[Zephyr’s POV]She placed her hand on my cheek. Her bleary gaze trailed all over me, as if I was covered in wounds.“If I am that cruel to you, we shouldn’t be together. We can’t be together,” I mumbled, spellbound by her gaze.She smiled and crawled beside me on the edge of the bed.“We can’t be together?” she licked her lips and then looked into my eyes again. Biting her lips, she said, “you say to a soul that already belongs to you? To the person who knew not your face, but your heart and fell in love with your mask. Two lives, two souls, two fates so deeply intertwined. Where do I belong if not with you? Where do I live if not beside you? Tell me, Zeph, who do I see in this blind world, if not you?”Her voice quavered, and I felt like my heart was trembling. Her tears faltered down her eyes and my breaths seized.I reached out and wiped her tears. She shut her eyes, knitting her brows as my fingers brushed against her cheeks. That pained expression of her face imprinted in my eyes
[Diana’s POV]Janus said that his wounds were none of my concerns. Yet why did he wear my wounds like adornment on himself? If healing him is not my business, then why did he help me heal?Why did he love me, never even expecting to be loved back?Why was all my pain his all this time, but his pain masked behind his smiles?Why was I so blind in my darkness that I never saw behind his radiating light, he was actually… burning violently?I could only wish to heal his unhealed wounds. But I knew better than anyone else that he’d never show them to me. Those wounds were on his soul and no matter how sincerely I applied ointments on his skin, I knew I would never reach him as deeply as he had ingrained himself in me.All I wanted to do was hug him and tell him that everything would be ok. But then again, I didn’t know if anything would ever be ok.How strong should a person be to have gone through so much yet smile and live like there’s no tomorrow?I wanted to be the most important to
[Diana’s POV] “Archer hasn’t returned since I last visited?” I asked Kazeal. “No, and it’s difficult for my disciples to trace him because he is a copy wizard. He can easily copy someone else’s mana, which is making it more difficult for us to find him,” Kazeal said. “I didn’t hear from you either, so I thought maybe he was in the Pretis palace with you.” “We need to find him before the war begins. We need his help and guidance,” I said. “We don’t even have time. Kazeal, what can we do? Even if we have the names of the places being highly affected, where do we evacuate these people? No pack will accept refugees from the Wenos pack. The Merax pack is silent, but they are strictly regulating their borders, especially the ones that they share with the Wenos pack. Once the war starts, no place will be safe.” Kazeal looked at the list. Rubbing his forehead with his fingers, he placed the list on the glass table. “It’s useless,” he mumbled. “What do you mean?” “It’s difficult to figu
[Zephyr’s POV] The war had begun with the annexation of all the vital spots in the Wenos pack. My men had either killed or captivated most of their high rank government officials. The war had been going on for a month now. As long as the public cooperated with us, I had ordered my men to not hurt them or deprive them of basic living needs. That was until they cooperated and did as we said, which most didn’t, so hundreds of civilians died every day. Meanwhile, soldiers were giving their lives on the fronts where the two militaries clashed. The count was never accurate in real time. My gammas, the Uriko twins, had handled our army efficiently on the battlefield and executed our war strategy with exceptional deftness. There had been several attempts of outsiders trying to enter the Pretis palace, but Vera and Janus took care of all of them. “Their preparations for the war aren’t as strong as they made it look before it started. Given how confident they were, the results don’t show,
[Kazeal’s POV]“Request the royal family of Gloratia to increase the security around it,” I said.“Yes, Saint,” said Porter, the high priest of light benders. “Pardon me ask, Saint, but why fear when the warmonger…”“Mind your language when you address her, priest Porter,” I warned.“Y-yes, Saint. Pardon me, it was just a slip of tongue. I-I meant to say that the Messiah is under your control, so why worry?”“She is under my control, but there are many working from under the surface. I can’t control all of them, so do as I say,” I said. “And when you send support to the Wenos pack, make sure their identities are well-hidden. I don’t want
[Zephyr’s POV]We had conquered the capital. The only and the most important place that was left to be conquered was the Wenos palace.It took us a week to penetrate through their hidden attacks and strong military resistance to get to this point.Wenos pack wasn’t monetarily strong enough to afford a security around their palace like I had done around the Pretis palace. I know Kazeal was backing them, but he wasn’t stupid enough to give them such apparent support. To create layers of protective mana barriers around an enormous area like a palace, the permit and wizards were required from either Gloratia or Goredom. Because of my heavy influence in Goredom, they couldn’t have gotten a permit from Goredom’s royal family. This was public knowledge. Which left them with no choice but Gloratia, where Saint’s influence was much more than any other place. A permit from Gloratia’s royal family would mean a direct permit from the Saint.Kaz was fighting his own dilemmas and conflicts. So he
[Kazeal’s POV]“The Jupitus pack has lost the war,” I said.Ever since Diana’s demonization had finished, she usually sits on the chair peering outside the window. That would be two days now.“Messiah, did you hear what I said?”Now, even when I talked about Zephyr, she didn’t react.Is this what the slow death of all those Messiahs looked like, as explained by the former Saints? They withdraw and stop responding. They don’t speak or show emotions like a living person would. They slowly fade away.I have seen Diana eventually fit into those criterions stated by the former Saints.But I will not let her fade away like the other Messiahs.We were too young for that.I ambled closer to her chair.“Diana. The Wenos pack has captivated Zephyr, the alpha. The war is over.”She peered at the waves of the ocean, still showing no response. I know it was completely natural for her to withdraw from me, but what do I do with this restlessness when she doesn’t speak?I liked her better when she fo
[Zephyr’s POV] Mother. I need to save her. I need to get out of here. But how? Is there really a way out of here? Janus isn’t here to save me this time. One reason I didn’t want him to be by my side this time. He had suffered the most because of me. I didn’t want him to go through all that again. Never again. Damn it! The bitter screeching of chains rolling on the pulley filled the cell in dungeons as they pulled me out of the massive glass water tank. My ankles were tied together with chains as I hung upside down from the ceiling. Water drained down my body into the tank as I choked for breaths, coughing violently. I could feel my blood and water surge to my head, everywhere in my sinuses. “Hmm. Nah. Still not good. Drown him again,” Vidar said, and the guards freed the chains as I splashed into the tank once again. I sank into the depths of the tank. The world had gone silent once again. It was quite relaxing and silent inside the water if I ignored my body, toiling