Chapter 144: Chapter 144

DAHLIA:

“Didn’t you ask me for help earlier? I’m going to give you what you want now,” Samalah said, shooting me a fierce look. “In exchange for this, however, I want you to give me your face and your entire body, Dahlia…”

It was an absurd proposition. I didn’t quite understand what she wanted from me exactly…

Does she want me to sell me? Is she asking for a body part, like a heart or a liver?

Before I could speak, somebody came at the mouth of the cave we were staying in. It was the other rogue who stood as our guard earlier.

He looked at me and Samalah and the dead rogue on the floor.

“What did you do,” he said in wild frenzy.

“Stefan, he frightened me… He went here unannounced, so I acted out of impulse,” Samalah replied as she hooked her arms around the rogue before us.

Despite experiencing firsthand how Samalah could act deceitfully in front of other people, I was still positively awestruck to see her get moved to tears and spew lies to cover up what she had done.

“Tsk, I thought this one came for the she-wolf… I didn’t know he had his eyes on you,” the rogue called Stefan said, drying away Samalah’s tears.

“Yes, yes… Thank you for coming in here to my rescue,” Samalah said, turning Stefan’s back towards me as she hugged him.

I could only look as she created a piece of solid icicle from her hand and pierce Stephan’s body without so much as a trace of remorse.

It was a quick kill. As soon as Stephan collapsed into the floor, Samalah went towards me. “Come now, or are you going to wait for the world to end?”

I wouldn’t and not with my child inside me. I followed her as quickly as I could, leaving a final glance on the two dead bodies behind us.

I shuddered. Maybe if Samalah would have wanted to, she could have killed the entire group by herself and escape from them.

Just before we have exited the cave, however, the forest was submerged into an orange-tinged hue.

I can’t believe it! Of all the days we have decided to escape, why was there a forest fire?

Samalah’s grip against my chain became harder as we saw Lord Irvan approach us. She immediately positioned me into the entrance of the cave in an attempt to conceal the dead bodies inside.

“The woods is on fire, let’s go,” he thundered at us.

“Ah just a moment, Lord Irvan. Let me just gather our things…”

“There is no time for that, Samalah! Let’s go,” he said, holding Samalah’s free hand against her will and dragging her and me as a result.

Two more rogues joined us as we sprinted, my legs almost unable to keep at the rate by which we were running.

My head was spinning wildly. This would be the perfect time to get away. The forest would be in utter chaos, and Lord Irvan and his men would have a hard time catching me because of that…

Moon Goddess, if I could just get this silver chain off my neck, I could try my luck at running away…

Just then, a strange sensation spread against my neck. Fire was blazing here and there, so there were a lot of smoke and heat, but why was my collar leaving a tingling sensation against my skin?

Just then, I looked down at the chain of my collar which was clasped around Samalah’s hand.

Of course it was all her doing! She was trying to freeze the chain around me!

I tried not to squeal despite the rapidly changing temperature of the leash around my neck. The freezing cold was just like the heat – it was making my nerves tingle uncontrollably in irritation.

Just when I thought I couldn’t stand it any longer, Lord Irvan looked back, and to my horror, he realized what Samalah has been doing all along.

His grip against her wrist tightened. “Samalah!”

At the exact moment that Lord Irvan spoke, the silver chain and collar around my neck had broken into pieces, thereby freeing me from Samalah’s grasp.

“Run,” Samalah hissed.

I didn’t need her command. I turned around and sped to the opposite direction.

The rogues on my left and right attempted to stop me, but as soon as I raised my hands against them, I felt the red ruby stone inside me do its work. They were instantly burned by the flames that erupted from my hands.

I had run a great deal before I looked back at Samalah. She was pinned underneath Lord Irvan. I tried to fix my aim, but it was difficult to throw a fireball at Lord Irvan without injuring Samalah as they rolled around the ground.

Just then, the ground that Samalah was pinned under shook. She, together with Lord Irvan, had disappeared underneath as water began to spread from where she was.

I ran farther as the water started to spread. Now the water had become a deep puddle on the ground. Samalah and Lord Irvan were still nowhere to be seen.

I kneeled down at the edge of puddle. Was Samalah somewhere in there? Was she still alive?

Just when I had almost deliberated to jump at the puddle, Samalah’s head bobbed out in front of me in the water, her sleek, blonde hair and pointy ears looking beautiful despite the chaos around us.

“Let’s go,” she said nonchalantly as if being underwater for fifteen minutes was the most natural thing in the world. I had almost forgotten that she was partly a water fairy.

She flung her body dry and clutched my wrist away from the scene. We began running in the opposite direction.

In the distance, I could see a manmade rough road. That means there must be a village nearby, right?

My heart was already bursting out in the hopes of our immediate freedom. Just then, I heard a blood-curling scream.

“Samalah!”

It was Lord Irvan. How the hell did he survive that underwater assault?

Samalah dug her nails into my wrist as she sped up. I tried to keep up with her pace as best as I could, but my legs gave way, as we trudged into the muddy road.

“Get up,” she urged me. “There’s no time!”

I could hear the sounds of people somewhere nearby. Someone must be coming!

“Dahlia,” Samalah turned to me as the sounds came nearer. “Say that you give me permission! Say it!”

“W-what?” What was Samalah trying to tell me really?

“My request – that you are giving yourself to me completely – say you permit it!”

The sounds of hooves and horses became clearer. With it was also the sound of Lord Irvan’s deranged voice.

“Damn it, say it, Dahlia! Just give me your yes!”

“Alright! I do, I do!”

Samalah laid her hands over my face. A strange sensation has gotten over me. My body started to itch all over from underneath my skin.

“It’s done,” I heard Samalah say, her voice sounding very strange to my ears.