’s Mask
718 Words
The eastern gate had already collapsed.
Smoke spiraled high into the sky while the battle cries of warriors rang out across Moonborn Kingdom. The silver towers, once so splendid, were now ringed by shadow beasts clawing relentlessly at the protective barrier.
Nysera tightened her grip on the Moon Crystal.
Its glow throbbed against her palm, warm… alive.
“They’re drawing nearer,” Lady Selene whispered.
Draven stood on the balcony overlooking the battlefield, his sword already smeared with dark blood.
“This isn’t a random assault,” he said in a low voice. “Someone is directing them.”
Nysera’s brow furrowed.
“You think the Shadow King is here?”
Draven answered with a slow shake of his head.
“No.”
His golden eyes sharpened.
“I think someone inside the kingdom breached the barrier.”
The room went silent.
“A traitor…” Nysera breathed.
The royal council assembled in the war chamber.
Generals were shouting.
Advisers talked over one another.
“We need to evacuate the capital!”
“No! We have to safeguard the Moon Crystal!”
“They’ll slaughter us all before dawn!”
Nysera stood at the head of the table.
The frightened girl they had dismissed only days before was gone.
In her place stood a queen.
“We stay,” she said with unwavering resolve.
The chamber fell still.
“If we flee the kingdom, there will be nothing left worth saving.”
Several elders exchanged stunned looks.
At last, one of them bowed.
“As you command, Your Majesty.”
Draven watched her with quiet pride.
She was changing.
Growing stronger with every battle.
Hours later…
A battered scout stumbled in.
“My Queen!”
He dropped to one knee.
“We found this.”
He handed Draven a black cloak stitched with a silver serpent.
Lady Selene gasped.
“Impossible…”
Nysera looked from one to the other.
“What is it?”
Draven’s expression turned grave.
“This emblem belongs to the Shadow Order.”
“I’ve never heard of them.”
“Because they were destroyed two hundred years ago.”
Lady Selene swallowed hard.
“Or… at least, that’s what we believed.”
That evening…
Nysera drifted through the royal library, searching for answers.
Ancient volumes lined every wall.
Dust shimmered in the moonlight spilling through the stained-glass windows.
She reached for an old journal.
The instant she opened it…
A folded letter slipped to the floor.
It was addressed to…
Queen Elara.
Nysera’s heart lurched.
That was her mother’s name.
Her hands trembled as she unfolded the page.
The ink had faded, but the words were still clear.
If this letter reaches you…it means they have discovered the truth.
The child must never learn who her father truly is.
Nysera went rigid.
Her father?
She kept reading.
If the Shadow King finds her first, the prophecy will belong to darkness.
Her breathing caught.
“No…”
Footsteps sounded behind her.
She turned sharply.
Draven.
“What happened?”
Without a word, she handed him the letter.
As he read it…
All color drained from his face.
“This can’t be real.”
“You know something.”
Draven said nothing.
“You promised no more secrets.”
He closed his eyes.
“I promised to protect you.”
“Then tell me!”
His reply was barely a whisper.
“Your father…”
Before he could finish—
BOOM!
The library erupted.
Stone burst from the ceiling.
Books went up in flames.
Draven threw himself over Nysera just as shards of glass sprayed across the room.
Outside…
A familiar laugh echoed through the burning palace.
“So…”
A deep male voice carried across the kingdom.
“The Moon Queen has finally learned the truth.”
Nysera slowly raised her head.
Standing atop the palace wall…
Draped in black armor…
Was a man whose glowing crimson eyes matched hers perfectly.
He smiled.
“My daughter.”
Time seemed to stop.
Draven’s sword slipped from his grasp.
Lady Selene sank to her knees.
Nysera stared in horror.
“No…”
The man opened his arms.
“I’ve waited twenty-one years to meet you.”
Nysera uncovered the horrifying truth—the dreaded Shadow King was not only her enemy… he was her biological father.
- Writer
