Alaris looked on, stunned. The woman's headless body rolled on the floor along with the veil that concealed her face. The gem she had in her hand did the same, before her headless body fell back with a thud. In the next moment, everything about the woman vanished including the dagger that was dug deeply into Eli’s lifeless body.Wait— lifeless body?“Mortal.”There was no response.“Brother?”Still no response.He quickly crawled to Eli, whose eyes were still open but he obviously wasn't seeing anything. “No. You stupid mortal.” Alaris' hands trembled, as he tried to stop the bleeding from the gaping hole in Eli’s chest. “How dare you let someone else kill you. It was supposed to be me. I wanted to kill you myself!”He shook him vehemently.“Wake up. Don't die like this. Ahhhhhh!” He yelled, still shaking him vehemently, a string of curses beneath his breath. Tears welled up in his eyes as they turned golden and snake-like, his growl of grief filled the air. His hatred for Eli seeme

Belladonna had seen them leaving the room and she had decided to join them. So, Eli, Belladonna and Alaris were in the dungeon to question the “lycan” as Alaris had called him. Eli had done the duty of filling in Belladonna everything she had missed about the creature and what had happened tonight. Belladonna wasn't pleased at all that her sister had almost died. “What if this happens again? What does he want with her? It must be the creature in Aniya? How can we get it out?” Belladonna has as many questions as Eli, if not more. When they stepped in, Belladonna’s eyes landed upon the threat to her sister’s peaceful existence. He looked like a man that had experienced too many wars to the point that his eyes now looked dead and tired from the horrors they had witnessed, yet alert. His sleeveless top and shorts were made out black fur cloth. He looked strange. Belladonna didn't like the aura she got from him, it made her tense. Something in his eyes made her think he was here t

“I am the one with the string,” Belladonna said when they locked Galdur up and left the room where they had been interrogating him.They were now in the sitting room of the Village Head’s house. There were only three of them here. Zesika was still with Aniya and Lytio was busy with other things, including taking care of Arlo. “You can't believe a word he says, you know,” Alaris said, leaning against the wall but it didn't seem like Belladonna could hear a word he was saying. “The red string is connected to me and it will bring Kestra back,” Belladonna mumbled to herself. “I told you that I could feel it!” She snapped, turning her attention to Eli who went rigid immediately she turned to him. He stood from the sofa slowly. “I understand how you feel,” Eli said, “but we must be logical with our decisions. The Witcher would say anything at this point and we cannot trust him. We can not believe him until we see this thing he claims has landed in our Realm.”Belladonna shook her head,

“We must wait for now to observe The Mother’s reaction to this, we need to know if the existence of the portal has fallen to her knowledge.”“Yes, Thanatou,” The Thanis soldier replied. “You have brought me great news, for this you shall be rewarded.” Just as Kestra had feared, the Thanatou handed over her chain to the Thanis soldier. “You may play with her for the whole night. A broken spirit is the most obedient.”“I am honoured, Thanatou.” The Thanis accepted the chain. Cracks developed in Kestra's renewed hope. She could already feel her spirit breaking once again. ____________The Thanis had taken her to a corner of the cave. It was a good distance away from where the rest of the Thanis soldiers or even the Thanatou were.Kestra started taking off her rags but the Thanis warrior had stopped. “I have another,” he said. “Rest, tomorrow you shall face your fate.”However, Kestra decided not to rest. She was stunned that any Thanis warrior would turn down an opportunity to “pla

“Was it here?” Her question caught him off guard and it took too long for him to interpret the words. All he could think about was the fact that she was touching him. Was she drunk? No, he couldn't smell any alcohol from her. “The dagger. Was it here?” Oh, that was what she wanted to know. “Yes.” If his hands weren't already occupied with Arlo who was struggling between sleep and catching his toy, he would have held her hand so it would stay on his skin forever.She reached for a button but paused, then she looked up at him and he gave her a subtle nod. Of course, she could unbutton his shirt! She had no idea how much it would delight him for her to do more. By Ignas, he had been starved and deprived. A suffering he did deserve. She undid two buttons of his gray cotton shirt, so she could see the affected area properly. He had told her about the Witcher's mind manipulation and somehow, she had forgotten to ask him how he was doing or if there were side effects from the dagger’