Chapter 144: Chapter 144

Sara opened her eyes slowly and stared with confusion at the place she was in, wondering how did she get there, she was almost certain that she blacked out in her room after looking at the mirror, the child God wasn’t there, but something else was, she felt as if the floor suddenly disappeared from under her feet, and then everything went black, only for her to wake up in the forest.

Not just any forest, Sara thought as she stood up, checking herself for the silver locks she saw in her previous dream, which were missing, her hands were dirty and smelled like grass and dew, her hair was short and black, and her scars were prominent as always, the air was humid and cold, the sounds were clear.

It was not a dream, and yet, something was off about it, and not just the unknown way she ended up in the forest, recognizing the few darker trees and even the distant sound of the river, it was the edge of the dark forest, the border between the human kingdom and the shadows empire, it wasn’t far from the estate, but that didn’t answer the reason why she was there in the first place.

If it was the mirror that brought her there, then it must be the Gods who were after all this, and anything with the gods involved could never be good, reaching for the handle of her short sword, Sara began walking around, exploring the area she was in, her eyes and ears as sharp as they could be, while her mind tried to wrap itself on the situation.

Why this place of all places, she asked herself, suddenly remembering the urgency of the situation.

Her sister was gone to who knows where!

Not wasting any more time, Sara started rushing back towards the capital, her mind thinking of ways to sneak in without being noticed, after last night, she knew she was no longer welcomed in there, among the people she thought were hers, it was painful, but not to the point of preventing her from helping them and her sister, however, a faint whisper brought her steps to a halt, and even with how low it was, she managed to recognize the one voice that brought solace to her troubled heart and mind.

Eren…

The voice was coming from the river side, Sara thought as she changed her direction to go to the place where they had first met, the one that held so many memories for her, happy ones when she was just a little lass craving love and life, she felt her heart aching as she heard the second voice, that place was supposed to be theirs, his and hers only, yet he was there with someone else…

Sneaking between the trees and bushes, Sara approached the river discretely to see what was going on, only to feel her heart shatter inside her chest, the echo resonating in her ears as the pain spread in her every cell, he was there, in the same clothes he was wearing that morning when he confessed his love to her, looking so beautiful and breathtaking like the night, dark, mighty, with so many beautiful stars, and yet, the arms that were her fortress were holding someone else, someone in a beautiful red gown and lush red curls.

“You are insane!” she heard him whisper, the soft smile that graced his lips when he looked at her and only her was being offered to the delicate and flawless princess in his arms.

“I know, but I had to come! I had to stop this madness!”

“And how are you planning to do that, my lovely flower?” lovely flower? He had an endearment for her sister?

“By doing the one right thing, coming to you!”

“Your brother will be mad!”

“He was the one who suggested the alliance in the first place, and now I am here, willingly offering myself for it!”

“Only because of the alliance?” Eren said with a playful smile as his face inched towards the princess’, making her blush so beautifully, looking like a blooming red rose.

“No, I am here because I want to, I want you!” Nara’s face was blushing, her voice was shy but her words and eyes were confident, leaving no doubt that she meant what she said, yet instead of pushing her away like Sara hoped he will, he smiled, her demon, the one whom she thought was hers, smiled and answered with equal confidence.

“And I want you too, my beautiful princess!” even when she told herself that her ears were lying, the thing her eyes saw next mocked that silly presumption of hers, the silly girl she always was and always will be.

He kissed her sister, on her lips, slowly and lovingly, taking his sweet time as if he was worshiping her, and she kissed him back as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

It wasn’t! he was hers, her demon, her anchor, her man!

Was he? Sara asked herself as betrayal tears fell on her cheeks, the last person she thought would remain by her side, the one who told her so, was it because she denied him? She asked herself, was he already tired of waiting for her to pick her shards? Was it because she wasn’t giving in and giving him the things he desired? Or maybe it was because…Sara raised her hand to touch her wet cheek, tracing the ugly scars on her face.

Or maybe it was because he couldn’t love a marred monster, no one could love a marred monster such as herself, how could he? When such a beauty was presenting herself in front of him, offering him her love, her flawless self, her beauty, and her willingness, Nara was perfect, unlike the broken mess she was.

It was her fault, Sara thought as her shoulders dropped in defeat, to believe that she could ever be anything but a broken, sullied, and unfixable thing that deserved to be loved and waited for, she was doomed the day she was born, there was no love for her, there was no life for her.

Unable to watch the passionate scene anymore, where the two kissed and kissed nonstop for what seemed like hours as if they didn’t need to breath, Sara turned around and ran away, once again not knowing where to go to, there was no one left for her this time, absolutely none.

She was alone, truly alone, Sara thought as she felt the numbness consuming her once more, the one that scared her the most before yet she welcomed at that instant, for the pain and the loneliness were too much to take, she felt it creeping up her heart and mind like an invisible veil, cold and smooth, and before she knew it, her rushing steps as well as her tears stopped.

The nothingness, Sara told herself as she stared around her, everything was dull without it being so in reality, it was as if she no longer felt the things around her, the life in them, the trees were but trunks and branches and leaves, the bushes were but plants and thorns and flowers, the colors were just different shades, all similar and meaningless, to her that is, the sky was just that, sky, and the place she was in wasn’t the one she was chased and terrorized in, even when it was, the king’s forest.

She was close to the capital and the palace, Sara told herself, and without her pain clouding her senses, she felt the grayness that settled over the place, there was fear, anticipation, resentment, rage, confusion, hatred, and more fear, it was all coming from the people she once thought were the victims that only desired to live, just like her, but that wasn’t true, the seed of evil was there, in all of them, and some were blooming very quick.

And on the other side, there was another greyish presence, that of the demons who were mourning the deaths of their children, a bloodthirst and a need for revenge was growing inside some of them.

It was all as if she was observing everything from above, like a goddess.

“You are a Goddess!” a voice spoke inside her head, but it wasn’t Kalan this time, there was no mockery nor malice, yet instead sounded…fatherly, not like her father who was very affectionate, but like a father to all, that guided and preached his lost children, she was no child though, and she wasn’t lost.

If anything, she felt where she should be, nowhere, alone.

“So?” Sara answered indifferently, knowing for sure that the person who spoke was a god, it was the same voice she heard before in her dream, but what was being a goddess to her, nothing, she couldn’t care one bit about it.

“Be a Goddess!” the voice spoke again, the strong echo resonating inside her head but not shaking her, however, the God wasn’t done yet…

“That, is if you wish to save yourself and him, and all of you, be what you were meant to be, or perish!” even in her numb estate, Sara couldn’t help the slight twitch of pain when the life of the man she cared for was mentioned, even after what she saw, she couldn’t let him die, she couldn’t let any of them die…

And yet, many were going to die! With their common enemy out of the picture, the humans and demons were once again focused on their enmity, and someone was fueling the already existing sparkle and turn it into another spark, and she knew who.

“I want to know!”

“Know what?” the God questioned, even when it sounded as if the man knew what she meant, and everything at that.

“Everything!”

“You must deserve it, earn what you are asking for, little hybrid!” the voice disappeared from her, leaving behind a dull headache and a nuisance, and a lot of extreme thoughts.

What to do?

The agonized scream filled the dark cell as Eren delivered another whiplash to the man’s bare chest, the whips were made of thin metal chains which were heated until they turned red before he used them on the man’s body, not feeling sorry for the lowlife who screamed and begged to be killed.

“Are you sure he is going to speak?” Henry asked from behind him, a part of him a little taken aback by the cruelty he was seeing for the first time on his friend’s face, the shadows’ lord didn’t blink as he tortured the man with the marks covering his face, if anything, he seemed to enjoy it!

“He doesn’t have to, the other one is already confessing in the other cell, I just enjoy torturing this one, hell! I might even do it for years!” Henry hid his frown and confusion at Eren’s words, for the other man the demons caught bit his tongue and died on spot before confessing anything.

“That is a lie!” the man spoke faintly, coughing a mouthful of blood in the process, his voice was angry, but Eren managed to catch the small amount of doubt in it.

Good!

“Is that so? Tell me then, is your God, Nov, also a lie? Is it a lie that he was the one who killed our children while you did the chopping and decoration?” the man remained speechless, his mouth a gap as blood dripped from it, unable to believe his ears and the things that left the demons mouth.

“By the way, he told us about Nicholas, the second prince, and where to find him, soon, he and that bastard Nov would join you in this cell”

“You bastard, our God Nov will kill your dogs and them kill you, you blood sucking fucker!”

“Why are you keeping him alive, Eren? We got everything we want!” Henry, who at last understood what was his friend doing, asked, faking indifference as he stared at the man with disgust, the damn thing was beaten into a bloody pulp, and he almost felt sorry for him, almost being the word.

“I love when they resist until the very last second, instead of giving up and having the easy death, I love the hard ones, they are always the most enjoyable ones to crack! Besides, I don’t really need his confession, I just need him to break enough for me to seep into his mind!”

“So, all of this…” Henry thought that his friend was only playing the poor priest to get the answers out of him, telling him the details they concluded themselves as if they heard them from his friend, however, that wasn’t the shadows lord real intention.

“It is just for my satisfaction! To make him think that his pain and resistance mean something while they don’t!” and for the children…Eren finished in his head, not wanting to show any bits of affection in front of the bastard who was not only a part of that crime, but in poisoning his fair lady as well.

And that was another reason why he didn’t want to interrogate the man verbally and instead waste the precious time and energy in breaking him so his mind is vulnerable, he wanted to know whether he and his bunch knew about his fair lady or not, because if they did, then he would be damned if he stopped for a second to breath before finding the bastard named Nov and make sure to kill him this time.

“I don’t know where they are! We…we don’t tell each other!” hearing their exchange, the man panicked and began screaming, it was a pitiful sight that Henry didn’t wish to see, so instead, he left the cell and the dungeons, his eyes taking in the beauty of the shadows castle, it was the very first time he visited it, and to be honest, didn’t expect it to be that breathtaking, he felt as if he was inside a black diamond that shone with it own strange glow, the shadows empire wasn’t at all what he expected, it was dark and eerie, but also beautiful on it own way, just like his friend.

“Are you lost, young king?!” Henry almost jumped out of his own skin at the calm whisper that came from behind him, unannounced and undetected, turning around, he was met by the old councilor who looked like a walking corpse, Joseph was it?

“You look so much like him! Except for the eyes!” Henry heard the old man murmur, and from the way he said the words he knew for sure that he was talking about his father, but how did he know him in the first place.

“Don’ make his mistakes, cherish what you have, and in the next storm, be the unshaking mountain you are meant to be!” the man said as he continued to walk, and even though Henry had many questions about the things the old man said, he couldn’t utter a word, the man was so…creepy! he wasn’t like any other demon he met before, with that edge of darkness and danger, he gave another feeling, what that was far more unsettling.

“What are you standing there for?” Eren approached his friend who was staring at the empty corridors as if he just saw a ghost, he expected his friend to be on his toes to know what he found out and whether it was going to help his sister or not, however, Henry seemed so…distant.

“That advisor of yours, he knew my fa…”

“My lord!” both Henry and Eren turned towards the urgent call as a demon approached them, his face a mask of pure panic.

“A storm!!” Eren raised his dark brow at his soldier, wondering why was he so shaken, storms were not very common in the shadows empire but they were not uncommon either. “You must see it with your eyes!”