Chapter 252 An Ashy Funeral

Chapter 252 An Ashy Funeral
The cold wind that was whistling through the mouth of the cave was the only thing that kept Lyra awake.

She didn't know how long she had slept against Ryker’s shoulder, but the cave wasn't as dark as the previous night.

Suddenly, whatever peace came with the morning was gone. And the Blood King stepped back into the cave opening.

He didn't have any blood on his hands but the smell of herbs on his clothes told them he had dealt with the witches out in the gully.

"Wake up, little bird," the Blood King hissed, reaching down to grab Lyra by her bound forearms.

He hauled her up from the dirt floor with a rough jerk that made her joints pop. "The sun is going to clear the ridge in less than an hour. We are moving right now before any more northern pests track our location."

Lyra let out a cry of pain as her boots hit the ground, her head spinning from the sudden movement.

Ryker stood up right behind her, his large arms still securely tied behind his back as he tried to hold her but the Blood King hissed and shoved them both out of the dark cave and back onto the steep mountain path.

The path ran along the absolute edge of the western ridge.

Below them, the canyon drop-off was deep and vertical, ending in a floor hundreds of feet down.

The Blood King kept a tight grip on Lyra’s collar, driving them forward toward the southern valley.

But as they neared the narrowest pass of the ledge, Lyra suddenly yanked herself off his grip.

"I am not going to the south with you," Lyra said, stopping her boots completely against the loose gravel.

The Blood King paused, turning his pale face toward her with a cold smirk. "You don't have a choice, child. Move your feet, or I will drag you through the dirt by your hair."

"No!” Ryker cried out, "please, don't hurt her.”

Then turning towards her, he said, "Babe, please, just move. We don't have a choice.”

"No, I do have a choice," Lyra screamed back and twisted her body violently, using the momentum of her hybrid strength to wrench her collar out of his grip.

Before the King could react, she ran straight toward the edge of the cliff. "I would rather die right here than become your mindless puppet!"

"Lyra, stop!" Ryker roared, lunging forward with his bound torso, but his arms were locked behind him and he couldn't reach her in time.

Lyra didn't hesitate. She threw her body over the rocky ledge, plunging straight into the open air of the deep chasm.

But just as her boots cleared the dirt, a pair of strong, calloused hands reached over the cliff edge, grabbing Lyra by the thick straps of her leather just before her weight could pull her down into the rocks.

Lyra hung over the deep drop-off, gasping for breath as she looked up through her tangled hair.

Wayne was leaning over the ledge, his face slightly covered in dried blood from his broken nose, his teeth grinding with the effort of holding her weight.

This was Wayne. And somehow, he was completely alive.

"I've got you, Luna!" Wayne yelled, his muscles bulging as he hauled her back up over the rocks, dragging her safely onto the flat dirt path.

Before the Blood King could even process the shock of seeing the dead scout standing in front of him, Wayne scrambled to his feet, drew his knife, and lunged forward

He drove his shoulder directly into the King's chest, catching the vampire completely off guard.

"Ryker! Now!" Wayne shouted.

Ryker didn't waste a second as he dropped his shoulder to the ground, rolling hard across the gravel toward his wife's boots. "Lyra! Cut the ropes on my belt!"

Lyra pulled herself up and she was still a little confused but her instincts took over.

She grabbed Ryker's steel dagger from his side pouch and sliced through the leather ropes binding his wrists with one stroke.

The moment his hands were free, the Alpha wolf inside Ryker completely exploded.

He rose from the dirt with an animalistic roar and lunged at the Blood King from the opposite side, his large fists slamming into the vampire's jaw with enough force to shatter the bone.

The three of them engaged in a struggle right on the edge of the pass.

Wayne used his agility to avoid the King's silver blade, slashing at the vampire's tendons, while Ryker used his large weight to pin the King’s arms down against the gravel.

The King was incredibly fast, but the sudden ambush by two men he thought were divided, and one whom he thought was dead, completely broke his focus.

Together, Ryker and Wayne managed to throw the Blood King flat onto his back, pinning his limbs against the dirt.

“Hold him!" Wayne cried out.

Just then, the first bright ray of the morning sun hit the high mountain peak.

The golden light shone directly onto the Blood King’s pale face.

Instantly, a terrible, high-pitched scream tore from the vampire's throat as the sunlight began to burn his flesh like white-hot iron.

Billows of thick black smoke erupted from his coat and his skin burned into black ash right before their eyes.

Within a matter of seconds, the fire consumed his entire frame, leaving nothing but a pile of dark soot scattered across the mountain shale by the rising wind.

The Blood King was completely dead.

Lyra sat in the dirt, her mouth dropping open as she stared at the empty pile of ash, and then she turned her eyes toward Wayne, who was currently wiping
the sweat and dirt from his face.

“How is he dead? He's a royal vampire and he should be immune to the sun."

Wayne shrugged, “I know he traded his sunlight spell with the witches the moment he had the old witch killed. I could see he was uncomfortable with the sun hence why he used the dark temple."

"Yes,” Ryker nodded, "I heard him say we had to travel fast before the sun came up. I knew with all the rituals he'd done and with betraying the witches, he'd probably broken their pact with him and using you for another ritual was his plan B.”

"How... how are you alive?" Lyra stammered, her voice shaking with absolute shock. "Wayne, I saw you. I heard the gunshot and you fell onto the stone table floor in a pool of blood. There was no heartbeat!"

Wayne let out a short laugh, rubbing his chest with a small wince.

He pulled open the front of his torn scout jacket and the fabric was completely burnt around the center, but underneath, his skin only bore a long, shallow red scratch across his ribs.

"Ask the Alpha," Wayne smiled, adjusting his collar. "He’s the one who shot me."

Lyra spun around to face her husband, her brow furrowing in total confusion. "Ryker, what did you do?"

Ryker walked over to her and knelt down in the dirt beside her.

He looked completely exhausted, but a small, relieved smile was on his face. "I shot him to the side, Lyra. But I didn't aim for his heart. I’m good with guns, remember?"

"But the blood—"

"The bullet merely scratched his ribs and fell into his vest," Ryker explained, his voice gentle as he reached out to untie her wrists. "Wayne had to play dead but I knew he wasn't dead. I just had to perform the act to buy the Blood King's loyalty. If the King thought I was completely willing to slaughter my own blood for you, he would drop his shield and think he had full control over me. It was the only way to get him to leave the temple walls and bring us out into the open where the sun could finish him off."

"You both planned this?”

"Yes, just when we were circling the mountain to get back into the temple through the top,” Wayne nodded his head, sitting down on a rock to catch his breath. "Yeah, I’m not going to lie, Luna... I was incredibly nervous and scared out there on that stone floor. When he raised that gun, I was praying to the Moon goddess that Ryker might not miss the mark by an inch and actually kill me. But I knew Ryker was a good shooter, so I trusted the shot."

Lyra looked between the two men, shaking her head.

The crushing grief she had felt in the cave was completely replaced by a wave of relief. She let out a ragged sob, throwing her arms around Ryker’s neck and burying her face into his chest.

Ryker grabbed her tightly into a massive hug, his arms locking around her waist as he pulled her against his heart. "I’ve got you, baby," he murmured, his voice rough. "It’s over. The King is gone."

"Thank you," she whispered against his neck. "Thank you both."

"Don't thank us yet," Wayne said, standing up and stretching his sore limbs. "We’re still miles away from the estate, and our motorcycles are back in that gorge. We need to head back to the human town past the ridge in order to find a bike from Tega or one of the locals, and then we can finally go home."

Ryker stood up, pulling Lyra up with him. He kept his large hand locked securely in hers as they turned back toward the path leading to Oakhaven. "Wayne’s right. Let’s get to the town before the sun gets too high."

They walked down the mountain path for about ten minutes and Lyra was walking side-by-side with Ryker, her fingers tangled in his.

But as they cleared the first gravel bend leading toward the tree line, Lyra suddenly froze.

It felt like her entire nervous system had suddenly been set on fire from the inside out.

"Ah!" Lyra screamed out in pure, agonizing pain, her hands flying to her head.

"Lyra!" Ryker cried as she ripped her hand away from his.

Before either man could reach for her,

Lyra’s knees completely buckled and she fell heavily onto the dirt floor of the path, her body giving one violent shudder as her blue eyes rolled back into her head.