He Was Gone

Lord Alwyin POV

So.. It was true. The prophecy of Amelia’s betrayal had come to pass. My wife and I had held on all this time, and tried our very best, including extreme measures to somehow offset and change her fate. Alas, what Lord Krimus had reported was dire. Aramah was back. And not just Aramah, its Queen Witch, Verena. I felt like I was in hell, betrayed by those closest to me, namely my child. I knew that in her own mind she held justification of what had happened, justification I could not negate, given that she thought her mate Darius was dead at my hands. When I saw her last, I could sense her anger and hatred towards me. At this point, she had hated me so long, that it was likely hard to pinpoint the origin of when that had begun.

Xidna was a whole other story, her demands and her threats something completely else. I knew that I failed her, and whatever she had planned for us, was entirely my own fault. In truth, I should have known better. I should have known that she would grow as powerful as her father, if not more, and I should have believed her the first time when she tried to kill me.

I guess when people show you who they are, and you refuse to believe it, you only have yourself to blame. Your own actions are a cause for disappointment. Deep down, I wanted my family, however dysfunctional, however, strange, I wanted them safe. I knew I was not the most traditional parent though, nor the most supportive at times. However, I was convinced and, because of this, remain convinced to this day, that children are precious, and that as a parent, it is one’s responsibility not to burden them with life, not to burden them with issues you can fix. Apparently, I was failing at that as well.

“My King”, Lord Krimus walked in, finding me deep in my thoughts. “The Princess is safe. She is injured but safe”, he stated, much to my relief. “Where is she?”, was all I asked, observing his bruises and injuries. He was not healing as fast as he should, but such was the Amarah poison and its magic. Even the strongest of us sometimes do not survive it. The only known counter agent was dragon’s blood, if possible, the blood of my brother, the First Dragon in fact. “Lord Wong took her. Ying has been healing her from what I understand. She had sustained several major bites from one of the she-devil’s beasts. She is healing but has not woken yet, my Lord. I have come to tell you things in person, and prepare us for a battle”, he said somberly.

“She fought back, my Lord”, he continued, catching me by surprise. The prophecy never spoke of Amelia fighting against Amarah. In fact, it said that once she had betrayed us, that there was no going back. This piqued my interest and I wanted to learn more, but for now that will have to wait. My thoughts went to Amelia and Lord Wong. For the longest time, Sahar and I had hoped that they would have something more than friendship and a professional relationship. Lord Wong was a decent man, a dragon shifter, in fact, one of the oldest, strongest, and most capable warriors that I knew. His sheer power at times rivaled that of Kal, and I, like any other parent, wanted my daughter loved, safe and protected, by somebody who deserved her. I saw the way Lord Wong looked at her from time to time. I knew the lengths he went through for her. However, she seemed to have been oblivious to this. Her heart belonged to Darius and him alone.

Thinking of the shifted prophecies, changes and love, I knew I had something else to do. For centuries now, I have imprisoned Darius. Not my proudest nor the best moment. In fact, he asked me to kill him, many times over, and who could blame him? Living in a dungeon, devoid of contact, his love and mate taken from him. However, we had made progress from his initial possession and insanity, and part of me, however minute, still hoped there would be a way to undo his madness, to free him from his chains and give him the life he deserved. I knew that a prolonged situation like this was far from ideal, and cruel in fact to an extent, and I knew he was not happy. But he was not tortured, he was not hurt. In fact, he lived in an apartment-like situation - a dungeon, yes, but with the views of the garden, meals eaten from the same kitchen we ate from. He had a library and other activities, in fact, at times trained with me personally. I tried whatever I could to stop him from being the bloody beast that prophecy said would end his wife and his children.

At the beginning of his infliction, we did have to chain him, as he was a danger to himself. But Solomon broke the original curse, so we were in the position to offer him a much better accommodation – prison, yes, but at least he was alive. Magic guarded this place, magic strong enough to block mate bonds, mate bonds I knew they both still felt. The power of their love was demonstrated yesterday when Amelia was attacked. Despite the enchantment, he felt it and tried to break free to save her. Seeing him like that, again, felt as if a fresh-cut wound opened within my heart. Centuries. Decades, Tens of Years. Millions of Hours. Countless seconds and precious moments I had spent believing and trying to make their life happy, to give my daughter, my baby girl, a chance with the man she loved, with her mate. I had sacrificed years of my life, my sanity, in fact, I had sacrificed much more, simply to try to break whatever malignant force came over him, whatever horrendous path would guide him to kill her and their children so gruesomely, so horribly. Anything to stop the prophecy.

But it was not enough. Even Gia could not break it, as she did not understand it it seemed, but she did help in other numerous ways. She was the reason he was lucid in any way, after all this time. How this father's heart ached to make Amelia happy, but it appeared it was not to be. Sahar and I were trying to stay positive and not lose hope, or so I told myself and kept a brave face for her. Somewhere, somehow, i suspected she did the same for me, and the rest of the family. My thoughts danced in my mind, coiling and shattering around like drunken fools at the party, a party I right now, felt I had no control over. How I wished for the world of old, for simplicity of what has always been, family.. Family First.. Family Always… “Fealty First and Always”, my Elven self, Ada, whose voice I had almost forgotten just spoke, creating the strange sense of euphoria, followed by an immediate sense of dread and concern.

“Ada???”, I was curious at his sudden appearance, glimpsing perhaps the fear over his appearance, after all this time. “Family??? You speak of Family??? Has not the Fealty been always more important to you?”, he sneered venomously at me, and I had no reply. I did not expect him. In fact, he has not spoken to me for a long time. Why now, I had no idea. Making my way to see Darius, I walked down to perhaps have a glass of wine, dinner with him or something else. I wanted to see life, a sparkle of life in his eyes, I wanted to make sure that all this was to no avail, that somewhere, somehow, we would make this work, they would be happy, even if they both hated me in the process. Making my way to his apartment, the evening light was shining gently through the large windows on its south side. As I got closer, I knew that something was wrong. The usual energy that pulsated within that space…. It was no more… I looked around and tried to sense…. And nothing… The thin, magic cut, almost invisible, which sliced as thin as a hairline stood in front of me, breaking the blue-tinted barrier. Stepping into it, I knew what I would find… He was gone.. Darius was gone..