CHAPTER FOURTEEN
I woke up at the sound of the horns and the drums. When I opened my eyes, it was already morning, yet the clouds were nimbus and dark gray. It was the sky’s warning that it would rain despite the winter snow.
I was lying flat on a cold hard surface. My wrists were tied above my head so as my ankles. I could see how my chest was rising up and down from my petty position.
People were scattered around and doing some dancing rituals while chanting unknown languages. Their hairs were decorated with white and black feathers with red stains painted on their faces.
I was wearing the same dress from last night. I tried to free my hands from the cuffs but it was useless.
“Hey!” I screamed.
They started dancing around me. A young girl went to my side. She dipped her fingers in a coconut shell and painted my face with the red liquid lik
CHAPTER FIFTEENThe Marchans then changed into their angel form. They unfolded their hidden wings and spread it wide and free.“Protect our Mother!” the girl who mixed our blood commanded her kind.They managed to free themselves from Fafaniya’s power.The weather was starting to go insane. The winter snow tripled and the wind blew strong and fast. A squall happened in just a split second.They carried and tried to fly with them the sick old woman they all called Mother but they failed. A strong blow twirled to our direction and it made all of us slammed on the trees, including the Mother.“Woah!” Fafaniya spun in the air like a dry leaf blown by the wind.My back ached from the impact and we all landed on the icy ground.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN Our sudden appearance inside the cave made the bats tousled around. My heart jumped and every one of us got surprised. The path was dim with only the light coming from the other end and Fafaniya’s glowing presence. “Gosh!” Fafaniya shrieked. She then hid behind me. “It is fine, Fafaniya. They are already gone.” I assured. The bats flew towards the light, more frightened than us. In the middle of our way to the other end, I finally had the opportunity to change my clothes. “I think I need to change.” I interrupted the group in the middle of the walk. The men simultaneously looked away. Prince Conrad coughed a dry one. “R-Right, it must be uncomfortable.” he said in an awkward tone still not facing me. “We will wait for you outside.” Kuya Zouli agreed. He gave me my knapsack before following Napoleon who was already moving his way outside the cave. Amethyst and Fafaniya accompanied me. When I saw the three gentlemen reached the light and disappeared from our sig
PROLOGUE.Nineteen years ago, a prophecy appeared in the land of Calla Empire."The day has come. The Goblin's Bride will be born. The Goblin will rise again."It was that the same day when the King of Calla Empire died. He suffered from a disease that was slowly taking his life, and all along, it was planned by his half-brother, Prince Augustos. He let his greed took over his soul. He wanted the throne for himself. He wanted the crown.The half-blood prince’s time has arrived. The late King’s successor to the throne was not yet born. The Queen was pregnant with their first born, and it was a girl. And the half-blood prince took advantage of the situation. He used the prophecy to his advantage to dispose the current queen and the king’s heiress.Prince Augustos ordered his men to spread the new prophecy. He convinced the members of the royal court to make a roya
CHAPTER ONEThe aroma coming from the brewed coffee was always been my wake-up call. Each morning, my Mother, Samantha, would prepare coffee and bread on the table for the three of us. It was an unbreakable morning routine for everyone.Mother's passion in baking started when I was five. Besides taking care of me, she had nothing to do that would make her busy. Afterwards, she started to run a bakery business. The store was just beside our home. It was a source of income and a hobby for her.At five o'clock in the morning, she would get up from bed to make breakfast. At six, she would open her store. Her breads were loved by our neighbors, especially those widower and unmarried men of her age. Mother was a beauty. Her elegance was always been overflowing just like a royalty. She moved in a smooth and attractive way, starting from the way she poured the hot coffee to our mugs, from the way she sipped her coffee and pinche
CHAPTER TWOFear took over my soul. The thick smoke continued to expand. It was not stopping any minute by now. My palms were trembling and wet. My eyes were burning and I couldn’t utter a single word, because if I try, I would burst out into tears.Bella lost it. “Amara!” she cried and hugged me. She was crying out loud but it only tickled my ears, it was more of a whisper to me than a cry. I was hearing the loud bangs of my heart clearer than her loud cries.I started to sob when a burning image of our home flashed in my head. I broke out from Bella’s embrace and faced her.“W-we need to go back..” my voice cracked. I was out of air. My throat was aching and my chest was struggling to catch some air.I gathered all my strength to step out from where
CHAPTER THREEVoices were everywhere. My head that was throbbing woke me up from unconsciousness. When I opened my eyes, I saw the night sky. It was plain black and the moon was watching me. Branches of trees and its leaves were adding up to my view. There were no stars but the night sky was still stunning. It looked like a painting from down here.I sat up from where I was lying and a sheath fell from my embrace. It was meant to protect me from the cold breeze. I was still wearing the same wet white dress. The red stain was still there and my wound was now wrapped up with a piece of cloth. But I was still in the woods.A bonfire at the center was illuminating and keeping the place warm. Group of people were gathering around it like they were having a meeting. And I was frightened with the sight of the weapons that were placed on the ground.Memories came rushing to me. I tried to stand up without ma
CHAPTER FOURThe quest to the north took us up to three days. We used horses to hike the trails of the mountains and stopped from time to time to rest for a while and eat. During the night, half of us would sleep for hours and the other half would guard the dark. We also passed by some groups of people living in the dark side of the mountains along the way. Lucky for us that we didn't encounter those groups that were aggressive and territorial.After the long nights and the tiring days, we finally arrived to the place. It was located across a river.The camp was busy. It was a sight of people doing their assigned task, they were busy working but were happy. I saw wide variety of fruits and vegetables in the field. There were those who were feeding the animals and watering the plants. Some were cooking in the big pots and others were blowing fires under it. Cloths were hanging outside and children were playing.&nb
CHAPTER FIVEKuya Zouli took me to the camp’s headquarter and training center. The place was meters away from the camp’s heart. It was filled with training materials and equipments, with obstacles around the ground and some weapons hanging by the sides. It was not the first time I entered the camp’s headquarter. This would probably be the fifth or the sixth time, but I was here before for the reason of bringing packed foods for the trainees.I patiently waited for Kuya Zouli to spill the reason why I was brought here but he didn’t even talk to me along the way. He was just ignoring me. He would always treat me like I was some kind of dirt in his shoe.”Morning, Amara!” some greeted me when they saw us walking. “Morning too! Don’t forget your lunch.” I greeted back. I was like a parrot repeating its words again and again every time we encountered someone al