“Your hand!” She grabbed Adrian’s bloodied hand after the glass cage finally crashed to the ground and shattered. “Fuck the hand, are you okay?” He asked her. “It took me so long to notice the illusion. I’m sorry.” It was what he was trying to tell her for so long and she never deciphered it. “You did well.” He said and gathered her to him for a hug. She held him close, the truths she spoke earlier an elephant between them. “Adrian, about what I said earlier-““Shhh.” He replied and placed a hand over her lips. “We’ll talk about it later.” He said and she dropped it. His air magic floated the body of the Exhumer across the chasm to their feet and Theo finally got free from his cage and marched forward. He kicked the body; positioned his hand below her nostrils and finally stood. “She’s dead. Is this a dream?” He whispered. “Is the Exhumer dead for real?”“Yes.” Freya said, staring down at the body. It turned out this large cat-sized creature was the same one that had been terr
The next few days were bliss. While the dwarves were busy in the day and night rebuilding and expanding their territory, the first letter came to Freya and Adrian only a day after they killed the Exhumer. Someone wanted to buy their services, if they could kill the rogue creature that fed on their livestock at night. “What do you think?” Adrian had asked her and she’d grinned. “Hell yes!”That was five days ago and since then, Adrian and Freya had killed four rogue creatures that they’d been contracted to kill. News about them was spreading like wildfire and the letters kept on piling up. Somehow, she had found her way back to her first job it seemed, doing what she did best; killing. She met Adrian’s gaze from across the grove and he pointed. She followed the line of the pointing and nodded. She and Adrian had never been better. After a day of hunting and killing, she loved nothing more than being in his arms. Being with him was so simple because she didn’t have to think. When s
She and Adrian went with them of course. There were far too many of the crocodile creatures for her to put up a fight without casualties. “Perhaps she just wants to host us for tea.” Freya whispered and Adrian scoffed behind her. They were in a large boat with the crocodiles, sailing the sea towards the tall castle that was coming into view over the horizon. Adrian let out a low whistle when the castle came fully into view. “Impressive.” Adrian observed b“That’s even huger than the castle in my realm.” She agreed. A show-off then? Or someone that loved grand gestures?They pulled up to the bank and the crocodiles climbed off, prodding her to do the same.“Don’t touch her.” Adrian growled and gripped the crocodile’s arm. “Let it go.” She told him and got off. “Let’s find out what the bitch wants.”The crocodiles led them into the castle which looked like what a state of the arts castle in the human world would look like.They came upon a double door which was pushed open and made
Adrian struggled to his feet when the pain in his chest became a little more bearable. “Freya!” She was on the floor, her knees drawn to her chest, her eyes shut tight with her entire body shivering. “Freya wake up!”Her face was carved into an expression of terror but no matter how much he shook her, she never stirred. He turned on the queen with a furious snarl. She had her eyes closed, a smile on her lips and her hands extended towards Freya. “What are you doing to her?!” He lunged at her but the crocodiles were there, grabbing his arms and holding him immobile. He growled and his magic sparked. He had every intention of torching the entire stupid castle to the floor and the queen with it but reaching for his magic made his body start to seize. He dropped to his knees, his jaws locked as the seizures rattled him from head to toe and he tasted blood in his mouth. The magic never manifested because he couldn’t reach it. It felt like someone had built a wall cordoning him off from
Adrian peeled his eyes open with effort, disoriented for a second but the pain reminded him of where he was.A sound of pain made him startle and he found Freya, her knees drawn up and her arms wrapped tight around herself as tears flowed down her face in rivulets. “Freya!” His tongue was heavy and his speech slurred, thanks to the savages that broke his jaw. “Freya!”His body screamed as he stood but he dragged himself to her, putting both hands on the sides of the face. “Freya look at me.” Her eyes were wide open but she wasn’t seeing him. Whatever she was seeing was terrible enough to put that fragmented light in her eyes. He shook her but she flinched and retreated from him. “Mother.” She whispered, a single tear rolling down her eyes. “Release her!”He turned back to the queen with a hiss.“Or what?” She drawled, her lips curved with ecstasy as an invisible breeze lifted her hair. “What can you do, sorcerer? Have you forgotten you are at my mercy? You have none of your powers
Freya couldn’t handle it anymore, she found a way to deal with the pain, she locked herself in her subconscious but the nightmare was still replaying right in front of her eyes. She was rage, she was pain. What did her parents do to deserve to die like this? With every thud of her mother’s lifeless body, her memories returned, her mother smiling, twirling her in the air, kissing her forehead. Her father sandwiching all three of them into a hug, his laughter loud and hearty as he told her stories before bed. She remembered what a happy life she had had as a young child, her secure life cocooned between her father and her mother. It made the torture all the more exquisite. Riordan shattered her life. Since the day he walked into her house and murdered both of her parents, he called upon the darkness in her life and it engulfed her whole. He should have just killed her when he has the chance. She looked at her own bloody hands, shaking uncontrollably and she started scrubbing at her h
Freya woke up the next morning with an entire realm at her fingertips. Rule of the jungle; they overpowered the queen, the queen’s soldiers bowed to them in turn, as if they had actually been waiting for the right moment to turn against her. “I- I can’t do this.” She had whispered and shifted, retreating into her wolf form and the solace it offered. She allowed Venna to take charge and run as fast as her legs would carry her, taking joy in the delight of her primitive wolf thinking basic thoughts, doing basic things like hunting, following scents that intrigued her and offering her a reprieve from her constantly churning mind. When she’d finally stalked back into the castle, she was exhausted and had walked back into her mate’s arms and allowed him to drive the punishing thoughts from her mind. She woke up refreshed, a large screen over the thoughts that threatened to cripple her if she let them out. The scent of bacon made her sniff and she pulled the covers off her and followed t
Freya once thought that he nightmare ended once she broke out of the queen’s spell. To her horror, it didn’t. Her subconscious was broken, unable to get past that chink in her memory. She was still screaming as her mother’s body thudded to the ground with a sickening sound, and she was still screaming as her father’s body followed. The nightmare amplified the grotesque scene, the blood rapidly seeping out and seeping into her hiding place. Her eyes bugged out of her mind and she tried to get away but there was nowhere to go. The door was pulled open above her and her rage exploded. How could Riordan do this to her?She stabbed her dagger of shadows into his heart, half expecting the nightmare to return back to the start on a loop again but.. it didn’t. Riordan made a choked sound and his hood fell off, exposing his pained face, the spurt of blood from the corner of his lips-Her hands grew cold and she staggered back in shock at her actions. He fell heavily to the floor, his hands
“Shinay, what have they done to you?” Geoffriane asked when she stopped in front of him. “You are not yourself.”“No.” She replied. “I wasn’t myself for the longest time. I just found myself again.”The rest of the Wild Hunt rode to stand behind him and he shook his head. “No, we had a vision. It was meant to be.” Said Geoffriane. “We waited for you for a hundred thousand years. You are the only one that can save us.”“I still believe in the vision.” She said as she stepped forward and tentatively touched the Ghost Rider’s cold face. “You have suffered for too long, thanks to merciless gods that use us only for their amusement.”“So let’s kill everybody. It’s the only way we can get eternal rest.” Geoffriane pleaded. “There’s another way.” She pointed out. “I would never leave you to continue suffering eternally. If the world won’t die for you, then you die for the world. It is time for the Wild Hunt to end.”He reared back and away from her, drawing in a shocked breath. “What you
The force of Shinay’s dark magic shoved all three of them back, but she tensed, unable to finish the last step of ending their lives completely. “Freya, remember yourself.” Adrian said, stepping forward despite the heatwaves of Shadow magic that she was exuding. She shook her head and pushed him back harder and he groaned with pain as her magic started to sear his skin right off his bones.“I’m not Freya!” She snarled. “Yes you are.” Zeldaurus replied, pushing forward. He also tried to step forward but he couldn’t take up to two steps before her magic forced him to a stop.“We are not your enemies.” Zeldaurus said. “”We are here to help you.”Tears streamed down her eyes and she kept her hands up, her magic up. “No, you are my enemies.”She had no idea what they had done to her brain, why it felt like someone had broken her head open and was scooping out the contents with a scalding hot spoon. Only her enemies would curse her to feel this pain, to see the painful memories that u
The Wild Hunt opened the door to the next realm and Shinay lead them into it. Everywhere they went, screams started then blood started to flow. Death was no longer inevitable, it was here. She was drunk on the dense trail of Death they carved. Death was the beginning of the world and it was the end. She didn’t remember who she was before, what she was before, and she didn’t want to. Whoever she was before was weak, now she was exactly as she was meant to be. The screams had started afresh and she smiled coldly as she raised her face to the sky and sent thunderbolts down into the realm. The realm inhabitants were magic wielders and they tried to defend themselves with it. But how could you kill what was already dead? Behind her, the army of the Dead rode, screaming their rage as they rode to avenge their misfortune. Her eyes turned a solid black as she prepared the dark storm that would destroy every living entity in the realm. Her eyes caught a sudden shimmering in the air, a por
The She-wolf glanced up when Riordan shattered the door and she paled quickly. "Who the fuck are you?" The male that was inside her snarled and she hissed. "Shut up."'She said and climbed down from him. Riordan folded his arms and watched as she took her time covering herself with a robe, before grabbing a glass of wine and pressing it to her lips."Leave us." She told the man. "Leave the building." He advised him and the man sent him a dark look before shutting the door behind him. "I wasn't informed you were in town." Said Aria. "If I were, I wound have made some preparations in advance.""I like to be discreet." Riordan replied, watching as she sashayed to her bedside and perched on her bed, crossing her leg. "I appreciate a discreet man, especially when they are so caring as to check up on a lonely She-wolf.""You sent the Council dogs after her." He growled and she forced a smile to her lips. "You should really engage in the act of small talk, it can be quite engaging and
For the umpteenth time, Adrian found himself pacing.“You’re going to wear a path in my rugs.” Rooke growled. “One more word and I’ll torch the damn rug.” He growled in reply but he did sit his ass down. M“I’m not good at this, sitting on my hands.”“There’s nothing more you can do.” Rooke said patiently. “You already tried going after her but you cannot penetrate Faerie’s security.”“But how was it possible that she made it in and I didn’t?” He pondered aloud and Rooke shrugged. “Perhaps she has Fae blood in her ancestry. Regardless, there’s nothing more you can do but wait now.” Rooke said calmly, trying to appeal to his rational mind but Adrian’s mind was spinning a thousand terrible scenarios, all preventing him from relaxing even a little. “What if my portal went rogue and threw her into another realm?” “Adrian!” Rooke snarled, standing. His childhood friend looked like he was on the verge of strangling him. “You said yourself that you felt your portal open into Faerie. Yo
Faerie was first. The sky darkened suddenly, and all of the Fae glanced up at the ominous sign. Fariee weather never changed, and never before had they seen the sky darken with heavy clouds and the clouds roil with lightning and thunder. They all looked to the sky as the Wild Hunt emerged."Take back your power." Geoffraine urged and Shinay cast a perusing glance at the realm spread out before her. There, something called to her from deep inside the Winter court. She rode her horse for the piece of her that called to her."Ah. There she is." The female remained unconscious and inside her was the source of her ailment. Shinay thought she looked familiar but she didn't care to know why. Her power was a roiling ball of darkness in the female's chest, sucking up all of the female's energy and leaving her comatose. That was what Shinay wanted. "Come." Shinay crooked a finger and that ball eagerly lifted. It was never meant to be inside the female, there was no one alive that could cont
“What are you doing?” She growled. “Release me now or I will make sure I kill every one of you!”The Ghost Rider paused. “But you gave all of your powers away.” He replied and then the others streamed forward, circling around her and taking off their hats. Rather than looking as dead and skeletal as their horses, they were all flesh and bones, all with straight black hair that fell into their eyes and a rigid severe look about their face. She was surrounded. “Why have you brought me here?” She asked, unease raving down her spine as she eyed the single large bed in the room. The others spoke, but their words sounded like thunderbolts, she didn’t understand a single thing they were saying. “You will be ours, as soon as we break you in.” Said their conmander. Break her in? Like how humans broke a horse in? She didn’t wait to hear more. She lunged up and crashed her way through two of the otherworldly creatures, racing for the door and yanking it open- but it was firmly locked. A cry
At first, nothing happened. It was one last moment of silence right before the magic of the blood oath hit her like a ram. She sucked in a breath as the magic sunk into her blood, into her bones and when it pulled back out, it took everything from her. It felt like she died, she was almost sure it took her life away, her soul migrated out of her body, her very essence flowing out through her bloody hand and into the queen. The Queen gasped, staggering back but she kept the contact on her hand. Her magic migrated out of her body, through her hand and into the queen. It streamed out in dark waves, and she could hear Zeldaurus's silent yells but not really. Her world narrowed down into those waves, streaming out faster now. It hurt. She gritted her teeth against the pain, worse than anything she ever felt “; it was in her blood, in her bones. Somebody was screaming, it might have been her, or it might have been the queen, or maybe it was both of them. Her vision jumped as her magic
Immediately she stepped out of the portal, she knew there was trouble. Her hand shot up and and magic fizzled at her fingertips but it sputtered out as some foreign magic settled on her skin, snuffing out her power. She gasped with shock as the invisible net tightened and forced her to her knees. She glared at the slender figure that glided forward in a pearly white gown, the face of the queen which was fast becoming the most irritating face she ever saw. Beside her, Zeldaurus was frozen on his feet as he glared at the Queen, as if he had been immobilised on the spot. The four other warriors fanned out beside the queen, their shrewd gases monitoring every little breath she took. “What is the meaning of this?” Freya hissed, trying to get on her feet but the queen clamped her fist and the invisible net forced her back to her knees.“You can quit your struggling, there is no getting out of that unless I will it.” Said The Queen.Freya’s eyes practically spit fire as she glared at the