LOGINISOLDEI dragged the man through the village, passing by the other villagers as they watched but no one dared to stop me. “What do you want with him?” I demanded, but Knox only laughed in a way that seemed as though he was amused by the question. “You’ll see.”“I’m not doing this for you.” I said through clenched teeth as I continued to drag the man across the village. “You already are.” Knox responded to me. The man stumbled as I pulled him along, his breath uneven, and I could feel his fear growing with every step.“Please,” he said, looking at me now, really looking, searching for something in my face, “what did I do?”I didn’t answer because I couldn’t, and it only made worse because I couldn’t. When we got to the palace gates, The guards stepped aside immediately without any hesitation and no questions asked. “Take him down to the dungeon,” Knox said.My steps didn’t slow down as I did. The halls felt longer than usual and more quiet, the sound of our footsteps echoing in
SERAPHINA I thought that the moment I had stopped hearing the voice, it meant that it had disappeared completely but I was wrong. I was standing by the table, doing nothing important, just trying to keep myself distracted, trying to act normal, trying to convince myself that everything from before was over, that whatever that voice was, it had stopped. Then my hand moved.Slowly, I looked down at my hand. “Don’t start,” I whispered.“Start?” the voice replied, calmly, it was already there. “I never stopped.”My chest tightened, “I told you to leave me alone.”“And I told you that you don’t give orders.”I clenched my jaw, forcing my hand away from the table, forcing myself to move, to prove that I was still in control.“I’m not doing this with you,” I said, walking toward the other side of the room.“Walk slower.”My steps slowed down immediately. I stopped immediately after, my breath catching as I realized what had just happened.“No,” I said quickly, shaking my head. “No, that wa
SERAPHINA “Seraphina.” I heard my name before I even realized I was awake. I froze then tilted my head slowly to the side. The room was quiet, nothing was out of place, nothing was moving either, just the soft stillness of early morning, but the sound of my name was too clear to be something brushed off as a dream. I sat up slowly, my eyes scanning the room, “Hello?” I let out but there was no answer. I let out a small breath and rubbed my temple. “Great. Now I’m hearing things.”I swung my legs off the bed and stood up, trying to shake it off, telling myself it was nothing. I was just stressed out from everything piling up at once, and my mind had finally decided to break in the most inconvenient way possible.“Seraphina.” The voice came again, making me stop in my tracks. That was definitely my imagination. I turned sharply this time. “Who’s there?”Everywhere was still silent with my voice echoing into the distance. My chest tightened slightly, but I forced myself to stay calm
VAELARIONThe moment the door opened, I didn’t need to turn to know who it was.Cleyton walked in, the priest’s robes brushing softly against the floor. He was holding a bowl in his hand that had the sharp scent of herbs reaching me even before he spoke a word. “You’re awake,” he said.“I don’t remember the last time I truly slept,” I replied, my voice rough.He didn’t react to that, just stepped closer and set the bowl down beside me.“This will help,” he said as a greeting. I glanced at it, then back at him. "Barely," I responded weakly. He nodded before looking around. His eyes suddenly landed on a table afar off. He walked over and placed the bowl on the table before coming back to me. I studied him for a moment, taking in the way he stood unchanged despite everything happening around us.“You’ve done more than required of you,” I said slowly. “I owe you a lot.”Cleyton’s hand stilled for a brief second before he looked at me, “You don’t owe me anything.”“I do,” I said, my vo
ISOLDEKnox’s voice was growing louder and louder inside my head. Everytime I tried to close my eyes to sleep, I heard his voice. Everytime I tried to relax, I heard his voice. “You’ve been quiet,” Knox said inside my head, one time I had tried relaxing again. I shut my eyes for a second, forcing myself to breathe slowly. “Leave me alone.”“I won't.”My fingers curled at my sides. “I said leave me alone.”“You don’t give orders anymore.”My anger rose quickly, “Watch me.”“Then stop me.” he said. I immediately went still. “What do you want?” I asked when I was finally able to form the words. “I want you to complete a simple task for me.”“I’m not doing anything for you.” I spat out. “You already are.”My jaw tightened. “No, I’m not.”“Take a step forward.”I didn’t move, I struggled to hold myself in place, every part of me locking up, refusing to give into his order. “Take a step forward,” he repeated.I tried stayed still again, not until my foot moved...by just one step. I ga
SERAPHINA It felt as though the entire world had stopped running in its natural order. I couldn’t feel my fingers even when I wrapped my hands around myself. My fingers felt dead to me, but that wasn't even the worst part about all of this. There was something else that had started out as a feeling, it was quiet and subtle, like something shifting beneath my skin, something I couldn’t see but could definitely feel, and the more I tried to ignore it, the stronger it became. I sat up slowly and unwrapped my fingers around myself and pressed them against the edge of the bed as I tried to steady myself.“What is this…” I whispered.I could feel something breathing inside of me, like something that had always been there but had been sleeping, and had now finally decided to wake up, and now that it had, it refused to be ignored. My breathing deepened as I became more aware of it, the energy moving through me. I stood up, the moment my feet touched the ground, it hit me again, stronger
SERAPHINA’S POVMy body felt like it had been drugged by a heavy substance... No, it felt as though I was missing parts of my limbs because I couldn’t feel them. I tried to move but not even my finger would budge. The texture of the bed wasn't helping, it seemed as though I was lying on top of a r
ISOLDE’S POVThe day Caelum was to embark on the journey to the Lycan Kingdom was drawing closer and I had not received feedback from the messages I had sent out to the rogues which was concerning. Each letter I sent out was costing me money without any results. It was time for me to take matters
SERAPHINAI couldn't shake the dream away, no matter how hard I tried, and it stayed with me even after I woke up and forced myself to sit up and breathe slowly. I still felt the impact. I even washed my face and told myself it was nothing more than something my tired mind had created, because it
ISOLDE"We haven't really had the time to pack yet. I do want us to leave tonight but don't you think we need some time to gather a few resources like edibles for our journey."I thought about what Rosa had said. She had a point, we don't know how far this hybrid was from us and we were to travel b







