Erzelus’s POV In my long existence, I was a soul weathered by the time and games of gods, like a thread woven through their universe filled with their perverse games, intrigues and ulterior motives. As the old saying goes, I’m as old as a mutton trying to pass off as a lamb. Well, that saying is just plain bonkers, in my case, I guess. Because I am not quite a lamb nor a mutton either, I guess. I am more of a big bad wolf from your bedtime stories, but I guess that wasn’t the point. The point was that despite my body being wrapped up in a nice package of a strong, sprightly, young and masculine lad, I am not a young chap, nor am I strong. It is a facade which belies the ancient turmoil residing within me. Now, when I think things through, it’d be more accurate to say that I am more akin to the big bad wolf of folklore, a creature of myth and legend, but my story is not meant for bedtime tales. But that also wasn’t the point. The bottom line here is that I am as old as the hills.
Lev’s POV The sound of the metal scrapping against the concrete woke me up. Someone kicked the bowl with my meal inside my dungeon. That means it’s breakfast time. Counting the meals is the only way to make sense of time spent here. They brought me three meals daily, and I got my three rations before I fell asleep last night. So, this fourth meal marks a new day. One in so many days spent here. But I am not quite sure how long I have been here in total. I know that despite being trapped in the body of a child, I have been living here for a long time. Centuries, millennia, I am not sure. I stopped counting a long time ago. I slowly and stealthily crawled towards the place where I heard the scrapping sound of the bowl stopped, but only when I heard the guard closing the doors of my dungeon. The floor is cold and dusty, grazing my knees and palms as if I were crawling on sandpaper. I finally came to the place where I thought the bowl was. I tapped on the floor carefull
Nepenthern’s POV A long time ago- I paused for a second when I stepped into this realm. Chaister’s realm looked like I was staring down a rabbit hole full of contradictions. Maybe I should have thought this through one more time. The world of Chaister is as much of an oxymoron as he is. Well, he is an oxymoron with an emphasis on moron. He is a fickle fuse of chaos ticking somewhere in the corner and always waiting to explode, causing havoc wherever he goes and wreckage to whatever he touches. He is not a reliable ally, and I cannot stand the twit, but I do not have much choice after that foolish girl got knocked up by Endymion. Lartellan is furious, and I understand why. I am angry as well, but Yaava held me back from going full rampage mode and killing them all. She foresaw that stupid sprog of my daughter Selene with Emdymion - that miserable mortal warlock has a crucial role in shaping the future of the Soovaree realm and other dimensions alike. I still don’t get
Chaister’s POV “Oh, rejoice, my dear ones, rejoice together with your lord, for the day has come! What a sight to behold!” I said to my Veltalas. I felt his presence in my realm as soon as he stepped a foot on its ground. The day the pile rider Nepenthern finally came to plead a favour from my chaotic self. Me, the one who had always been looked down upon, is sought by the powerful god of all gods. The vain bastard is finally about to fall, and he needs mere me to upkeep his ass on the throne. “I shall be back in a jiffy to devour your succulent honeypot fannies, so don’t go anywhere, my shambolic urchins. I have some backbreaking drudgery to do.” I said to the harem of Veltalas, whose dance mixed with the shadows which swirled around them in a lewd and sin-provoking way, just the way they knew I liked. While twirling, brushing and crawling lasciviously around me, Veltalas were snaking their tout and lithe bodies to nudge me, plaguing my body with their ha
Chaister’s POV "Very well, Nepenthern," I said casually as I sat back to my throne, with a smirk widening every second. Goddamit, I just couldn’t help it. I couldn’t stop myself from gloating. “Let us savour this transcendent moment, the moment of your humiliation together, shall we?" With that said, I snapped my fingers, and my faithful minions reappeared, spreading across the court. Everyone looked like they were going about their business as usual. But well, I am ruling this realm for far too long to fall for that trick. It is part of the role to play—the role I have assigned them with. I waved my hand, signalling them to stop and listen to my announcement. “My dear chaotic friends.” I paused my speech to see if I had the attention of everyone in the court. All eyes were on me, just as it was meant to be. I scratched my chin, dramatically cleaned my throat and chuckled before I continued: “…well, calling you friends might be a bit exaggerated, as we are not fri
Chaister’s POV We came and visited Leirathe, and although I am more powerful than him, some sense of unease washed over me when our gazes met. There is something spooky about him, and whatever that foreboding crap was, it sent the jitters down my spine, although it shouldn’t have, for I am the Chaos. We celestials are usually out of ordinary tall, but this guy is an unusually stubby, short bloke. His head looked like it was rammed and thrust to stay jammed on his stumpy little body. His dry, sunken face of flaxen-like colour is crowned with an extreme overbite, which makes his jaw look horselike. Leirathe sported thin, greasy hair; it was cut down to a bowl-cut hairstyle. He has big ears and thick glasses which sit on his beak-like nose. All in all, Leraithe is the epitome of an overall unimpressive appearance, to put it lightly. The one who looked at him couldn’t find any divine trait in him. I don’t know if that is part of his trickery as well. H
Chaister’s POV “Is this the price you are willing to pay?” The ba.stard asked brazenly with the light, covert smirk he so desperately tried to suppress. I pulled Nahevra–the stupid cock socket, for her sleeve, and we moved a few steps aside as soon as Leraithe, the trickster dickhead dared to utter those words. “Oi, If the thought of sacrificing…MY…son… crossed your mind for even a second, I swear, this will be the last thought that ever crossed your mind, you bloody slag!” I gritted the threat through my teeth, hoping my muttered tone was low enough to prevent Leraithe from hearing us. I am warning you, you clapped slapper; if a hair falls off Meeran’s head, I will send my beasts to sh,ag every fucking cesspit-like hole of sweet little Maree’s body until they don’t blast her with the co,cks. And tell you what, I will make you and little Lev watch it before I dig his eyes out and strangle him in front of you. Be aware though bitch; I will not kill you aft
Lev’s POV Do you agree, little Angelev!?” She asked me, and I could feel the change in her aura. She seemed sad and worried. I just nodded as I lost all the confidence I had seconds ago. I was paralysed with the fright. The last thing I saw was the gloomy and dark inside of the banned spell room. The room looked dark, old, cold and scary. Whenever we passed by, Maree would remind me that I must not enter it, and I would always imagine what it was behind those doors. I imagine it to be small and crammed with grimoires, magic herbs, spices, and some mystery stuff. And these were the things that were indeed hoarded here, but the room was as big as the playground for the Olympic Games. Every dull and dark corner, nook and crevice of the room appeared filled with mystic, occult, twisted and nightmarish omens of a fairy tale gone wrong. The walls would seem to loom and lean inwards, painted in dark hues that swallow the light and cast eerie shadows in every corner. Some fu
Elantra’s POV I was unable to bear this tension, danger and peril as I watched the cold steel of the blade pressed against Malie's skin and her life hanging on a thread, depending on the whim and mercy of mercurial vampiric Fae. With determination, I spoke out: "King Kandreah, I, Elantra Proserpina Morterey of Wengarthria, am hereby granting you permission to enter the main Macabantran encampment and any of the subrealms of Wengarthria, which are under my jurisdiction! I have done what you asked for, now leave my sister alone”. As I uttered those words, I heard Malie crying out a desperate “no” to me. I could see the relief, hope and determination surge in his eyes as he realised he had been invited. Without a shred of hesitation, he turned around with an obvious intention to leave both of us as if nothing happened, as we meant nothing to him. He obviously didn’t give a damn about us or about the mate bond. We were liter
Elantra’s POV What is your name, love?” he asked me with a palpable rage and an undertone of mockery in his voice. “Elantra,” I responded obediently as if I were the little girl in front of the executioner and not a daughter of the lord of Hell. I knew that the knife on Malie’s throat was a promise that he would kill her on the spot if I didn’t comply. Yes, Malie can be a handful, but she is my twin sister and soulmate, and it would break my heart if something happened to her. I love her, and I want her to live regardless of her being a bitch most of the time. "That is too long for my liking. Ella…darling, I wanted to share something with you and your sister…. Ooh, sorry love, I didn’t quite catch your name…” He smirked and turned his golden-eyed gaze to Malie. She told him to fuck off while struggling in his embrace, trying to set herself free. He whispered something to her ear so quickly and under his breath that I couldn’t even catch what he said despite my c
Elantra’s POV Malie nagged me to visit the battlefield for days, telling me she had found her mate. It was useless to remind her that we Mortereys have little to no chance of finding a mate. I have told her that she is delusional, but when she wants something, there is no way to set her mind off that. And now she had one goal - to visit Macabantrah and test the mate theory out, and for some reason, she is adamant that she want to go there with me. I don’t know what this all was really about: did she want to test the waters of mate bond? Did she want to convince me or herself that this is possible and that maybe she really found a mate? Whatever the reason, I could see that she was consumed and perhaps even excited with the idea. I mean, who could blame her; we spent eternity doing our “job” as dark celestials, daughters of rulers of Hell and Wengarthrian royals. I don’t blame her for wanting some sense of normalcy and to break this millennia old cycle of loneliness. But I als
Kandreah’s POV When I saw Hades’s twin daughters together, I finally understood what people think when they say they can’t see the difference between me and my brother. These two look like doppelgängers! They were as alike as two peas in a pod, and both looked exactly like the woman my warriors described to be seen during the Sanguineabbys and Konneyard battles. Both had ash blond hair smeared with subtle shimmers of lilac - as if they spent all day rolling and rubbing in the field of lavender in full bloom to achieve this hue in their hair. They had those same daunting eyes: one lilac eye like Noosha and one cobalt blue like Hades. Both were as slender as a whippet and had faces that could launch a thousand ships, but their aura stank worse than a fish market on a scorching summer's day. They radiated wickedness, danger, and spite like a pair of black cats crossing your path under a ladder, setting my skin crawling like someone tossed a bucket of spiders on me. To te
Kandreah’s POV While standing helplessly in front of the Macabantran gates, I went through all the stages of grief in the blink of an eye. I went through denial when I managed to work through my pain and drag myself while being pain-stricken with Thersar’s torment in front of the Macabantran gate. I was appalled with horror in front of my eyes. As Thersar’s demise-ridden pain wrecked through every nerve of my body, I watched his last moments with disbelief. Just when I thought that this was the final blow, which would be my undoing, the closeness of my soldiers who died in the battle started to shatter my body inside out, gnawing at my mind and soul. The death of every single soldier in my army was a new blow to my already broken body and heart. After initial shock, denial and disbelief, uncontrollable rage erupted from me. I screamed and tried many ways to break in and barge into the castle, but nothing worked. Even what it meant to be an attention-seeking roar of rage came
Kandreah’s POV We were passing through this infamous shortcut, which was more like a sewage-like labyrinth if you ask me, when I bent over and stumbled with an unwilling groan before I fell on my knees and stubbed my hands into the dirt and mud of Wengarthria. I felt so weak and dizzy, as if I was just seconds away from collapsing. The high-pitched, blaring sound grated through my ears, threatening to split my head in half. It reminded me of the ringing of life-supporting machines when someone dies, but as if someone put amplifiers on them. Beads of sweat protruded along with searing pain, the ache like no other which surged through me, piercing and rippling through my body. Every drop of blood in my body felt like it was scorching, sizzling, and as if it was about to combust in flames before turning to ashes. The agony was unbearable. It felt like I was dying. Only once before, I felt the pain like this, when I lost my soulmate. Regardless of the severed bond between
Erzelus’s POV But it looked like someone in the background had greater control over the forsaken Lycans than I did because drums rattled again in the next moment, along with a command rumbling to forsaken Lycans to attack. It overpowered and overrode the natural inclination of forsaken Lycans to submit to their Alpha. I am not their Alpha anymore. They do not answer to me anymore. They are not part of our pack anymore, and if there was even a smidgen of doubt in their logic, reasoning and where their loyalty now lies, it all became clear when they started attacking Lycan troops. My Lycans were over-excited with my comeback, and this idling is not something we can afford. This can cost us battles and lives; we have no time for this. Because, on the other side of the castle, dwarves, Fae, and witches were still in the ruckus of the battle against Wengarthrians. I stepped in while handholding Lev and roared: “Drop the fucking formalities! Lycans, regroup! Flank the Allies! Shield the
Erzelus’s POV The interior of the encampment was a vast, oval-shaped, dark and massive hall the size of a coliseum. Instead of walls, the encampment was enclosed with grand window-like structures, which seemed impenetrable. These window-like walls didn’t allow even a figment of light to protrude. Each window was adorned with vile and despicable frescoes depicting the destruction, apocalyptic violence and scenes from the underworld. In every corner of this eerie city-sized castle, there seemed to be an attempt at creating a macabre amphitheatre. It was as if a disturbed and malevolent architect had deliberately sought to challenge, mock, distort, and contrast every conventional thought, philosophy, aesthetic, and norms in rational thought, art, architecture, and culture, transforming them into something dark, ominous, and bizarre. This colossal castle seemed like an erratic response of a sinister rebel in architecture, a hub for defying the traditional building. Every corn
Erzelus’s POV Mark's contorted body serves as a testament to his tragic death and grim fate, symbolising just one of too many lives that have been and will continue to be lost in this relentless battle. The weight of lives lost became heavier as I scanned through limbless, scavenged, deformed and mutilated remnants of warriors from both sides, which hung from the ceilings. The cadavers blanketed the grotesque frescoes and icons of the Macabantran encampment. Bodies were strewn everywhere, suspended from ceilings and windows, littering the ground— that is the grave extent of casualties that this battle yielded. And many more are to yet die before the battle finishes. The windows were sprayed with blood and innards of diverse creatures who lost their lives, looking like someone had a paintball battle with leftovers of burnt shepherd pie. Corpses and bodies of soldiers from every walk of life were flailing across the Macabantran fort; mush and gore were everywhere, littering th