Damek took a deep breath as he inhaled the smoke from the sage he was burning. His eyes rolled to the top of his eyes, the energy from the smoke filling him with its essence.One of the sorcerers standing there walked towards him, his bare feet slapping the ground as he picked up another large sage and lit it on fire. The sage burned, bringing out smoke that Damek quickly inhaled."Master, shall we bring in the blood?"The same sorcerer asked him. Damek could barely remember his name, not in that state anyway. He raised his hand and gestured for them to bring it inside the dark cave they were in. The only source of light in the cave were tiny candles which lit up the other part of the cave where bones, sages, and charms were located.But for where Damek knelt, there was only darkness.Damek coughed, and a soft growl escaped his lips. He turned around as the sorcerers brought in the blood inside a bowl and placed it before him. He crawled towards the bowl and in the next moment, dug hi
Miranda wondered how the mages were able to find out about where she would be taking Alastair. At first, she could not make them out but then she realized that they were palace Mages. There was no way they could have known about Alastair's presence.Unless one of them has been spying on her. But she refused to believe that. It was creepy and it did not make any sense. And besides, she did not know of any mage in the palace with such skill. However, she decided to keep her head down for some time. She was genuinely worried about Alastair, and also for the little girl with him. Such a delicate child is being dragged into the complicated world of magic and mages. She wished there was more she could do for them, perhaps go to Reina to find them? And then, do what exactly?She sighed. Her emotions were getting the best of her. She needed a clear head and she was not going to get that thinking of Alastair.As she stepped out of her quarters, she seemed to see a chatter among the maids. She
Miranda felt betrayed as the horse trudged along. Her mind was warping through a lot of things. She just could not understand how she could have read the signs wrong. She had never been wrong about people. What changed? What happened?A large dog ran out of the bush and quickly stopped as Miranda's horse nearly stepped on it. Miranda looked at the animal and traced its sight as the dog barked at something.It was a snake!The snake was on the other side of the tiny bush path Miranda and Hela had taken. Looking at the dog bark at the snake and its unending attempt to attack the creature suddenly gave her an idea. What if she was not wrong? What if Turin was innocent? Where and how exactly did Richmond get his evidence? She thought for a moment. There was only one way she could know. She needed to hear it directly from Turin's mouth.They took the final turn and entered the palace vicinity. Her hood was still raised, covering most of her face."Princess, look, they are taking him away.
Her legs were heavy as she trudged out of Richmond's Chambers. Never did she expect him to go so far. She knew he would do anything within his power to keep the throne for himself and although she believed she could do better for the people, she would never usurp him. That was not in her nature, she was not a thief.So why? Why did he have to strike some crazy deal with sorcerers? Why was he trying to frame Tyrion for Treason? Was he the one who sent him that money? No, it could not be. Miranda, at that very moment, realized who the true enemy was. It was the sorcerer in the shadows, the one behind Richmond's head, filling it with all sorts of ideas. That was the true enemy and she knew that her brother was too dumb to ever fight such a threat. She nearly fell, so she quickly helped herself by clenching to the wall. Her heart was heavy. She felt like crying because she did not like where the whole situation was going. It wouldn't end well. Someone was trying to destroy the royal fa
"Ahh"Richmond grunted as the hoe he was using in digging the ground suddenly collided with his leg. He quickly stopped and checked the leg, to make sure it was not bleeding.The wound was not deep enough to draw blood but it hurt like hell. But he did not stop digging. As the thunder clapped in the sky, Richmond knew it was going to rain soon, the first rain to fall in Elderien in the whole year. Perhaps it would have been a memorable time for him, watching the heavens pour down their contents while he gazed at the raindrops hitting the ground. It always brought him a sense of calm. But that night, he wasn't spending the night gazing at raindrops or taking in the smell of the soil as the rain bathed it. He was spending it covering a crime, a sin against the kingdom, one which he was happy he actually committed.When it was deep enough, Richmond looked around to see if anyone was watching him. He had dragged the Mage's body into the woods, using the night as cover and grabbing some
Miranda woke up in shock, all of her neck hurting her From the encounter of the previous night. She slowly massaged her neck as she got up from the bed, trying to wrap her head around what happened. But no explanation other than the fact that her brother wanted to take her out came to her mind.She felt betrayed. She never expected it to go that bad. She always knew how desperate he was but she never understood why he was so stupid and why he did things the way he did.She slowly walked toward the mirror and observed the pigmentation in her neck. Kevin's presence was a miracle which she thanked the gods for. She could not even fathom what would have happened if he hadn't shown.But then, she noticed that none of her maids had come to attend to her, not even that little girl. That was unusual in every way. Their presence was the one that usually woke her up. Where were they?She quickly freshened up by herself and walked out of her chambers, but what she saw made her blood run cold.Th
"No! No!! You cannot do that. You cannot take away my crown!"Richmond yelled at the King as he took a step forward. The guards quickly stood between him and the king, preventing him from going further."You are impulsive and stupid. You allow your pride to get the best of you. You have always been that way. I let you take the shot because I believed being the crown Prince would make you see reasons why you should be responsible. But it didn't. It only made it worse...""Father...""Do not interrupt me when I am speaking! You have no idea how grave our enemies are. When I die, I want to know that this kingdom is in the hands of someone who will be able to protect it. In fact, I have had it in mind to replace you for some time now." The king said to him."What?""It's part of the reason why I somehow urged Miranda not to get married yet. Why I was happy when Alastair disappeared sixteen years ago. Why I sent mages to capture him when I discovered he was back."Miranda could not believ
Damek exhaled as the smoke filled his nostrils. He was high from the amount of power he was taking into his body. His vision was getting blurred, his head was pounding and his breath getting raspy. The other sorcerers standing there began to look at him like some madman. Perhaps it was right to assume he was mad, for he was trying to take on too much power at the same time."Bring the blood."He said to no one in particular. The sorcerers there gazed at each other but none of them said or did anything."Bring the fucking blood to me!" He barked at them. One of the sorcerers then walked closer to him, legs and hands shaking terribly. Damek had already outstretched his arm and was waiting for the blood to be brought to him."Master, we no longer have fresh blood. We have exhausted all of our reserves."The sorcerer said and Damek froze. What was he talking about? They never ran out of blood. There was always some waiting should situations like that call for it. "What the bloody hell
***Final Chapter***The monster hurled at the ship with a force so great that its punch pushed the ship backward. They were lucky not to have sustained a tear because Alastair and Blaize had formed a shield to block the punch. The shield, however, shattered immediately upon impact.The ship groaned and tilted from side to side, and what came next were screams from the crew as they fell into the sea. The captain struggled to find her balance, however, that was proving difficult. The ship groaned again and tilted to another side, shaking the captain's grip off her sword with which she had stabbed the deck.She screamed as she glided towards the sea, which at that time was already being occupied by monsters that looked like snakes. There was a multitude of them, and their hisses could be heard. They had killed the members of the crew that fell into the sea.As the captain was about to fall overboard, Blaize created a shield that blocked her path and pulled her back into the ship. She exch
"Set sail!"The captain's voice rang through the entire ship as men busied themselves with their jobs. The crew members ran Helter skelter as they tried to get the ship running, and in no time, they did. The ship roared as it sailed on the sea, a sight that sent shivers down Cara's body For Alastair, he just stood beside her and watched other members of the crew as they worked tirelessly. The captain was no longer with them. She was busy shouting orders, screaming at the men, and cursing them as they worked. Considering the fact that she was much smaller than most of the men on the ship, it was a funny sight to see.She soon sent Alastair a gaze and nodded to him. Alastair returned the gesture. As soon as the captain looked away, Alastair smiled softly. The time was finally approaching, and there was nothing to stop destiny from unfolding. He was still lost in thoughts when he suddenly began to feel like there was a pair of eyes looking at him.It was the same feeling he had gotten b
"Stand firm. Widen your stance and fix yourself to the ground. Strike with intent."Alastair instructed Cara as she sparred against him. Her moves had gotten better already but they still needed some more work. She groaned and struck Alastair, putting in so much of her energy that she tripped and fell down when Alastair made a false move."Predict where I will be. It will be what you need most of the time. You need to see the bigger picture when you are dealing with an opponent. Stand up and come at me again."Alastair instructed and Cara obeyed. She was past the stage of grumbling. She knew she needed to become stronger for what was coming.She charged and did her best to predict Alastair's moves. But they were too advanced for her. However, Alastair did not hold back. If she was to fulfill her destiny, she needed to become better than he was. Alastair decided to do a move to throw her off balance but Cara suddenly blocked it.Alastair was surprised. He pushed a bit further and intro
"Why don't you put down the crossbow and we can talk this through like adults?" Alastair said to the captain who scoffed at his guts. Her eyes were blaring with anger, and the only thing in her eyes other than anger was turmoil, pain, and regret.She steadied the crossbow in her hand and fixed her gaze upon Cara. Her eyes never left her. It seemed like she could remember what happened that day, the fire that suddenly blasted them all apart. She could remember the smell of burnt flesh which filled the air, saturating every part of the house. She could remember the smell of her own flesh and the moment that hit her, her face twitched a little. She took a deep breath and pointed the crossbow at Cara. Alastair did not want to use his magic against her for he knew they would be needing her help if they were to get to the isle of mists. But how the captain survived was still a mystery. He was certain she had died."You! You did this to me!", The captain said and pointed to the scarred part
"You didn't even ask for her name." Cara said to Alastair as they walked down the busy road. Their short time at the pub had not turned out the way Alastair hoped. He just kept walking in silence, and the silence was what made Cara uncomfortable."I did not need to," Alastair replied and she scoffed."Why not? She was clearly into you and you liked her as well. What is stopping you?" Cara asked, but then she realized how insensitive her statement was. She should not say such things about Alastair's relationship."Is it because of Miranda?" She asked but he was silent."How do you know she is still waiting for you?" Cara asked again but Alastair still said nothing. She was right. He did not know. But the thing bothering him was that he might not live to find out. "I... I do not want to forget her. I want to cherish our memories together until there is nothing left of me. That is why I cannot look at another woman. But what do you know? You are just a child.".Alastair said and scoff
The night still ravaged on as Alastair and Cara kept walking down the streets. Alastair got the chance to see more of the town, like he had secretly desired. The town was a beautiful place, quite exotic as well.He did not know if it were the decorations, or the thrill in the air but he was certain that that town had seen alot of bad days in the past and they were trying to make out the future as best as they can. He could see a young woman and two kids which looked like they were hers.The woman glanced at him and smiled, a smile which melted Alastair's heart. He saw that she had twin boys, and the imagination of the kind of life he would have been living if he grew up with his mother and brother was vivid.One of the twin boys ran towards him and gave him a popsicle. Alastair smiled as he took the popsicle from the boy, and giving their mother a nod, she quickly led her eager boys toward a candy shop. Alastair sighed as he watched them. He did not even hear Cara stepping up before h
The journey was quiet, and although the moonlight shone upon them like the ever glowing beam of light that it is, Cara was not feeling it. She just kept walking, a step behind Alastair. Her head was bowed, her fists were clenched. Her nails were digging into her palms, although not enough to give her an injury, it still hurt.Maybe she wanted it to hurt. Maybe she just wanted to feel something at the end of the day. She had been so hollow ever since the fight. She could feel Asmodeus crawling around in her mind. She could feel the Phoenix slowly regressing. She could feel the terror that was coming, very one that she was destined to bring upon the world."Are you alright?" Alastair asked her, snapping her out of it. She nodded quickly and looked at him for a moment. "You look disturbed. Is there anything you would like to talk about?" Alastair asked her again but she shook her head. He decided not to press her. If she was ready to talk, she would."Do you miss it? Everything else bef
An energy blast escaped from cara's body and hit all those that were in close proximity to her, James and Denise included. The force of the blast was so powerful that it took them off their feet and crashed them onto the ground. Cara let out a guttural growl as energy began to radiate from her body. The red, hot, energy began to gush out even more as her powers levitated her slowly. The growls continued, and so did the fear on lord Karl's face. He has never seen anything like that. He and his followers were not sure of what to do at that point. They slowly stood to their feet and watched as she stretched out her hand toward them. Her yellow eyes fell on them and with a sudden spark, her energy surged again. This time, it did not hit James and Denise. Both were surprised that the energy phased right through them to hit a sorcerer standing behind them and when they turned around, their eyes beheld a horror unlike what they knew before.The sorcerer's body froze. His eyes stretched out
"Cara... Cara, are you alright?"Cara could hear Fristborn's voice call out to her. She opened her eyes slowly and what she saw was someone she never knew she could see any more. Was she dead, or was she dreaming? She gazed at Fristborn's face and in that split second, she reached out to touch him.But someone else quickly grabbed her hand and she turned and saw Denise standing there. Her eyes roamed back to 'fristborn' but was actually James that was kneeling beside her. She blushed in embarrassment as she quickly say up. They were no longer in the house. From what Cara could see, they were some distance away from the house and it was not too quiet. She could still hear the sounds of guards running around, trying to look for them. The three of them remained silent for a while."What happened?" Cara asked as she rubbed her eyes. It felt like she slept for a long time."You fainted," Denise replied to her. Cara tried to recall what had happened after she felt the surge in her magic b