Hope POVThere are things I need to do that are part of my job as a Chosen Bacchante, one of them is to make sure that everything at the Festival went as it should have, as I entered my private cleansing room, I saw a small pool, with some priestesses around it, waiting to clean my body.I walked slowly to the center of that pool, its crystal clear and heated water had properties that helped to relax the muscles and was also a symbol for the beginning of a new cycle.There is no sexual act, on the contrary, as they slide the clothes under my skin to remove the dirt, I can feel the adoration and care they have.I am not just me yet. My body also represents my Father, cleaning myself means cleaning the body of the very God they worship.At this moment my mind is connected to the temples around the world, not just those of the Lycans and Werewolves, but of every race and being that had a temple to Dionysus was connected to me, to the small cults that had celebrated together, even without
Erick POVHope had her head resting on Marcus' shoulder, while Dylan was sitting on the other side, with his waist around her, Kendrick had sat behind her, and Lestat and Kaiden were a little lower, holding each of her legs.That need I had before to be close to her, to have her seemed consumed, my Beast was calm."Okay, now that things are starting to come back." I started to speak. "What happened, Hope? Have you planned this since that day we talked?""No..." Hope opened her eyes and stared at me and I saw no lie there. "I accepted Dylan. I was starting to accept the path that the Gods wanted and I honestly thought it could work out...""But... As I got access to the real library and learned more about the Gods, about the past, things I hadn't been able to connect when I read in Marcus' library made sense." I watched Marcus pick up a grape and give it to Hope."As I said that day, you couldn't help me. No one could help me... What I had to talk about with the Gods couldn't be said t
Lestat POVI saw Erick walk through the door and then it closed. I held Hope's hand looking her straight in the eye. I know I need to say what I did, and I'm scared, my Father has already told me that the road to her forgiveness won't be easy, but I need to do it. Especially after the night we had."Hope, I need to tell you something." I started to speak in a whisper."I don't care." The voice of the woman I love has a hint of disappointment. "I know, I feel like you did something... But I don't want to know, not now... I know I need to say what I did, and I'm scared. My Father has already told me that the road to her forgiveness won't be easy, but I need to do it."I can see her mark burning her skin and that alone lets me know that Hope's anger is building and that she's controlling herself not to deny the temporary mark. I take that hand and bring it to my lips, placing a soft kiss where my initials are."I want the opportunity to explain myself and fight for your forgiveness," I s
Third Person POVI can feel the moment Hope entered the divine plan, it made me shudder... It was going against my predictions and against the plans I was making. There is a possibility of her going back there as a divine offspring and following her commandments is very high and if that happens then everything will get more complicated.Not that her fighting the Gods makes my job any easier, but I have more opportunities to interfere with her directly. I took a deep breath looking at that temple. Selene was glorious in the sky, shining on her priests, the movement of those men surrounding her was somewhat intense.When Nyx and Zeus raged, I almost wanted to give up, but I can't, not now that I'm so close to realizing my goal.The moment the Chosen One of the Gods returned I understood that she was on the verge of death and I didn't want that... For a few seconds, I thought about interfering, having my mark spread out and more powerful would be quite an advantage, but I didn't have eno
Kendrick POVI walked into the room and saw Hope turning to me. There was something strange in her eyes. I know she wasn't alone, but I can't identify who was in the room... What I do know is that I don't need to worry. Whoever it was hadn't come to hurt her. I smiled and approached her, running my hands around her waist.The way her gaze changed as I got closer was all I wanted to see, the love she felt for me was there. I've never felt as complete as I do right now. Even with what we're going to face soon, I can't help but feel happy, having Hope in my arms, looking at me like that is everything I imagined it would be."Gods forgive me, but you're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," I said I knew it's cliché. I heard her low chuckle. "Those eyes are my world, that's what I want to see every time I wake up, to only bump into you in the hallways when we go to sleep." I declared."I love you too, Kendrick."I heard that sentence from Hope and I felt my eyes fill with tears, but t
Dylan POVI hold Hope's chin and take a deep breath. It's not that I don't want to give in and take Hope here, but we have so many things to sort out that I'd rather get everything done first so I can enjoy it. I'd already mentioned that I wanted her to take it easy, and enjoy a whole night with her all to myself..."I wish we had more time, too," Hope whispered and took my left hand and brought it to her lips.I didn't look away, I watched her open her mouth, just a little, take my thumb and start sucking. I want to say it doesn't turn me on, but that would be a lie on my part."Um." I let out a low chuckle. "The first time we had sex was also in the bathroom..." I commented and with my other hand, I slid down the side of her body and fitted it to the curve of her breasts.Hope doesn't have big breasts, they are medium but I think is perfect, they fit completely in my hand and I can grab them and squeeze them. Hope let go of my thumb making a little "Ploc" noise."I remember... That
Hope POVMy footsteps, along with Dylan's, echoed through the halls, my fingers intertwined with his. Yes, I'm happy, and I want to make the most of this moment... Soon everything would change.I entered the meeting room without even knocking. I saw Marcus, Lestat, Kendrick and Kaiden already in place, sitting down, they were talking, probably discussing the plans to defend the places.I want to believe that everything will be okay. I don't know if that's possible, if at the end of this battle, it's not even the end of the war, we will all still be standing. There are many battles before the war ends, but it's okay to let them think that this is the main one.My eyes met that of another person, her black hair reached her waist, and she was wearing a white outfit, a dress to be exact, all flowing.That woman nods briefly, I already knew her, we already had an agreement... One that I could never fulfill, but the Lady of the Lake seems to know more than me about the future. The thing is,
Hope POV"This will be the first fight of many more..."I started to speak, without looking away from Marcus, I can already feel it getting lighter, I know I can't talk too much, but I understand that there are many other things I can share with them."Maybe it's the most important, maybe not... What matters is to finish her fast."I close my eyes for a few moments and let them feel a hint of the anguish I carry and the throbbing of the mark on my shoulder.Their response was the surge of their auras, enveloping me and fighting against that feeling and it helps, I notice the curse mark stop pulsing and go into hibernation mode. I open my eyes and see the five of them smiling, lovingly and not arrogantly, but knowing they had achieved their goal.I'm sure my face shows my relief."You already know that in the field, I can absorb energies with each blow to regenerate myself, but that means that the energy passes through my body and is used to heal a part of me, so they are absorbed. We'
Hope POVI know what I need to do, and I don't regret this decision. I know they will cry, but I can only pray that the Gods guide their next steps. I hope they find their second chance, that they can be happy without me.As I grab Melvin's collar, pushing him back and bringing the darkness along with me I see him smile in a corner, but that smile will disappear, because I use my left hand to pierce the place where his heart is and I see the surprise appear and die in those eyes that I once loved. I loved Melvin and not this corrupted version of him.I can feel the darkness around me surrounding me, hurting me, breaking the armor that covers me, and falling into that endless pit and I don't know how long I fought and defended myself, but I finally hit the ground. I've gotten used to the taste on my lips. Finally, I raise my eyes and I want to bow before the beings that are in front of me, the power that emanates from them is so gigantic that my soul shudders, and doubts begin to arise
Note: This chapter will be written in the third person because there are so many characters involved.There couldn't be any soul that didn't feel the grief, for even the Gods are crying, that heavy and freezing rain is leaning on their bodies and their souls understand that this day is a day of Mourning.For those who can see the other world, they could see the Harvesters walking over the battlefields collecting the souls that were making their way to the Mekai.The tears of children who had lost their parents and parents who had lost their children mingled with the Divine tears as if trying to console each other...That night had been exhausting, it had been heavy, it had been a disaster and as much as it was known that the Corruption had retreated, there was still no feeling that it had been won.It was simply all about loss because those who survived now had to bury those who died and had to mourn for those who were lost.The feeling of no winner is so dense that you can't hear the
Erick POVWhen my brother finally realized what a foolish thing he was doing, I saw that Kaiden was fighting a she-wolf and I knew that the two of them had been destined, my Beast told me what had happened.I approach Hope and soon I can see several smaller creatures piercing the blockade that is around as the other four chosen are focused on defeating Melvin. Using the movements of my hands, the chains that are at my feet begin to move to wrap around, trap and exterminate those smaller creatures that dared to approach.It wasn't tiring to do, just boring, because none of them had any power to compare to mine. I notice Hope is standing still, looking at the movements of her chosen ones, she is smiling happily, with a dreamy expression.She's seeing what the end of that fight will be like, and from the looks of it, it's going to be a good one.I turn my attention to a shadow that manages to gather closer, it had fed on the corruption that had not been annihilated before and that rain o
Dylan POVI don't want to believe what's in front of me, when Melvin's name echoed from Hope's lips I wanted to just explode with rage. How was this possible? I almost lost my Mate several times because she was afraid of what would happen if I marked her...I almost lost her because she had killed Melvin... I almost lost her because there is a curse on the place where my mark will be on her... I almost lost her because of that?!'No!'Sin shouted in my mind, our anger turning to Wrath as the images of the distant future flash by and I can sense that Marcus and Lestat share the same sentiment. Yes, I would have respected Hope's oath in that other future, because I would have seen that she was already on the right path, that she was already happy in her world...'That creature in front of us will be erased from existence!'Sin told me and I agreed with him, because after all when I met Hope I had seen a girl who used various tricks to hide how broken she was. Hope didn't want to get clo
Kendrick POVI didn't get to have much contact with Melvin, sure I had trained with him, but we weren't friends or close... When the first reports came out that Hope and Melvin were dating, Night immediately wanted to go back to the pack, but what were we going to do? Stop Hope from dating?That wasn't an option, so I focused on training, trying to forget that the person I loved was with someone else... Then came the news of Hope's first temper tantrum... I didn't see it, but from the reports, I knew she had been distraught and again Night wanted to go back to see her, but again, what could I do?What I did was just promise myself that I would stay strong enough so that Hope would never have to fight again in a way that could lose her control. That's how I began to unlock the powers Night had and after a year I was kneeling before the King reciting the Oath of Loyalty and Protection.I didn't do this at all without my father's permission, back then how could we have predicted that Hop
Marcus POVIt is no longer news that I am old, that I have been walking on this plane for many, many years... I have had opportunities to choose to die, rest and then reincarnate... I have had loves and enemies, family and loneliness...You all know that I no longer have descendants, that I chose not to bond with anyone anymore, and that I was simply being an observer on this plane, concerned with protecting humanity since I was Created for that.So I felt again, I lived again, I desired again... The one responsible for that was a girl who invaded my base and looked into my eyes saying that I would train her. The SilverRage pack had already requested a Delta who showed exceptional skills and had some Divine gifts. I denied it. How many times had I heard of some "saint" and it was nothing but nonsense?One afternoon the alarms at my base went off and no one could locate the person responsible, but the runes my sister had placed all over the place indicated that there was someone underc
Lestat POVWhat is the sun? It seems like a simple question, doesn't it? Some would say that it is the star that makes up the solar system... Others would say that it is a red dwarf, a classification of the types of stars that exist... Many would still say that it is what gives life to Earth...For me, the Sun is something greater, something that has brought me Light in times of Darkness, it is what has made me continue to have faith in the Gods, the One who blessed me and accepted me as I am... The Sun can be welcoming or simply burn everything!Right now I am the Son of the Sun, but I don't want to welcome, I simply want to burn! I want to consume and see that creature disappear amid My Light!I comforted Hope several times, even though she was appearing to be whole, I could see her pieces and the way she was bleeding. I could see through her soul, and I wanted to show her the beauty that was in the Light!I didn't know what I needed to do, but the Beast that dwells within me had al
Kaiden POVHow? Why? When? Even standing in front of me I don't want to believe it, it can't be real, Melvin would never become what I'm seeing. The boy that I knew, that I lived with, that was my best friend! That boy would never have chosen to become this creature so... so... I can't even find a word.Everything seems to be slowing down, and it really was, one second stretched into so much more and as I hear and see what my beloved is suffering and how the future could have been my disbelief turned to anger.'We will avenge her!'I heard my wolf speak, and I shuddered, I don't just want to avenge my beloved, I want to destroy that creature because that being was not my friend and never would be! Melvin, the warrior within the SilverRage pack had died and that was an aberration!I don't fight this pressure that is around. I don't want to, because I know that when I get free I will turn and I don't know if I will want to control myself.I let Lestat and Erick keep that bubble of time
Erick POVSomething inside me wants to get out, my Beast is restless, as those images pass, this sensation, this feeling increases and it is like a poison because I need to release it.What that boy had chosen was much more than just choosing the wrong side and I want to exterminate him. Yes, I don't just want to kill him. I want to eliminate any trace that he ever existed on Earth.I'm shaking, and I can feel my aura expanding and the space between everyone became heavier and yet when that creature screamed I wasn't able to protect Hope as I saw her fall to her knees and the smell of her blood spread to a catalyst for everyone to want to move and counter-attack but we are still "trapped" in this little bubble of time, not because of Hope but because of my aura.Not just mine, Lestat's aura is gigantic and blends with mine in such a way that even gravity begins to bend, just as it bends before the sun. I manage to walk over to Hope and help her up."You tried," I spoke calmly, a calm