Chapter 14 - Darkness
Apollo
Balor let out a grunt before moving back to his side of the table. I sat across from him while Nesrin sat beside me. Her hand instantly found mine. The sparks of the bond calming both of our nerves are the faint sparks travelled up my arm.
"We didn't really understand it then. But our own personal hell started the night we left for the Dark realm five and a half years ago."
*Five and a Half Years Ago*
"Do we have everything?" Nesrin asked for the fourth time tonight as she looked over her pack one last time. I nodded as I grabbed the last of the herbs we needed to make a tonic to hide our presence once we entered the Dark realm. It wouldn't last forever, but it would at least give us the advantage for a coup
Chapter 15 - RotNesrinThe air was thick with fog as we were dropped into the dark realm. I cursed as I vowed to pay Weylyn back for these inconvenient landings through the Everlasting portals. Surely there had to be a way to not end up on our backs every time we were transported this way. I groaned as I sat up. Apollo was up before me, reaching out his hand to help me up with an amused smirk on his lips.And eery silence surrounding us along with rotting foliage. The trees were bare and brittle. The sky was grey, and the magic that greeted us was heavy. It stuck to you like sweat and made your hair stand on end. Everything in me was screaming at me to turn back. To run away and find safety, but I couldn't. We couldn't.A crow's caw in the distance made me jump. I felt Apollo's fingers tighten around my mine. I looke
Chapter 16 - CaptiveApolloI didn't protest when the guard grabbed me. My mind was only concerned with keeping Nesrin safe and away from all these bastards. I forced myself not to look at the bush that she was hiding in.The creature who captured me was destined to be cruel. Not because he was a guard in one of the darkest places we knew to exist but because of what he was.It didn't take a genius to know he was a vampire. Besides the obvious porcelain skin and undeniable allure, he seemed to have. His red eyes and how swift he moved would have been a dead giveaway for anyone.I just hoped I was enough of a distraction to prevent him from smelling Nesrin's blood or hearing her heartbeat. Because the only thing we couldn't protect ourselves against with this concealment potion was Va
Chapter 17 - PreyNesrinI watched as they tied Apollo up. I watched as he was forced to run behind the beast I now knew to be a Nightrider. I waited long enough for them to move up the path before defending further down onto the forest and trying to track them down the path.I forced the air beneath my feet to move me fast as possible as I moved forward. It was harder to use my magic here. Dark magic ruled this realm, and using my regular magic was more straining as the energy of this place seemed to suffocate it."We should shift," Ahmes suggested again. But doing so was too risky. I couldn't conceal our presence if we shifted. And now the concealment potion was almost conflated out of my system soon. I wouldn't even be able to hide my magic either.
Chapter 18 - SourceNesrinI pushed my magic into my palms, blasting air directly into the Commanders chest. He flew off of me with a cry as he slammed into a tree. The tree broke in half at the impact. I wanted to admire how far I had managed to throw the Vampire but didn't have time as I rushed to my feet.I turned and ran once again, forcing my limbs to move as fast as possible. Suddenly a hand gripped my braid, and I was flung backwards through the air. I screamed in fear as I flailed through the air like a ragdoll. A shadowed figure floated above me, and in the next second, their hand was on my chest, and I was plummeting faster towards the ground. I forced my magic around me, the air forming a shield between me and the ground as I tried to soften the blow.
Chapter 19 - Caged Apollo The cages smelt like piss and shit. Whatever beasts and beings they had captured during the trek through the South weresnarling and groaning as we passed. Claws, partially shifter arms, and bloodied hands reached for us through the gaps of the bars. Viggo continued to push me through the stench and past the cages that somehow managed to contain those monsters. The smell faded slightly as we moved further down the line. The beings encased in these cages were quieter and curled into themselves. Most had their backs turned to the bars. They had more human-like features, and we're most likely shifters and other beings that were banished here. "Don't stare at any of the others if you wish to wake in the morning," Viggo instructed as we stopped in front of the last cage
Chapter 20 - Royal BloodNesrinSleep had finally caught up with me before early morning. The Commander hadn't slept in his tent, but that didn't make me feel any safer. I fought off the heaviness of my eyes until they finally claimed me. When I woke, I was covered in thick furs. My cloak and pack were resting against a chair by the burning fire.My stomach turned at the thought of how easy it would have been for him to kill me. How easy it would have been for the Commander to drain me dry, and I wouldn't have realized or had enough energy to fight him off.But he hadn't done that. Instead, he had kept to his word. and I wasn't sure what to do with the information. Was he an ally, or was he just trying to buy my trust so he could take what he wanted?
Chapter 21 - RunApolloWe were escorted from the throne room, from hell. Actually, I was pretty sure the King of the underworld had more dignity than this male ever did.It took everything in me not to lung at him just for the way he eyed Nesrin up. Like she was a fucking snack he couldn't wait to devour. I was sure if I still had my wolf, I would have snapped, unable to hold him back. But, even without him, I still had this primal need to protect Nesrin. I noticed it before all of this, but I kept pushing it down. I might have even considered choosing her as my mate if things were different.But who was I kidding? If things were different, I would have never lost my wolf, and I would have joined the royal guards and probably never had a chance to meet he
Chapter 22 - SurvivalNesrinThe world around us was utter chaos. I was frozen in place. My mind was blank. All the training we had done over the last year vanished in this moment of pure and utter panic.I braced myself for the impact of fangs ripping into my flesh. But instead, I was pushed out of the Vampire King's grasp. My eyes locked on Apollo; I couldn't move, couldn't think."Nesrin, run," Apollo shouted. His voice snapped me out of whatever spell my fear seemed to be casing over me. The enraged growl of the Vampire king shook the ground.I looked at the King and then Apollo. His eyes pleaded for me to flee, to get out of this mess and survive this hell we had now found ourselves