Her heart raced. She was overly aware of his touch, even though his gloves served as a constant obstacle. “Maybe because most of the brides left behind in my head are those ones that want you dead.” Something dark glinted in his eyes. “Do you want me dead, Donna?” The heavyweight she used to feel in her chest was still there, although it no longer felt as heavy as it used to. Her rage towards him was no longer as blinded as it used to be. Somewhere along the lines, something has changed.“No.” There was a spark in his eyes. “I don't want you dead, Eli.”His voice sank into a low chuckle. He leaned forward and his sandalwood scent flooded her senses. He was too close and his presence reminded her of how “even closer” he used to be. Her eyelids fluttered and his scales held her gaze.“Happy birthday. I really thought we would spend the day differently. You have no idea how many plans I have made for this in the past.”“It is past midnight. My birthday is over.” She said with a
The men walked through the forest, moving quietly.Until they got to a point where they stopped.Witcher Galdur, the one wearing the white robes, held up his hand and they all stopped. “We still have to capture the last one,” he said to the men behind him. They were all wearing robes but of a darker shade and color. “You,” he pointed at the one carrying Aniya.“But Witcher, if we are separated from you, the guards patrolling will see us.” He responded with concern. “He will go with you,” Witcher Galdur pointed to another. “That way, you will remain unseen.”So the group split into two, the spell of invisibility over them. As they raced against time before it would expire. One took the left turn and the other took the right, agreeing to meet at a particular spot in some minutes. Therefore, Belladonna and Aniya were taken to two different places. ______Witcher Galdur went along with three men, one of whom was carrying the Bride. Everything was quiet and some guards made a fool o
Chapter 72 - In His PlaceGaldur and his group had only walked some distance further when they encountered the King on the road. No one survived a dragon’s flames. Galdur knew this and he had surrendered, taking it upon himself to give the Bride personally to the King. That was when their gaze had met and the King's steps had flattered when he looked beyond them into the trees, his eyes reflecting the fear that consumed. Galdur wished that he could see what the fear was.It would be an absolute honor to know what built fear in the heart of the dragon. But one couldn't have it all.It was harder to break into the King’s mind though, however, Galdur had too much experience and witchcraft by his side to make it work. He turned and they left. If he was lucky, their Fears would kill them and they would have one or two less supernatural creatures to deal with. The Balance would be regained and his vision would never come to pass.______Eli bathed in his own blood.The talons of the
Alaris looked on, stunned. The woman's headless body rolled on the floor along with the veil that concealed her face. The gem she had in her hand did the same, before her headless body fell back with a thud. In the next moment, everything about the woman vanished including the dagger that was dug deeply into Eli’s lifeless body.Wait— lifeless body?“Mortal.”There was no response.“Brother?”Still no response.He quickly crawled to Eli, whose eyes were still open but he obviously wasn't seeing anything. “No. You stupid mortal.” Alaris' hands trembled, as he tried to stop the bleeding from the gaping hole in Eli’s chest. “How dare you let someone else kill you. It was supposed to be me. I wanted to kill you myself!”He shook him vehemently.“Wake up. Don't die like this. Ahhhhhh!” He yelled, still shaking him vehemently, a string of curses beneath his breath. Tears welled up in his eyes as they turned golden and snake-like, his growl of grief filled the air. His hatred for Eli seeme
Aniya was no longer unconscious but the state she was in wasn't anything better either.She was bleeding and screaming in pain. Zesika was running around to try to find something to help the situation but everything she did was a complete fail. “She is dying, Milord,” Zesika declared in a shaky voice, while the rest of the Physicians that were in the room tried to preserve Aniya’s life. At this point, Aniya’s veil was long gone and the scar she had hidden from everyone was out in the open for them to see. Her face was smeared with the blood that drizzled down her nose as she struggled on the bed and begged to be killed because the pain was too much to bear. Eli had stayed long enough to observe that there was a high probability that Aniya wouldn't be shifting. However, he ensured some guards were left behind in the room just in case anything were to go out of hand, ensuring that they were armed with swords made out of silver. They had been rare to find.“I will be back,” Eli said
Belladonna had seen them leaving the room and she had decided to join them. So, Eli, Belladonna and Alaris were in the dungeon to question the “lycan” as Alaris had called him. Eli had done the duty of filling in Belladonna everything she had missed about the creature and what had happened tonight. Belladonna wasn't pleased at all that her sister had almost died. “What if this happens again? What does he want with her? It must be the creature in Aniya? How can we get it out?” Belladonna has as many questions as Eli, if not more. When they stepped in, Belladonna’s eyes landed upon the threat to her sister’s peaceful existence. He looked like a man that had experienced too many wars to the point that his eyes now looked dead and tired from the horrors they had witnessed, yet alert. His sleeveless top and shorts were made out black fur cloth. He looked strange. Belladonna didn't like the aura she got from him, it made her tense. Something in his eyes made her think he was here t
A soulmate? That sounded so ridiculous it made her chuckle. “What is that? How are you even supposed to know that? You don't even know her. You don't love her, you don't know her enough for that.”His expression did not change. “Her eyes tell me the instructions of the Luna. When our gaze met, I felt it deep in my bones that our souls aligned.”That sounded even more stupid. Just looking at someone couldn't be the defining state for things of such gravity. Alaris' eyes glinted at Belladonna’s outburst but something about this didn't feel as entertaining. His smile vanished when he saw Eli pull her away from the bars, his eyes zeroing in on their point of contact. For some reason, that was disturbing. Belladonna was starting to get mad again. Violence, how wonderful. Or was it?Alaris remembered what had happened last night, how she had given into the violence in her, and how she had regretted it after.Although things like this were fun for him, she would hate herself once th
“I am the one with the string,” Belladonna said when they locked Galdur up and left the room where they had been interrogating him.They were now in the sitting room of the Village Head’s house. There were only three of them here. Zesika was still with Aniya and Lytio was busy with other things, including taking care of Arlo. “You can't believe a word he says, you know,” Alaris said, leaning against the wall but it didn't seem like Belladonna could hear a word he was saying. “The red string is connected to me and it will bring Kestra back,” Belladonna mumbled to herself. “I told you that I could feel it!” She snapped, turning her attention to Eli who went rigid immediately she turned to him. He stood from the sofa slowly. “I understand how you feel,” Eli said, “but we must be logical with our decisions. The Witcher would say anything at this point and we cannot trust him. We can not believe him until we see this thing he claims has landed in our Realm.”Belladonna shook her head,
“What is this?” Ny'ka asked, racing up to her feet.“The Stones of Prophecy. I already told you,” Ka'el replied, rising to his feet too. He groaned a little, his ribs hurting from the force that had tossed him aside.The stones had suddenly fallen to the ground, scattered; they were still glowing though. “I mean, what do they do?“I don't know!” There was a bit of panic in his voice, then he started to mumble to himself as he fell on his knees and started trying to collect the stones. “The King believes his daughter is in the Rebellion, and there are rumors of the Heir; he thinks they are working together.” He stopped and stared up at Ny'ka who watched him with a frown on her face. “That is why the Moon and the Sun came up in the sky because she is really here? But you said it didn't happen here, that it was from another Realm. It is from another realm, right? It isn’t true, Is it?”Ny'ka tried to grab one of the stones from Ka'el but it held it away from her. “Is his daughter truly
Then she felt like she was drowning and her words vanished from her lips. It felt like she was right in the lake and above it at the same time, hovering over the water and looking at the drowning child, while the drowning child looked back at her, struggling. Then she was finally in the baby and she could see Xinora floating over her as she felt herself dying in the baby — felt the baby dying. She saw Xinora stare right at her mother, who froze immediately like she had seen a ghost - it was what she looked like anyway, what she seemed to be. Then Belladonna felt the presence slam right into her immediately. Xinora had vanished and was now inside her as one being, the moment of her almost death creating the perfect space for Xinora to fit in. But just as Xinora had merged into her, she dissolved into the back of her mind like a mere pest fighting against a strong host. Her mother pulled her out of the water, her gaze blank and cold. Without a word, she wrapped her in a piece of clo
Trigger warning: Dealing with rape aftermath (from victim’s perspective) on page, and baby drowning on page. _________Belladonna paced the room. Two nights have passed since Alaris and her had discussed about Xinora. The Rebellion was healing, and she had sought out Ny'ka to help her with creating portals; although she knew that it might not work, just as it hadn't been working, but that was just how unpromising Channeling had been, and it had worked eventually. That wasn't the problem though. The thing was that Ny'ka was nowhere to be found. It didn't take long for her to figure out where she was.She was with Ka'el, most likely inquiring about their recent failure.Alaris had confirmed her suspicion, and here she was, in the room, trying not to drive herself mad with every single possibility that was crossing her mind.The Priest had drawn a tattoo on the top part of her chest, a little distance from her neck. He had smeared it with the blood of an animal, chanted some things th
Ny'ka went to Ka'el that night as the Heir had ordered, only to find out that he was with someone. Tsiri?What?What was she doing here? Why was she here? How long has she known about Ka'el? How did she get here?Why was she here?By Ina, what had she told him?!The White glow of the crescent moon above glimmered down on them through the shadows of the scanty leaves of the tall trees around them. The smile on Tsiri’s face was plain for Ny'ka to see, just as obvious as the doubt that dotted Ka’el’s eyes. What had she told him?!“Is it true?” Ka'el asked, his fist tightening around the small bag he had in his hand. She wondered what was in that bag but his next words made her aware of the greater problem she had before her. “Are you just fooling me?” He asked as his free hand anchored around Tsiri’s waist, making her smile widen. Disappointment flashed in Ny'ka's eyes and she frowned, blatantly ignoring Tsiri. “Fooling you? What nonsense are you talking about? And why are you with o
“Nightshade, do you have any memories of Jyris?”He was crouching in front of her. This room suddenly felt too small. Where was the air of ease?“No, except that he healed my ankle, gave me that gold ring that you tossed away and he was at the table with the King. Nothing else. I’m trying to but I don't remember anything else.” She wouldn't tell him about the strange feeling of familiarity she had when she had first seen him. That would be too dangerous. “You were in her dreams even when you weren't in captivity. So can you just go into people's dreams? Can you still do that?”“No. Her dream was the only one I could get into without being in captivity. But My freedom does come at a price. It was hard to lure the brides with my soul, and certainly, I prefer this freedom to that.”“Did killing her hurt you? Since the gems are supposed to be a pair.”“I struck her stomach.”“Why didn't you strike her in the heart or behead?”“I wanted to behead her and take her heart as my own; a litt
He heaved a sigh and sat next to her. “Well, it was after being King. I think the wars I had fought strengthened the connection with my gem; the lives I had taken fed it, and I dreamt of Xinora — well, she dreamt of me. It was the first time I would be in anyone's dreams.”Belladonna nodded, taking a mental note of that. “She was crying and lonely, and because the Gem perceived its master to be distressed, it sought a connection and found me. Xinora was terrified when we met; I was confused, too; it was strange. But then, I realized who she was and why I was there. At that time, I really wanted to come back here, to Vestros, but I knew it wasn’t time, I wasn't powerful enough back then.” He paused, before he continued. “The White King would kill me easily, but being in her dreams was like fate being on my side. She was the only weapon that could be used to kill me—”The only weapon?“Wait. Only a Bearer can kill a Bearer?”“Yes.” “So,” she turned to him squarely so she wouldn't mi
“And you didn't tell me? Why?”“It was over two centuries ago.” He stood up. “She stayed dead during those times, why would I think anything would come out of her now?”Belladonna said nothing and Alaris continued. “With you, I believed she had already been replaced. A new Master, her time was over, gone. The gems will always have their masters, I have discovered. At first, I was worried, but then you proved to be more than one with a mere link.”“I had visions of her. I told you everything.”He shrugged. “I thought it was just her lingering presence since she was the one who was connected to the gem before you. They are just mere visions, they don't suggest a powerful presence to get bothered about.”“You must be joking,” she stated, flabbergasted. “I had dreams of her every time and nothing ever really happened as a result,” he replied with a dismissive tone.“You know that is not true.”“Nothing “real” ever really happened.”With a realization, she stood up. “You are doing it aga
It felt compelling to desire more, it felt right… yet it didn't.Alaris pulled away being the first one to snap back from the spark pulling them together. “I’m sorry, I shouldn't have done that.” He was gone in a flash, leaving her flustered. She couldn't think; the foreign and overpowering feeling was a driving force that sent her out of the room to go after him. She did, reaching the surface, however, and feeling the warm glow of the moon on her skin. Something else seemed to have possessed her, and she went towards the lake instead, strangely seeking the comforting feeling of the water and the floating relief. The reflection of the full moon was cast over the still water and the trees seemed to create a path for her. She walked into the water as a shadow warrior emerged from behind her; the only one of Alaris' shadow warriors that wasn't killed. It swiftly moved into the water, reaching out to pull her back but she turned sharply to it. “Go Back!” She ordered, her voice a gr
Breathing heavily, he turned back to her. “I’m sorry— I just— I was afraid that you’ll shift—”“I have been terrified that this day would come but I thought I was stronger, as strong as I was in your Realm. I knew I would be lacking the moment I saw that annoying thing healing your ankle with his flames,” he laughed, the sound dry of humour as he swept his hand over his hair, pushing it back. “At that moment, I knew there were many things that I lacked, many skills, so many things. I might have been a King there but here, I am like a child. I’m not better than any of those dragon shifters. I’m useless.” “You are not.”With a huff, he sat down next to her, feeling exhausted. “My pretense to know what I am doing can no longer save me. I’m fighting a lost war, Nightshade and you can see it.”He turned to her, to find her shaking her head. “Don't lie to me.”“I’m not.”“Alaris—”“Don't try to inspire me, it won't work.” “I wasn't trying to inspire you, I just want to tell you how disap