Chapter 89 Desperate

Chapter 89 Desperate
Chapter 89: Scarlett

Axel's words brought a sort of warmth that trickled inside of me. And even though I still felt confused inside, I let my mind find peace in it.

A sense of peace descended in our prison, spreading between us like fire.

I wanted to bask in it as much as I could. But the air suddenly shifted.

The chains around me began to rattle and even the shadows straightened up as if they sensed the shift too.

I turned my confused eyes to my brother and I saw the stare... She was here.

"Hmmm, I love the smell of suffering in this place!" Willow purred as she finally stepped into the room, making her presence known.

A chill instant swept down my spine and I swallowed trying to present a strong front.

But I knew I was failing as my legs could no longer carry me without shaking.

And from the corners of my eyes I could see my brother— though he was trying hard to start calm— I saw the way he stiffened...

And I knew what that meant. This was bad.

My heart picked up pace, racing even faster than it was before as Willow's presence filled the old place like a black fire.

She was wearing a black armor that glowed like the moon itself had melted into it.

Every part of the armor hugged her body like a second skin.

Her hair was packed up in a sleek low ponytail with the streaks of white making her seem ethereal.

If I didn't know the crimes she had committed, I could have easily mistaken her to be the hero that dared all odds and came to save us...

But I knew better.

Just then our eyes clashed and a dark smile curved on her lips as she drew closer, letting her boots click so softly against the floor.

It was almost as if she wanted us to savor each step she made to feel exactly how helpless we were.

She kept approaching us in this manner, until she stopped right in front of me.

"Ohh, dear child of Avalyn..." She cooed, letting her long cold fingers graze my face as she lowered to my level.

My heart hammered but I tried to be brave as I stared back at her, refusing to let her see my fear.

"Isn't it beautiful that you are both chained here... in the very room I have your mother when she crawled into my life?" She asked, her smile growing even more dangerous as her tone dropped.

"You know I wanted to make her my personal maid after Talon discarded her... I had such great plans for that ungrateful little human..." She added, letting her dark swirling eyes fix on me. "Maybe today... I will get a refund from you..."

Before I could even process what was happening, her sharp claws grabbed my throat and she began to lift me off the ground.

My body froze.

"Willow!" Axel screamed, despite his condition. "Please, let my sister go!"

"Oh, but your turn is coming. Don't be in a rush... The party will reach everybody..." She cackled and my body turned cold.

She didn't have to shout. The power from the shadows hovering around her made her voice echo in the room like thunder.

"Willow, my sister did nothing to you!" Axel yelled, struggling weakly with his chains to come for me. "Please leave her alone!"

As if my brother's words had tickled her, she slowly turned her gaze to him as though he was a cheap clown.

“Ah, the loyal son. Always playing protector. Always pretending your courage means something. How quaint...”

Her eyes then slid back to me, and her smile widened. “And you… I have something special I need to show you.”

My eyes widened in panic as she suddenly released her hold on me and I collapsed flat on the floor. Hard.

"Scarlett!" Axel screamed, but I barely even had the chance to process the pain as I felt the slimy cold hands of the shadows begin to drag me once more.

"Bring her along!" Willow purred, snapping her fingers at her demonic pets.

Axel screamed, begging her to leave me alone, but his cries fell on deaf ears as her minions dragged me away from my brother.

My skin tore open as my body locked up in panic. I could feel every cut, every punch as stones cut through my skin, but I stayed frozen like a child reliving her trauma.

Only my heart hammered in my chest, but every other organ had long stopped.

By the time we reached outside the old palace, Willow swept her hand toward the courtyard.

Slowly, I followed her gesture... and my blood froze.

"Goddess..." I gasped as goosebumps erupted over my arms.

Right in front of us were a sea of shadows. Thousands of them.

It was an army of twisted and towering figures. Their eyes burned with an unnatural red glow that screamed only murder.

The air vibrated with their hunger and my stomach knotted painfully as hot tears spilled down my face.

"What... What do you plan to do with them?" I choked, my words barely clear.

Willow stepped away from me and gazed proudly at her army as though admiring a masterpiece.

“Magnificent, isn’t it?" She cooed, smiling down at them.

My body trembled as I continued scanning them...

"I plan to cleanse the realm and these babies are going to help me achieve that," she added and it felt like the world had collapsed into me.

"What do you— you can't kill everyone, Willow! No!" I cried out as my strength and will power slowly returned. "This is wrong!"

"Oh it is not wrong, my dear little vermin..." She countered, the dark glow in her eyes intensifying. "I'm only returning the favour back to the people who closed their eyes and watched me suffer... how is that wrong?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but words failed me... I was stunned at how she thought. How could any creature think of destroying others?

"And do you know the best part?" She whispered, leaning towards me.

My heart skipped a beat as I waited for her...

"Once I kill everyone... I will return to finish you and your brothers." She hissed, "I will make sure that every last drop of your mother's bloodline is wiped out from the realm!"

Her words sliced through me sharper than any blade. My heart pounded so violently I thought it might burst through my ribs as her words only further shocked me.

"How could you hate so deeply?” I whispered, the question breaking from me before I could hold it back.

Her smile faltered and I could feel her evil energy humming with momentum but I couldn't stop the words and tears from falling;

“It wasn't my mother's fault that you refused to carry a child for my father— even when you knew that he had limited time to get an heir! It was never my mother's fault. You did all these to yourself, Willow!"

"You stupid little vermin! You stain the Lycan blood!" She screeched, boiling with anger, but I couldn't stop now—

"Why do you want to destroy everything? What is it you gain from all this ruin?” I shot back.

Her expression darkened and for a fleeting second, I saw the raw fury that burned beneath her perfect composure.

“Because,” she hissed, “Avalyn— your cheap mother— stole what was mine!" She screamed.

"She didn't steal it, you practically threw it into the trash and all she did was save it!" I fired.

"No!" She screamed, like a psychopath. "Your mother took the throne, the people, the adoration! She took everything from me!"

"You did this to yourself!" I yelled back.

"Enough!" Willow suddenly yelled, slapping me hard across the face with the full force of her power.

Thunder cracked from the sky and the wind picked up dangerously as her voice boomed above everything else.

"Avalyn cast me into the shadows, as though I were nothing but a curse!" She roared. "And now I am that curse. And curses, my dear, are not meant to fade. They are meant to consume!”

The trembling in my body intensified. And it wasn't just from fear but from the realization that this wasn’t just power.

This was a rotten obsession!

"But fret not, little one. You and your brother won’t live long enough to see it all unfold. Consider it a mercy!" She hissed, her anger slowly reducing into pure arrogance.

I was gasping for breath but I refused to give in. The goddess couldn't let this happen.

Even if this was a price I and my brothers had to pay for what my mother did to Willow— assuming there was even a crime— the innocent people that these shadow warriors were going to kill were countless.

Surely, the goddess wouldn't allow this.