Chapter Forty-Nine

I let out a shriek as Dhruv melted my father into sand. My father, Alpha king of Trinigad, was no more. He had died. Unable to put up a fair fight, he was turned into sand alongside sage Bernadette and Calixto.

I confronted Dhruv, my voice breaking with anguish, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, ALEXANDER?!" I screamed, voice laced with disbelief as I stood up on my feet. I scampered towards where my father once was and tried picking up what was left of him. . .but it was all sand. I couldn't even hold it properly in my hand. The sand kept slipping away from my fingers. "I refuse to believe everything that's happening is real. I refuse to believe my father is. . .I refuse to believe he's dead."

"Wake up to reality, Annalisa," Dhruv's sinister laughter echoed from behind, his presence hovering at my back like a dark shadow. "Not everything is as it seems on the surface. Sometimes, one must delve deeper to uncover the true nature of things."

Uncontrollable tears slid down my cheeks as I stood up an