-Karen-“I’ll still do those things.” Conor said from the opening of the tent. I snapped my gaze over to look at him nervously. Did he hear all of that? I watched him as he walked over and climbed on the bed next to me. He pushed a lock of hair behind my ear and said, “I’ll always be here for you, Kay. Even if you scream that you hate me when you’re angry. Nothing means more to me than you and Alex.” I rushed into his arms and cried as he held me tightly. “My world is right here in my arms, Nathan. I know we’ve talked a lot in the last week but I’m serious about all I’ve said to you. I’ll do whatever I have to in order to protect her and Alexander. She’s the woman I want my family with- I’m not like other Zargans… I never have been.” He kissed my forehead and hugged me tightly. “I love you more than you will ever know, Kay.” “I was an outcast from the beginning… And then I met Bart and found out I wasn’t alone. My cousin, Joanne, had been forced to bed men that would hurt her until I
-Karen-I looked over and saw Nathan, Aaron and Arthur approaching us. Aaron went and stood next to Joanne making funny faces at Alexander who squealed loudly and reached out to him. He pulled something out of his pocket. “Look at you causing a scene Mighty Mage Lord! Be good and you can have this pacifier that your awesome Uncle Aaron grabbed for you.” Aaron said as Alexander grabbed onto his nose with on hand and a lock of his hair in the other. He squealed and then cooed as we all chuckled. My heart felt light and happy at the sight. Take care of my baby Aaron… “Look here Mighty Mage Lord- That’s not being good.” Alexander giggled and squealed again at him.I turned my attention to Nathan and Arthur. “Ready to go?” Nathan asked us. “Time to get to work.”I nodded as the three of us followed behind him towards the large clearing that we first entered the camp through. Nathan summoned a large portal, and we follow him through to a place I had only been once before. It looked exactly
-Conor-“Eldon wants to talk to us, Conor.” Nathan said as he watched Karen fall asleep. Conor carefully got up from the bed and they walked out of the tent leaving her to sleep. What the hell does that jerk want? “Follow me.” Nathan instructed summoning a portal to his own tent. Eldon was there holding Karen’s stone. Arthur and Aaron were also in attendance. “It’s unusual for a Mage to shatter their jewel so many times like that.” Eldon started out holding up the pale lavender stone for everyone to see. “Her power is much vaster than the jewel can actually handle and that’s why it keeps breaking. At this rate, I figure that she is going to have to die at least seven or eight more times, if not more, before it will be large enough to contain the proper amount of power she needs to shatter that barrier.”“Really?!” Aaron and Arthur asked in shock giving Eldon a mortified look. Eldon nodded in amusement.“Why not just make it bigger on the next death?” Conor asked pointedly. No point i
-Karen-I woke up, falling off the bed and smacking my head on the cold, hard ground. Ugh… Damn that hurt. I slowly got to my knees and looked around the tent. What day is it? It was empty save for me and our bed. I stumbled out of the tent and looked for Conor and Alexander. I want snuggle time from my two favorite men. Or at least one of them…“Duel!” Aaron shouted at me. I raised an eyebrow. “I want to duel!” He walked up to me and handed me a bowl of soup. “After you eat though.” I chuckled taking the bowl and eating quickly. Mm! So yummy! I can taste so many flavors. I have to learn to cook like this!“I want to duel too, Karen!” Arthur said walking over to us. “Two on one. I think you can totally do it.”“You really want to challenge me?” I asked mid-bite. They nodded eagerly as Nathan and Conor walked over to us. Nathan was holding Alexander. Alex squealed happily as soon as he saw me. Awe… My mini hunk. I walked over and kissed his soft cheek as he cooed. “My sweet baby… Stop
-Karen-I woke up back in the tent feeling extremely exhausted and weak. Arthur was next to me holding my hand. “I don’t feel well Arthur.” I whispered wearily. “I feel terrible…” Worse than I can remember in a long time.“You’ve been unconscious for a few days. Aaron and I have been taking turns trying to get you back to where you need to be… You depleted your energy reserves entirely with your last try.” He replied giving me a small hug. “I know this is hard Kay and I know this is only making you depressed, but you’ll get it. You’re going to bust that barrier soon. It took me a couple weeks to finally bust that damn barrier… You can do this. I know you can!” Arthur let go of my hand after a few minutes. “Are you hungry?” I nodded twice as I tried to stay awake. I wanna eat but I really wanna sleep more… “I’ll get you some ham and beans that Joanne made this morning.”He left in a portal as someone came through the tent flap. I was too tired to even look over to see who it was. “Hey!
-Karen-When I woke again I was alone with several blankets on top of me. What is wrong with me? I felt angry with myself for being this tired still. As soon as I stood up, I felt fine. That’s… unusual. I left the tent quickly. I walked out and saw the camp was completely empty. “Where is everyone? And what is that terrible odor?” As I walked to the cooking pit, the smell got worse. I lifted the lid and saw Alexander cut up into pieces. I felt the lid drop and my heart stop at horrific sight. After a second, I let out with a shrill scream.I jumped out of bed and fell on my face covered in a cold sweat. Alexander! Was it- Was it just a nightmare?? I heard Conor get up quickly and pull me to my feet as I burst into tears. “Karen, what’s wrong baby?” He asked sleepily as I clung to him sobbing. “Did you have a nightmare?” I couldn’t answer but I nodded as he tried to soothe me. “It’s okay, honey. Everything’s okay.” No! I have to be certain! I need to hold my baby! I have to! I broke aw
-Karen-“Demon!” Eldon called from in front of me. I looked up nervously as the now demon-Zachary wrapped its arms around me and bit my neck as hard as he could. Ugh… I felt a fire-like pain wind its way through me and I stood there trying not to scream from the pain. This pain is in my veins… So much worse than regular demon poison… “Who sent you here?”I felt a soul crushing chill descend over me as it spoke. “Who do think, Soul Guardian? You shut us up in that damn box for almost a thousand years! Only one Mage has dared to contract us- Which we are so grateful for… Been a while since I’ve been able to touch a woman. Never had the honor of a royal one though.” Zachary hissed in my ear as I could only watch Eldon. It was her… The demon licked my neck and laughed coldly in my ear. “Does it hurt?” I couldn’t answer him from a combination of pain and fear. “Impressive fight in you… That poison needs to steep a bit longer while it destroys you.”“I need to know how she did it. She is no
-Karen-At that moment Joanne came in the tent with a squalling Alexander. “I need help- He won’t calm down at all!” Joanne said trying to calm Alexander down. He cried louder and harder. I reached over and pulled the pillowcase from around the pillow and set it on my chest to cover the large sticky blood stain. I reached out to her for my wailing baby. As soon as he was on my chest for two minutes, he stopped and sniffled for a while.“Poor thing… He’s double breathing.” Bart explained as he patted Alexander’s back. “Try to soothe him, Kay. He’s breathing will fix itself after a while, but he needs to know you’re okay.”I nuzzled his face and kissed him sweetly. “Alexander!” I whispered in his tiny ear. I saw him peek at me with his left eye and then cuddled down. After ten minutes, he passed out clutching my right finger. “My poor baby…” I murmured sadly. I heard him sniffle after a few more minutes of rubbing his back.“He certainly loves his Mama!” Bart said warmly. “Bertha told m
-Conor-“I have a terrible feeling about this Nathan. We need to go to her. As soon as possible.” Conor said pacing back and forth in front of all the Mages. “After she lost consciousness, Eldon came and took her away. All he said was that she was being summoned by a tree. That's when a portal was made for me to come back here.”Nathan's eyes got wide and he lost the coloring in his face. “The Tree summoned her?” A serious yet terrified look remained on his face. Alexander started screaming making everyone jump. A portal opened and everyone stood up while Joanne worked to calm him down. “Karen?” Conor asked feeling hopeful. Eldon walked through carrying her, but he was stoic. “She’s going to be okay, right?”Eldon gently placed her into his arms. He didn’t answer right away. “Not exactly.” The portal shut as all the Mages gathered around. “As you know, she won the war against your father with your help. However, she lost the fight.” He said quietly. “Senescence, has deemed that she i
“Soul Release.” I whispered quietly. I watched as the souls compressed into different color orbs and floated away on the breeze. Bombs started falling around me while breathing became harder. “Healing Serenity.” I’ve used a flurry of spells and I still have a small chunk of magic left. I can easily get two or three more Master spells… I think. I decided to change positions so I could get a better aim at the last large ship flying around. I still have those small ships too… I took a deep breath and sent a Blazing Hypernova up to the middle area of the small ships. They all exploded in a bright flash and the wreckage fell to the destroyed town. I looked around for the large ship, but a bullet ricocheted very close to where I stood. Suddenly, more soldiers appeared charging at me.“Frostfire Surge!” I shouted angrily. All the soldiers shouted in pain and collapsed dead around us in heaps. I pointed up at the sky as the ship tried to leave again. “Blazing Hypernova!” Due to the high level
-Karen-A blow to the back of the head put me on the ground faster than I ever thought possible. Blow after blow was delivered as I squirmed to get away, but Zachary pinned me under him and continued to land a barrage of punches. He yelled and screamed about what I had done to his family. I grabbed his ankle and let him have a taste of ‘Lightning Surge’. It bought me enough precious time to weakly get to my knees.“Recovery Salvo.” I shakily got to my feet and leaned against the wall, but he was no where to be seen. I looked around nervously, but nothing moved. I heard the bullets before I felt them. Hot metal burrowed its way into my right thigh followed by my abdomen, left arm and chest. I collapsed in heap trying to fight the massive amounts of pain I felt. “Healing Serenity!” I whispered under my breath. Damn, another healing spell… I whispered for a portal and fled to the shadows of a building across town. There were still so many ships in the air, and I was starting to feel the
-Karen-“We don’t have a choice anymore!” I snapped back frustratedly. “This is it, Conor- We fight or we die- I’m not about to let him claim victory. There is going to have to be a risk in order to win this fight. I plan on coming back, you know.”“But what if you don’t, Kay? What if Eldon doesn’t revive you?” Conor asked firmly. He cupped my face and stared me in the eyes. “What if you’re gone forever?” What if… Such a big 'what if' and its running through my mind too.I didn’t answer him right away. “I’m going to die someday. I’d rather die fighting for my family and the people I care about than to run and live in fear wondering if today will be the day. As long as I don’t exhaust my magic and turn into a demon, I should be fine.” I’ve used a small bit of my magic, but I still have more than plenty. As long as I can take them out in fifteen to twenty Master level attacks, it should be okay. Permitting this doesn’t drag out for very long.I could see he was very much not accepting o
-Karen-“Your sudden jerking movements re-opened a wound I repaired.” Bart explained as I lay still looking up at the ceiling of the empty crypt bed. “I stitched it closed but you can't be doing those type of movements yet.” I sighed feeling useless as another bomb shook the ground.“Let me put some salve on her stitches, doctor.” Valerie murmured rubbing in a sweet smelling cream. “This should help numb the stitches so they won't hurt if you do have to move.”“Thank you both.” I replied, slowly sitting up. “Those bombs have been falling for the last three days now. How much more punishment can the main floor of the Crypts take?” I asked Nathan, feeling uneasy about our situation.I could see that Nathan was very reluctant to answer. “It probably won't be much longer, honestly. We have to make some hard choices now. The only other place we can go is the Forest and that has its own set of challenges and hazards as you know.” He heaved a heavy sigh, rubbing his face from the growing pre
-Karen-At the snap of my fingers, my brother’s arms were torn from his body. Screams of agony echoed around me while the soldiers took aim at me. A soldier was yelling, but I paid him no mind. I heard the same soldier call my brother’s name, Marcus, telling him to hold on. I giggled softly enjoying this scary side of myself and met Marcus’s now terrified yet agonized gaze. “Marcus… I’m going to annihilate you and as I do, I will make sure that your soul quivers in unimaginable terror.” He some how lost more coloring in is face at my calm words“Ground Spears!” I shouted angrily punching up into the air. The soldiers that surrounded us were now high up on the points of the spears with blood gushing and dripping down the jagged rocks, more groans and moans of pain filling the air which was tainted with the scent of blood. “Soul Snatch!” I ripped the wispy soul out of the body, and he looked terrified. “Soul’s Doom!” Just like before, a white demon charged right at him and shredded his
-Karen-I woke up enveloped in warmth, but I was extremely sore. I really felt like I hit every tree branch coming down from that fall. So sweet- He changed my dress. The orchid under dress. I looked over to my right and saw Conor and Alexander cuddled up next to me both sleeping with their mouths open. Ha- My loves. “Conor!” I whispered softly. I tried to roll over and found out that was a mistake. Ah! I’m still busted up pretty badly… I grabbed his hand that was cupping my left cheek and gently squeezed it. Wake up!Without opening his eyes, “You’re the most recklessly insane person I know, Karen Anne Elizabeth. That was awe-inspiring, terrifying and thrilling all at once, but I don’t want to repeat that any time soon.” Conor said rubbing my cheek with his index finger. Mm. So warm… “We’ve only lost two ships in two separate incidents before but that was insane!” He opened an eye and leaned into me. “You have a lot of injuries still. You broke lots of bones. Bet you’re sore?”“Very!
-Karen-Conor groaned while rubbing his face and then looked up at me. He rubbed his eyes again. “Is that really you, Kay? You’re not an illusion, right?” He whispered sitting up quickly and grabbing my left hand pressing my palm to his lips. “You know I’m not upset with you- Don’t you?” I dropped my gaze feeling so much shame as I stood before him. “I-”“You may not be upset but I am.” I interrupted quietly. “I just see myself punching you and then charging at Joanne and then the nightmares I had. I may not be cursed anymore but the weight of my guilt is so heavy. I feel like I should just die and end everything once and for all. But that wouldn’t be fair to you or to Alex.” I closed the gap between us and hugged him tightly. “I love you Conor. I love you and I hate that I only hurt you… I feel like I do nothing but that.”He was silent but he held me tightly to him after he pulled me onto his lap. “I wasn’t sure if I was going to get this again.” Conor kissed my cheek and nuzzled my
-Karen-Sweet kisses on my lips woke me up though it took me several minutes to realize I was in bed next to Conor. As soon as I did, I tried to move away from him. “Ah ah ah!” He captured me quickly and pulled me back to him. No. Please don’t!I completely avoided his gazes and wouldn’t let him kiss me at all. “Karen- You won’t even look at me.” I could hear the disappointment in his voice. “Alexander cried all night after you left. Will you at least hug him?” I shook my head. “He says Mama now.” I don’t care. I can’t be here anymore! I only hurt you. I can’t continue to be a danger to you and everyone else here.I took advantage of the situation and pulled away from him. “Karen! Wait!” I left the tent as quickly as I could hearing him following me. “Please just listen to me!”All eyes were on me and it shot me right back to the memory of charging at Joanne. I dashed to the clearing and left the camp as fast as I could. I raced back to the Royal Crypt, crying the whole way. The guilt