The Veil of Darkness
Chapter 170: The Secret under the Castle

Chapter 170: The Secret under the Castle

Annalise once again found herself standing right in front of the passageway with one of her hands pressed against the ward. She felt the power of ward’s spell fluttering right beneath her fingers and it made her want to explore that power further.

Whatever secret was hidden on the other side of the ward, it seemed to be welcoming her with open arms, and the more time she spent sensing the ward’s magic, the surer she became of her instincts.

"Are you ready?" Valerius asked as he once again moved to stand right behind her with his chest pressed against her back and one of his hands resting on her waist.

She nodded her head in a positive response and watched as the first dark lord placed his other hand over hers which was already touching the ward.

Annalise took in a deep breath before she closed her eyes and focused on Valerius’ air element that was currently overpowering his ice. She allowed herself to learn its rhythm before she let her powers follow his air element to get a passage through the ward.

Her powers followed Valerius’ air and morphed with it as the dark lord cast the spell to diminish the ward’s powers long enough for them to get past it.

The spell took quite a few moments and Annalise could tell that it was quite a powerful spell considering the strain that she was experiencing on her powers because of all the energy that the spell was consuming.

She felt it right before the spell locked in its place and the ward diminished for a couple of fleeting seconds to allow them entry through the vines-covered passage.

Valerius once again took the lead as he stepped forward through the passage before taking hold of her hand and making her follow him.

There were no more passages or stairs after that. Instead, she found herself standing at the entrance of another clearing but this one was way bigger than the earlier ones, too big to even be a part of some underground basement of the castle.

"What in the world..." She didn’t have any words to express the shock that had taken over her completely. So, instead of wasting time finding the right words, she decided to properly observe the beauty that was filling the clearing.

The most attention-grabbing part of the place was the two trees looming in the distance. They both were standing side by side with their trunks making an oval shape before tangling together and then finally going up.

While one tree was filled with yellow-colored leaves, the other one was filled with bright red leaves but the unusual trees were not the real deal, instead, it was the portal forming between the trunks of tge two trees.

Small grass was covering the ground and bushes were growing all around the place with wildflowers blooming on them. Similar vines like the ones she noticed throughout the way and also in the castle were dangling from the cave-like walls.

The amount of magical energy present in the air was so intense that it almost made Annalise feel like she was inhaling too much magic which made her question if it was a good thing or bad. "Why is there a portal?" She finally found herself asking as she turned to face Valerius who had been silently standing beside her while watching her take in the so-called secret that he was talking about.

"This..." Valerius spoke as he turned to face the lifeless portal, "... is a portal leading to the Seelie Realm."

Silence filled the air as it took several long minutes for Annalise to consume the information that she ahd just received. Still, she had no idea how she should be reacting. There was literally a portal under the castle where she was currently living and it was not just any portal, but rather a portal leading to the cursed realm of Seelie’s, a realm that had been long abandoned and sealed to keep the rest of tge world safe from the darkness lurking there.

"What’s going on?" She whispered the question so softly that it made her wonder if Valerius had even heard her but when the man spoke, she knew that his enhanced hearing could never disappoint.

"Do you remember Kenric telling you about the castle having a history?"

Annalise nodded her head in positive as she did recall the exact conversation she had with Kenric when she first came to live in the castle and was curious about the weird antics that the house used to play. Back then, Kenric did mention the castle having a story, one that Valerius knew about.

"Is it related to this portal?" She asked while turning her attention back to the trees and the portal. She could feel her blood pumping up as her curiosity rose to finally learn about the secrets of the castle... and the secret that was hidden under it.

Valerius took in a deep breath before he took a couple of steps forward and surprised her when he suddenly laid down on the grass with his hand resting under his head while his eyes were looking at the ceiling covered in vines and moss. "It’s a long story." That was all he said before becoming silent.

Annalise stared at the man for a couple of seconds before she made up her mind and moved to join him on the ground. Just as she was about to lie down, Valerius sprawled a blanket beside him before signaling her to continue. It was a small gesture but still so thoughtful of him that her heart fluttered like crazy.

She finally took her position beside him on the blanket and turned her body to face him. "Go on, I’m all ears to hear what you know about the secrets of this mysterious castle."

A small smile bloomed on Valerius’ lips as he snaked his free hand under her head and made her rest her head against his shoulder, and then... he finally started telling her the story.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.