With flames, the thrones crumbled slowly, trapping Ki's parents in the disaster.Taku had come from nowhere, bumping into Belladonna as she tried to escape, while he headed straight into the fire to save the trapped Village Heads.He was able to save them, but before he could find time to save himself, a log fell from above, knocking him down, while his yell of pain morphed into the screams that filled the night. Everywhere had been thrown into chaos, everyone was tending to their business, running away, trying to survive the fire.The screaming, the shouting, the running.It was all too much for them to notice his own need for help.It was chaotic.Ki's parents had also forgotten Taku as the guards surrounded them to bring them to safety, the attention mostly on Ki's mother who had inhaled too much smoke and was now unconscious.Ki was there too. Well, the news of the fire must have spread."Don't go." The voice next to Belladonna startled her, her focus turning immediately to wher

"And since you are lucky enough to have my interest, you must stay alive. A piece of advice from an experienced person, only help people when it benefits you."Phew!His cockiness was annoying, annoying enough to change whatever heart skip that had just happened.Or maybe it was the rage that clouded it.Whatever it was, at least she wasn't feeling it anymore. Thanks Ignas, that was a good thing. "Helping people is what got me into this situation. Stuck in this place for more than two hundred years."Belladonna gave into a burst of sarcastic laughter, the price a hefty one.The headache almost seized her breath, but the rage she felt towards Alaris' words kept her going. "Helping people? You gave a boy a curse in disguise of a gift.""So you believe me, you believe my story." He still sounded close, in fact, he sounded a little happy and that made Belladonna angrier. She looked up at the sky. The stars were gone now and the dark clouds seemed to be clearing out slowly."Believe y

A couple of stairs down and a guard ran up to Eli, delivering a message about a Witch's attack on Nakunriver."She set everywhere ablaze!" The guard had declared breathlessly. "Almost killed the Village Heads!" The message had put Eli on edge a little and Belladonna had expected to take an excuse to attend to the report, believing that he would assume it was the One with the White Aura as he always did. Belladonna was in for a surprise though. Eli had dismissed the guard with an errand instead, waving aside the report as if it was nothing. That was strange. It was also strange that the message had gotten to Eli so quickly, he must have gone ahead with his plan of putting his messengers in each village.An unsettling feeling ran through Belladonna's veins. As if she didn't have enough on her mind about the Blood Moon and how the timing might not be in her favour, this strange attitude just had to add to it. Where was Eli leading her to next?This didn't feel good. What was goi

Eli had been puzzled when he had found Belladonna this morning, sleeping in her study and her gown damp, slightly ripped at some parts, with the hem of her dress, burnt a little.Suspicion had hit him like a swinging brick, but he hung onto denial.She couldn't possibly be dreaming of the Bride Thief. That was impossible. He would have known way before now if she was. He had tried to convince himself that the dampness was from sweat. He had even deluded himself into thinking she was pregnant and excessive sweating was a sign of pregnancy.As for the burnt hem, maybe she had read overnight again and caused a fire, which she had already put out. It wouldn't be the first time his Donna was causing a fire from her nightly readings. As for the ripped parts of her dress, he had told himself that her dress had suffered that, while she had managed to put out the fire all on her own.With half his mind believing that she was sick and hiding it from him so he wouldn't have more to be worried

Belladonna had prepared herself for anything but a boat ride on musky waters, the crickets of the night, the fog, the dark starless sky, and the eerie movement of the boat as Alaris paddled it quietly on the surface of the open dark river.The water rippled gently as the paddle move through it again and Belladonna rubbed her arms from the cold, looking in all directions, searching for something, anything.There was nothing, only darkness, and the fog. They were alone. Sometimes, it even felt like she was the only one. "Going to a realm is different from going to another village." Alaris had said when she had asked why they were taking a boat there, instead of just shifting there. "The rules here are different." He had concluded. When she had countered him with the "How do you know about that? Didn't you say you haven't gone out through anyone's dreams before?"He had replied that realms were different, and he knew the realm Thantou stayed in, because he had once been there. He di