Chapter 72

The breeze of the ferocious wind tore through lord Andrie's mind. His formidable eyes blazed with animosity and his thick eyelashes glazed to the pale darkness of the prisoner's land. His Heavy eyelashes furrowed a cloak from their scarce surroundings. His camouflaged pale skin wreathed in shadow colors. His chiseled face and fine long silver hair curling around from behind. Still, his rigorous body was coerced with frost and ice. And his hands tremble from hatred to whoever is in prison here on this wasteland. He appeared unaffected, however, his eyes warn dark stories of hundreds of days gone by. His hateful shadow lurking as the canopies that silence the breeze in the Wasteland. It was not a very amiable niche, with distress, anger, worry, and death awaiting whoever dared to embark inside the frigid land. The vestibule was also patrolled by the sandjinns. Their duty was to keep the prisoners from leaving this cursed land.

Nevertheless, to get inside, the souls would first need to be dragged across the ancient tree. The tree of Moonland. The head of the Sandjiin would receive the spirits from the outside and then guide them to the other side of the Land. To compensate the leader for the journey, the spirits must have a medallion coin. Those who could not pay, or who were not descendants of the Moon, were turned away. Though the spirits of the prisoners in the wasteland were unaware of the activities of the living. Once inside, they did not continue to grow and it froze their psyche. Also, it was believed that time doesn't exist here.

The trees have been sprinkled with dust, like snowflakes crystals. The frozen lake was bright white ice, yet the eerie surroundings tell a different tale. Its blanket of crystals seemed to shimmer in the night sky. Its shiny frozen water glistens like a diamond as a lone silver eagle passes. Yet, it vanished into the mist, floated away like a silver sprinkle of dust. With nowhere to go, frozen in time, Lord Andrie was fuming with contempt. He gritted his teeth and his eyes glinted with anger, his vein popped out in his neck as his mouth twitched while recognition dawned on his face. 'At last. His freedom was coming. A muscle in his jaw tightened and his lips drew back in a snarl.'

His loathing for the Golden Royal werewolves was nothing but a changeover of his shame and insecurities... It was all he detested about himself yet, lacking the courage to face. It was far more manageable to lose himself in the theatrics of his mind, casting himself as a victim than it was to swallow even an ounce of truth. He was a royal himself, after all the royal king was his stepbrother, but being a fairy himself and a wolf at the same time wasn't enough. He married Lady Magda to gain more power and when the Moon Goddess appeared he too longed for more but how could he guess that the bitch has a plan on her own? Concealing his daughter? His blood?

All his enemy did was beat down a person who already had more than he could take several times over. Nevertheless, the Royal King asked him to find his way out of the dark, to see his bloodline for who he was under the ever-changing illusions conjured by the Moon Goddess's mind. Yet, he hated her, he despised the king and despised everyone. His own blood Calton was the only one who could help him and soon he would send someone to free him.

His hatred began when his brother, the king, would create a controversy, and not find a remedy, then he would accuse him. He would shift the blame. He would tell him he was the reason behind the mess! It wasn't his mess in the first place, such as that injured his brain, increased impulsivity, and aggression that hurts others. But the most heart-wrenching thing his brother did was to compare him to the feral. Yes, he was a hybrid but how could he hate him? Lord Andrei wasn't remorseful that he killed the king and the queen. They deserve it, by blaming him for everything, blaming him for the downfall of his kingdom was too much. Soon, he will reclaim his name.

How was he supposed to be aggressive and silent at the same moment? How can a kettle release steam and be cold all at once? And after all, every person has different attributes- how could his brother blame him?

His anguish had a threshold. His honor could stay to an extent. It was because his father crossed that bar that his regard and devotion, his pure-child love, turned into raging hate. And now he was steering to ruin them. He was going on to release the darkness. And all the lost kingdom would be his. All his envy, all his rage, will be upon them and he won't cede. They had imprisoned him for eternity, but he would be back. Back for vengeance. The god damn satisfaction of watching them at the bottom of a bottle. He was moving to destroy them, destroy the prince his brother loved so much. He was going to make them pay.

Similarly, before his hatred, he hid behind a smile and reinvented himself, he learned to keep his emotions inside. The damage lodged in that sweetheart like a slow-acting venom and before long he became a "Dark Lord," the summoner of the dark, destined for a life far beyond the Moonland. He despised "his family," scorned the system, detested the people, and the whole Land. It burst forth in his heart, his warfare, his disposition. He went close to people just to harm them, power at last. Nothing gratified him more than to walk away from a disaster and wars while they wailed. When he fought with his brother ages ago he conjured hundreds of dark creatures as his armies. They fought with all their might yet they were defeated. 

Defeated by the fire. 

To him, humanity was "dangerous, and they were entitled to his wrath."

Meanwhile, Anna awakened to the smell of something unfamiliar. The sun had not yet come up, but she could see by the sky that it was near. With no time to waste, she hurried between the icy trees and frigid bushes while breathing, she knew that her strength was weakened shortly in that hard fight from earlier with the Sandjiin. Where was she? Where were Harry and Ashley? What happened? All she could remember was her running away from the creatures of this land. The Sandjinn. She thought to herself. Unlike with the Sanjinn earlier, which she defeated and attacked without being hit, against this massive beast; who has the head of a wolf altogether, she barely won, she received a bloody injury too; it was fortunate she healed herself immediately, or else the blood would excite more creatures.

While running and scanning her behind, Anna never stopped, but even after a minute; she could still hear the roars of the Sandjinn wolves, trailing after her, but what was worse was that the distance was lessened by the second, they were very adamant and doesn't give up even after hunting her for an hour. Her mind was changing, burning. She saw herself in a different view. Like she was in a different body.

Moreover, her clothes were filled with blood from the injury, and that fascinated the Sandjinn and caused them to chase her, the smell made them even hungrier, she also killed their ally, so there was no recourse they would stop hunting her now.

Two more minutes passed, she finally stopped running, the distance between them shortened by a tremendous margin as she found a carefully buried sword into the icy floor. Her luck, she speculated.

Yet they were a hundred so meters away, their race could be heard from her location, and so the only means to save herself was to attack them, but she would not attack them head-on, that was impossible and foolish, she had to use her brain and act carefully.

The Sandjinn chased after the mortal who dared to enter their land for some time now. The blood smell coming out of her allowed them to chase her. One Sandjinn who was the closest arrived near the scent, it first stopped a couple of meters away from it, then sneakily advanced and jumped from a nearby icy bush toward the smell, since it was a thick frigid forest and with many bushes and high trees, it couldn't see the mortal with its eyes, but it had confidence in its sense of smell.

Suddenly, she seemed to stop running. The Sangjinn may be clever creatures, but by no means did they have a judgment equal to humans, her stopping doesn't make them comprehend suspiciously or anything of the sort.

However, what handled it was only ragged and bloodied cloth, it was on the ground and smelled of blood, yet the Sandjinn stared at it, then unexpectedly, it went through severe anguish in its back, it staggered for a bit, but the pain became more and more drastic, it went through quickly on its back, so the beast attempted to shake it off, but to no avail, the further it moved, the more the pain amplified.

Anna used her cloth as a means to lure the Sandjinn, then she climbed a high tree and waited for the beast, even without the cloth, they could track her, but her cloth was full of blood, so their attention would probably be focused on the cloth because of the strong scent. Suddenly her view changed into a different set of eyes, she was now watching different memories, this wasn't her memories, this was Lannah.

However, the incredible thing was that her guess was accurate, the creature tried to sneak on her and jumped on the material, so she took the moment of confusion to jump from the tree at the Creature, with the force of gravity and all her strength, the blade went farther into the creature's back, which was a great thing, more than half its strength disappeared.

"Enough, all of you leave the human alone." Yelled someone. 'Lord Colton?' Or not? 'What the hell is going on? Why do I have two sets of eyes and minds? Is she getting crazy? Is she watching Lannah's death? 

She wasn't surprised. She grinned and reached out the bloody blade from the serious wound, but that wasn't the end, she stabbed again on the same place, forming blood gush out, it poured on her hands, feet, and face forcing her to look horrible, with her smirk, she looked like a ghoul, however, she doesn't care, her whole priority was on the creature then she glanced at the man who ordered them to cease. 

"Who are you?" Anna asked as awe transformed her face.

"Well, little one, I'm the guard of this place," lied the man as his pupils flared and his nose crinkled then he faked a smile.

"They are my creatures, little one, don't worry they won't harm you anymore." The corner of his mouth quirked up. "Thank you." Anna murmured, "...what is this place?"

"Welcome to the Wasteland." The man-sized her up. Moon Goddess daughter he thought, oddly enough this one looks like his lover. Lord Andrie gazed at her, she had the scent of the Moon and yet he couldn't size up her spirit. All the more interesting. Was she his daughter? If so, why does he feel like he wanted to kill this woman?

"I'm Lord Andrie." He announced.

"What? I don't believe you. He was dead." Anna muttered. This man was beyond handsome. He was slim, muscular, with an almost flawlessly symmetrical face. He has an African heritage that shows in his features and body type. He had tousled long dark brown hair, which was thick and glossy. His eyes were mesmerizing deep ocean blue, flecks of light green.

"Why is that young lady?" His expression dulled.

"Well... Because. You know the dark lord?"

"And? I'm supposed to look dark and grotesque?" He replied as his eyes glinted and looked amused.

"Yes?" She murmured.

A raw pause hung in the air. The Lord delivered a delightful grin. "My brother was a cruel master of viciousness. He was an immoral dictator. He accepts one sacrifice and rejects another. And Why? I offered him the fruits of the bounties he made me. But it was not good enough for him. He demanded it his way or by no means. He wanted a blood sacrifice."

A pregnant pause followed and he smirked. "So I gave him one: The end of his kingdom and guess what? The vengeful insignificant Maker of the Moonland denounced me and froze me here and made me a creature of the night with an infinite thirst for blood. Though I denounced him back and resolved to create my land, my armies with my rules, and my god: me." A hefty arrogant smile cracked his visage.

"Do you believe me now little one?" He added.

"Why? Do you hate the king so much?" She pleaded, Anna's forehead furrowed. The sun peaks on the horizon, golden petals stretching ever outwards into the rich blue. It was the brilliant flower of the sky that warms this frigid land. It was the invitation to a new day, that sunrise so typical yet Anna's eyes embrace the sunrise, that iris of fire so pretty in it was a mascara of pristine light.

"Oh, such a sweetheart, do you think I hate him just because the gods choose him to be the king? You are mistaken little one." The man retorted, his mouth set in a hard line, as he gritted his teeth.

"Yes."

"No, little one. He took everything from me." The man's eyes burned with resentment. He strode after hearing her brief answer. His eyes slowly opened and looked at her, Anna's light-brown pupils were turning to green, and she couldn't help but feel a slight shiver run through her skin as she watched his eyes turn to bright gleam red. His eyes flickered with regrets and pain, but it was gone in a second. His nostrils flared.

"Do you know I waited for this moment, little one?" He added in such a masculine voice that in other circumstances she would have admired, but she was more frightened now. There was something strange about him, and it was making her feel anxious about being this close to someone she doesn't know, especially with his wolf shadows looming everywhere.

"Why?" Panic rose in Anna's heart as she threw those questions. She wanted an answer, but she was beyond nervous, her lips trembling. She felt as if she were watching into the face of the sin itself, stooping at her feet, ready to run.

"You have nowhere to go, little one because at this very moment your mind was no longer your own." He added. He knew the warriors of the Moonland marched to the White Mountain to take possession of the Royal Kingdom once again. The blood of wolves will cover the land, he will kill every wolf on the land. All of them.  But he discerned better than to kill this human. Not yet. It was not the time though. He needed the medallion, so he formulated a plan, after all, it was all his doing, the medallion wasn't a prophecy it was just a map, towards this prison land to free him. It was nothing but a medallion honed to lure the daughter of the Moon.

"Little one, Imagine a land of true likeness, where all men and women are gods, all creatures divine, and everybody lives forever." He taunted then added, "Imagine that little one?" where evil never dies, Dark Lord thought to himself. He realized such assertions to "equality" without the maker led to genocide by those who controlled for equal opportunity. They never conveyed their power once they had it, just like his brother. The first taste of power would turn anyone selfish and keep it from everybody else. Yet he needs this mortal. So he lied more. He clouds her mind with the fallen, that old fairy soul was inside her now, creating havoc on her soul. 

"Imagine the absolute freedom from all hope on a heavenly maker who tells us what we can and cannot do." And he reckoned it did not get worse than that, contemplating the Lord.

Anna remained in her trance of pity, something inside her stirred as she listened. The Dark Lord concluded his discourses, "Meanwhile little one, you will be the heroine." He grinned, and he will have the absolute vengeance of engulfing the very life and lineage of his brother, into his body when he drank her blood and sampled her flesh. He dreamed. 

A shudder of terror went down the spines of Anna. She recognized something profound inside her that doesn't trust the man.