By the time they had entered the central city, it was late afternoon, the sun was on the west angle of the sky.Instead of heading for his mansion, Wayne had ridden them directly to the heart of the city. To a large, tall building that had several floors and was bustling with activity.He got down from the horse, Jason also alighted from the cage carriage and drew up close.Candice was expecting him to order Jason to take her home, but instead, he held out his hand for her to descend. She took his hand and alighted as well."Return to the mansion, I will be back shortly," he ordered Jason. "Come with me," he said to her and he walked into the big complex.Candice waved at Jason "Take care of your wrist when you get home," she said and then followed after Wayne.Coming into the complex, her eyes took in all she saw. This place was huge, there were huge statues of carved sculptures, in a row, and behind each statue was a top to bottom portrait of men. No doubt, each of them had been kin
As they came outside the complex, a black, polished coach with horses was waiting for them.He opened the door and held it for her, she got in and took a seat, and he joined her. The coachman whipped the horses and the carriage began to move.Candice looked around this strange coach, she had never been in one before. She had seen it in many classical movies, but in her world, they had gone extinct. What people usually utilized as a form of transportation were cars, bikes, trains, and airplanes that usually ran on petrol or diesel. A few population drove Tesla cars that were electronic, but a vast percentage of the population used vehicles that functioned on fossil fuel."Why are there no cars on plane Woede? I know you have been to my own world, you have seen the development there," she asked.Wayne's eyes were focused on the view outside the window as they rode by "It is not as simple as you think, the matter is complex.""What is making it complex? I know money is not the problem,"
"That was fast Wayne," a smooth feminine voice said.Candice did not see the person that had spoken, as she stepped into this lavish house that was designed with state-of-the-art modern interior décor. The inside of the house looked nothing like the outside. Her eyes roamed this spacious beautiful apartment as she heard the clattering of metals from behind the kitchen island."I must say I am surprised you actually used the bead to inform me you're coming-" a lady rose up from below the kitchen counter. Her words trailed off as she saw her, and then she smiled briefly "Oh you must be Candice."Candice inclined her head, wondering how she knew her. It seemed like everyone knew her around here before she even had the chance to meet them."Wayne, I see why you informed me of your visit, very unlike yourself," the lady said turning her attention to Wayne.Just like most of the women Candice had seen in recent times, she was beautiful. She had long curly red hair with big round honey brown
"What?" Wayne asked looking perplexed.Candice who had been acting oblivious, but observing them from her position on the couch, inclined her ears. Interested to hear what was causing the decline in the hinterlands.Sabine resumed her reading "Any plane affected who desires to overcome must take off the branch from the tree of life, grind it to powder, and pour it over the dead shard. Once the piece crumbles to dust, the veil shall once again be made whole. This is a tested and trusted remedy."Sabine clasped the book closed after she was done reading and folded her hands across her chest. She looked up at Wayne who had begun to rub his chin in thought, his eyes grew hooded in contemplation."Don't even think about it Wayne, it's impossible.""It seems to be the only way," he grated."Do you know where the tree of life is? It is planted in Hades' lair. Would you enter the realm of the immortals? It's dangerous," she objected."How ironical, that the tree of life should be hidden in a
"This is the alleged tree of life? It's all over the United States of America," Candice purred over the image.Sabine snapped the book shut "It may look like it, but it is nothing like it."Candice raised her hands up in surrender as she took a few steps back. She was beginning to observe that the hot lady disliked her methods being questioned. She would not meddle in her 'business' with Wayne."I am ready to proceed," Wayne said wriggling his shoulders and stretching out his limbs, physically preparing himself for his mission."Okay, hold on a bit," Sabine said and rummaged in her cupboards for something. She finally pulled out a handful of sage along with a black chalk. She lit it up on her stove and began to move around Wayne, holding the smoke to him. After which she rubbed the black chalk in the middle of his forehead, the chalk absorbed into his skin."Why are you doing that? Is it some sort of ritual?" Candice couldn't help but ask."It is to mask his scent and protect him. The
Wayne stood at the edge of the cliff.Sabine's portal had taken him straight to the area where the immortal realm trans- versed on the earth's plane. His walk from where he had crossed over to this spot, was a moderate walk of about two kilometers. On his way up here, he had passed through eucalypt groves, plenty of dead trees, and hollow logs strewn around. Red and grey gums grew along subsidence cracks and stringy bark, and narrow-leaved trees dotted the landscape. All these reminded him of the exact state of the hinterlands, strengthening his resolve.Hades' lair as the amortals referred to it, was located in Sydney, Australia. The humans had named it 'Burning Mountain', because of a mysterious, never-quenching fire which burned from thirty meters underground up to the surface and expelled a continuous cloud of smoke through the vent, consuming the elevated plateau and leaving it bare and barren. Humans believed that the fire had been raging for over five thousand years. Well, they
Candice raised her glass to Sabine "Cheers."Sabine clinked glasses with her "Cheers girl."They were sprawled out, side by side, on two separate mats on the seashore. It was an evening beach party; the place was packed full of people or rather beings in different bathing suits.While most of the ladies wore sexy, colorful bathing suits, the males wore nice briefs or boxers. A beach fire had been set up and they were together in a group, dancing around the fire. The style of dance was the La Bamba dance of Mexico.Sabine and her didn't join in on the dance, they were more focused on the mocktails that were being served around. And were both on their third glasses since arrival with a large bowl of potato crackers and avocado dipping.She didn't expect that she would be enjoying the party so much. Unlike the Wolfen plane of Woede where everybody acted very strict, and courteous. Adhered to a rank system, and practiced monarchy. Much like old Britain.However, this place was different.
At that moment, a male walked up to them out of the dance group.He was beckoning on them to join in the dance.They both politely declined, but he would not budge. He held onto Candice's hand, pleading with her to join him. When his persuasion was getting too dramatic, Sabine urged her to join him for a short dance.Immediately they got to the dance floor, the music on the stereo changed from a rowdy La Bamba to a slow salsa.Males and Females broke up from the circle into a pair of twos."Can you dance the salsa?" The bare-chested, hot-looking guy asked."I don't know how to dance any dance," she said shyly.Honey-colored eyes winked at her "Anyone can dance. Especially someone so beautiful as you," he said taking her hands "just follow my lead, beautiful."Unsure of what to do, she let him hold her hands and lead her. They began to move with slow steps.The male was well built with an athlete's body, he was five feet nine inches. A good height compared to her small frame, his hair
Her heart pumped hard in her chest as she tore through the woods.Mists swirled all around giving her the perfect cover she needed, but the hurried sounds of her feet gave her position away.Yet, she could not dare stop.She could hear their footsteps, hot on her trail. Two pairs of legs ran after her. As a nymph she was fast, but as werewolves, they were faster.The clouds of mist that was a blessing was also a curse, because it obscured her view. It seemed the mists seemed to get denser the more she ran deep into the trees.She had no idea the direction she was taking. Beyond Sabine's house, she was not familiar with the landscape. She barely knew her way around this plane. Whenever they left the house, she was always in Sabine's company.Not that she had gone out much, she spent most of her time crying and sulking the early days of her arrival.If she was thinking properly, she should be heading in the direction of the town. But right now, her head was messed up and she just wanted
Bernice felt her knees grind against the scorching sand.She had been shoved to her knees while the sorceress ordered two of her men to go after Sabine.The place on her neck where the knife had pricked stung, one good thing about her newfound amortality was that the cut would heal without a scar. She hoped with all her heart that Sabine was able to leave.It was sad that she had been caught, but better one of them, than both of them."What is taking you so long? You can't even handle a girl?" Zipporah snapped from her position on the ground, where she stood gazing up at the house.One of the men said from within the house "The halfling is gone.""What?" Zipporah's face creased in a frown."I don't know, one minute she was here and the next she wasn't," the man replied."I think she escaped through a portal that I saw her create, when I was up there with them," the man that was holding her down on her knees, told Zipporah.At his words, Zipporah slapped him hard, across the face."Inc
The third beetle flapped its wings and took flight, it snatched up one of the men and ascended up to the sky."Do something Zipporah, don't just stand there!" The man left on the ground to fight against the two beetles snapped at her."I am the one paying you, why should I do the work for you?" She yawned and put a hand to her mouth, looking bored."If we all get killed, of what good is your gold?" He retorted."Okay, I'll help you," she snorted and formed a large fireball in her hand and sent it to the sky to hit the beetle. The beetle lost its strength and began to fall to the ground.She made two more fireballs and threw one to each of the remaining beetles on the ground. They quivered and became weak.The beetle from the sky crashed to the ground a few meters away from the house clearing. Before it reached the ground, the man it was carrying had jumped to the side, allowing it to crash alone. The body shattered to pieces from the momentum of the crash.The two beetles left became
Cracks and fissures fanned across the walls of the house.She heard the squeaks of her building and the entire house wobbled.Sabine crawled back from the window.What was that fey doing here?The last time she had seen her was at her castle and she had absconded, leaving everything behind when Wayne had come after her.No one heard from her since then, Wayne had searched for her continuously and then finally gave up when he realized she was hiding in his uncle's fortress. The one place he could not breach because of the spirit of the dragon.So far, she had stayed away from her. Not attempting anything, because she knew that Wayne was her close associate.What had given her the temerity and the boldness to come out of hiding and attack her, on her plane, in broad daylight?Judging from the fireballs she was using instead of explosives; she was still treading with caution.Though her house was tucked away in the woods, just a few hundred meters away from the main town settlement, the
"Do you want to tell me what happened during your journey on planet Uranus?" Sabine probed.Bernice shook her head, no."But you should have known that Rojan is set on his principles. He has been that way for decades now," she said."I know," Bernice said and looked away, averting her eyes."You should have known he is righteously waiting for his fated mate," she added."I know," Bernice replied and wiped away a tear that slipped down her cheeks."Oh dear, why did you do this to yourself?" Sabine dropped her handbag and drew close to hug her."I thought I would be able to win him over, I thought I had a chance," Bernice cried as she hugged her tight "Now I know I will never compare to his mate. More so, now that I am a nymph.""Hey," Sabine drew back and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Don't feel bad for being a nymph. You are beautiful and the right man for you will love you no matter what you are.""I hate him, Sabine. I hate him so much for being so nice to me and making me fall fo
"Don't touch that," Sabine said and collected her bones from Bernice."Okay, I was only looking at it," Bernice said and took a small meteorite rock from the counter."And don't touch that," Sabine said, grabbing the rock from her and returning it to its former position."Okay, okay, I won't touch anything," Bernice raised her palms to the air and retreated to the sitting room.Sabine let out a deep breath, feeling exasperated.Three weeks had passed since Bernice appeared in her house full of tears and looking all different.She had consoled her and agreed to help her. But Bernice was a handful. It was not easy trying to contain her excess energy.Sometimes, she felt like she was raising a toddler who was curious about life and wanted to try everything out.She was funny, outspoken and the life of a party. Her company was enjoyable and she was fun to be around. It would have been less stressful if she could learn her boundaries.Sabine's eyes flipped to her sitting in the living room
Three weeks had passed by with her still locked up in this cell.It had been a hard time for her.After locking her up for seven days, Smeden only returned to bring food and water to her three times a day.On the Seventh day, he told her that his Lord had instructed him to ask if she had reconsidered her decision.She glared at him without answering, so he left.The next day, her food rations reduced significantly and it dropped to twice a day.She ate without complaining and slept most of the day or chatted with the Oomukade, whose name she now knew to be Luke.Once daily, she was let out of her cell and allowed to bathe and use the restroom for her needs. After which she was escorted back to her cell.While her body and hygiene remained clean, the rest of the dungeon stank. Most of the creatures here were not given the privilege of bathing and going to the restroom, so they just did their business in their cells, stinking up the entire place.On the fourteenth day, Smeden returned a
She had just fooled herself once again.The truth of his words hit her like a slap across her face.There was no lie in what he had said, she ran away from something good to end up here, in this terrible situation.Wayne never treated her this way. If anything, he had saved her from being brought here a long time ago, he had saved her friend also.It was now she knew what he had done for her, the important role he played as her protector, her shield, her safe haven.The first contract he made her sign was an act of respect for her free will. Even when he could have easily forced his will on her. Despite deceiving her he had protected her, taken care of her, and tolerated her excesses.Yes, he had hurt her in the end. But he was not perfect, neither was she.She really wished she had confronted him with the second contract, she should have given him the benefit of the doubt and talked things out with him. Maybe he had his reasons for drawing up such a contract.Communication was key in
"What?" He asked.She heard the irritation in his voice."No," she repeated, shaking her head."You will defy me, reject my offer, and deny me my desires?" he thundered as he swatted the nymphs away from him like flies.She bit her lower lip, unable to answer.He began to advance toward her, his face was hard as a rock and he was evidently pissed by her disobedience.She took a step backward and another. For each step he took toward her, she retreated. Fear made her skin crawl."I gave you a choice, to choose between comfort and captivity, out of the liberality of my heart. Yet you prove stubborn," his words dripped with anger.Her heart was in her mouth when she saw that her refusal had triggered him.What would he do to her? Surely, he would not kill her now, right?"Guards!" He yelled.In the blink of an eye, Smeden and another male appeared from around the corners and rushed to him."Take her and lock her up in the dungeons until she reconsiders my offer," he commanded.And just l