Miaka’s P.O.V
Gods grant favours to only those who work for it.
But sometimes miracles happen. Someone somewhere gets a surprise that changes their lives forever. Sometimes it’s a pleasant surprise, sometimes unpleasant. And sometimes that miracle might as well be a curse. And sometimes, we spend our entire life debating if that miracle was actually a curse in disguise or a blessing.
I’m one such miracle.
Eighteen years ago, a war was started between Hades and Suzaku, the Beast God of Fire and of the South, about who would rule over the Fires of Hell in the Southern Hemisphere. The war claimed many lives and went on for years until two of the fiercest warrior women; the Demon Zara, Hades’s most trusted Lieutenant and the Angel Alysa, Suzaku’s most trusted commander, died fighting each other.
The Gods were grief stricken and ended the war immediately before it claimed any more of those they loved. A truce was made between the Gods as they retrieved Zara and Alysa’s souls and combined them to form a being which was neither Demon, nor Angel but both. And thus, I was born.
A celestial hybrid, but a hybrid none the less.
It is the biggest secret of my life…or it was, until a few moments ago.
“The choice is yours, Miaka.” Rihero Von Palestine, the dragon King’s face was an unreadable mask, his aura dead calm. “Either I let the Dark Council know about your actual identity and they strip you of all your power and hunt you down until you’re dead. Or, you can marry me and together we rule everything.”
“You think I’m scared of death?” I asked him, masking my emotions behind iron control.
“No.” Rihero lifted his shoulders lightly in a shrug. “But you’re scared of what will happen after you die. The only reason the Dark Council is stable as of now is because of you.”
“And marrying you is going to solve everything?” I arched an eyebrow. “What guarantee do I have that you wouldn’t turn on me after I’ve agreed to this ridiculous proposal?”
“You don’t.” Another shrug. “But like I said, you don’t have a choice.”
“Fine.” I shrugged. Rihero’s lips tilted up on one side, thinking that he had won this battle. That was until he heard what I had to say next. “Tell them. I’m tired of keeping secrets anyway.”
If he was shocked, he didn’t show it. His expression remained the same.
Honestly, I couldn’t figure out if I should be shocked or disgusted or angry or repulsed or everything at once. What exactly had gotten into Rihero? I know that he’s nearly two thousand years old and people of that age often get too bored with life and want some kind of excitement in it. But I had never expected that the man I had thought of as a father figure would want to marry me and would resort to blackmailing to get what he wants.
What the hell was wrong with him?
I had known Rihero from a very early age, but not as early as I had known the other members of the Dark Council.
I wasn’t born, but brought into the world through a ray of light falling down from the heavens. And I was specifically sent to this dimension to rule as King because on my back, I had the birthmark that determines the Kings of this dimension, the mark of the Phoenix.
As the Kings and Queens of other dimensions had arrived to greet me, Rihero had been absent, subtly telling everyone that he was least interested in matters regarding the other dimension members.
But when I was four, I remember falling into a pit of vipers as I explored the outskirts of my territory. I had escaped my charge and was running wildly through a field when I had accidentally fallen into a large cave like hole in the ground that had been filled with vipers. The snakes had immediately begun to wrap around me, hissing and spitting poison. And that was when I had seen him…Rihero.
His expressions had been impassive even then as he had reached in and hauled me out, even as many a viper had stung his arm. He hadn’t bothered with the snakes; he had simply dusted me off and reminded me to always follow the rules.
And then he had walked of like nothing had happened as I had stared after him for as long as I could. He’d become my Hero, the father figure I didn’t have. But now, looking at the man sitting opposite to me, I was having a hard time understanding what could possibly have gone wrong. Was it really him? Or was this an imposter wearing his skin?
“If we are done here, I’d like to excuse myself,” I told him with the politest smile I could manage. “I have some errands to run.”
“You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.”
That was all the explanation I got before Rihero’s image disappeared from the mental vault I had created especially for this conversation.
A second later, I opened my eyes to the sight of millions of books around me in the palace library. And the only question on my mind was:
“What the hell just happened?”
N.B: This is book 5 of The Dark Council Series. The first book is called The Vampire's Bride and the second is called The Incubus's Secretary. Both these books have been published and are available on A****n. A different version of The Incubus's Secretary is present here, called The Incubus and His Secretary. Book 3 and 4 are still WIP and I'm not focusing on them at the moment. Hope you enjoy and please do check out my published books to know more about the series.
Miaka’s P.O.VI came out of the shadows provided by the alleyway, but I didn’t let down the cloak of darkness that surrounded me. To the naked eye I’d look like a shadow amongst shadows, a blind spot. The darkness was my friend, but I’ve yet to perfect this technique. It drains energy if used for too long, not a lot, but it could be my downfall if a battle went on for longer than anticipated. But tonight would be a short fight; my quarry was at a direct line of sight.They were carrying a huge sack with them. If it weren’t for all the blood that soaked the sack deep red and scented the air with its pungency, anyone could mistake it for a stack of potatoes, misshaped and lifeless. But it wasn’t. It had someone in it...someone immortal.My men have been tracking these people for days now and we finally had a lead on them. This wasn’t the main base, not by a long shot, but this is where it’ll be
Miaka’s P.O.VI was looking around the central base for evidences when Rain, the commander of my elite guard, came to stand beside me.“Your Highness, all immortals are secured and the scientist has been contained .Our team has also gathered all evidences of DNA they could find in and out of the warehouse base.” Rain bowed her head in a curtsy. “The trucks just left for the rehabilitation centre. We await your orders.”“Thank you Rain, I’ll just do a last check and then I’ll burn this place down,” I said as I looked at the deserted warehouse. Who could have thought that such heinous deeds were being committed inside this innocent looking building?“Shall I escort you?” She asked.“No. Go wait in the car outside, I’ll be right there.” I told her and headed towards a door at the back of the factory. The cold storage has to be somewhere in
Miaka’s P.O.V“He’s alive.”I’d nearly forgotten that he was beside me when his voice cut through the rush of blood in my ears. I couldn’t fathom what I was seeing in front of my eyes. A lump formed in my throat and I was having difficulty breathing past that.A boy of about four or five years old was inside the room, chained to the wall like a dog. He was left naked just like the rest of the captives, face sunken in and dark bags under his eyes. His lips had dried blood around them, which led me to believe that he was a vampire. Several tubes were linked to his skin which had turned a sickly ash colour. Some of the tubes drew out blood from his body that was being collected into several jars, while the remaining tubes carried some kind of clear liquid into his body. I have no idea what the liquid was, but it was the cause for worsening his condition.“Hey!” Someone shook my shoulders hard a
Miaka’s P.O.V“Hydrogen Cyanide.” The healer informed me when I went to check up on the boy. “A very diluted amount but lethal at such a young age. If you hadn’t gotten to him on time, he would have died within an hour at most.”I sighed, rubbing my hands down my face. “How long will he take to recover?”“His body has shut down, making him go into a temporary coma so he can regain his strength. He should be better in a week or even less, but I have something to show you.” Katherine Sanders, the prime healer mage and my best friend, took me to the room where the boy was being treated and it struck me anew how cruel the humans had been to a child. We came to a stand in front of the boy and Kathy lifted up one of his arms and turned it towards the light.Tiny fang marks dotted his wrist, as if someone had tried to drink his blood. “He’s a vampire. Who could have drunk fr
Miaka’s P.O.VI was crowned when I was two years old. Not because I was the intended King, but because my adoptive family had to protect me.They knew I was a hybrid. And hybrids were the enemy.Eons ago, there used to be just one world, one dimension. Different creatures lived together in harmony. It’s not that there weren’t wars, there were, but that was considered the natural order of things. Wars over territory kept the population of the supernatural in check; making sure that no one species ever dominated the world.But that all changed when the species started inter-mating and hybrids were created. Some of those hybrids were unstable, unable to control their powers, and as a result, thousands of creatures were killed, both humans and supernatural. That’s when the five most powerful Mages of the world, the Fiostros, untied to form dimensions for the individual creatures and divided our world forever, thus savi
Miaka’s P.O.VI stepped on the first staircase that led down the hall where the party was being held. My grapy stood beside me proudly, followed by my uncles Geraldine and Kameron. Nervously, I looked down at the awaiting crowd.“He’s not here yet.” Grapy squeezed my hand reassuringly. But I knew he would be here soon and he was going to make quiet an entrance.Smiling despite my anxiety, I nodded at grapy and we began descending the stairs to the sound of cheers and surprised gasps. My brother, Lyric Von Crusader, the King of the shifter dimension, was the first to greet me as he pulled me in for a bear hug.“Damn! I can’t believe you only just turned eighteen!” He pinched my cheeks lovingly. “It seemed like you had aged way before your time.”“Maybe I had, you never know.” I winked at him before being passed onto my next brother, Lancelin, the Incubus King and his
Miaka’s P.O.V“I agree.”I watched as satisfaction dawned in his eyes and everyone else looked at me in horror. Rihero was confident he had won, that he had me exactly where he wanted me and he did…except, I wasn’t going down without a fight.This time when I spoke, I looked him in the eye, noticing every tiny detail. “I agree to marry into your Kingdom. But I will not be marrying you, Rihero, because you’re so old you’re practically an ancient and that would just be paedophilic. Instead, I will agree to marry your son, Jayden. He is the heir apparent and your successor, not to mention he’s only two hundred years old, so it’s an acceptable age range. Don’t you think so?”With every word I spoke, Rihero’s eyes changed colour, becoming darker and darker until they were completely obsidian. He tried to keep his face expressionless, but he was failing, I could tell
Miaka’s P.O.VI stopped my car a few meters away from the warehouse, in case someone was watching. There was only one heartbeat that I could sense in this entire area but there could be cameras or other devices that could pick out my car and I didn’t want to destroy the electronics right away and give anyone reasons to suspect. Kaleb had especially“Kaleb? Are you there?” I looked around the abandoned warehouse but found only dust and broken boxes. But when I strained my ears, the faint sound of a heartbeat could still be heard from nearby. “Ka-”Suddenly I was being pulled aside by my and down a flight of stairs through an open trapdoor. Bright lights were being turned on the next instant, blinding me temporarily before the somewhat familiar face with the unique eyes came into view.“Was that really necessary?” I asked with a frown while dusting off my jacket.“They’re in