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Darkest Hearts iii
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2024-10-29 19:42:56~ Sven hurriedly buried the body he had carried with him into the open grave while the werewolves fought. How the werewolf with the hollowed eyes had found him, he did not know. It was of no consequence. Sven needed to put some distance between them. He felt as if he was on the verge of a breakthrough, and going back to the state he had been in before was not an option—neither was his escape.
He came face to face a second time with his most formidable foe. This werewolf was one of two, but for Sven, it was the worst. He could fight the other magic for magic, but with this one, his magic was nothing but a decoy and he could not match it strength to strength. Sven had met his true match.
“Who are you?”
The werewolf gave only a growl in answer as they moved in a loose circle. Sven was buying time as he tri
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~Marx did not look around when Ava came to stand beside him. “When I agreed to an alliance with you, I didn’t expect you to go catatonic.” He kept his eyes looking out on the skyline of the city below him. The conflict was spreading, and he was sure no life would go untouched. Death will come, grief, sorrow. He was conditioning his mind fora worldwhere humans knew werewolves and vampires existed and one where he and others like him would face stigma and hate. He had lived in the world long enough to know that acceptance was not a big part of the human DNA. “If Sven gets to the site, he’ll know I placed a trap. They have already found the portal. All I have created is an illusion that they have not. He will sense it the minute he gets there. We need to be taking advantage of this time.”
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~Ava did not need to save any energy, not now. Unbeknownst to the others, she had been silently stocking up. She knew her opponent and the magic he wielded, and she needed to match him. Sven had her stone. He wouldn’t give it up without a fight. No one would give up that much power easily. Her stone would make it easier for her to lift the veil between Lansguard and Earth so she could slip in. A few seconds was all she needed and it would grant that. After that, she would figure out the rest as she went. She took the souls of the dying in their last breath. As the soul left the physical plane, she claimed them. That eliminated her having to harm anyone in boosting her own strength. Ava, however, did not think Marx and the others would see it in the calculated way she did. If the person was dying, anyway, they did not need their souls, and she did. They would serve a greater purpose with her than the
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~Sven turned up at the site at nightfall the following day. Not only was the change a temporary one, but the werewolves he now created, the dark hearts, could not take human form. This made traveling by day impossible. Changed, he moved with them, sticking to the woods and shadows of the cities, making their way to Hedgewood. From where he was at the prison, he had to travel halfway across the country, using magic to make the trip shorter. When he got to the site, Barabbas was waiting for him with clothes folded in his hands. His lieutenant was not sure what to make of Sven's company. Neither did he know what to say about his boss. He looked at the three for some time before he said— "I… wasn't aware we had more men." Sven changed into his human form. While taking his pants and putting them on, he answered,
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~ Marx stood looking at the carbonated lump that used to be four people he knew. Four people he loved. Ava, Lochlan, Zack, and Dempsey. Around him, the grass had grown again. The earth showed no signs of the battle that raged there. Mother earth had healed, but he had not. None of the others had. The world was safe, but a gap remained in their hearts that could never be filled. Around the base of the carbon memorial, laid fresh flowers. Every day for the past six months, Martha came with a new bouquet. Today was no different. He arrived as she did. “You came,” she had said to him when she saw him. In her hands, she had more than a dozen bulbs of tulips. Her summer dress fluttered in the breeze, strands of her now brown hair escaping her ponytail. The smile she gave him out shunned the sun, and Marx, for the life
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~Rea and Cale launched direct attacks on Kunz while Ava tried to unravel his protections. Each layer she pulled apart revealed another was more entrenched and more intricate than the one preceding it. She almost got another layer undone when she heard Cale shout— “Look out.” Ava had enough time to react, the death rune crackling through the air towards her. She split the force in half, saving herself by a hair. In the duel that ensued, Cale made the ultimate sacrifice. Rea tried to stop him as he ran straight for Kunz. Ava threw up a rune between Cale and the King; it was too late. Like dust, Cale disappeared. A self-satisfied smile lifted the side of Kunz’s lips. “Come now Avana. You cannot hope to defeat me. Even with all the knowledge at your disposal, I have spent years perfecting my craft.”
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Enter the Shadows To Hell and Back xi
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~Vescovi’s head throbbed as if a drummer band was marching across his forehead. Making his way through the tunnel with his men, a blast came out of nowhere, knocking them down and rendering them unconscious. He woke up in a crumpled heap with his men, all in various stages of recovery. It took him several tries to get to his feet and stay there, the drumming in his head growing louder with each movement. Walking straight was a task, but it was urgent that they get to Xavier and the others. They were delayed enough as it was getting the remaining civilians under Anax Corp ready for transport to the Mountain. Pentorium was under an evacuation order. He paused when he saw that the panel leading out of the tunnels was open. It was plausible that Xavier had left it like that since it was their way in and out, but Vescovi could not ignore the prickle at
Enter the Shadows To Hell and Back ix
~Martha moved to run to Nico as a shadow took possession of his body. Four steps in his direction, she stopped. Nico faced her direction, his eyes twin pools of swirling mist. The thing inside of him had his lips turn up in a smirk. With hot tears streaming unchecked down her cheeks, Martha clutched her fingers into tight fists. The words came from the pits of her stomach. The ground under her feet undulated, rippling with energy as she spoke them. Nico charged in her direction, his face twisted in rage. Martha held up her hand, palm open, continuing the chant, repeating it with fervor and a new understanding. Death fueled shadow magic. Hate. Anger. All the dark things that sullied the world. The spell was the most powerful she had ever attempted since Ava infused the revenant soul with hers. She had to release control to it. Allow the magic to ru
Enter the Shadows To Hell and Back viii
~Martha couldn’t breathe, her anxiety tightening her chest. Through her link with Nico, she could feel his growing distress. It urged her to move faster as she sprinted through the hidden tunnels leading down into the subway. Back at Anax Corp, Vescovi was assembling a team, a process that was taking longer than was comfortable with her. Nico and the others needed immediate help. Communications, already spotty, had gone dead. Not a single response, only the constant frying of static. Unable to stand around doing nothing while the man she loved probably laid gutted and dying, Martha snuck off when no one was looking. None of the others knew what she was planning to do. If they did, they would have tried to stop her. She was the passive one. The one who chose not to fight. For a werewolf, her reliance on that part of herself never went past her prim
