“What the hell are you doing here?” Dimitri’s face had a mix of shock and anger as he saw Amanda by the door. It was 3 in the morning and he is about to get some sleep after a long night, and suddenly his door opens to reveal this feisty woman, wearing nothing but her night gown.
“Who the hell told you to come here?!” Dimitri asked without moving from where he was standing on.
“I- I was-” Amanda looked for the right words to say. She started to feel the warmth on her face and her ears from the embarrassment, “The Maid told me that you asked for me! She even took me here!”
“What maid? I don’t see anyone besides you,” Dimitri replied, looking behind Amanda and seeing nothing but an empty hall.
“She left as soon as we arrived!” Amanda replies, realizing how she sounds and finally understanding why the Maid just left without announcing their arrival, she know something was of,
“Look, mom.” A seven-year-old Amanda held a flower up towards her mother. They were on their usual trip to the lakeside and her father has just begun to set up for fishing. Her mother sat on the blanket and looked at her. “What pretty flowers. Do you know what they’re called?” Amanda’s mother asked and then smiled. She would tell Amanda the names of the flowers that they find wherever they go. “Wait! I know this!” Amanda almost shrieked. She remembers her mother telling her the name of the flower, she just could not recall the exact word. She waves the bunch of small white flowers in front of her as if casting a spell with her magic wand. The white pappi of the flower flew into the air and spread, as if indicating that the spell was successfully cast, “Oh! Oh, I remember!” “Really?” Amanda’s mother asked, she felt kind of dizzy but she tries to hide it from Amanda. “What is that flower called, then?” “It’s a Dandy Lion!” Amanda
After Amanda cried herself to sleep that night she has never woken up as light-hearted. She is still in the darkroom, she can still smell the filth and hear the growls and moans of the beasts, and she is still under the mercy of that pompous Lord of the castle. But at least she now has a clearer mind. She was able to cry out all of her bitterness that night and she is not one to stay slumped after an episode like that. This is now time to do something, to make her move. The first order of business, learn about the ins and outs of the castle, the people that she could most likely befriend, and the people that she needs to look out to. On top of her list are the Steward and the Maid; they are most definitely on the Lord’s side. The Harpy is neutral, and she already knows that Jessica is already a hopeless case – or maybe not. Maybe there is still something that she can do about Jessica and all the other girls who came before her. The question is what and ho
The Harpy was practically humming while she cleaned the area. She already has a lot of things in mind to talk about with her human friend and she is starting to feel hungry. Lunch time is nigh. She needs to prepare their lunch so she has to go upstairs. Her friend should be back by now; they need to take a break.“Aren’t you going to take your lunch?” the shorter guard asked, he is the one who is more assertive of the two, “It is half past noon.”“Pretty human not back,” The Harpy replied, “I wait for her.”The Harpy started to worry. Maybe her friend is just having fun cleaning, like the way she is. Maybe she wants to finish cleaning the place before leaving. Maybe she will return. The Harpy waited and waited. The guards have already changed but she is yet to see her friend return. Images suddenly started to flash in his mind.She saw herself being grabbed by one of the Minotaurs. She tried to claw he
“Are you really sure about this?” Alex asked Dimitri as he returned to the mansion. “Putting herthere will delay the ritual even further.” “She needs to learn her lesson.” Dimitri replied, “Had we not found out, she would have successfully escaped. No one escapes me!” Alex was silent. He knows that the ritual would not be successful if the sacrifice is not willing. But he also wants to perform the ritual before the week is over. No one wants to experience the curse again. He knows that Dimitri is aware of that, but he also knows about his Alpha’s pride. They grew up together and he has been Dimitri’s Steward and Beta since they began living in the castle, and he knows that Dimitri will never change his mind, especially when a woman just tried to run away from him. Finally giving up and realizing that trying to change his Alpha’s mind is pointless, Alex excusedhimself and left for the courtyard. There was only one thing that he can
Alex slept late that night. He already knows what to do, but he has to come up with a good plan to watch over the girl without making it so obvious. On top of all, he needs to tell his Alpha about this. Dimitri will definitely wonder why he frequents the cell and without a proper explanation, Dimitri might become suspicious of his actions. Alex would not any of the sorts, at least not when he could not explain the whispers very well. Not to Dimitri who hardly ever believes in god. Alex woke up early the next day. He needs to prepare for what he is about to do. The best time to talk about it with Dimitri is over breakfast. And he needs to get in contact with the sacrifice as early as possible. The sooner he gets the girl’s trust, the sooner he will get his job done, and the sooner they will be able to hold the ritual. Alex washed his face and prepared himself forbreakfast. Then he left his room and took the shortest hall towards the dining room. “What do y
“All right,” Alex said as he saw that Amanda was ready to listen to his tale, “I shall begin. . .Even before the time of the First Demon King, our people have already been living in the forest. We – the Werebeasts – along with the other non-humans and half-humans lived in the vast forest that was provided by the Earth Mother. Each race was given portions of the forest to govern, maintain, and protect. Of course, given that each portion was equally abundant to the rest of the forest, the races mostly only tended to themselves. But of course, that abundance was short-lived.“The Races started to multiply and we started to need more and more resources, and requiredmore land. That was when the races started to think about expanding. Although there weretensions, there wasn’t really any real threat by then. There were still enough spaces between the territories. I bet the gods have thought about that.&l
The Demon King wreaked havoc on the whole continent around the great forest during his time. It took the humans about a century to actually rebuild their cities and another 50 years for the cities to be the thriving and busy places that they are now. After almost 500 years, the humans have almost forgotten about the pain of the experience and it has only become a part of their stories, their legends, and the experience has been reduced to nothing but bedtime stories for children.Humans desired nothing but peace after the Great War. Although they had reservations towards the other races that joined the Demon King’s army, they were too busy rebuilding the lives that they had very little energy to discriminate against other races. But as the human cities improved, and their lives became better, their hatred towards the other races resurfaced, and from the moment their empires grew they have begun to treat the nonhuman races poorly.For decades, the nonh
“Have you come to give me an update in your research about the Ardwhatchamacallit?” theEmperor asked the steward as he entered.“Adhradh Dorcha – you really need to remember that name,” the Steward replied, “And yes, quite an interesting find indeed.”“What is it? Tell me!” the Emperor asked like a child.“Ok. This is really quite an amazing find and I am pretty sure that you will change your mind about the whole tale once you hear me out,” the steward explained.“Just say it already, don’t leave me hanging!” the Emperor replied like a child in tantrums.“Alright, here goes,” the steward replied and explained what he found out about the AdhradhDorcha and the Demon King – about what happened after the fall of the Demon King and the artifact that has been lost to the ages.The Emperor’s mou
Amanda woke up from the sound of the food trolley being wheeled in. Half expecting that it was the centaur that is bringing her breakfast in, Amanda jolted up as she realized that it was the Harpy. Her friend silently prepared the meal. She is trying not to meet Amanda’s gaze and is just putting all her attention into preparing their meal.Amanda took the breakfast with the Harpy silently. She understands how her friend feels and does not want to put her on the spot by asking her about the issue out of the blue.Amanda finished her meal and placed her tray on top of the trolley, making enough noise to get the attention of the Harpy who is eating at a distance. The Harpy jerked and looked at Amanda, she seemed to have finished eating before Amanda did but did not move an inch from where she is sitting down. Amanda and the Harpy looked at each other, trying to wait for whoever would give in and break the silence. Being the more mature between them, Amanda gave way an
There was an awkward silence. Amanda could not believe what she just heard. She did not expect Dimitri to feel that kind of insecurity. She thought that he was always sure of himself, that he always believed that people would choose to be with him no matter what. The unexpected gap in personality made Amanda’s heart skip a bit even for a little. Her face started to flush again.“So,” Dimitri continued, “If you had no choice but to choose between the two of us. Who will you choose?” Amanda could not answer. She could not even speak. She hates being put in a spot like this. She has always been asked this question even back in the village. The boys who liked her would all ask her to choose someone from them. But she knew that most of those were just superficial. She understood that not all of those boys liked her for who she really is, they only liked her because she was pretty.“As I said,” Amanda replied. “I could not choo
Amanda opened her eyes and found herself in a different area of the forest. Apparently, Dimitri took a break and decided to rest somewhere. Amanda could not see him anywhere but he might be close, looking after her while she slept. At least he gives her some privacy to do so. Amanda looked around and realized that the area of the forest is quite familiar. In fact, it was too eerily familiar: it was the place by the lake, the area where she would go with her parents.“Amanda?” Amanda froze as she heard a familiar voice, one that she did not think she would hear again ever, “There you are, come here. What are you doing here?”“Mother?” Amanda is confused, the person standing in front of her is definitely her mother, and she is too real to be just a phantom, “What are you doing here mother? I thought you were”“What are you talking about, you silly,” Amanda’s mother continued to speak as she did back
Dimitri could not move. Just earlier, he saw the girl behind that tree watching them. But now it seems like she is gone; like she has just disappeared for no reason. Thinking that he just looked over at the wrong tree, he looked around – trying to find the tree where the girl is hiding. But no matter where he looks, there isn’t a single sign of the girl, at least not in any of the trees nearby.“What’s wrong?” Alex said as he noticed Dimitri’s troubled expression, “Call her out now and let her choose. Or should I do it?”“No,” Dimitri responded in a low voice, “She will not come out even if we called out to her,”“Why?” Alex asked, he starting to worry as well, “What happened.”“Nothing! Just,” Dimitri said and eased his pressure up, “Just don’t move from here.” As he said it, Dimitri got up and released his hold on Alex. Then he l
The Harpy has returned to the castle for the second time that morning. This time, the Centaur and the Lamia are waiting for her by the gate of the outer wall. The Harpy circled above for a bit and started to descend. She landed right in front of the Centaur cook who had an inquisitive look. The Lamia had the same look as well and the Harpy was immediately bombarded by questions.“Did you find her? Did Lord Dimitri and the girl meet? What did he tell you? Why did you return first? What happened in there?” the Centaur and the Maid’s voices were overlapping as they inquires without end.”“Mama! Snake Boss Lady!” the Harpy spoke with a loud voice as she tried to fend off the two, “Me not talk when Mama and Snake Boss Lady talk together!”“Oh! Oh dear,” the Centaur said as she realized her folly, “dear me. I am really sorry.”“I apologize for my rudeness as well,” The Lamia mai
Alex got up and put his pants back on. He picked up Amanda’s nightdress and threw it towards the crumpled shape of Amanda who was on the bed. He could hear her sniffling, muffling a cry. For a moment, Alex felt guilty about what he did. It is true that he was attracted to Amanda and that he desired to have her. But what happened was driven mostly by the fact that they were alone, his high spirits after being alone with her in this isolated place, and the urgency that came because of Harpy’s discovery.If he had another chance, if Alex could turn back the time to 30 minutes ago, he would have chosen differently. But there is no use crying over spilled milk. Amanda might despise him now, but he will do everything to make her fall for him. He will take her away from this place and then he will have the rest of their lives to make up for this offense. At least that is what he thinks.“Put your dress on,” Alex said as he sat on the edge of the bed, &
“It seems like you will not have to worry about food,” Alex said as he closed the window again and turned to face Amanda, “aren’t you a lucky one?”“Are you sure about that?” Amanda asked, still suspicious about Alex’s intentions.“About what?” Alex replied with a question, pretending not to know what Amanda meant.“Letting her go,” Amanda replied, trying to gauge how far Alex plans to take his ruse,“Keeping it a secret to your Lord.”“Oh?” Alex looked a bit surprised, “Have you grown concerned about my well-being now?”“Never,” Amanda replied coldly, “I am just not confident that she will be able to keep it a secret from her Lord,”“Doubting a friend, are we?” Alex replied mischievously. He tries to keep his cool but deep down he is already bothered by this unexpected turn of events. Having
The Harpy is bothered. She is relieved that Alex assured her that Amanda will not be punished. At least she knows that her friend is safe for now. What bothers her is the reason why Alex does not want her to tell anyone about it. On the surface, she is glad that Alex does not seem to plan on returning Amanda to the castle. She will not be punished by Dimitri yet. The problem is in the way that Amanda looked at the Harpy as she left. There was something about how Amanda looked that felt odd.The Harpy is torn about what to do. For starters, she needs to get to the castle as soon as she can. If there is any person who could tell her what to do, it would be no one else but the Centaur Cook. She is not sure about keeping it a secret from the Lord, but the Centaur cook could at least suggest ways to the Harpy how to deal with this issue.Not having to look for someone in the dense forest below, the Harpy saw the castle sooner than expected. She sped up even more and landed
Alex felt something change in the air around him as soon as he entered the forest. It was the first time that he was this deep after a long time. Dimitri has since stopped hunting in the forest and without anyone to actually challenge him, Alex also decided to stop. But entering the forest was not really the reason for his sudden feeling. It was something else, something that springs from way back: When Alex and Dimitri were still young, and when they were still living in the village.“Dimi is going to the forest again,” one of the young village girls who admired Dimitri said as they gathered together, “What does he do there?”“I don’t know,” the other girl replied, “Why don’t we ask Alex? Alex goes to the forest with him as well, right?”“Alex! Alex!” the girls called out to Alex who is sitting by a large tree, “Come here!”“What is it? You are so noisy,” Alex