Chapter 137: Chapter 137

“My name is Kalan, and I want to see if you are truly a worthy ally, Lord Eren!” Eren felt Sara stiffening behind him and heard her heart beating like a drum, her breaths were lost in her throat, she was scared, petrified even, and he understood why, for he himself sensed the danger of the stronger predator who took the form of a child.

Eren already had a strong guess about the identity of their enemy, hearing his name and Sara’s words were the final confirmation, the child was no child nor a demon, he was a first-generation God.

“Eren…” Sara whispered again while looking into the child’s eyes that seemed red for the first time before a silver bluish hint appeared in them, his brown messy curls and innocent complexions made his childish appearance look more convincing, but Sara knew, as she felt the same fear, the same helplessness and the same paralysis creep up her legs and take over her entire body, she tried to breathe normally and calm down but couldn’t, the feeling of danger was too overwhelming.

“I am here with you, Love, I will keep you safe, don’t worry!” Eren squeezed her hand, sharing his warmth with her, his words managed to reassure her a little as they reminded her that she wasn’t alone in that dream, she was with him and she had him with her, but then again, another fear filled her, fear for him this time.

She didn’t question it, she didn’t question her heart or the way she felt in that moment, it was something to worry about for later, right then she needed to get grip on her fear and keep them safe, all of them, her, the ice queen who was carrying her nephew in her belly, and him, her demon.

“How beautiful!” Kalan stared at the two with dreamy eyes and hands placed on his heart dramatically, as if he was truly touched by the demon’s display of affection, Sara tried to read throw his moves but couldn’t, the inside of him was completely hidden from her, and therefore, didn’t see the upcoming attack.

“Get out of here!” Sara yelled at Rima when she sensed the change in the air as it thickened before the whole nest was raided by an explosive snow storm, her vision was clouded by all the snow and eyes swirling around them like a tornado, isolating her, the shadows’ lord, and the God in it center.

Sara felt a pair of big arms tightening around her before she was pulled against a hard chest, she wanted to tell him about Rima and the baby, and how they had to protect them, and him, but before she could even lift her face to meet his, something collided with their intertwined bodies with such intensity that threw them across the nest, Sara who was still wrapped in the arms and wings of Eren felt the painful thud of both collisions, first with the unknown thing that attacked them and then the second when they hit the solid ground, the pain was intense for her but she knew it must have been excruciating for Eren who used his whole body to shield hers, she heard his muffled groan before he jumped off the ground, not even giving himself the chance to rest, pulling them both into a standing position with her pushed back behind his back.

“S…” Eren stopped for a second to cough out a mouthful of blood, his eyes transfixed on the child that approached them with steady steps “Stay behind me!”

“What? No! you are hurt…” Sara almost cried the words, her thoughts all over the place as she tried to come up with a solution, the ice queen was nowhere to be seen as the snow storm clouded her senses and her visions, the giant ice sharp imprisoning them in a tight area with a defined perimeter.

Looking back at the boy, Sara noticed the invisible yet fluctuant sheen that detached itself from his body and rushed towards them in high speed, not having enough time to warn him, Sara used all of her strength and body wait to push his off the way, causing the attack to hit her instead, and just as she expected, the pain of that thing hitting her was excruciating, for she had felt her heart stop and her body gave up but not before hearing the terrifying angry growl.

It took Sara a few seconds to get used to the pain and escape it paralyzing grip, and once she did, she found herself being lifted by Eren who helped back on his feet, one of his wings having a huge gnash that nearly caught it to be ripped off his body, while the boy was also getting on his knees, she didn’t see it but she knew that Eren had attacked the bastard but wasn’t spared either.

“I must admit, you are quite impressive, Eren Salvatore, no wonder he took a liking in you! However, that thing by your side is a disgrace to Historia and to all the Gods!”

“Do you have a plan?” Sara swallowed the pain of the humiliation and the confusion the God’s words caused her and asked Eren who stood in front of her defensively, equally confused by the strange words.

“Yes, I will distract him while you find Rima and run away!”

“A good plan, I mean!” Sara scoffed, at him but was cut out by his annoyed growl.

“Sara!”

“I am not going to leave you!” she growled back at him, the rough voice hurting her throat but she didn’t care, he needed to understand that she wasn’t going to leave him, nor let him leave her.

The fleeting second that passed and on which their eyes locked gazes felt like hours, everything was so clear in her eyes as she no longer tried to hide it, the hatred she had for him was still there, but it was so shallow and thin like a frail shell and inside were all the uncertainties that only needed to be quelled, and the feelings she was trying to deny and the need she was hiding, as well as a desire she herself didn’t know existed before.

The desire to start over, a new, the right way this time.

“Young love!” Kalan’s dreamy squeak didn’t hide the mockery his voice carried, making the duo turn back to him as he talked again, all innocence lost from his face as he looked at them the way one would look at his slaves.

“How disappointing that the only treat you got from your mother is the strange taste in men, and I trust it would end up the same for you!”

“What the fuck do you want?” Eren growled, pulling Sara to his arms and hiding her from the peering eyes of the God.

“I want her, the part shall return to the whole, the once one shall be one again, and for that we need her, however, he wants you unharmed, Eren Salvatore, so for this once, I will let you be, hybrid, but take a look at the horizon, until then!” with a smirk, the child’s body changed to one of grown man with a perfect face that was all angles and edges, his long silver hair covering his back and his eyes sharp and pure, the aura he was holding back was unleashed, and Sara heard the faint screams of the demons who where trapped outside the snow tornado which was narrowing around it creature until they both disappeared, leaving two speechless hybrids behind him who were unable to let go or their caution and readiness even when they knew he was gone.

“Eren! Dahlia!” hearing the worried voice of the ice queen, the two turned towards her direction to see her running their way, her hair messy and her face tired.

“Are you too alright?” Rima asked with her eyes focused on Eren’s ugly injury which was already healing, the girl seemed unharmed but she still looked shaken and out of character, her scars were revealed and her usually expressionless face was a worried, almost horrified one.

“We are, what about you?” Eren asked back, Rima did look like she had a rough time herself but she didn’t look injured in anyway, and he was glad or that as he couldn’t waste more time worrying about anything except of getting his fair lady away from the danger.

“I am, we all worked together to contain the storm!” Rima reassured them to hear them both sigh in relief which, despite the unfitting timing, warmed her heart and filled her with unspoken happiness.

“Great, then we shall leave, be careful Rima!” Eren said quickly, pulling Sara away with him, at first, she followed him but after a few seconds, she stopped, making him turn her way with a question.

“We can’t leave her, what if he came back?” Sara whispered the last part, obviously still shaken and scared from the God.

“I don’t think he will come back, Sara, not while he has nothing to come back for.” Eren answered while stretching his hand for her to take, but instead of doing that, she shook her head and took a step away from him.

“But what if he did!”

“Then it is another reason for me to get you out of here!” Eren took that step forward, reclosing the distance between them and putting her back where it was the safest, close to him, as close as it could be.

“Eren, we can’t leave them…”

“Sara please! I promise to come ack and protect Rima and bring her to the castle, but first, let me take you somewhere safe, it is almost driving me crazy, the thought of you in this dangerous place, and the thought that I was the one to bring you here!” Eren’s words were spoken calmly but the way his jaw was clenched, his hands tightened and his eyes darkened told Sara about how frustrated and worried he was, and even when a part of her wanted to stay, just to extend his misery, she chose to ignore it and walk back into his arms.

“Are you going to be okay, carrying us both with an injured wing?” Sara asked in a small voice, once which was laced with genuine concern and made the shadows lord’s heart dance with content.

“I will be, just hold on tight!” Eren wished he was in his human form just to smile at her, but since he wasn’t, he took advantage of the form he was in to carry her easily, this time bridal style even when she gave him a dry look, he held her tight even when she whimpered in protest, and with her closeness, with her scent filling his nostrils, his pain was long forgotten and he felt as if everything was okay

Trying to busy her mind which was running in circles around the man holding her into his arms, Sara looked all around them as he jumped in the air and started flying them back towards the castle, and it was then when her eyes caught something…strange…

It was beyond the frozen edge, beyond the veil of darkness, a raging black storm, so strong and scary, and it looked as if was…trying to break through the veil?

……..

Landing on the patio of her room gracefully, Eren placed Sara back on her feet, but instead of stepping away from him with that angry repulsion, she stood near him, her body inches away from hers.

“I don’t think this place is safe either, Sara!”

“This is my home, Eren, I will be safe.” She reassured him with her calm voice, her tone no longer holding the dryness and hostility it carried before, it was rather, gentle and patient, which was more than he could have asked for in a million lives.

“Alright then!”

“Alright then!” after repeating his words, the two of them looked at each other in a strange silence, one which was both comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time.

“About earlier…”

“I have been thinking about the same thing! What he said doesn’t make any sense and it is driving me crazy, who was he talking about, and what did he mean by all that nonsense…”

“That is not what I meant, Eren!” Sara interrupted, the matter of the God was scarry indeed and needed discussion, but not right then, for that moment was one of the rarest they had for them, her and him, and only them, and she wanted to savor all of it without the thoughts of their upcoming death. “It is about when you kept on blaming yourself for taking me there, don’t do that, it was your presence by myside that saved me, not just this once but several times before.”

For a second, Eren thought that he had heard wrong, but the gentle way she was looking at him told otherwise, she did spoke the words, loud and clear, and she meant them.

“I still hate you!” she said while shaking her head before raising her eyes to look at him, and this time, they were not clouded by anything, not even the hatred she claimed, they were pure as the first time he saw her when they were children, filled with nothing but her pure spirit, “But thank you, for everything!” and as if the look on her eyes and the words she spoke were not enough to send his heart flying to the stars, she smiled at him.

Sara didn’t exactly know when was the last time when she smiled, probably during the coronation ball, and it was for him, smiling was something she thought she was no longer capable of doing, but here he was, breaking something else inside her, only that this time, it was a frozen wall that paralyzed her, he was setting a part of her free, or maybe just fixing it, making her smile again, and again, it was for him.

Sara’s eyes watched as Eren changed back into his human form, his shadows clinging to his body while he took the remaining step that separated them, leaving a sole inch to separate their bodies, but Sara didn’t mind, if anything, she wanted him closer, or at least a part of her did, maybe it was the fact that he almost died for her, or maybe it was her conversation with the ice queen that broke the last thread of her resistance, what she knew is that the hatred she felt for him and the urge to kill him was no longer there.

Or maybe it was his handsomeness, Sara thought as she looked at his beautiful face, his red eyes looking at her with multiplied intensity, the love in them so strong and evident, the happiness, the relief, the need, and…the pain.

Sara looked down from his face to stare at the wound in his shoulder, it was not bleeding but it surely was big, open, and painful.

“We should treat that!” She focused her gaze on his wound, trying not to meet his burning gaze that compelled her to say more, to do more, which she wasn’t sure whether she was ready for or not.

“I am already healing, my fair lady, don’t worry about it.”

“But it is slower than usual!” Sara noted while raising her wrist in front of his face, “Maybe I can help!” why? She didn’t know, she just didn’t want him to be in pain any longer.

It was probably something to regret and curse herself for in the morning, but right then, Sara didn’t care, for it felt right, to Sara at least, while Dahlia was pushed to the ack of her mind, just for the night.

Eren took her hand in his silently and brought of his lips, but instead of biting her, he kissed her wrist so gently, his lips hot on her skin as he took his sweet time in that one kiss that sadly came to an end faster than she wanted it to.

“I am serious, Eren, you need your strength!” as soon as she said that, she felt herself being pulled towards him, her chest collided with his and his arm was fast to settle on the small of her back, but that wasn’t what surprised her, but the fact that he buried his face in the side of her neck, and the fact that she instinctively tilted her head to give him more access while his lips trailed her long neck.

“What are you doing?” Sara’s voice was breathy even to her own ears, and while Dahlia roared inside her head, telling her to push the demon away and stop acting like his wanton whore, she wanted nothing but to be in his arms, it was everything she missed and lacked, the safety, the love, the support, the desire, the belonging, everything was so right and for once, she wanted to just relax and feel loved, she wanted the dark memories of her past to be erased and then replaced by new ones, honest ones this time, where she was no longer the naïve girl who knew nothing and craved love and attention, and he wasn’t the lying demon who lied to her and then used her to save the world, she wanted something real this time, something the woman she became would feel and embrace with a man she new was regretting his past mistakes, with one who was worth it, with one who made her feel as if him touching her neck with his lips was the rightest thing in the world.

“Can I have blood from here?” he asked, his voice similarly breathy, thickened with everything he was feeling, the happiness and relief, the love, and the irresistible desire and longing for her, his woman, who at last was giving him a chance to be near her, to touch her, to feel her…

“Okay.” Sara’s small whisper disappeared in her throat as she felt him kissing her neck, in a way so gentle, and slow and torturous, the pressure was just enough to awake every neck of her body but not enough to satisfy it as she wanted more, the words she swallowed left her mouth in a contented sigh, encouraging him to be bolder, the matter of him feeding on her long forgotten, even though he didn’t plan to feed on her, she was also tired and drained and he didn’t want to hurt her, if anything, he wanted to give her body all the pleasure it deserved, she was his goddess and for her he was willing to get on his knees, only that he didn’t get the chance to, as a loud and rude knock echoed in the room, followed by the princess’ call.

“Dahlia?”