Back to Vasilos (1)
Luna sat down weakly. Her body trembled, and her head hung low, with both hands stretched out on the floor to support her upper body. Her eyes stared blankly at the stone floor of the temple as tears and blood dripped down together. Her lips moved, whispering words of disbelief about everything that had happened, thinking it was all just a nightmare. Slowly, both hands clenched tightly, gripping the wild grass near her hands.
“No … the portal … it’s destroyed … I can’t go home … what should I do … this can’t be …” The murmur finally escaped, and slowly, she lifted her head, looking at Alkrevas with a gaze full of pain. For a moment, their eyes met.
While Luna’s dark brown eyes were filled with sadness and hurt, Alkrevas’s red eyes were filled with anger and disappointment. Then, their gaze was broken as Ghea formed a wall of tree roots, separating them from Alkrevas and the knights in the temple. Realizing the more pressing issue, Luna immediately looked at the dead magic circle. Her eyes widened, and she looked at Abigail with a panicked gaze.
Abigail, who noticed Luna’s gaze, only smirked cynically and unleashed her dark magic to escape. “Abigail, please stop. Don’t destroy Vasilos. This wasn’t intentional, not my wish-”
“It’s too late, Luna,” Abigail said calmly, then looked at Ghea’s back, who was trying to fend off attacks from outside the root wall. The dark witch released power from her palm and destroyed the wall behind them, simultaneously attacking the knights waiting outside. Abigail clicked her tongue as she saw several mages from the Magic Tower already prepared to attack her and Beth.
She looked at Ghea and said, “Don’t forget our agreement, Ghea.” Luna watched as Ghea struggled to fend off Alkrevas. The woman’s face was full of fear and sweat, indicating she was trying hard to stay upright. Luna could see that Ghea was beginning to struggle, and the woman’s face hardened before nodding resignedly at Abigail’s warning-filled words. “That is your payment to us.”
“I understand, Abigail. I will hold back the monster and give you a way to escape.” Ghea took a deep breath and glanced at Luna, who was still in shock, before moving one hand, causing the roots to start creeping around Luna’s body and tightening around her neck.
“Go.” Abigail nodded and dragged Beth away. The two women easily defeated those outside. Ghea closed the hole in the wall that Abigail had destroyed with roots before pulling her hand back, causing Alkrevas’s attack to hit her directly. Ghea’s body was flung far against the wall, causing the wall to crack.
Luna gasped when she saw Ghea’s body slumped to the floor with blood flowing from her head. Still, the woman laughed before clenching her fist, and Luna’s eyes widened as the roots around her neck tightened, choking her and blocking the air. Luna struggled and tried to remove the roots circling her neck, but her strength slowly faded, and her body could only hang limply as the roots lifted her.
Her dark brown eyes looked at Alkrevas with a blurred gaze. Ghea laughed even harder and muttered, “You … if you take one more step towards me, you will see Luna lifeless …”
Alkrevas growled and took a step closer, but that step halted when Commander Abony signaled and said something to the man that neither he nor Ghea could hear. Ghea squinted her eyes and slowly stood up, then looked at Alkrevas with a gaze full of hatred. “You should know, Your Majesty … an eye for an eye. You killed my beloved, which means I must do the same.”
“Don’t mess with me, Fae.” Ghea grinned and tightened the roots around Luna’s neck even more, but the grin faded when she saw the terrifying smile on Alkrevas’s face.
“It seems you’ve forgotten one thing, Fae.” Alkrevas opened one hand, releasing his power as a beautiful yet dangerous blue light. Luna gasped as she suddenly felt the roots around her body being slashed, and she fell to the temple floor. Luna coughed and lifted her head, looking at Commander Abony, who stared at her blankly. Still, the woman extended a hand and helped her up before gripping Luna’s wrists tightly.
“When you touch what’s mine and provoke me …” Alkrevas glanced at Luna, who was now in Commander Abony’s grasp, and added,
“It means, you’ve placed your life … in my hands …” The tone was so deadly and dark that everyone who heard it shuddered in fear, including Luna.
Ghea took a breath as she felt her body unable to move. “Where are those two damn black witches?” Alkrevas asked coldly, not seeing the two women he had targeted for long. Alkrevas smirked; for a black witch, those two women were cowardly, fleeing and sacrificing someone else to save themselves. But Alkrevas wasn’t surprised or shocked by this.
Ghea said nothing, refusing to open her mouth to answer Alkrevas’s question. She saw the mad emperor smirk, which made her feel nervous and scared. Her head turned right and left, checking why her body couldn’t move, but she found nothing causing it.
It feels … it feels like invisible chains tie my whole body. Is this one of the powers of the Vasilos Emperor? Ghea thought to herself.
Her green eyes focused on Alkrevas’s and trembled as she saw the man’s eyes glow red like burning fire. Alkrevas walked closer and stopped right in front of Ghea. His hand slowly reached out and grabbed a strand of Ghea’s pale blonde hair. “You, what are you doing?” Ghea asked with wide eyes as she felt her body burning hot.
“Just giving you a little lesson. You tried to separate me from my soulmate, to sever my bond with her …” Alkrevas turned to look at Luna, who was in the grasp of two female knights whom he knew were Commander Abony’s subordinates.
“I would love to repay all of that, but unfortunately, I don’t have much time to entertain you.” He turned around and examined the sharp claw-like nails as sharp as knives.
“The leader of Foryeust handed you over to me. He said to do whatever I wanted with you.” Slowly, Alkrevas turned his body and leaned closer, observing Ghea’s eyes, which reflected fear. However, there was also a hint of revenge in them. “I heard that eyes are the most precious thing to a Fae. Isn’t that right?”Content provided by NôvelDrama.Org.
“No… don’t…”
Alkrevas grinned and brought his claw close to Ghea’s eyelid. “You severed my precious sacred bond, and as you said, an eye for an eye.”
“It wasn’t my fault! I didn’t do anything! It was Luna’s wish! I just followed her will! And that potion came from Abigail! I did nothing wrong!” Alkrevas clicked his tongue softly and turned to Luna, who shook her head quickly with a pleading look.
Those brown eyes looked so beautiful when filled with tears, making him and Norris purr with delight. Then he turned his gaze back to Ghea. “No! Not my eyes!”
“Too bad it’s already too late…” Alkrevas thrust his claw into Ghea’s eye, then gouged out both of her eyes before throwing them to the floor.
Ghea screamed and struggled but couldn’t move at all due to the invisible chains binding her entire body. Blood flowed profusely, mixed with tears. Her cries of agony echoed throughout the temple until finally, Ghea’s head drooped, creating a pool of blood on the temple floor from the blood dripping from her eyes. Alkrevas stepped back, approaching Luna, grabbing a fistful of the woman’s hair, and yanking her head back, examining the right side of Luna’s neck where his claim mark faintly appeared.
His hand lifted, gently touching the area as he murmured, “You test my patience, little mate.” Then he released his grip on Luna’s hair, turned around, and swiftly walked over to Ghea, plunging his clawed hand into Ghea’s chest and grasping the rapidly beating heart of the Fae.
“You seem to already know your fate when in my hands. That means I can kill you right now.” Ghea coughed violently, her mouth spewing a large amount of blood, and her now-empty eye sockets bled even more.
“Look, Luna. What I do to a criminal like her.” This time, Alkrevas’s words were directed at Luna, who stood frozen with a pale face.
Alkrevas growled softly as he pulled his hand out, his face glowing with delight at the sight of the heart beating in his hand before it finally stopped. He snapped his fingers, releasing the transparent chains surrounding Ghea’s body, and the now-dead woman collapsed onto the temple floor. Alkrevas kicked Ghea’s body with his foot before turning and walking towards Luna with Ghea’s heart in his hand.
“Release my soulmate’s hands,” Alkrevas commanded the two female knights holding Luna. They immediately obeyed and let go of Luna, causing the woman to collapse weakly to the floor.
Alkrevas slowly lowered himself, kneeling on one knee in front of Luna, and wiped Luna’s face with his blood-stained hand. “Should I give you a gift, Luna?”
“Alkrevas…”
“Shh… don’t call me that. You no longer have the right to call my name,” Alkrevas said as he gripped Luna’s jaw tightly, his claws digging into her skin.
He pulled Luna’s face closer and whispered, “I will punish you. I will make sure you never dare to betray me again.”
“No. Please… listen to me first.” Luna whispered faintly. “I didn’t betray you. Please believe me. All of this… it’s their doing…”
Alkrevas didn’t react. He chose to stand up and grabbed one of Luna’s wrists, placing Ghea’s heart in her hand, which made Luna scream and struggle as the wet, soft texture and the red color made her breathless. She never imagined holding a heart in her hand, especially a heart that had been so easily torn from someone’s body. “I give you the heart of your ‘precious friend.'”
“No! No! Let go!” Alkrevas released his grip on Luna’s wrist, and the woman threw the still-fresh heart far away. Her brown eyes stared in horror at Ghea’s lifeless body lying on the ground before screaming and curling up in fear, crying and begging for mercy. Alkrevas watched all this in silence, folding his arms across his chest. He glanced briefly at the shattered portal mirror. He smiled in satisfaction, knowing the only way home for his woman no longer existed.
Luna would forever be by his side. His heart fluttered at the thought of their time together as soulmates. “Forgive me… please… believe me…”
“Alpha.”
Alkrevas shifted his gaze away from the shards of the mirror. He had already imagined the wrath of the leader of Foryeust regarding his actions in destroying this region’s sacred artifact, but Alkrevas didn’t care. If Foryeust wanted war with Vasilos, that wouldn’t be complicated.
He nodded and looked at one of the knights who had just called him. The knight approached and said something startling. “The protective shield suddenly shattered. Goblin forces are attempting to bring down the fortress.”
“What?”
“It is reported to be the work of a black witch.”
Alkrevas clenched his fists tightly and stared at Luna, who had fallen silent with her head bowed. “Where are the mages from the Magic Tower who came with us?”
“They were hit with paralyzing magic.” Alkrevas nodded. One of the members of The Shadow found Damon unconscious near the palace area close to the emperor’s residence, and it was reported that the commander of The Shadow had been hit with paralyzing magic. Just as the knight reported, it meant that this was the work of one of the black witches who had escaped. Alkrevas chuckled softly, the adrenaline still coursing through his body. He couldn’t wait to capture those two women and kill them most horrifyingly.
“Useless.” Alkrevas looked around the temple, which was nearly destroyed by his power. He hadn’t even unleashed his strength, and the place was already almost leveled. “Prepare the teleportation gate. We will return to Vasilos immediately.”
“Yes.” The knights accompanying him answered in unison. They ran out, leaving Alkrevas, Luna, and Commander Abony alone. Even this mission had been completed by Alkrevas alone, without help from others, except for Thea Abony, who freed Luna from the roots binding her body. That’s why Alkrevas only participated in important missions and preferred to stay and guard Vasilos. Now, because he was outside Vasilos, something had happened that threatened the security of the superpower empire. Thea Abony glanced at the woman sitting on the floor before turning and stepping toward the exit. Still, her steps halted when Alkrevas called her name.
…