CHAPTER 88: THE URGENCY

[: 3rd POV :]

Melira’s heart pounded in her chest like a relentless drum, each beat echoing the fear she could barely contain.

Her violet eyes searched Sylvene’s golden, tear-streaked ones, desperation clawing at her throat.

Every second stretched into an eternity, the air around them thick with unspoken dread.

"What... what happened? Where is he?" Melira asked, her voice trembling, though her usual icy composure tried—and failed—to hold firm.

Her hands clenched tightly on the edge of the ornate table in front of her, knuckles whitening.

Sylvene’s eyes, usually calm and unreadable, flickered with an uncharacteristic panic.

Her lips quivered, and her hands shook as if the weight of the revelation threatened to crush her very being.

Melira leaned forward, heart threatening to burst.

Her voice rose, sharp and commanding despite the tremor beneath it.

"Tell me... now! Where is my son? What is happening to him?"

Sylvene swallowed hard, the sound almost painful.

For a woman renowned for her serene silence, for her ability to command a room with nothing but her presence, this was unprecedented.

Her voice came out in jagged breaths, laden with desperation, trembling like a fragile flame in a storm.

"He... he’s at the Forbidden Continent..." she admitted, voice breaking.

She raised a hand, as if to physically grasp the truth and hold it before them, trembling as she continued. "...fighting against... those infinite monsters..."

Her words hung in the air like a dagger suspended over Melira’s heart.

The Empress’s violet eyes widened, her chest constricting as if the revelation had physically struck her.

"No... that cannot be..."

Melira whispered, her voice almost drowned by the tempest raging in her mind.

Her hands flexed, trembling, unable to find purchase. "...he’s just a child... how can he...?"

Sylvene, trembling herself, reached out instinctively, as though to brace Melira against the weight of the horror she was revealing.

Her expression, mournful yet urgent, pierced through the Empress’s storm of fear.

"Y-You... you need to stop!"

Sylvene’s voice rose sharply, the panic breaking through her usual calm demeanour.

"You... you need to find your son! Now!"

Melira’s body stiffened, a shiver running down her spine.

The reality hit her with the force of a tempest—her son, Daniel, was out there, alone, facing an impossible tide of monsters, his survival resting on nothing but his own strength and resolve.

Tears pooled in Sylvene’s golden eyes, her composure shattered.

"H-He’s fighting... so many... infinite... and he’s alone! He... he cannot... he should not..."

Her voice cracked under the weight of grief, frustration, and helplessness, echoing in the vast, silent chamber.

Melira’s chest heaved violently, the mixture of rage, fear, and love threatening to consume her.

Her hands tightened on her necklace, pressing it to her chest, the only tangible connection to the son she had spent twelve years searching for.

"He... he’s my son," Melira said through gritted teeth, violet eyes blazing with uncontainable fire. "And I will find him... no matter what it takes. I will—"

Sylvene’s voice cut in, urgent yet wavering, "Y-You must hurry! Every second... every moment... he’s facing horrors no mortal should endure. You cannot waste another heartbeat!"

The room seemed to shrink around them, the weight of the revelation pressing down like a physical force.

Melira’s fingers dug into the necklace, the aura of her fury and love radiating outward, coiling like a living storm around her.

Melira staggered back a step, her hand clutching the edge of the grand table as if it could anchor her to reality. Her violet eyes, wide with disbelief, shimmered with unshed tears. Her voice, usually so commanding and controlled, broke into a whisper filled with incredulity.

"W-What... what?!" she breathed, the single word trembling on her lips.

The chamber seemed to shrink around her, each shadow pressing closer as her mind raced with impossible questions.

Why was Daniel in the Forbidden Continent?

Why was he facing those monsters, alone and defenceless?

Every possibility twisted into another nightmare.

Her voice cracked, almost strangled by the panic rising in her chest.

"Sylvene... how... how is he even there? The Forbidden Continent... that place... it’s sealed! After the sacrifice of the rulers of the first generation... it should have been... impossible for anyone to enter!"

Sylvene’s golden eyes softened, sorrow etched deep into her ageless features.

She shook her head slowly, her tone low but edged with awe.

"You are correct, Melira. By every measure, it should have been impossible’’

’’The seals... the barriers... even the passage of ordinary mortals... none could have bypassed it. Not without intervention of forces far beyond our reach."

Melira’s hands trembled violently as she pressed them to her chest, the warmth and lifeforce, a stark reminder that he was alive yet so far away.

Her voice wavered, a mixture of fear, confusion, and barely restrained fury.

"Then... then how...? How could my son... bypass it? How could he... survive there? He’s just a child!"

Sylvene inhaled slowly, her lips tightening as she struggled to convey the impossible truth.

Her voice, though calm, was heavy with emotion—grief, admiration, and unease.

"He... he possesses powers unlike anything I’ve seen in all of my centuries’’

’’Powers that can bend the boundaries of fate itself... that can ignore barriers others cannot breach... that can defy what is written in the laws of this world’’

’’Even I... cannot fully comprehend how he managed it."

Melira’s chest heaved violently, tears brimming in her eyes, but her fury flared brighter than her grief.

Her hands clenched the necklace so tightly her knuckles whitened.

"My son... he’s in that cursed continent... fighting alone... against horrors that should have crushed the strongest of men..."

Her voice broke, a whisper almost drowned by her own ragged breathing.

"No... this cannot be... I will not allow it!"

Sylvene’s hand moved slightly, as if to reach for her, though she kept her distance out of respect for the Empress’s storm of emotions.

Her golden eyes glimmered with both sorrow and a strange reverence.

"Melira... he is strong. Stronger than you realise. But even strength alone... even fate itself... cannot shield him from the terrors that await’’

’’You must hurry... every moment he spends there is a moment where the world could steal him from you."

Melira’s lips trembled as she swallowed the lump in her throat, the full weight of the situation pressing down on her.

Her mind raced—strategies, powers, possible allies—all forming and collapsing like storms in her head.

Her violet eyes flared, a mixture of blazing maternal fury and desperate determination.

’’Don’t worry about how to get through,"

Sylvene continued, her voice gaining strength as tears streamed freely down her face. "I will find a way—right now. I won’t let him suffer like this for even one more second!"

Her golden eyes burned with both sorrow and resolve, a rare combination of raw desperation and unwavering determination.

Melira felt the weight of her fear and hope collide, and for a brief moment, she allowed herself to draw strength from Sylvene’s words.

That day, Melira’s hesitation vanished completely.

She no longer cared about the unknowns or the impossibilities.

The location of her son—the Forbidden Continent—was now etched into her mind, and no force in existence could delay her wrath and determination.

With a swift motion, she sent words to her commanders, her aura radiating like a supernova, freezing all hesitation in those around her.

Her voice, low and lethal yet commanding, left no room for argument:

"Prepare every force at my disposal. We move to the Forbidden Continent immediately. Every regiment, every unit, every fleet—nothing is to be held back."

Her words reverberated like thunder through the halls, and even the most battle-hardened generals felt the weight of her resolve pressing down upon them.

At the same time, she requested the other Rulers who had previously pledged their aid.

Thrain, Sylthara, and every other continental ruler stepped forward, offering their armies, their magical wards, and their ships.

None hesitated.

None questioned.

"Empress Melira," Thrain said gravely, his voice carrying the weight of generations, "you have our full support. Every resource at your disposal will be sent. We will find your son alongside you, no matter the cost."

Sylthara nodded solemnly, her scaled wings folding neatly as her eyes shone with both fear and determination.

"The Forbidden Continent is perilous, yes...it’s not like we’re afraid’’

Melira’s hands tightened around her necklace, the warmth of Daniel’s presence in her bloodline giving her a singular, unbreakable focus.

Her heart pounded in synchrony with her relentless resolve.

"Then let us waste no more time," she declared, her voice cutting through the tension like a blade of violet fire.

"Today, we cross into the Forbidden Continent. Today, we bring my son back. And anyone or anything that stands in our way... will be erased."

A shiver of anticipation swept through the assembled forces, the sheer intensity of her conviction palpable.

Airships, battalions, and magical constructs were prepared with unprecedented speed.

The Empress’s fury, Sylvene’s guidance, and the unity of the Rulers coalesced into a force that could challenge even the most forbidden and monstrous corners of the world.

And as the first wave of forces began their journey toward the Forbidden Continent, Melira stood tall, her violet eyes blazing with unyielding purpose.

She whispered under her breath, a vow carried on the wind, across the oceans, and into the heart of the perilous land where her son fought:

"Daniel... mother is coming. Hold on... I will find you... no matter what."

The air itself seemed to tremble under the weight of her words, a prelude to the storm that was about to descend upon the Forbidden Continent.