The sun was beaming yet the radiant sunlight couldn't get through the thick lush forest on the East side of Loire Kingdom. The unusual growth of the trees, wild plants, and tall grasses kept anyone from the kingdom away from the forest. There was no doubt that ravenous beasts were lurking in the shadows beneath the green leaves clinging on the strong twigs and branches of gigantic trees.
The Loire Kingdom was infamous for being surrounded by forests on all sides. However, despite the wide range of forests and the possible danger it could bring to the citizens, nobles would still choose to live in the kingdom as its economy was far greater and advanced than the neighboring countries. While the war was going on between different kingdoms- fighting over small pieces of land just for the benefit it could offer, famine and various epidemic spread in the whole continent. The only place that could be considered safe was the green lands or known by its political name- the kingdom of Loire.
Success was hard to achieve without sacrifices. And the kingdom in the spotlight had secrets buried underground. Secrets that were meant to be sealed as it could bring darkness in the world. After all, the root of evil would always be the most dangerous and at the same time, a perfect haven. Where evil lurked, a price should be paid in order to live on.
The smooth texture of the wet earth engulfed the small frame of a young child whose sleeping on the ground like it was a comfortable bed. With dry leaves shredded off the trees as her cushion and a piece of flat rock served as her pillow, the girl slowly opened her eyes to welcome another day. Her face was sinking- a visible sign that she's malnourished and by the looks of her physics, she could die in starvation anytime soon. Surprisingly, the pain in her stomach didn't stop her to pull a smile on her sickly looking face. However, the smile turned out horrible with her sunken eyes and pale skin smudged with dirt. It wasn't an innocent smile that children on her age would assume to wear but a sinister kind of smirk filled with hatred and lust over something- could be power or far greater than that. Her bright green eyes displayed a tremendous desire and longing. And there was more…madness.
The young girl whistled. A dotted deer came to her and bowed its head. The girl stroked its ears with her small, shivering hands before she held tightly on its antlers. “Go,” she muttered. As if on cue, the deer moves its hind legs backward once and twice... Slowly. It stopped after a couple of steps and carefully raised it's head to lift the young girl up. “Good boy,” she praised when she was finally standing on her feet. “The usual route,” she muttered. The deer moved to the usual direction they would take every morning whenever the little girl woke up. The girl would rest her head on its back until they reached a specific area in the forest.
A few moments later and the sound of the water flowing in the river could be heard. The girl held her head and looked ahead. There was a hint of excitement in her eyes when the river was slowly revealed behind the bushes. She jumped off the deer before it could reach the bank and ran towards the clear, cold river flow. She dived her head down and wiggled it like how she saw other animals do it. “Ah!” She exclaimed after pulling out her head from the water, her hair was soaked and her face was cleansed. She felt refreshed!
“This feels good,” she mumbled and raised her foot in the air while raising her hands above her head. In one swift motion, she let her back fall on the water, dragging her foot later which caused a loud flashing sound. She struggled underwater when she had a bad fall. Thankfully, that part of the river was shallow since the water only reached her knees when she went in earlier. She propped her head up to fill her lungs with water for a second before going down once again. Taking a bath like that had become her morning routine. She couldn’t be more comfortable for the rest of the day without her bath.
“Ah, okay. It’s enough,” the girl said when the animals in the forest already gathered in the riverbank to fetch her. She went out of the water with her wet clothes and all. “Hmm… I’m picking you this time, wolfie,” she said while pointing at the gray wolf. She smiled widely when her target pulled its body down on the ground to let her get on its back. “Oh, wolfie, your fur felt so nice to hug after a bath.” The girl giggled while burying her face in its thick, gray fur. Among the animals in the forest, the gray wolf she called ‘wolfie’ was her favorite. Other animals were kind to her as well but despite the wolf’s size compared to the rest, it never showed any complaints when she demanded it to do some things for her like giving her a ride, sleeping on its back during the rainy days, hunting wild birds for her to eat, and basically, serving her in every possible way it could.
“Wolfie… you’re so warm,” Layla mumbled with her eyes shut. She scooted closer to the source of warmth, nuzzling her face on the soft and thick fur. She felt pain all over her body just like after she was beaten to a pulp, usually. But the comfort she had while embracing ‘wolfie’ soothed the pain. She could definitely roll over wolfie’s fur all day and night while in sleep.
“Get off from me,” Layla heard a man’s voice said. She frowned but didn’t open her eyes.
“Wolfie! Since when did you learn to speak the human language? Did you forget I’m your master? Let me hug you more or I’ll punish you,” she replied in a threatening voice and hugged her ‘wolfie’ tighter. “Ah! You feel so warm…so good,” Layla added.
“Stupid woman.”
‘This dog has the guts to call me stupid? Err… when did the dog learn to speak anyway?’ Layla lazily unfolded her eyes to take a peek. She had to tilt her head up to see the wolf’s face since she was snuggling on its chest. Her eyes widened when she saw something unexpected. “Holly wolf! You’ve gone so big!” She shrieked as she backed away.
The young lady rubbed her eyes again before taking a closer look at the huge wolf in front of her. To her surprise, the wolf was gone and what’s left was a naked man! “AHH!” Her high-pitched scream irritated the man was looking smugly at her. When Layla saw the man blinked, she was convinced she wasn’t dreaming.
“AHH!” She screamed again when their eyes met. Layla might be afraid, but she grasped on the man’s shoulder so tightly like holding on to her dear life. On the other hand, her knees were pressed against his abdomen, ready to push him once he tried something suspicious. The man smirked and covered her mouth with his hand in an instant. Layla hadn’t foreseen it, thus she admitted he was a step ahead of her. ‘I still have my hands on his shoulder,’ she thought, justifying her action as self-defense.
“Stupid woman. Why are you so loud? Do you want to die?” The man asked her in his deep voice which gave her chills. He tried to get away from her but her hands wouldn’t let him go. He sighed and let her have her way all she wanted. Frustration was visible on his face, but he seemed tired to deal with it.
‘No, I was with wolfie and the others just now. How come there’s a stranger in front of me? I don’t recall having anyone else other than me in this forest… forest?’ Layla looked around her when she realized she was not in the open just like what she expected. Her eyes almost bulged out from its sockets when she found out she was inside someone’s room. Not just any other room but it was a spacious one, she could feel it was as she didn’t get suffocated. She removed his hand from her mouth while glaring at him.
“Where am I?” Layla asked and roamed her eyes inside the room. Her grip only getting tighter as she scanned the entire room.
The room was dark if not for the candles burning on every corner, Layla wouldn’t see anything. She could barely see the colors of the curtains hang on the windows. The smooth texture of the sheet draped around her was also nice though she couldn’t tell if it was her dress or just a cloth used to cover her nakedness…right! Layla’s face flushed a deep red when she realized she wasn’t wearing anything and if not for the cloth she had over her, her naked body would be exposed. Not that she didn’t care about it like before but this time was different, she was hugging a man who was also butt-naked and something in her guts was telling her it was dangerous.
Upon realizing her current position, Layla believed it was best to stay away than to keep the man under in her hold. She hastily let go of his shoulder and would have had a jump off the bed if there were no hands to snatched her back to where she was and a heavy weight to press her down the bed. A handsome yet seemed to be in a foul mood not-so-gentle-man, smirked as he looked down on her underneath.
“Why don’t you find out yourself? You already caused me a lot of trouble last night. How can you act innocent like you don’t remember anything at all?”
Zev Wesley stared at the young lady who was keeping a confused look on her face. He was amused at how she could forget something so important that happened the previous night. In all years he was trapped in the heart of the forest where he could only live his immortal life, Zev had never encountered such a disastrous ritual like when his supposed prey turned out to be more ferocious than he was. If not for the curse cast on him, he would have been already killed. And looking at the lady’s innocent expression made him want to kill her. He despised her… particularly those pair of green irises she had. It was no doubt, the lady’s eyes were his biggest weakness as it reminded him of his past… the past he always wanted to forget.“Keep your mouth shut and don’t make any noise,” he ordered after pushing a pillow on her face. Zev stood up from the round bed and walked towards the window t
“Um… what are you doing?” Layla asked the man who was not saying anything but bumped their foreheads and that’s it. “I thought you’re going to tell me what happened?”Zev opened his eyes and moved away. “I changed my mind. It’s better if you don’t know anything,” he replied although deep in his mind, he was wondering why it didn’t work for the lady. Bumping their foreheads like that should allow them to exchange some particular memories and that’s what he did. It didn’t just turn out like what he expected.“As a punishment for breaking the deal which you proposed, you will be my companion from now own. If you don’t understand what it means to be a companion, then let me put it simply for you,” Zev held her chin and looked at her face thoroughly. “You have to s
Zev Wesley was the strongest of his kind. And his kind was superior to any other races. He was born a king. A ruler. A god. A demon. Feared by many until a curse ruined his plan to rule the world. The curse that forced him into isolation. It was a tragedy that he learned to get over with for decades, something he’s supposed to accept but that was no longer the case. The deity’s astral appearance tickled his frozen desire for revenge. And there was Layla, a newly-found companion he got. The young lady was not only fierce, but her lust was fueled with madness lurking within her. If he couldn’t achieve his goals, having someone do it for him was more befitting for a king like him.However, to have someone beside him would mean he was no longer capable on his own. Zev would rather be called a ruthless demon than a merciful king. He wanted to rule the world on his own without relying on anyone. But what could he
‘Shit!’Layla slowly opened her eyes when she felt a various presence surrounding her. Her hairs stood up from her pores when the hungry wild animals were watching her as she crawled on the ground. She laughed, pathetically. The burning feeling she had in her chest kept boiling the blood to fuel her already mad system, turning her madder than she could ever be. Just like that, the pain and uneasiness were gone. All she felt was hunger. Layla was thirsty for cries, woes, and agony. She wanted them all together at once.“Grrr!”The lascivious pack of wolves was carefully watching her every move. They were starving, and she was their target; A piece of fresh meat to be grounded in pieces into their mouth. With the saliva hanging from their darkened fangs, Layla knew she had to be extra ca
Fate was something that’s hard to battle with. A fateful moment confronting luck could happen in everyone’s life at least once or twice. It was hard to decipher at times and difficult to accept on some occasions. When the guardian of death came to fetch someone on earth to the other world, fate was the only one that could stop it. It could be either a fateful destiny or a fateful lucky day. As for Layla, she didn’t know which she belonged with though she was a stroke of sudden bad luck arrived and saved her from her dying last moment.“Mm…” the beaten up young lady moaned when she opened her eyes. The sun rays hitting the shiny, clear and seemingly smooth object by the window reflected a solid white light that hurt her eyes. She was not used to the light yet and having seen too much with such brightness was not easy for her to take. “Ah!” A husky scream came out of her mouth w
‘Almost!’ Layla heaved a sigh after successfully saving herself from falling into the pit of danger. She was lucky to grab on the stronger branch next to her. With her trembling and bleeding hand, she moved her lower body up and crawled closer to her goal.“Ha-hahaha!” A hilarious laugh escaped her mouth despite having her throat feeling dry, she couldn’t help but cheer on herself a bit after escaping death several times already. Layla teared-up while laughing a lot. When satisfied, and actually could hardly breathe to laugh some more, she rested her back on the branches spreading in a different direction. She was right about it. The spot was perfect for her to get some rest in the meantime. At least, she had to find ways to fix her broken arm.The ripping sound of cloth when she yanked a piece from her shirt filled her ears. It was like an irate rhythm in her head which annoyed her somehow. The shirt she was wearing was tattered which made it easy
Zev woke up to the sound of the rain. He rubbed his forehead as he tried to remember what happened.“AH!”A loud cry coming from outside made him quickly get up from laying down on the floor. The rain was not too heavy but enough to make the ground muddy. His lips turned up when he saw a young, beautiful lady desperately holding on to the tree branch. It looked like she slipped and was afraid to fall, so she couldn’t let go despite the condition of her hand.“What the heck?” Zev mumbled when he sighted the lady’s other arm hanging on her side. It was utterly useless, and he was amazed by how she kept herself alive. “She’s tough,” he praised her.His eyes wandered under the tree. Zev was surprised to see a pack of gray wolves and red foxes. As far as he could remember, those wild animals dared not to come around his mansion. He shook his head when he remembered calling them out to challenge the lady. “Ah, it seems li
The crease on the man’s forehead appeared. Layla frowned at his expression. “Please put me down, Master. Trust me, I will not disappoint you.” She gave him an encouraging smile.“Did you hear what you just said?” He clicked his tongue while staring directly into her eyes. She stared back at him, and they remained quiet for a second until the man’s face turned dark.*Bogsh*“Ugh!” Layla groaned when her back landed on the ground. She spitted blood as she muttered a firm “Shit” under her breath. It was not her first time but the pain was always memorable.“What’s with that glare?” the man asked her when she threw him a scowl. “Didn’t you want me to put you down? I just did you another favor,” he refuted.‘Wow. He can actually say something like that,’ Layla thought. She bit her lower lip to prevent herself from starting an argument. Little did she know, the man had to do the same to stop himself from