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
After a couple of months, the citizens had cleared away most of the old mansion and whatever they could salvage went into the funds to fix up the city. Nelson hadn’t yet rebuilt a new mansion for himself, but he hadn’t been in any rush. There had been so much work to do just helping to repair the city and to help the families of those who had lost loved ones, that he hardly found any time to work on getting a home built for himself.Then there were the trips he had to make to get his new title made official. He didn’t mind returning home to the Falanthyst Kingdom. It meant he could visit the woman who had acted as his mother all his life, his sister, and a woman Nelson had missed badgering.“I can’t believe he actually let you keep the noble title,” Lynnette said, rolling her eyes as she allowed Nelson to push her chair around the castle to their meeting with the King. “You think he will continue to collect other people like on
Helping the King sort out his wedding plans were not as simple as Nelson had first thought. A few more trips back and forth between Ameathon City and the Falanthyst Kingdom had to be made before he could gather everything Fenryn had asked him to collect.It had been fine, at first, but after Vaughan had almost caught the pair looking at rings and other things needed, Nelson and Lynnette had to quickly change plans. Now the pair was exploring the market back at Ameathon city. It hadn’t been easy bringing Lynnette all this way, but they had no other choice if they were to keep things a secret from Vaughan.“How about this one?” Lynnette asked as she pointed out a ring. It was rather bland, but it was at least made of gold this time. Nelson soon realised the woman had zero experience in judging a piece of jewellery’s worth. She was determined, though. Nelson had to give her that.“It has to be… shinier. Think of gemstones as big
The following day, Nelson left Lynnette in the capable hands of the inn staff should she need anything at all. He had said his goodbyes to his mother and Inleet before heading towards Rattail Peak. He had gotten in contact with a person he thought might have the information he sought.Nelson took only a single guard with him, and that was only under protest. He knew that from now on, he would have no choice but to rely on loyal men to keep him safe. Thankfully, this man was one of Fenryn’s, though that bit of information was never offered to anyone except himself.Thankfully, the people within Ameathon City and Rattail Peak had not yet learned of who exactly had taken over from Sethis. Everyone had known there had been a change of leadership, and that Sethis had become a demonic force of nature that had destroyed his own home, killed many of his people and eventually been slain.As Nelson journeyed through the rattus city, he couldn’t help but think