All Chapters of Journey Through the Shadow Realms: Chapter 131 - Chapter 140

“You! Cart driver!” came a loud cry from an imperial soldier nearby. “Move along!”Casser flicked Noha’s reins and they started to move forward. Casser, like Mira and Eldion, was astonished by the spectacle of the portal. He tried to drive Noha closer to see where the portal was but the soldier was quite stern.“I said move along!” said the soldier and he eyed Casser suspiciously.“Officer, that was quite amazing what I just saw! To have so many imperial soldiers arrive here in the outpost. Where did they come from?” Casser ventured a question, referring to the soldiers who had just came from the portal.“They come from Lazar by orders of the great Emperor Terdu. Outlaws have become rampant in this area and the good emperor has decided to send forces to protect all law-abiding citizens of Kanima and Alnoc,” said the soldier.“That portal though. I thought it was a painting of some sort h

“The Emperor seems to be very popular here,” remarked Eldion as he looked at the poster on the wall.“It looks like he is,” replied Mira. “But probably not to everyone.”Mira and Eldion walked away from the coin exchange stall and to the street. Two imperial soldiers marched close to them, but not without giving them a good look and the coin exchange where they came from.“Power to the Emperor!” shouted the two soldiers after seeing the poster of the Emperor on the wall. As they said this, they beat they breasts with their closed fists before extending their arm to the front as if punching the air.Eldion watched the two soldiers and then realized that they were looking back at them and observing their every move.“Don’t say anything, Eldion,” said Mira softly. “Just follow my lead.”Mira stepped away and Eldion was quick to follow her. Then, they heard one of the soldiers sho

Eldion saw the stone statue from afar and wondered who it was. He knew that it was bound to be of a famous character, quite likely a local hero celebrated by the locals. He would have wanted to ask Mira, but he maintained a short distance from her upon her instructions. Mira did not appear to be in a hurry as she walked and Eldion maintained a steady pace as well. When he saw that there were people nearby, he would pretend not to be following Mira and look somewhere else while keeping Mira within his sight.Soon, Eldion saw Mira go towards an open area bordered with wooden stalls. He recognized the look and smell of the stables at Alnoc and guessed that they had arrived to their destination. Like Alnoc’s stables, there was an assortment of wooden stalls that surrounded an open area. There were a number of merchants and caretakers who were cleaning their animals and their stables as well as fixing their carts. The smell of manure was in the air and the grunts of animals co

Mira was silent as the cart where she found herself and Eldion was closed and guards posted outside the entrance. She wanted to understand what motivated Casser to betray them to Thunka, but she could not think of any strong reason that could make Casser do what he did. She blamed herself for what had befallen them, thinking how selfish she was that she ignored the warnings of Wen and Eldion. Now that she and Eldion were being transported back to Alnoc, she could only think of how all their efforts in the last several days had been put to waste.She heard Wen’s voice talk to her. “Don’t blame yourself, Mira. It’s Casser who betrayed us, not you. If there’s anyone to be blamed because of our capture, it is he.”Mira agreed with Wen, but she could still not totally absolve her. She felt that she was still not entirely blameless. She felt that she had failed Eldion and only brought him back to where she found him.“Eldion, I&rsqu

“What do we do now, Mira?” asked Eldion, his eyes almost pleading.“I don’t know, Eldion, but we need to think of something fast,” replied Mira. She placed a hand under her chin as she thought of what to do.“We can try using the pulko stones again,” suggested Eldion. Immediately, he pulled out his pouch of pulko stones and placed its contents on his palm. He showed the remaining stones to Mira.Mira examined the stones and frowned. She knew that the pulko stones of dubious quality could not be depended upon. It had brought them closer to danger twice already and those were the ones that she thought were of better quality than the rest.Mira shook her head and grimaced. “No, Eldion. I think those remaining stones would be more dangerous to use. We are already very high up. I can’t risk getting us to drop even higher from where we are.”Eldion closed his hand as he thought of what else that they coul