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10 - War You Started
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MAD END'S DECEPTION 11 - Come to Me Then
Six Months Ago (Part 2.1)GILDEONHe smashed through the metal gates with a deafening roar, turning the garrison entrance into a chaotic mess of stone and steel. Towers crumbled, columns toppled, and bodies were trampled under his feet as he charged ahead.His dragon was hungry for destruction.His senses sharpened, locking onto the warrior sylphs and spellcaster sylphs in their whites and blues. They stood frozen, trying to maintain stoic faces, but he could see the confusion in their eyes, could practically taste their fear. This was likely their first time to see a dragon up close. Baring his teeth, he snarled, sending another wave of terror through them. Behind him, he felt the salamanders crashing through the wreckage, knocking down enemy sylphs. Some fought with blades, while others had shifted into their beast forms, slashing with claws and whipping their tails around. Before him, the spellcaster sylphs reacted first. Their hands formed reverse triangles in front of their stom
MAD END'S DECEPTION 12 - Keep Her to Himself
Six Months Ago (Part 2.2)GILDEONThe stench of death faded, replaced by the sharp smell of burning electricity. Ghulik squirmed against Gildeon's back, his tiny voice trembling.“What is Master doing? Master is going to Mad End's Wall. Master is already maaad!”The goblin jumped off, but Gildeon didn’t bother looking back to see where he scampered off. With a firm grip on the reins, he slowed the horse, needing a clear view of the chaos ahead.The trail widened, the trees thinning out until he reached a vast stretch of drylands. The ground was reddish-brown, cracked, and lifeless, stretching to the horizon where a wall of dazzling lights towered. Colors swirled together, creating a mesmerizing, almost hypnotic effect. It was as high as five men stacked on top of each other. He could hear its hum and feel the air sizzle, close enough to tingle his skin.Beyond the wall of lights, an even higher obsidian rock wall loomed, its peak lost in the sky. They said beyond that wall was the end
MAD END'S DECEPTION 13 - Don't Try to Stop Me
Six Months Ago (Part 3)GILDEONAraheen. That was her name. He couldn't grasp why her name stirred something deep within him—an inexplicable urge to possess her. From now on, she'd be his wife. At least until he'd taken what he needed from her.They found an abandoned sylph watchtower a few miles from the Mad End’s Wall. It was where he’d taken Araheen. They would be safe here. For now.Using the tip of his shortsword, he drew Kohina’s summon sigil on the rust-colored earth, muttering her name under his steam-charged breath. He needed her help to set his plans in motion, and Kohina was the only salamander he could trust with his secrets.Afterward, he settled onto the windowsill, one leg propped against the frame. While waiting for Kohina, he inspected the sigil needle he’d picked up earlier. Silver, with a finial patterned after an owl, its eyes set with sapphires. The tip was sharp enough to prick his fingertip. Other than that, it looked just like the hair sticks Kohina often used.
MAD END'S DECEPTION 14 - Witch Lady
PresentGILDEONFor days, he'd been waiting for that powerful witch to make another move. So far, no danger had come Arah’s way, which meant one of two things: either they hadn’t traced the sylph magic back to her yet, or they were already aware and were just smart enough to bide their time.With no class today, it was perfect timing when he received news about another body turning up dead—someone who probably bore Arah’s Clover Wish too. He had to see it for himself. So, without wasting time, he drove straight to the fishing village and met up with the fisherman he had helped before.“You told me to call you if any strange jellyfish attacks came up around here,” Donny said, leading him to the far end of the shore. “Over there, Mr. Ayadi. I didn’t know what to do at first.”They trudged past boulders and fallen trees, remnants of last year’s typhoon. The low tide exposed algae-coated rocks, and even from this distance, Gildeon caught the stench of something rotten.“Master, Ghulik sme
MAD END'S DECEPTION 15 - Only A Monster
ARAH“You haven’t broken the lock yet?” Tonio's curious eyes bore into her after she admitted she couldn't get into Gildeon’s study. Of course, she left out the steamy details that now distracted her, making her heart race. Her tattoo machine hung idle as she fought to drown out the memory of her husband's lustful gaze, the intense sounds he made, and how he came hard into her mouth...She was embarrassed to even be thinking about these things while working next to her friend.‘Get it together, Arah. Save those thoughts for later,' she scolded herself.“I thought you’d have managed to peek inside by now.” Tonio’s voice broke through her reverie.“I haven’t had a chance to try again,” she replied, steadying her voice and refocusing on the cursive name stenciled on Tonio’s forearm. The delicate lines of ‘Patricia’ were a welcome distraction. “He added a new lock. It’s tricky. He’d know if I touched it.”For all she knew, Gildeon could've also installed a spy camera somewhere in the hous
MAD END'S DECEPTION 16 - His to Claim
GILDEONHe trudged up the narrow dirt trail, eyes locked on the abandoned farmhouse behind the broken wooden fence. It was laughable how people spun stories about this place, scaring the shit out of themselves. Haunted, they said. The rumor was that the old woman who died here had cursed the land—anyone who dared set foot inside would end up dead. That kept most folks away, speeding up as they passed the hill.To him, it sounded like the perfect hideout for someone on the run, like Roselia. Except now, she’d made him hike up the trail five times, never letting him reach the farmhouse gates.He halted, panting a little. He’d indulged her vindictive theatrics long enough. “You can stop this stunt now, Roselia!” he shouted, hands on his hips. “Let me in, or I’ll start burning this place down.”Right on cue, a middle-aged woman in a violet dress appeared at the top of the trail, her long copper hair swaying in the breeze. Her lips were pursed, hands clasped in front.“What do you need, My
MAD END'S DECEPTION 17 - Bought Her Flowers
GILDEONHis eyes flicked to the chamber as Ghulik started retching. The goblin was on his knees, saliva dripping from his jagged teeth, hands bracing himself on the floor. Gildeon had expected the process to take longer, but here it was already.The sooner, the better anyway.He set the grimoire back on the table and stood to watch closely, hands in his pockets. Ghulik vomited up two black, slimy eggs, each the size of Gildeon's palm.“Just as I thought,” Roselia muttered, handing the eyeglasses back to him. He felt their renewed enchantment just before pocketing them. “Two eggs. Two witches, My Lord.”He crossed his arms, shaking his head. “It still baffles me that this is how you people get the witchtrace of each other.”“Well, back in the day, it was a lot... different,” Roselia said hesitantly as she approached the chamber. She carefully picked up one egg and set it down on the clear part of the table. “Witches used to slice open their stomachs, with nothing to numb the pain.” A g
MAD END'S DECEPTION 18 - Her Husband's Secret
ARAHShe held her breath, eyes glued to the screen. The camera was angled low, showing only the bottom half of the coroner’s office door. Shadows moved across the grainy footage, but it was impossible to see a person.Then a hand appeared—not human. Something with scales and claws. Fire burst from it, and the hand touched the lock until the metal bubbled and deformed.The video cut out.Cora cursed, Mabel tried to keep the phone steady, and Tonio leaned in closer while Arah stood frozen. The hand in the video reminded her of the beastly hand Gildeon had in her dream before turning back into a human. Or maybe she was remembering it wrong. That was a dream, after all. But this one wasn’t. How was she supposed to make sense of this?“Can you play it again?” Arah asked urgently. Mabel replayed the clip. The video quality wasn’t the best, so it was hard for her to make out the details.“Is there another video?” she asked again, practically snatching the phone from Mabel this time and repla
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