The room Alaris had teleported them to could as well have been made out of gold. Belladonna couldn't figure out whose room this was, but she was sure of the village they were in. Never could she have believed that tales were true. They were in Aniktaki, the first village of Ignas, one that was well known for its wealth and a large expanse of land that nothing could grow on but had treasures buried beneath. Gold, diamonds, silver, many treasures, one could only dream of. This was the land of mines and overflowing wealth. The room seemed to glitter, almost everything was covered with a golden surface.Belladonna took in a deep breath, hopefully, this room would be empty, although the lit candles hung on the wall didn't promise that."Alar--""Who are you?" The voice of a young woman standing at one side of the room, with a white towel wrapped around her startled Belladonna. "How did you get in? What do you want?"Belladonna took a quick at the woman. She was tall, her hair was dy
"I'm scared, Mother, I'm scared. Sufi did not live after they took her child."Taria sobbed, her mother pulling her close.They were both kneeling on the floor now, her mother's eyes red with unshed tears. This was her only living child. It hurt that she couldn't protect her."You are not your sister."((I will upload the bonus chapter for the golden tickets tomorrow, after the test I am preparing for right now. Thank you so much for your support.))"How are we different? Father did this to her too.""You will not die, Taria.""And if I survive, I'll be a Tower woman. Locked away forever for dishonoring my womanhood and bringing shame to my family, flogged day and night for a crime I didn't commit."There was a pause."I don't want to be Tower Woman," she said in a small, weak voice. "For every day of my life, till I die, I will come and see you."Taria pulled away from her mother roughly, standing on her feet. Was that all the comfort she could offer? That she would come and see h
((Note - Alaris is still in Taria's body. If Alaris is being mentioned then it is from Belladonna's perspective because she knows. If Taria is being mentioned, it is still Alaris but most likely from another person's perspective, because they don't know.))"Just move your body anyhow I tell you to. You seem pretty flexible," she answered casually. "You'd like that won't you," Alaris said with a grunt, then he cast her a glance. "I don't know about my flexibility but you seem pretty flexible to me."Smack.Her hand swept right through the air. "Ouch," he rubbed his arm, exaggerating the pain. "Sorry, Taria.""Apologize accepted."Belladonna rolled her eyes, "I wasn't apologizing to you.""For now, I'm her, unfortunately."With an exhausted sigh, she said, "Please, shut up."Sometimes, she felt like sewing his lips with her sewing machine. "Or what, you'll fall deeper into the crazy attraction you have for me---" his words cut short as her hands went around him. It was a change tha
Slim fingers with red, long polished nails moved over the exposed arm of another. Frost formed over the place of contact. A struggle.A muffled groan, because that was all the one being put through this torture, could let out. Nadia's mouth had been stuffed with a piece of clothing, gagged. Her hands and legs were chained to the table she was laid against. Her eyes were wide open with the pain the cold brought her, it went deeper than the skin, she could feel it. Kestra pulled away abruptly. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" She turned in the direction where Collin was standing. She had said she needed a fresh and new soul, had even specified who exactly she wanted and he had brought her to him as quickly as he could. This man, what will he not do for his family?A castle that was built on the clouds, was what his hope was. She prayed that he would keep staying in his delusion. How else was she supposed to use him if he wasn't stupid and blindly hopeful?"It is beautiful." He said,
There were writings on the wall.In a language she had never seen before but could somehow understand. "How are you doing that?" Alaris asked again as the words clatter out of her mouth, and she took a turn according to the writing on the wall, a torch that was hung on the wall, lighting up as they approached.They had been doing this for about five minutes now, following the instructions on the wall. "I don't know," Belladonna didn't want to think too much about it, this wasn't the time. This cave gave her an eerie feeling. Everything was going too smoothly and they still hadn't come across any obstacle yet. Also, Motu hadn't come along to get Taria yet, or maybe he was trying and the chaos of finding her was already happening above them. All that didn't matter for now though, she had to remain focused and get out of this dream as quickly as possible for everyone's sake. "The language isn't from this Realm," Alaris said behind her. "What? So it is from where you came from?" Bel
It was death to go back the way they came. Skeletons pushed out from the cave walls and poured from that direction room towards them, racing as their inhuman growls filled the air.An army of the dead. It was a horror Belladonna had never witnessed in her entire life. Maybe the necklace was indeed a trap after all.The fun of leaving unsolved mysteries as mysteries was staying alive. Moria was wrong and the people of Aniktaki were right to have decided not to concern themselves with this cave. Well, it was too late for Belladonna now. Wasn't it?Her running steps fell into sync behind Alaris and he raced away in another direction, with his hand tight around hers in a firm grip.She followed blindly, her steps unbalanced and uneven sometimes, her body juggling everywhere from the desperation of her run until she was side by side with him. Every turn he took, she did too.He lead and she followed. Simple.No questions asked. "What is that?" His breath sounded a little too even
Taria's screams of terror filled her ears along with the growls of the skeletons that had her pinned to the ground.They were fast with their attack and as Belladonna tried to pull her away from the living bones, she got her own dose of attack too. Bony hands pulled at her from all sides, shredding her gown and digging into her skin, the strength behind their attack, knocking her to her feet while she pulled the bag that housed the dragon stone closer to her in a desperate struggle not to lose it, tight like her life depended on it, because at that moment, it did. Taria's scream morphed with the growls of the skeleton and in an instinctive defense, Belladonna curled herself on the floor, shielding herself as much as she could, both her hands folded over her head and her body turned inwards, like the monsters were her mother and she was once again shielding herself from a beating that would surely leave scars with the passage of time. Why had she not learned by now?The Bride Thief
The news of what had happened in Aniktaki flew to the Castle faster than Belladonna had expected.It was late in the afternoon, the next day, and Eli was freaking out about how he couldn't get this information any faster. "I think I should put some people in every village to report back to me as soon as things like this happen." He said as he paced around his study. "I feel like there are so many things that I do not know that I should know.""Calm down. I believe it was nothing much just as the report said," Belladonna said from where she was leaning against the wall."It said their Badura's cave was broken into.""And that they handled it and nothing was missing," Belladonna flashed him a small assuring smile. Eli shrugged, going back to his table and reading the letter for the umpteenth time. "I think it is the One with the White Aura---" he stopped abruptly his gaze slowly moving to her as he caught a glimpse of her move awkwardly. That was something she didn't want him to see