Tyrant's Obsession With The Heiress-Chapter 57: Gathering The Beasts For Dark Times Have Come

Various habitats formed the entirety of the beast sanctuary of Moonveil.

The realm was divided into four regions, one for each season within existence.

On occasion, whenever one of the Moonveil custodians entered the sanctuary, Lady Karina in particular, the beasts would cross over from the other three regions into the Spring region to greet her.

Such was the case at present.

She was more than relieved to find them all well and good, knowing she would need to apologise and explain the reasons for her unexpectedly long absence.

For that, she would need to gather the lot of them into the Spring region's city.

Aye, there was a city of archaic structures in the Spring region where they congregated for important events.

It was also a city reserved for the custodians of Moonveil should the time ever arise that they would need to settle alongside the beasts and live together in harmony.

And one might think, if the sanctuary was so secure, why didn't the inhabitants of Moonveil retreat to its lands when the invasion began?

The answer was simple.

With the White Phoenix Beast resting since aeons ago, the hidden realm remained unstable, and their defences would not hold up for long if the Van Merikh army had decided to use force to find their way into the land.

It would only have been a matter of time before Orpheus Van Merikh realised that the stone sentinels on the castle's walls were actually the pillars of magic that were holding up the foundation of the hidden realm.

With those destroyed, it would be a simple task to invade the sanctuary.

Sir Gerald and his daughter would not take such great risks.

"Soran," Lady Karina uttered the snow sabre-tooth tiger's name and his ears perked up. "Will you do me the honour of gathering the other beasts to the council hall in the city? Dark times have fallen upon us."

His ice blue eyes flashed. "Aye, my lady," Soran spoke, his tone deep and absolute but one that held respect. "I will have them rounded up soon."

Lady Karina smiled gratefully before she engaged in idle chatter with the other beasts, each one questioning her about her absence and showing their worries for her well-being.

She did not wish to burden them with the details of the invasion for she knew that these beasts were loyal to a fault and they would storm the Van Merikh army by force and take back Moonveil.

And in doing so, that would expose them to the rest of the world that thought them dead for centuries.

One of the other beasts, a magnificent black horse, twice the size of a regular one, whose hide was decorated with white runes all the way up to the two antlers that stuck out from its head, came up beside Lady Karina.

"Rina, why did you not come to us if such darkness had befallen you?" The black horse asked, his hazel eyes reflecting worry. "You know very well we would come to your aid and drive those demons away."

Lady Karina shook her head.

"Nay, Onyx," she answered, shaking her head. "You know as well as I do why that would not be ideal. And even if I did seek your aid, you do not have the permission of the White Phoenix to leave this sanctuary."

Onyx neighed in frustration and stomped his two front hooves onto the ground.

"The White Phoenix has been confined to slumber for centuries; what would she even know? Sparx comes and goes as he pleases, so why not the rest of us?"

Sparx had playfully found his way up onto Onyx's back, running about mischievously.

The black horse snorted and shook his head but made no effort to get the little fennec fox off his back.

Lady Karina sighed, stopping for a moment to gently caress Onyx's mane. She knew the beast was a short-tempered one and not much of a stickler for the rules.

"Sparx is an exception because the White Phoenix tasked him with communication between us and he is my personal familiar," she said, carding her fingers through Onyx's silky smooth mane.

"Soran and I are also your familiars," Onyx argued, his expression seeming as if he were frowning. "Do you not believe we are strong enough to deal with mere humans?"

Lady Karina could already sense a headache well on its way and Onyx's stubbornness was the final straw to its arrival.

"Have you forgotten what those mere humans did in the past, Onyx?" Lady Karina remarked furiously.

It was rare for her to lose her cool and let her quiet temper take control.

She had never snapped at the beasts before, and many of them were somewhat startled by her loud tone.

The lady knew she shouldn't have touched on a sensitive topic, but with so many burdens bearing down on her shoulders, she had begun to lose all sense of patience.

Onyx himself did not expect Lady Karina to go into an outburst, but he took it as a hint that he shouldn't have pressed on the matter.

"Forgive me, Rina," Onyx said apologetically. "My anger clouded my judgement."

Sighing, she cupped his oblong face and pressed her forehead to his.

"I am sorry too." Her tone softened. "I have not been myself these last two weeks and I do not know how I have managed to stay sane all this while."

Onyx's eyes crinkled at the corners, showing something akin to a smile.

"That is because you are so very strong, Hyacinth," another voice stated, coming from behind the other beasts who were blocking their path.

Lady Karina peaked around Onyx, watching as the other beasts parted the way to reveal a great white elk even larger than Onyx.

The creature's coat was as purely white as snow, the trinkets on its antlers twinkling with every step it took.

Its body was engulfed in a subtle ethereal glow, which showed how majestic it was amongst the other beasts.

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The other beasts bowed respectfully, allowing the great white elk to make its way to Lady Karina.

"Naeryn," she uttered the great white elk's name with respect, bowing her head. "Soran travels quite fast if you have already reached here from the winter peaks."

Naeryn chuckled, bending her body down to touch her forehead to Lady Karina's.

"I am the first to know of something when you arrive, Hyacinth." Naeryn lifted her head again, giving an almost motherly scowl to Onyx. "Still causing trouble, are we?"

Onyx neighed in annoyance and stepped aside, knowing arguing with Naeryn wouldn't warrant any good.

Naeryn was the oldest beast amongst them; hence, she was revered as a noble, motherly figure.

-Click here for reference images of the sanctuary-