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[Kian]To kill someone in someone else’s dream using a jinxed weapon, in terms of dark magic, meant erasing all the memories that person had of the other in their life. It would be a small painless amnesia for Carys, but if Ruin’s dagger had pierced my chest in Carys’ dream, I would have been erased from even the smallest fragments of her memories. It’d be as if I never existed in her life.Ruin had possessed me in Carys’ memories, so Zarek manifested himself in Carys’ dream using the dream link (handcuffs) Carys had put on herself and me. I had been monitoring Carys while she slept. The psychiatrist who Carys talked to was a doctor from Xafran, an expert Hexist. She told me that Carys’ nightmares were being hexed by two different dark manas. One hex had already been weakened and removed by the other dominant one that had been spreading in her mind.But Carys never remembered her nightmares, so the Hexist suggested that I enter her dream through the dream link and see what actually w
[Kian] Sitting on the edge of the bed, Carys put on my shirt. She hadn’t spoken a word ever since I asked her about Zara. Something about the heavy change in her aura stopped me from prying deeper at the moment. Thick tension remained hung in the silence between us. After putting on my pants properly, I laid on the bed staring at the ceiling. Something about whatever happened between us didn’t feel right suddenly. Apprehension gnawed in my stomach. She got down from the bed, trudged into the bathroom, locking herself inside. Only when she turned on the shower did I sit up on the bed. I picked up her clothes from the bed. ‘Maybe you should have used a condom,’ Zarek said awkwardly. Licking my lips, I let out a sigh, throwing our clothes on the armchair. ‘Maybe she didn’t want it the way it happened?’ Zarek said. ‘You aren’t helping at all right now. You are just making things worse,’ I grunted. ‘It’s about Zara. Something happened, Kian. And from the way her silence felt,
[Carys]I searched for the college Edith had graduated from. It showed—Morvill University, Wordswood.I ran my fingers through my hair, showing the search results to Kian.We exchanged a look of understanding while waiting outside the changing room of a mall.“Get yer dirty hands off meh, ye slimy fish!” Morana yelled from inside the changing room. “Not my braid! Don’t ye dare touch my lucky braid!” She yelled at the store manager who was helping her change her look that suited a high end gala.Nox had been rather self-conscious and flustered when he entered the mall. As if it was his first time entering a mall. He had quietly and stiffly walked into the changing room with the three piece suit and the male helper to assist him wear it.I wish Morana could be as mature as that kid.“I’ll feed ye to the dire octopus in the Drunken ocean! Get yer tentacles off me, ye squid of a lady!” Morana roared from her changing room and I let out an exasperated sigh.Verity let out an annoyed grunt
[Carys] I chose a simple black dress that corresponded with the dress code of the gala. Men were to wear formal attires that had balanced air of both sophistication and sensuality. Masquerades dewed with morbidness and mystery. Attendees were encouraged to be creative with their looks as long as it held onto the decency of intellectual eroticism. Women were expected to maintain the same vibe of eliteness and fantasy. But not blurring the lines’ appropriateness. They were to wear elegant long dresses in colors black, burgundy or dark green and face veils from nose and below. They could get creative with their jewelry, hairstyle and heels. Gloves were compulsory for all. “How are we supposed to go to an unlocated location?” I asked, looking at the invitation card on my phone. “Just let the right time come. You’ll know how these events work in Xafran,” Kian said. “Have you been to this gala before?” “Not this gala, but I have been to several others for business,” he said, and I s
[Carys]Some guests looked as confused as Verity, Nox, and I. While some guests wore an air of cognisance around them like Kian and, quite unexpectedly, Morana. The hall was bathed in a soft, serene glow. The warm light from a thousand candles flickered in the hall. Chandeliers and candelabras added to the artistic light and dark ambience.Several archways branched out from the hall. The way darkness lurked beyond a few feet of those archways, I was curious to know where they led to. But my experience in this foreign land hadn’t been the best, so my curiosity could have a nap for the night.The hall was filled with subtle whispering and hushed conversations. Every word seemed to be echoing back, hitting the intricately designed walls as such that every inch of the wall had tiny marble statues telling a story. There were huge stained glass windows flanking the balcony and the staircase which led to it.Refreshment tables were arranged all around the hall filled with all kinds of cuisi
[Carys]“We meet again, belladonna…” Ruin’s voice tensed up every fiber in my body. The song that slowly picked up pace in the background did nothing to diffuse the darkness that lurked in his greeting.My hand involuntarily went over my cleavage. Ruin’s gaze dipped to my hand over my chest, and a subtle smirk appeared on his face.“Indeed…” Kian held my wrist and pulled me behind himself. He walked in front of me, sliding his hand in his suit’s inner pocket. He pulled out a black king of clubs card between his fingers. “I had been waiting… eagerly to see you again, Ruin.”A sudden apprehensive gravity fell in the entire hall and I wasn’t the only one to feel it. The music stopped and the dying candle flame burst into bolder, more violent flames, filling the hall with blinding light.“Ruin?”“Oh, my god.”“Someone call the hunters!”“Inform the Guild!”The crowd scurried away from around Ruin.“Oh, dear… what’s going on here?” Illumi hovered near the balcony. “I heard someone say Ruin
[Carys]Morana and I kept running through the endless dark corridors. Everywhere we went looked exactly the same. It seemed as if we were just moving in circles.Panting, both of us stopped at the junction where the corridors met.“I can’t do this. Go ahead,” I said. “I need to go back. I can’t leave him behind.”Morana ran her fingers through her hair, looking around at the corridors that branched from the junction.“Is there an exit at all?” she asked, panting as if she had never heard what I said. “I am sure even the unlocated locations have exits and entrances. If not physical, then magical. We just… need to find them. Although I am not sure what to expect beyond those corridors.”I peered at her.“You go ahead and get out of here. Illumi said capturing me was their priority. They won’t come after you until they have caught me. And now that I know they are after me, I will not be caught so easily. If you meet Nox, take him and leave. If the invitation works the way Kian said, Nox
[Carys]Reality bled into my unconsciousness with the loud pattering of rain mixed with snow against the glass windows. My eyes opened to the intricately designed old fashioned arched window, flanked by inbuilt bookshelves. A black couch was placed between the bookshelves.Beyond the streaks of raindrops trailing down the outer surface of the windows, a storm raged. Ominous monstrous clouds cannibalized one another, hanging low in the dark sky.I could hear waves crashing against the shore. “Kian…” My breaths came out as a fog before my face. Cold.My eyes skimmed to the glistening black ceiling as if it was made of black ice. The walls were the same. The room seemed to have been carved out of pristine black ice and so was most of the furniture.I sprung up on the bed with a groan. I clenched my bandaged chest. The claw wound on my chest had almost healed.The room spun before my eyes slightly. Holding my head, I shut my eyes. The previous night came back to me completely.Kian was