-Karen-Over the next four days, Conor had meetings after the drills so Joanne and Bart, when they could, stayed with me. I had managed to talk Joanne into going with me to our library, so I could read up on the Mage books. I figured since I had so much time, I could brush up on the spell portions of my magic even if I couldn’t cast anything. I miss my magic. I feel like I’ll never use it again at this rate. She found a book on Mazifikian culture and decided to read it while I studied. So many spells and all for different things. Memory suppression… Maybe I could figure out a way to forget the bad things that have happened. I could change my hair to a different color too! What color should I pick? Maybe black as pitch? After a few hours, I had gotten caught up in my studies and found Joanne asleep on the plushy couch. On the fifth day, Conor surprised the three of us when he came back from drills early. “Welcome home!” I squealed as I bolted to him and hugged him tightly. I heard Joa
-Karen-I heard him stomp off in a different direction, but I stayed next to the door trying to calm down. I felt my heart race and my left arm started to hurt within a few minutes. Pains started to stab my muscles in my neck and so many scary memories hit me like a wall of bricks. I left the room and went to the armoire. Hastily, I curled up in a ball and shut the door, crying softly, trying to calm down as fast as I could. I have to breath. I have to! I feel like I can’t though. “Karen?” Conor called for me from the main room, but I felt like my joints were locked. I was still really on edge from that short encounter and it made me feel sick to my stomach. “Kay? Where’d you go?” I could hear Conor come into this room and then a second later the doors to the armoire opened. I scrunched down trying to make myself as small as possible.“Kay, what’s wrong, love?” Conor was gentle as he pulled me from the armoire. I cried so hard clinging to him forgetting to breathe a couple of times.
-Karen-I woke up before Conor the next morning. We were tangled up and I tried to carefully get up, so I could get breakfast ordered. I managed to sit up before he pulled me back to him and squeezed me tightly. I heard him mumble about wanting to kill Lewis for yesterday’s events. I tried again to get up and got as far as almost sitting up when he pulled me back and rolled over on me kissing me without relent. “Bad woman.” He whispered in my ear as I giggled. “But breakfast? Aren’t you hungry?” I asked him softly kissing his cheek.He snickered and then said, “What I’m hungry for is something I can’t eat.” We traded glances and chuckled together. “I’m hungry for some amazing kisses from my sexy Mage.”“Oh well… I can completely satisfy that hunger.” I whispered back to him. “I think.”“Can you? I wanna see you try.” He challenged me with a devious smirk. I happily rose to the challenge. “Challenge accepted.” I murmured against his lips. I kissed him without surrender unwilling to
-Karen-We went and changed into fresh bed clothes, but I lingered at the armoire trying to figure out what I could do to make him feel better about the future. After a few moments, I felt like I was being watched but figured I was just tired. I twirled my hair around my finger in hopes of distracting myself. I watched Conor approach me in the mirror. He slipped his arms around me and pulled me away from the armoire.“Bedtime, my flower.” He whispered softly. I wrapped an arm around his neck as he picked me up and carried me to our bed. I kissed him sweetly as he carried me with ease. He dropped me on the bed and then tickled me for several minutes. I crawled away from him as quickly as could. “You’re a fun girl. Not as wild as I first thought though.” Conor mused as he got in between the blankets. He thought I was wild? And probably untameable too. He patted the pillow next to him while I gave him a suspicious look. “Come on brat. You know you want to snuggle with me.” He said with h
-Karen-I woke up later to Conor holding me tightly in his arms. He was asleep and the fire was slowly dying. It was nighttime. I must have slept all day. That really sent me off the cliff. I caressed his cheek like he liked and watched his lips curl up into a small smile. He opened his right eye and peeked at me. “Hey beautiful.” He cupped my cheek and rubbed my lips with his thumb. “Are you alright? And if not, what can I do to get you back to being well?”I leaned down and kissed him deeply. “I’m sorry-” I started to apologize when he stopped me.“No… Don’t apologize, honey. I just want you to be okay.” He murmured with a warm smile. “I want to see you smile and know that you’re going to be alright.” I curled up and hugged him tightly. He kissed my forehead and then my lips. I think I will be- Even if it takes a while. “Make out with me?” He suggested with his boyish grin. I want to but my face is all wet.“You want to make out with a soppy flower?” I asked with a raised eyebrow. I
-Karen-I tried to scramble away from him, but he pounced on me and started tickling me all over again. I yelled for him to stop but he pinned me to the bed and tickled me for thirty minutes until we were laughing and breathing so hard, we coughed repeatedly. He spanked my butt twice and then pulled me into his lap and started kissing me all over again. He is fun! Really fun! And these kisses, it’s like a fire in my veins. There’s no other way to describe this sensation.“Kay…” Conor whispered my name in my ear. I looked over at him from the corner of my eye and we kissed again. “We should probably go to bed soon…” I frowned while he laughed. “Don’t give me that look.” Fine. How about this then! I pouted at him. He laughed again and then kissed me deeply. “Come on you sexy woman. Bedtime.” I sighed and got off his lap, crawling up to the pillows. We cuddled down together falling asleep in each other’s arms.I woke up before him the next day and decided to experiment with what I had le
-Karen-Now that I was going to break out of my comfort zone, I nodded and left the main room quietly. I grabbed a simple looking violet dress with a small ruffle over the bust and slippers since the ground was particularly cold today. I joined him in the shower a few minutes later. Conor had already gotten the water running and towels out for us. I can’t believe I’m going to shower with a man. Forget he’s a prince- He’s so handsome… And the way I felt when he was moving against me. I felt my cheeks get hot.“Hey!” Conor snapped his fingers in my face trying to get my attention. “Are you sure you’re okay? You were just staring at me. Do you want to lay down for a bit?” He took my clothes, set them on the counter and then focused back on me.“I’m fine… I was just lost in thought is all.” I answered trying not to let my emotions trip me up. “I- I just liked the way I felt.” A lot! I trailed off as I carefully undressed in front of him. I want to feel that way again! He kissed my hair a
-Karen-I immediately looked over unsure what to think about that. He howled with laughter as I stood there trying to think of what to say or do. “How about chicken? I wanna shake it up today. Sound good to you?”I finished dressing and nodded. “Enjoy the rest of your shower, Conor.” I replied sweetly shutting the door behind me. I walked away from the door as quickly as I could. Well, it wasn’t as awkward as I thought it would be.There was a knock on the door. I went to answer but the door opened before I could get there. Joanne came in the room followed by Bart. They had brought a basket of snacks. “Morning!” She exclaimed brightly, setting the basket on the table. Bart shut the main door while Joanne walked up to the shower door. I went to say something, but Bart motioned for me to stop. “I heard my favorite cousin wasn’t feeling well- Are you alive in there?” Five minutes of silence and then the door opened. “I’m perfectly fine Jo, but I didn’t want to have to deal with soldiers
-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