Fenryn’s eyes widened as the soul was aiming straight for him. He was no longer unsure if a soul could possess a normal person in this fashion, as his blood had clearly changed the rules of how things worked. Mixed in with the ritual, he couldn’t take anything for granted anymore. He needed to find some silver, but he panicked trying to find some on his person.
“Look out!” Vaughan’s voice called out suddenly from behind as Fenryn abruptly found himself being picked up and moved out of the way by force. Just as he landed on his hands and knees, Fenryn turned to face his old friend. Horror filled his eyes as the soul leapt into every hole in Vaughan’s face.
Seeing what had just happened, Nelson knew they couldn’t stay down in this cavern under Sethis’ home for much longer. He had no way of knowing what foul monstrosities the possessed people would become and there was no guarantee Vaughan would be friendly towards them once
Taking hold of the bed rope, Fenryn was the first to get down from their current location. Their side of the house had bent so much that he knew it wouldn’t be long now before the entire building would come down around them. Many of the guards had gotten out, but others were still calling out from inside. He felt for them, but he had to get out of the blast zone of the rubble that would surely pose a risk to him.Turning his gaze on Nelson, the King saw a large crack quickly zigzagging under the window. “It’s now or never, Nelson! You’ve not got much time left!” Fenryn called out, urging the man to hurry. They might not have had a good start to their meeting, but he had learned he could depend on the ex-bandit. At least enough to worry about his safety.Nelson peered down at the King. The bedsheets wouldn’t have held both of them, but now that Fenryn was on the ground, he could finally get down himself. With the way the King had urge
While the King kept his focus on the chasm, Nelson looked around for signs of movement. He could hear something not far off, but he wasn’t sure if it was survivors below the rubble or the possessed group. The tips of his fingers were tingling annoyingly, but he ignored it and carefully made his way towards the sounds.He hadn’t known what to expect, as he had never seen a possessed person before. He wondered if they looked anything like the demons he had faced before. If so, he believed he could handle them just fine, but nothing could prepare him for what he finally saw.Stumbling down a large piece of the rubble, Nelson almost didn’t see the thing in front of him. Ashen black skin covered what had once been a human from head to toe. They almost blended in far too well with the rubble and the dust still lingering in the air.As they turned around to face Nelson, he noticed how tightly the skin seemed to cling to the bones, making them appear e
While leaving Fenryn to deal with Vaughan, Elena, the two guards, and Nelson went about looking for the other possessed humans in the area. There was nothing they could currently do about Sethis as he was far too large for the silver to even phase him, but they each hoped the others would be easier to contend with.The two guards quickly found another of the possessed mages. This one looked as white as snow and almost bone-like in appearance. Where there were once two eyes were now nothing but sunken holes with evil red orbs floating within.Meanwhile, Nelson took Elena back to the gnarled tree-like ex-mage closer to Sethis. He wasn’t sure how to handle this thing, especially if it kept screeching as loud as it did. He was sure if they were not cautious, their eardrums would explode from the sheer sound.Once the two arrived, Elena hesitated and looked up. She could barely see her father’s face from this close. She wondered if any part of him remaine
Slowly, the babbling Vaughan had been spouting was slowly calming down after Fenryn had finally slipped the bracelet onto his wrist. Yet even with the silver jewellery, it was obvious Vaughan’s possession was not being reversed. Although the result that Fenryn was more relieved to see was that Vaughan had stopped thrashing about now.It was at least a start to helping Vaughan, but Fenryn couldn’t help but fear for the sanity of his old friend. What if the silver wasn’t enough to free him from possession? It worked on mages, but this whole thing had not been normal and neither was this possession. It had slowed the old soul down, yes, but not stopped it entirely. That it had possessed a human with no magic was not normal. All the rules for what Fenryn had discovered and understood were now null and void.“Come on, Vaughan,” Fenryn said, still holding onto the other man’s hand while silently praying the silver would finally free his fr
Of course, this confession of love had hurt Elena, but deep down she had always known she would never indeed find love from the King. Not because he was unkind to her, but because they had forced him into this arranged marriage as much as they had forced her. Not only that, but she had already known she could never really be the Queen or the mother of his children. She was a mage and not someone he could ever be with, even if to the public’s eye - they claimed her to be those things.With a soft sigh and a gentle smile, she silently forgave him and accepted his choice to find love with someone else. She didn’t feel any resentment and was almost glad it was with someone she believed deserved the King’s affection. Now that her father had shown himself a traitor, her place at the King’s side was no doubt over before it had even begun.Elena wasn’t sure if she would face punishment in place of her father if he didn’t come to his senses and accept punishment himself. Of course, he would ta
The moment Sethis finally fell to his knees in loud, anguished pain was the moment Nelson’s hand tingled again. He knew what to do, and although he made sure none of the others noticed him muttering to himself, he answered the call of the Goddess. Once more, an urn was gifted to him. Though Nelson didn’t believe Sethis was finished just yet. He was still far too spritely for a dead demon, and so Nelson knew he would have to wait a little longer before he could collect any soul from the man. The real question was if it would be one soul Nelson was collecting, or two. Eventually, the poison would make its way around Sethis’ bloodstream. He held no love for the man, so if Sethis died as a result, then he didn’t much care. It wasn’t as though her father was a kind person, even to her. Perhaps Nelson might have felt a slither of remorse for Elena’s sake, but that was only if he cared for her feelings at all. He hardly knew the young woman, but he almost understood how she might feel. He,
Sending the two guards to help the citizens of Ameathon City, Fenryn helped Elena, Nelson and Vaughan with the search for any survivors within the rubble. It had been unfortunate that they couldn’t do this sooner, but dealing with Sethis and the mages had been a far more pressing matter.However, things were not completely done as Nelson realised they still had one outstanding issue to deal with. The old soul within Vaughan was still an issue. He was convinced Yukiro would want that one too, but Vaughan hadn’t lost his mind, and killing him now would spark the King’s ire.As he tossed another piece of rubble out of the way, Nelson dared to ask the question that was probably lingering in everyone’s mind. “What do you think will happen to you, Vaughan? I can’t imagine the Goddess will merely leave you be, right?”The truth was, even Nelson didn’t know Yukiro’s plan to deal with Vaughan’s situation. Out of
At first, Yukiro merely motioned for Nelson to follow her. He did so in silence, leaving the other two men to search for survivors and to discuss things between themselves. He knew there would be much the two would need to figure out, though at least the death of Vaughan was no longer something either of them had to fear. Once Yukiro was satisfied with the distance, she turned and faced Nelson again and said, “for someone who has not liked us, immortals, since childhood, you did rather well in following instructions from us.” “Yeah, well, Sethis was not exactly a man I wanted to have barking orders at me,” Nelson replied indifferently. He tried to not show just how happy that little praise had made him feel. It almost made him feel like a child who had made his mother happy. A silly thought, but that was the truth. Yukiro’s lips turned into a small smile. Nelson absently scratched his jaw before saying, “have to admit though, summoning dragons of fire was fucking nice. Didn’t know