Chapter 53: Chapter 53
Chapter 52:
Lancelin’s P.O.V:
“Miaka.” I called out to her and a fraction of a second later; I was free from my binds, my body slowly regaining balance and stability as I rose up from the floor.
The door to the throne room burst open and several of my guards entered then, armed and ready to take down the intruders.
“Mauve Balfour, Chrone to the Amenite Coven,” Miaka turned to her all the mages cowered away in fear. “Tell me, what has my brother done so wrong that you decided to take matters in your own hand?”
While Miaka was speaking, I motioned for Acelin, Erick and my guards to get a hold of the five mages that were now trying to disappear into the shadows. Their bravery only lasted so long as Mauve was the strongest person in the room. The others nodded and using their superhuman speed, caught up with the traitor in no time, holding their hands back and pinning them to the floor.
“How dare you harm my men!” Mauve screamed as soon as she noticed them missing. “Let go of them now!”
“Decapitate them.” Miaka ordered in a soft yet strong voice that rang louder than Mauve’s screams.
Everyone looked at me once for permission and once I nodded my head, there were no more questions asked as Acelin, Erick and the rest of my guards snapped the necks of the mages and ripped them off of their bodies. Blood splattered on the floor like a gushing fountain as Mauve’s screams reflected her powers and the glass around us shattered into a million pieces.
“You think you can get away with this?” Mauve’s voice broke but her anger resonated around us. “You want to bring back those filthy hybrids back into our world! You have no shame! Our ancestors died trying to create worlds for each and every one of you! And this is how you repay us!”
“Punishment for a crime based on assumptions is nothing short of foolishness.” I told Mauve, standing close to Miaka as Erick did the same on her other side. We knew she didn’t need our protection but she was our precious little sister.
“You will have childr-”
“We don’t have children yet and Sanaya is still human.” I told her. “The only reason you came here was to wreck havoc and harm our people. Why?”
A sinister smile spread on her beautiful face, her mauve eyes narrowing in on me. “Your species has everything, power, money, and a crown. But we have nothing. We are scattered across dimensions without a real home or a proper ruler. If you had died today, your people would have soon fallen apart.”
“Even if I had died, my father would still become King.” I corrected her but she just scoffed.
“Nathaniel is a coward. He hides behind our people and thinks he is the one with power.” Mauve moved her hands in circles as a dark light began appearing around her fingers. “You’re all going to die!”
“Not so fast!” Nathaniel entered the room then, dragging a disheveled Asmara behind him. He dragged her to the centre of the room and threw her at Mauve’s feet and by the look of anger on her face, it was clear that the two had been working together.
“She did something with Sanaya.” Nathaniel told us and my attention immediately snapped to him. “One of my guards informed me that they last saw her and some hooded figures follow Sanaya towards the guest quarters and then they just disappeared. Sanaya is missing ever since.”
My blood boiled with anger and not caring about anything else, I stormed towards Asmara and pulled her up by a fist in her hair. “What did you do?” I spat at her. “I wasn’t raised to abuse women, Asmara. So don’t make me hurt you.”
“Pathetic!” Asmara whispered in a hoarse voice, a smirk curving her lips. “Every single one of you is just pathetic!”
“Silence!” Mauve screamed then and it felt like invisible hands punched me in the gut as I was thrown back a few feet.
“You were right, Asmara, they are all pathetic indeed.” The black light in Mauve’s hand crackled louder, gaining size in a matter of seconds. “So I’ll just end everything right now.”
“No!” Asmara yelled hoarsely. “You promised to spare Lancelin! You went back on your word once, you can’t harm him again!”
“So it was you who shot me?” I stood up from the ground with a hand on my stomach. The pain was fading fast but Mauve’s magic was very strong, but I didn’t care about that right now. Something had happened to Sanaya, something horrible and I needed to find her! “You’ve already committed treason, Mauve, there’s no way you can survive now. Tell me what you did to Sanaya right now!”
Suddenly, Mauve was engulfed in a circle of fire, the heat from the blaze scorching a corner of Asmara’s dress as she scrambled out of the way. Mauve screamed in horror, the black light fading from her hand as she desperately tried to escape. But none of her magic seemed to work on the flames that drew closer to her every second.
Controlling fire was Miaka’s specialty and she could make fire appear and disappear out of nowhere. And even though people might think it was her causing the fire…it wasn’t. No one had seen me brush Miaka’s hand lightly when I’d stood close to her. Only Miaka would know that the fire had been caused by me. Because not many in my world knew that one of my greatest abilities as an Incubus, aside from mind manipulation and wiping someone’s mind clean of selective or all memories, was the fact that I could copy anyone’s powers just by a single touch. The power didn’t last forever. It faded after a few hours, but for those few hours, I could do everything that the person I copied the power from, sometimes even make it stronger.
“Help me!” She screamed at Asmara, but she just turned and ran in the opposite direction. Thankfully, Erick caught up to her in no time and dragged her back kicking and screaming.
“WHERE IS SANAYA?” I bellowed at both Asmara and Mauve. My patience was running thing and they were pushing me to my limit. I didn’t have time to waste.
“In Shadowland.” A small voice spoke from the doorway and I turned to look at Keith, the man Sanaya had once loved.
“What?” A chill of fear ran down my spine.
“I saw you giving the vile of vampire blood to Sana so I told Asmara, but I swear I didn’t know she would go to such lengths.” Keith knelt on the floor with his head bowed to the ground. “Please save her, I beg you.”
“Traitor!” Asmara screamed but I wasn’t listening. My hands and feet felt numb from fear. Shadowland! Sanaya was in Shadowland! I had to save her!
I turned to Mauve. “There is no mercy for you.” I told her without emotions before facing Acelin, I ordered. “Detain Asmara in the dungeons and escort her Scribt to a different cell for questioning. Once he has revealed everything, erase his memory and set him free.”
I didn’t look back as Mauve’s scream filled the entire room along with the smell of burning flesh. “You fools! You will get nothing if you kill me! You have a traitor in your midst! This isn’t over yet! You fool!” She screamed till her dying breath but I didn’t show mercy. She hurt Sanaya, both her and Asmara. Both of them will pay with their lives. I’d deal with Asmara after I’ve found Sanaya and she was safe in my arms.
When everything was over, I fell to the floor helplessly. Erick and Miaka came rushing to my side. “Brother, don’t give up yet.” Miaka comforted me. “We’ll find her.”
“But how?” I asked her desperately. “How do I get to Shadowland? I need to find Sanaya, Miaka…I can’t live without her! How do I find her?”
“I think I know a way.”