Lucian―E

Fenris―S

Sascha―A

Nikita―D

What is this?

I look at the wall once again, trying to understand the purpose of those initials beside the names. Having a fog of so many years, my brain is all muddled. Trying to recall, I close my eyes and rub at my dirt-covered hair. Taking in the scent of the dungeon that's coating my body, I recall in bits and pieces about my mamma.

I recall how she cut her fingers and let the blood flow into the crease of the wall. Slowly, the words and names appear on the wall, displaying the royal bloodline on the wall. But what are the initials of names?

I understand Lucian as father's name, Fenris as my brother but what's the initial in front of their names? And what is that initial in front of my name? In front of Sascha's too. Is it an initial or something else?

As seconds pass by, I feel my mind shutting down and my eyes closing on their own accord. Feeling the exhaustion creep in, I seal the wall with my blood and make my way out of the cavern.

Getting out of the cavern, I spot something or rather someone.

It's Helena! And that's Xanthos! If Xavier's dead then how is Xanthos still alive?

Having seen Xanthos's unintelligent yet cunning behaviour, I had thought that he would've died with his father.

At the image of Xanthos in front of my eyes, years of pent up anger and humiliation rushes through my veins when I spot him running towards my brother and a woman beside him. He's going to attack maliciously from behind Helena, I realize and immediately teleport in front of my brother and crush the dagger with my fire.

I watch with unadulterated glee as the dagger crushes into pulverized residue and falls on the ground.

The moment Helena sees me, her face morphs into that of anger and fear. She backs away, with her palms outstretched as if in surrender to me. Xanthos growls from behind Helena, reaching up behind her now, and stopping her retreating motion.

"What the hell? Finish her," he yells at Helena, pointing towards me and I watch as Helena starts shaking her head, making me smirk at her.

"Hello, cousin," I whisper, my eyes moving to address Xanthos while my voice is scratchy. Xanthos pauses in his steps towards me and I relish at the fire that's waiting to flee.

"You..." he asks, confused now as if he's wondering why I am alive. Helena's shocked still in her position and now Xanthos is looking at me with a confused yet enraged expression on his face.

I laugh, sinisterly, at Xanthos, my anger taking over and the images of my humiliation because of this person's ill-treatment flashes in front of me. I watch him with narrowed eyes, smirking at him because I know that he's breathing his last few breaths.

"You witch! Helena, kill her," he roars and then shifts right in front of Helena. I expect to see a wolf but what I see has me shocked. It's not a wolf like father, no it's some half-man half-human kind of creature.

Is this even natural?

Not waiting for another moment, I raise my hand up with my palms facing toward him and launch a steady stream of my fire on Xanthos's chest. The moment his body is set on fire, blood rushes through my veins. It roars in my ears and I feel my world shifting as Xanthos's arms flail up in anger and pain. That idiot is still angry?

He is in pain yet he feels anger?

That's weird, isn't it?

I watch, more like, force myself to watch as Xanthos, Xavier's son, burns to death in front of me. He will not come back to trouble me. His father won't come back too. Yet I am not relieved.

Kestrel's dead!

Xavier's dead!

Now, Xanthos is dead!

Helena! It's your turn.

Shifting my gaze from Xanthos's ashes I catch Helena trying to sneak away. I raise my brows at her which causes her to stumble a bit and I smile at her clumsiness.

She wasn't that clumsy when she came to suck my energy.

"No, I am sorry," whispers Helena, moving backwards now, raising her palms up in surrender as she looks around to take flight. I do not let her flee and raise my palms to fire but she is faster as she swings a dagger in my direction out of nowhere.

The dagger flies past me and I realize that it's meant for Fenris and not me. Everything happens so fast and my body is exhausted from burning Xanthos that it takes me a few moments to realize that Helena has been chained and that someone is lying on the ground like a lifeless being.

There's a female crying for the man. His head lies on the woman's lap who's crying her eyes out. I fear she might die because of her pain.

Soul-crunching pain! That's the only emotion that I can feel from this woman.

I watch as the woman holds on to the man's face and shoulders, and just weeps as if her crying would bring back the man from death.

And that's when I hear a heartbeat.

There was none a second ago but now it's there. It's faint but it's strong. I can hear the slow yet steady beats. I watch as the man's chest starts thudding.

No one around me seems to have observed this but I do. Not even Fenris seems to realize that this man just visited the afterlife's door. This woman's cries and screams pulled him back.

Is it real? Does that happen?

Looking around myself, I see as all the people around me try their best to console the woman. Just who is she? Is she my relative?

Doesn't appear to be yet, I feel that she's someone I should know.

Unable to bear her cries, I walk towards her, my legs limping a bit because of years of numbness. Laying a hand on her shoulder, I wait for her to look at me.

When she does look at me, I have the chance to look into her eyes allowing me to see the pain in them. She's shattered. Completely broken or on the verge of emotional numbness.

"Let me help you," I whisper as I pull out the dagger from the man's chest. Blood gushes out of his chest as the dagger comes out and I move away not wanting his blood on my skin and wounds.

Unintentional blood bond can be fatal, or so I have heard.

The man's heartbeat steadies further and I feel his wolf coming forward, healing him and trying to calm the woman. Is this woman the fallen man's mate?

Then who is this man who took the dagger for my brother?

Confused and beyond exhausted, I close my eyes and imagine the debris of the castle in the hopes of getting away from these people.

I know only one of them but not the others. Especially not the man whose gaze is fixated on me ever since I landed in this battle.

Who is he? Friend or foe?

Unable to bear all these questions, I finally gather the strength to teleport out of here and into the debris. Landing on the debris, all I can smell is blood and rocks.

The stench stirs my gut and I feel like something is rushing back to my throat. Unable to control the urge, I bend over and puke on the rocks.

It smells foul inside my mouth and my head hurts as I throw up bitter liquid. Heaving in breaths, I collapse on my butt and then crawl away from my vomit. The stench is very strong and I fear that it will make me vomit again.

Taking in a few deep breaths, I try to think of a way to clean myself. I feel so dirty. I haven't bathed in a few years now. God, how awful I must look and smell.

Wiping at my mouth with the remainder of my tattered clothes, I get up on my feet and stumble a bit on the rocks. The pebbles poke into my skin and tears it open, allowing fresh blood to seep out of my wounds.

Determined to get myself cleaned, I start stumbling deeper into the forest, trusting my sense of smell to take me towards the river that I know is here somewhere, theoretically, at least. Slowly, I enter deep into the forest where there is barely any light. It's dark as the heavy foliage doesn't allow any sunlight to reach the ground. It's difficult to see anything but I manage to walk through the heavy foliage with the help of my nose.

Scenting the cold water and the drizzle of the water flowing, I try to walk faster. Only if I had known how the river looks like, I would've teleported there by now.

My rotten luck!

I know nothing of this forest as I make my way past this place hoping that I do not run into someone. I don't know anyone except Fenris which puts me at a disadvantage. If it were to happen, I won't be able to judge if the person in front of me is a friend or enemy.

I do not realize how much time it takes but I am still walking through this forest, hopefully in the right direction. Soon enough, I see a clearing through this forest. Hoping against odds, I take a turn to the left and walk a little more to reach the river.

Finally!

However, the river is partially frozen.

How can I bathe in a frozen river?

Desperately wanting to get rid of this stench, I think of a way to use this freezing cold water. What to do?

Maybe if I can melt the ice with my fire?

Not sure about it yet desperate enough to do it, I try gathering the fire inside my body and channelling it towards my hands. Maintaining the fire under the surface of my palms, I roam my hand over the ice. My hand stings at the contact yet I hold it over the ice, watching steam roll-off from the contact.

Slowly the ice melts and at least a small portion of this river becomes useful enough to bathe. On the verge of collapsing in exhaustion, I quickly shed off my clothes and step into the cold water, shivering a bit. Allowing my fire to accumulate under my skin, I let the water warm a bit and sigh in relief when the water becomes soothing to my sore and battered body.

Rubbing my arms and then dipping my head inside the water, I rub off the dirt from it. I do not have a bar of soap so my hands will have to do it.

Making quick work of scrubbing off the thick layer of dirt from my skin, I relax a bit in the shallow region of this river. I do not know the name of this river but it's provided me with huge relief and for that, I am utterly grateful.

Maybe I am a good person, I think as my eyes close and I sag on the rock under the water.

Soon enough night falls and the wind turns extra cold. Shivering a little, I look around myself before getting out of the water and then go to pick up my tattered dress.

The stench of puke and dirt is so strong that I move back. I do not even feel like touching it.

I am so engrossed in thinking of a way to cover my body, I do not realize that someone is nearby. Quickly moving into the water so as to cover my body, I do not go far as I can't swim but far enough to cover my chest at least. Keeping my toes rooted into the shallow water, I trudge only so far that my neck is covered in the water, not allowing anyone to see me naked.

I wait for a few seconds and sure enough, a man comes out of the deep forest. His eyes are trained on me as he walks closer, making me think that he was either following me or maybe he came here looking for me.

It's the same man who's been boring holes into my back the entire time I had been with Fenris and his people. It's disconcerting.

He walks towards me now, scaring me a bit. As he makes his way closer to me, I take a look at his ghostly features. The first thing that I notice is that his eyes are red. Blood red, it might seem. His fangs have descended and are poking through his dark pink lips.

His skin is ghostly white almost resembling mine. It's a clear indication that he's a vampire. And that realization has me scared. My last experience with vampires was not very pleasant.

"Who are you?" I ask the question to the man despite my scratchy throat. His intense stare and lack of any recognition in them have me a bit unsettled.

The moment my question registers in his mind, I feel a poke in mine. A very thin yet determined poke in my mind as if seeking entrance into my thoughts and emotions.

It's him. He's psychic.

Quickly raising a barrier to defend me, I stare into his eyes and shake my head a little. "Do not attempt to cross me."

At that, he blinks and his concentration on me is broken. He frowns now as if realizing something about me.

The entire time that he's been watching me, he doesn't even sneak a peek at my water covered body. His eyes stay on mine and his emotions are completely lust free.

That's a surprise!

Having been subjected to every man's lustful gaze since the age of thirteen, I am shocked to realize that this man doesn't feel any lust towards me.

Belatedly I realize that Fenris didn't too. But he's my brother and he seemed to be a good person.

But this man is not my relative. He's a vampire. He's a stranger.

What's he doing here?

I tilt my head to one side, letting my hair fall over my shoulder and cover my front, as I wait for him to reply. He stares at me for a few seconds before he lets out a long-exhausted sigh. An overwhelming need to know what's bothering him rushes through me.

Another feeling of something being out of place runs through my mind but I push it back because I don't know.

"Go away, vampire," I whisper once again when the man doesn't disclose his name or identity.

On listening to my words, his eyes lift once to look at the sky as if seeking answers from the Gods and Moon Goddess. He shakes his head a bit and then looks back at me.

"My name is Dominic. I was unsure if I should disclose my name to a witch like you but then decided to give this a try," he whispers but I hear him clearly. By clearly, I mean, his words reach each and every cell of my body.

I feel it within me as my entire body jerks and I almost slip under the water. Steadying myself at the last moment, I grip the rock underwater and hold on to it while making sure that my body is covered at least by the water. Hoping that it's dark around us so that nothing is visible, I look up at the man, Dominic.

He has a frown on his face and for a split second, I feel as if I know him, a flash of recognition goes through me which has me a little flustered. Pushing away those thoughts, I hold his stare and wait for him to leave but instead he starts unbuttoning his shirt.

No!

What is he doing?

For a moment, I panic but when I do not feel any lust oozing out of his mind, I force my body to relax and wait for him to explain. Sure enough, he does.

He completely unbuttons his shirt and then removes it. Holding it in front of him, he walks a few steps closer to me and then puts his discarded shirt on the ground. He pats on the shirt once and then stands up straight.

"It's getting cold. Put that on and go to Fenris. You can follow my scent trail if you want. He's your family," whispers Dominic and then points at my dirty rag of a dress. "Burn it with your fire. It stinks."

With those words, he starts walking away into the forest, half-naked yet completely unaffected by the chilling wind. He walks away silently very similar to the way he came here. I wish I could walk that fast and silently.

Having been trapped and chained to the wall has left my legs completely useless. I can't bear the weight of my own body at this very moment.

Thinking back to that man's behavior I am not sure if I am shocked or surprised, but I do not let his help go to waste. As soon as he's out of my eyesight, I slowly get out of the cold water managing without stumbling back into the river and lift the shirt up.

The moment I touch it, a shiver rolls down my spine making me clutch it tightly in my hands. Holding it closer to me, I just now notice that it's a black colored shirt. Donning it on my body, I feel warm which is ironic considering a vampire was wearing it a few seconds ago.

The shirt reeks of that vampire's scent yet it feels oddly comforting. I have never worn a shirt like this let alone a man's shirt. All I was allowed to wear was knee-length dresses so maybe that's why the feel of this shirt is different.

But it's good. It's warm and it's engulfing me completely, making me feel cocooned.

Weird, isn't it?

Buttoning up the shirt, I sigh in relief when I realize that it covers my butt and almost reaches down to my knees. The collar falls from my shoulders making me pull at it and then put on the topmost button too.

After that, I burn the remnants of my dress and with that, I wish that all my memories with that rag burn away too. That's too much to ask though because even when I watch the piece of dress burn into a pile of ash, the memories are still there waiting to create havoc in my mind, in my soul.

Letting out a sigh and then taking a deep breath to gather some courage so that I can face my brother and his family, I start following the scent of that vampire. I do not wish to cross paths with him again yet a bigger part of me wants to meet him again.

A bigger part of me wants to feel if he was equally affected by me the way I am by him. Or maybe I am just confused because I didn't feel any lust from his mind.

It's a good thing, right?

~~~~~

Dominic and Nikita meet finally!!!!

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