-Conor-“Karen? Karen!” Conor whispered caressing her gaunt cheek. Am I too late? “Yes.” Eldon called from the door.” “You are all far too late.” Everyone turned around except Roger.“Please- Please tell me you are going to revive her!” Conor cried, immediately feeling sick to his stomach.“Uh- What is wrong with Roger?” Bart asked, confused.“I have stopped time for him. I don't want him to know what can be done to Mages.” Eldon explained. He walked over to where Karen lie lifeless. “She truly lost her will to live.” Conor stood silently looking down at her. “I can break the contract if I so decided- But she's not done growing and I won't honor her request. Yet.”Eldon pulled the wispy figure up from the body. The wispy woman sat there in silence with a small bundle cradled to her chest.“Let me go.” She whispered. “Let me move on with my son.”Eldon sighed and looked over to Conor. “No. I can't let you go yet. You've done a wonderful job growing so much but you're not done.”“Can s
Conor nodded as he leaned down and kissed Karen’s forehead. I have to reach you… I hope you can hear my voice. What do I even say? He thought for a moment as it came to him. “Kay, you made a promise to me when we first met, that I wasn’t allowed to die until you killed me in cold blood. And you can’t kill me if you die before I do.” There’s no need to bind her when she is so frail… She could barely hold her hand up. He carefully untied the tether that held her left arm to the bed. Roger came over and brought him a chair so he could sit next to her. Conor slipped his warm fingers between her cold bony fingers. She’s so cold. He pulled her hand to his cheek and stared intently at her for a while in silence. She looks so frail. Her skin tone has changed dramatically… Almost an ashen color from the lively light peachy white. Robert came over and injected something into her arm as Bart changed the IV bags out. Bart fully removed the left IV as Robert instructed. Roger stood next to Conor
-Karen-I felt a strong warmth seep into my cold bones. I had the urge to roll on my side so I could soak that warmth in. I haven’t felt so much heat in a long time… It’s just like when I was sick from Lewis. I tried to roll over but I couldn’t so I tried to press myself as close as I could to that heat source. A warm hand touched my cheek. Mm… So hot… Like fire.“Wake up.” A gentle voice whispered to me. I grunted in reply. No. I’m tired and I just want to sleep until the end of time. “I command you to wake up, Kay.” The voice whispered in my ear. I shook my head slightly and started to drift again. No, damn it. Go the hell away! “Come on Karen… Don’t be so stubborn. Please wake up for me…” Wait… I’m alive still? Are you kidding me?! All that work and I’m not dead?! What a rip off!I groaned but reluctantly obeyed. The room was bright, so I closed my eyes quickly. “Open those eyes, Kay. Don’t be so stubborn!” Bart ordered from my right. Why? Why can’t I die?! Why is this so much to a
-Karen-On the eighth day, Joanne stayed with me for the hour while Conor was at a meeting with Bart and the king. I ate a small bowl of porridge as she talked to me. She even brought me a couple strawberries to savor.“It was so horrible Kay! Bart and I woke up a day later after the attack and luckily, we only had minor injuries but Conor- He was in such a critical status.” She shook her head sadly. “Roger worked on him for twelve hours straight trying to figure out what was causing all of the issues with his liver and heart. He put Conor on a different machine to clean his blood. The weird part is that made his liver shut down completely! And his kidneys almost shut down too!” I gave her a horrified look as she nodded. His liver died?“Yeah! We were all freaking the hell out because it was like every time Roger was trying to get Conor back on track something else would go wrong! Bart tried to help as best he could, but he was not allowed to while the king was here. Roger had to grow
-Karen-“It means we have to be on guard against all of them, including my father. Like I said, I can’t prove it yet, but I have a feeling he is working on something for us... And even though Monica and Michael are “under guard” they can still plot against us. It is very possible that they can still hurt us.” Conor explained taking a step towards me and cupped my right cheek. “If anything happens to you, the only way they are gonna stop me is with several bullets or a bomb.”“Oh no… I can't have you full of holes, Conor.” I replied taking his hand and kissing his palm. “If I can’t die, you can’t either.”There was loud pounding knock and then the handle turned on the door as someone tried to come in the room. “I said to go to the end of the corridor and then come straight back you two!” Roger snapped angrily. “You two are awful!”“Whoops.” I snickered, grabbing his hand. We giggled together and hugged tightly.“Well, that sex will be worth the chewing out we are about to get, Kay.” He
-Karen-“Karen…” Joanne smiled thoughtfully. “I’m sure you can… It will just be harder than normal. But that means longer nights full of pleasure with your man. So, that’s the silver lining on that rain cloud.” Joanne added with smirk.“He said the same thing, Joanne.” I replied with a giggle. “Just thinking about him… I want him right now too…” I grumbled under my breath. Joanne burst out laughing and gave me a hug. “I understand Kay… Right now, Bart is taking care of a couple soldiers who got into a bit of a scuffle over an apple… He told them to shut up or he was going to give them a better reason to stay in the medical ward if they started brawling again.” She explained with a smirk. She seemed to get lost in thought for a moment. “Can I ask you something?” I nodded at her as she bit her lip. “Is it bad that I still want a child with Bart even though I have to marry another man? I’m not sure how I should feel about it. And I can see the question makes him really uncomfortable but
-Karen-The next week passed by quickly. I had been eating more and been allowed to walk around the halls twice a day. All three doctors were happy with my progress, but I was still a bit underweight. I no longer had to drink that awful green broth, but Bart was giving me chocolate strength building shakes twice a day in addition to a vitamin pill Robert sent with the morning shake. I had only gained eighteen pounds in the entire time. Eighteen out of thirty-nine… It’s about half. I was still really uncomfortable with the idea of Michael and Monica walking around and knowing that danger could be lurking around the next corner. I was released at the end of week despite the most recent attempt on my life. Conor and I walked back to his apartments hand in hand. He told me he had Joanne and Bart slowly move some of my things back into his apartments over the last week. We agreed that at this point, it was going to be safer if we stayed together despite what was written on the marriage co
-Karen-“Not really… Kind of pointless if you’re going to take it off again…” I replied slipping back into the lilac dress while he laughed. You can’t even lie. I know you prefer me to walk around naked. I pulled the blanket up to my chest and sleepily watched Bart and Joanne come in the room. They bowed to me and I glared coldly at them. “Shame on both of you!” I rolled over and hugged a pillow deciding that I would ignore them now.Conor laughed heartily. “Good to see I rubbed off on her like that.” He quipped happily. I felt him crawl on the bed and roll me over. “Wake up.” I shook my head and reached for the pillow I just had. “Come on, Kay. We have things to do today.”“Yes we do. Sleep is the first thing!” I retorted trying to crawl back to the middle. He scooped me up and set my feet down on the stone floor. I gave him an annoyed look when he held me still. Joanne and Bart snickered at us. “No, we have to continue your lessons on how to be a Royal.” Conor said seriously. When
-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