Chapter 127: Chapter 127

KAIST:

There was sorrow in my father’s eyes. I dreaded to hear what he will say.

“You are my son Kaist, and Livia is my daughter. I know it would be hard to believe even if you knew the entire story, but believe me when I say it. You are my and Merlissa’s child and no one else’s…”

That was enough for me. I could see my father was not in the mood to talk about what had happened in the past, and I didn’t have the strength to push it all out of his mouth. What he said was enough for me... for now.

“Where are we going,” I inquired.

“I have a feeling where the vampires will be going, so let’s meet them there…”

“And where is that place?”

“Laudicia – the lair of the fallen Shadow Runes.”

A heavy atmosphere had set itself before us. I hated the tension between my father and I. This was the first time we have really been alone with each other as our only company.

“Why do you think they will be there?”

“The Blasted Ones are only ever interested in the Shadow Rune’s magic. I’m sure that after they discover Livia’s magic, they would try to extract her spirit stone from her or use it in some other way. If that is the case, they would probably go back to Laudicia to create the extraction magic. We must get her and your mother back before that happens…”

“How… How did you know about this extraction magic?”

“I planned to use it once… I planned to use it to your mother after she gave birth to the two of you, but it didn’t happen…”

There were still a lot of stories to be told in Galadian’s eyes. I wish I could hear all of them from him soon.

“Let’s go. We don’t have all day.”

I trudged silently behind my father, wondering how he could have kept such heavy secrets from me after all these years.

I wondered what other secrets he had kept and how dark they were for everything to come haunting us back like this…

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TRISTAN:

“Are we close to it now,” Dahlly inquired from my back at for the third time today.

“Not yet. It might still take us a while,” I told her.

I frowned as I thought of how my Dahlly fared more and more during the last few days.

In the beginning of our journey, I was ecstatic that we had finally rid ourselves of Samalah’s influence. Dahlly had also come to accept me as her mate, and she commenced to make love to me. I had missed being together with her after all those weeks…

Recently however, Dahlly had become increasingly antsy and quite sickly. I frowned as I watched her health deteriorate right in front of my eyes.

I suspected that it was the effect of the spirit stone that had attached itself to her body. Ordinary wolves were never meant to carry such powerful relics unless of course the stones were the ones who chose their owners.

I still don’t know what happened to Dahlia back in the auction. Her memories had not yet come back, although she does remember more than before. It was more likely though that someone forced her to bind with the stone. If that was the case, we must really hurry…

Mostly though, she remembered how to use her healing powers. I hope that she remembers how to use it towards herself. I actually pleaded with her to use it, but she refused.

“I am not sick, Naskan… I just have this condition, but I am not sick.”

“What kind of condition?”

She immediately avoided my stares. It was too suspicious.

“Dahlly, why are you keeping secrets from me? I know you are sick. Are you hurting somewhere? Where does it hurt?”

“N-No… I am telling you the truth. I am not sick, don’t worry… I will feel better soon, alright?”

“If you are not sick, why can’t you just tell me what’s wrong? I want to help you feel better,” I said, getting more and more frustrated that my mate was keeping something like this from me.

“Well, it’s something I would rather say to my husband first,” Dahlly said when I tried to coax her more later on.

“Why? Why do you want to speak to him about it? I’m right here, Dahlia… Why can’t you talk to me about it first?”

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but she immediately closed it again.

“Naskan, even if you and I are fated mates, I still need to speak to my husband to clear things up… It doesn’t feel good to cheat on someone… Even if it was true that he had been cruel towards me or that he was the one who took a lover first, I should speak to him so that he and I could start anew…”

I clenched my teeth in frustration.

Dahlia and I had just started to get along. If I reveal to her now that I am really her husband and not this Naskan, wouldn’t that just ruin everything?

I didn’t want to lose Dahlly again. I wanted to stay just like this with her forever…

‘Fool! Do you think deceiving Dahlia is the solution,’ Albus rumbled inside our mind. ‘The more you hide the truth, the more hurt she’d be when she finds out.’

‘Well, she’ll be hurt either way… Why not wait some more days after we reach Laudicia and extract the spirit stone from her,’ Arthur butted in.

‘And risk angering her and breaking her heart more? What good would waiting to tell the truth be for her?’

‘Dahlia is weakening due to the stone as it is. If we tell her now, won’t she be in much graver health? Let’s think about her health first. Once the spirit stone is extracted, we can confess everything to her. Just a bit more time, and then we can finally tell her the truth,’ Arthur explained.

Thus, this was how Arthur, Albus, and I agreed to wait before we confess to Dahlia about who we really are…

Despite rationalizing my action, I still feel guilty whenever my mate called me by that blasted rogue’s name…

“Naskan, can we stop for a while… I don’t feel good…”

I eased Dahlly from my back. She was having cold sweats. I tried to comfort her as much as I could as she bent down to throw out her breakfast on the ground.

My Dahlia barely ate anything that morning, and now, she even had to expel the meager amount of food she had eaten that day…

This cannot be. We must remove that spirit stone as soon as we can from her body.

I was still thinking about Dahlia’s frail condition when I sensed it.

“Dahlia, we’ve got to run -”

“No you don’t, Naskan,” I heard a familiar voice said.

I turned around and saw Samalah’s face. It drew a blank stare. “They’ve surrounded you. You can’t outrun them.”

As she spoke, three to five more men come out of the bushes from all corners.

Darn it! Of all places, how were they able to overtake us and track us here?