Eren followed Henry with bored eyes as the later paced the room back and forth, worry written all over his form, and even though the shadows' lord was worried as well, the human king was on a whole other level.
His heart was about to burst out, and his brain was about to explode out of his skull with all the thoughts and possibilities running all at once inside his head.
They were supposed to hear from the scouting group three days ago, according to his calculations, the forbidden sea was rather a narrow one, and the sail wasn’t supposed to take more than a day, but it has been four days already and they didn’t get any news.
Not only his two best friends, the ones he grew up with and loved as brothers, were on that sail, but the woman who was slowly nestling herself in his heart.
The thought of her warm smile and her simple yet alluring beauty warmed his heart for a fleeting second, she l
“What do you mean?” Both the shadows’ lord and the human king asked worriedly, not missing the desperation in the ice queen’s voice which quivered with every word as if it was draining her.For someone as powerful and strong-willed as her to sound not only that desperate but also weak and exhausted was more than alarming to both the men in the room staring at the black book with worried eyes.“Did something happen during the sail? Where are you now?” Henry asked with urgently, his heart clenching with fear and anticipation.“Weren’t you able to reach the center?” Eren asked, his voice more composed than the other two, even though he was equally worried, only that his worry was mostly on the mission, and not the soldiers, including himself.“We did make it to the center, but most of the group died on the way, I am so sorry!” Rima&
Henry took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the refreshing air of the sea, but instead of loosening the knot that formed in his abdomen, the freshness only made it tighter, mostly because he knew what was waiting for them in those open waters.His ship was on the very vanguard of the armada, followed by the five hundred ships filled with the combined armies, each ship having the same number of human soldiers, shadow demons, and ice demons in order to create a balance that would help them when it is time to face the rumored sea monsters.“We are almost there!” Eren whispered next to him, his voice barely audible as his eyes scanned the horizon.“Can you see them from here?” Henry asked while following the shadows’ lord line of sight, but he saw nothing except the calm blue water reflecting the first rays of the sun.“No! but I can see the irregularity of the wa
Eren hissed in pain when another creature bit his shoulder the moment he landed on another ship, it was an attack he couldn’t evade for he was in his human form, holding back most of his demonic scent for he knew that it would hide the faint one that attracted the monsters to him instead of the humans.Not his own, but the scent of Sara’s blood.It was the only reasonable explanation he could come up with or the monster’s weird attraction toward him, to the point where they ignored the humans and chased him from one ship to the other, because he was the one who consumed her blood directly, taking a bigger portion than anyone else, and he was a hybrid, his human half was unable to hide the strong divine blood like a pureblooded demon would.But why? Eren asked while jumping to another ship, his bleeding wounds leaving trails of his blood for the monsters to smell and follow, he knew he was losing too muc
Sensing her prey’s pain and fret, the woman’s lips stretched into a wicked smile, revealing a set of decayed grey teeth, amused with the futile attempts of the fly trying to escape her creatures’ grip, her chest rose in victory and pride, for she knew that the prey she got this time was not like any other.This particular prey had something particular about him, he was a young man, full of life, he smelled so manly, so sharp and masculine, exactly the way she liked them, she was getting very tired of the boring intruders who would have been already dead, this one was the change she was craving, but there was something else about him, something palpable even from such distance, dark like her days, sharp like the canines of her pets, and cold like the depths she lived in, the thought of the rare combination made her mouth water with all the things she planned to do to her little toy after she is done asking him questions and feeding her curiosity.Eren
The safe ways were the shortest, ones that never took far, and his was a long one that obliged him to take all the risks.As if the inside of the mountain was made of a giant bubble where he could breath, Eren welcomed the air inside his lungs, taking long and deep inhales, not caring about the vile woman who clearly enjoyed his misery.“You survived the dive! I am impressed!” clapping her hands few times, the woman continued with the same proud attitude “Fascinating, isn’t it!” she gestured with her hand around the place, Eren ran his eyes around the empty cave, unable to detect the fascination the woman was talking about, it was but a large dark cave, filled with random unmatchable items, ones which were probably stolen from the destroyed ships that dared to cross the forbidden sea.“And beyond! How can I breathe here? And how come the cave isn’t filled with the seawater?”“That is my doing, even tho
“Keep on switching positions, the ones in the back, move forward, take the positions of the ones in the front, don’t lose focus!” Henry marched the board with wide, quick strides, his voice authoritative and strong so none of the crew would miss his orders, even though not everyone was willing to follow them.Looking back at the back of the ship, Henry wondered if the shadows’ lord was still alive, it would be a miracle if he was, and since he was on his way to fight the Gods, he doubted he could prey for a miracle.Henry looked at the faces of the crew, wondering if he would see them on the returning sail, if he would be on the returning sail, and if there will be one in the first place, it was one of those rare moments where he felt the urge to lock himself in a room and just fret, panic, away from everyone else.Henry was never a coward, however, he wasn’t the reckless kind who would throw himself in the way of danger out of hero
Resuming his movements, Henry gave the crew more orders, warmer and more encouraging this time, talking to each one of them individually and giving them something to hold on to while telling the leaders of the other ships, using the skill of the shadow demons, to do the same, it was all to keep the soldiers focused on the presence by preventing them from being lost inside a labyrinth made of their own thoughts, their own weaknesses and fears.“Your Grace, here!” answering the call, Henry walked towards the center of the ship, where a little crowd formed around one of the soldiers, judging by his lost expressions and their worried ones, the human king understood that the soldier, who was a young demon, was under the effect of the fog.Standing in front of the soldier, Henry wondered what should he say to him, he was but a boy, fifteen years old at best, his thin built and pale skin indicated that he was an ice demon, the shadow demons were larger, some
Meeting the ruby eyes that held not just the unshed tears, but the undeniable missing, lodging, and joy, Henry forgot all about his royal status, years of etiquettes' lessons were long gone the moment he saw her face, with all the emotions he was feeling inside his own heart reflected on it.He didn’t bow down courteously, nor did he take her hand to kiss the back of it, he didn’t give her the warm smile which used to be the way they greeted each other, nor did he bother with greeting words, there was no need for those, for their eyes said all that needed to be said and more.A distant memory flashed in the human king’s mind, making him mentally laugh at himself, back when he was a child, he acted like the perfect young prince h