Chapter 173: Uninvited Guests.
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The tide rolled in gently, lapping against the quieter, untouched side of the island. Here, the sand was fine and white, untouched by the earlier chaos. A few scattered gulls cawed in the distance, but otherwise, it was tranquil, serene even. A far cry from the warzone-like splashes they left on the main beach.
Arthur and Kara erged from the sea, water dripping from their hair, glistening under the soft afternoon sun. Both were breathless but not from exhaustion. Laughter still clung to Kara’s voice.
She shook out her wet hair and nudged his arm with her elbow. "You held back, didn’t you?" she said with a grin. "Don’t deny it."
Arthur exhaled, smirking faintly. "I don’t know... it’s hard to go for the critical hits when you’re fighting soone you..."
He trailed off.
Kara turned her head sharply, catching that hesitation like a fishhook.
"Soone you what, exactly?" Her voice was lighter than air, but her eyes those curious blue eyes glead with sothing more.
Arthur looked away almost instantly, raising a hand to cough into his fist with comically bad timing. "Nothing. Let’s regroup with the others. We probably destroyed the beach..."
Kara’s lips curved upward into a mischievous smirk. "Is the mighty Shadow King blushing? Is that why you’re hiding your face?"
Arthur grunted. "Don’t push it Kara."
"I’m not pushing," she teased. "Just observing."
He started walking, faster now, toward the slope that would lead back to the villa. But Kara, of course, wasn’t about to let him escape unscathed. She zipped forward, trying to get a look at his face.
"Co on, just a peek."
Arthur turned slightly, only to be caught off guard when Kara, in her rush, slipped slightly on the wet sand. Her body stumbled into his, hands bracing instinctively against his chest as they tumbled back a step.
He caught her. The mont lingered.
Her body pressed close to his, Kara’s breath caught for just a second not from the rush of the earlier fight or the chill of the seawater, but from sothing far quieter. Far warr. Her body was still pressed lightly against Arthur’s, his hands resting on her waist, neither of them moving.
She looked up. He looked down. Their eyes t.
There was a flicker of sothing in Kara’s expression. Surprise, maybe vulnerability, sothing rare in a Kryptonian whatever it was, Arthur didn’t break his gaze.
Her cheeks slowly turned pink.
"All right," she muttered, eyes flicking away, her voice low but teasing. "You can stop looking now."
Arthur raised a brow, amused. But before he could say anything, a voice silken and sharp rang clearly in his mind, dripping with confidence.
"My King,"Galatea spoke into his thoughts with cool certainty. "She is clearly faking it. She wants you to keep looking. Always has. She is remarkably weak-willed when it cos to everything. and I an everything."
Arthur’s jaw tensed slightly. He didn’t so much as blink outwardly, but ntally, he muttered back with a sigh.
’Shut up, Galatea.’
Galatea said no more after that command.
Arthur let the mont hang just a second longer. Then, finally, he stepped back slightly he extended a hand to her, his lopsided smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
"Alright," he said, brushing wet strands of hair away from his brow. "Let’s head back before the others think we got eaten by a sea monster or worse."
Kara didn’t take his hand right away.
Her gaze lingered on his face. There was sothing in her eyes now a searching kind of calm, as if she were trying to read sothing deeper behind his usual walls. She tilted her head just slightly, lips parted like she might ask a question... and then decided not to.
Instead, she reached up and took his hand. Her fingers curled around his with surprising gentleness, almost reluctant to let go. As he helped her to her feet, water trickled from her arms and hair, catching the last golden beams of the late-day sun.
She cracked a grin as they started walking. "Right we should. You’re also in a hurry to get back to your shadow-brooding in no ti."
Arthur huffed. "You like
that way."
She smirked and didn’t deny it.
Then sothing cought her eyes.
Kara stopped and her body stilled, posture sharpening. She tilted her head slightly, her eyes squinting into the distant treeline near the edge of the hill that curved above the back shore. Sunlight lanced through gaps in the canopy, dappled and soft but there, just far enough away to be unclear, was a figure dressed in black swimwear. Sitting and watching the sea.
"...Wait," Kara muttered, her brows knitting. "Who is that over there?"
Arthur’s head turned imdiately, following her gaze.
Kara leaned forward just slightly, narrowing her eyes.
"Is that’s Raven?" she asked, voice uncertain. "No... wait. That’s not her..."
Arthur’s chest tightened.
His jaw locked.
And then his eyes began to glow, soft at first, then sharper, brighter azure light flaring with that all-too-familiar pressure that surged in his chest like warning bells.
His voice was a low curse, hissed under his breath.
"Shit."
Kara looked over at him, instantly reading the change in his posture, his tension, the sudden crackle of restrained power behind his glowing eyes.
"Arthur?" she asked carefully. "Do you know who that is?"
But Arthur didn’t respond right away. But he said inwardmy ’That’s it this confirms it... she is following .’
****
The sky above Earth was quiet. Peaceful. But not for Hal Jordan.
Erald streaks tore through the atmosphere as three Green Lanterns descended toward the planet below, their auras burning bright against the clouds. Hal Jordan led the trio, arms crossed, jaw tight, expression locked sowhere between annoyed and exhausted.
"Was it really necessary for you two to co with ?" Hal muttered, eyes forward but voice cutting through the wind.
Behind him, Kilowog let out a gruff snort. "Believe , I didn’t want to be here. If it were up to , I’d be training the new recruits, not playing escort for you. No offense."
Tomar-Tu’s voice ca next calm and dry. "It was the Guardians’ directive, Hal. They know how you can be."
"reasonable?" Hal replied, barely hiding his irritation.
Tomar didn’t miss a beat. "Defiant."
Hal rolled his eyes and mumbled, "Sa thing."
They passed over the sea and a small island lood ahead, lush, serene, pristine white beaches curling like a crescent beneath a clear sky. It looked like paradise.
Kilowog narrowed his eyes. "There. That’s the island."
Just as they banked lower, sothing shifted in the air.
The sunlight dimd not from clouds or weather, but from figures that erged.
Dozens.
Dozens of dark silhouettes circled in the air around them like vultures, yet perfectly still suspended in unnatural calm. Each one pulsed with a strange, violet-black light.
Their bodies were humanoid, armored, cloaked in shadow. But the unmistakable gleam of glowing power rings around their fingers is what caught the eyes of the Green Lanterns.
Hal slowed. His breath caught.
Then his eyes widened.
"Sinestro...?"
The figure closest to them stepped forward, he was like a dark wraith in the light. His face was obscured in darkness but unmistakable.
The cruel, regal bearing. The piercing violet eyes glowing from the depths.
Shadow Sinestro.
He raised his hand, and the ring on his finger flared with violet dark light. His voice, though unnatural and echoing from a place of death, was unmistakably proud. Regal and unyielding. Just like the Sinestro they always knew.
"You will halt, Green Lanterns."
"The King rests. This land is under the protection of the Shadow Monarch. You will not trespass. Walk away. Lest you wake a power you cannot contain."
The air turned colder.
"The King?" Kilowog muttered.
The sea below responded to the power pulsing through the air waves crashing harder against the sand. From the trees of the island, even birds took flight, disturbed by the rising pressure.
’Sinestro.. Arkillo.. The others as well... I can’t believe this... he really got the yellow lanterns under his command now, just like Doomsday before..’ Hal gritted his teeth, floating forward only slightly. "We’re not here to fight. We’re here to talk to Arthur. He’s a citizen of Earth. The Guardians want—"
Sinestro didn’t even blink. His ring pulsed once more, and behind him, the other shadows ford tighter ranks each one a forr Yellow lantern. All recognizable.
"He is no one’s subject but his own. The King’s will does not bend to councils of robed relics."
Kilowog growled, flexing his ring hand. "You wanna try that again, freak?"
But Hal lifted a hand stopping him.
His mind raced.
These weren’t just shadows. These were Lanterns, or at least they once were. Empowered by sothing unnatural now, bonded to Arthur’s will. He could feel it now his own ring flickering slightly in response, the energy around them dampened.
"Sothing’s off," Hal muttered. "They’re... draining us, my ring is losing charge.."
Tomar-Tu was frowning. "I feel it too. It’s the rings. Just like the central power battery in Qward, it’s draining our energy."
"We will not warn you again." Sinestro’s voice cut through the tension like a blade. "Turn back."
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If you Like this story! Check out my other stories! Solo leveling in Westeros.
&
If you wish to read more or simply support
than check out my patreon at
"spatreon/FrenzyAren"
You can Get Access to 3 More Chapters OR 7 More Chapters if you want
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