Chapter 122 Caius and Caven

Chapter 122 Caius and Caven
Elara took a slow breath before finally telling Viktor why she had come. She needed to defeat Caven, take back her father's kingdom, and free everyone who had been forced to live under his rule. She looked at Viktor as she spoke, knowing there was no point hiding the rest from him.

“You want the same thing, don't you?” she asked. “You want to destroy Caius and take back your father's kingdom.” Viktor's expression hardened at the mention of his father's kingdom, and for a moment, he said nothing. Elara stepped closer and continued, “Then we should work together.”

Joyce nodded beside her. “If we join our powers, we might actually stand a chance against them.”

Viktor looked between the three of them. He seemed to be weighing everything they had said, but there was something in his expression that made Elara uneasy. She had expected him to agree immediately, yet he remained unusually quiet.

“Tell me something,” Elara said. “How do we defeat Caius?”

Viktor's eyes met hers. “We don't.”

Elara frowned. “What?”

“We can't defeat him yet.”

She stared at him, struggling to understand. “But you know him. You've fought him, and you've lived in this kingdom long enough to know how powerful he is. I thought you would already know how to stop him.”

Viktor lowered his eyes for a moment. “I know enough to understand that fighting him now would be suicide.” He looked back at her, his voice serious. “Caius isn't simply a powerful vampire lord, Elara. His strength doesn't come from his own power alone.”

“What do you mean?”

“He has been collecting powers from other supernatural creatures for years.”

The room went quiet.

Viktor continued, “He takes their powers and finds ways to use them for himself. Some creatures survive it, some don't. I was only one of many.” His jaw tightened as he remembered what had been done to him, and Elara could see his hands slowly curling into fists.

“That is why he was able to destroy you?” Elara asked.

“He took most of my power, yes, but that wasn't all he did.” Viktor looked at her. “He has taken power from witches, werewolves, fae, vampires and other creatures whose abilities I don't even have names for. Every power he takes makes him stronger.”

Elara felt a knot forming in her stomach. “Then is this the reason why Caius also wants Joyce?”

Viktor's eyes shifted toward Joyce. “Because her power is different. So that's true.”

Joyce's face tightened. “Different how?”

“It's not ordinary dragon magic, Elara.”

Joyce stared at him.

Viktor looked at Elara before continuing. “Your power and Joyce's power are connected to the same ancient force. Your dragon magic comes from it, but Joyce carries a different expression of that same force.”

Elara slowly turned toward Joyce. “So that's why our powers worked together.”

Viktor nodded. “That's what I believe.”

“How do you know all of this?” Elara asked. “You were imprisoned. You were being drained of your powers. How could you possibly know what Caius was doing?”

“I heard him.”

Elara's expression changed.

“He talked about it himself,” Viktor said. “I heard him speaking about the powers he had taken. I also saw what happened to some of the creatures he brought into the kingdom, and I watched their abilities disappear after Caius was finished with them.”

Joyce folded her arms across her chest. “And how did you know about Elara and me?”

Viktor hesitated. “I heard Caven and Caius talking.”

Elara's heart dropped. “Really? They know so much. They both are planning on taking our powers too?”

“They knew more than you think.” Viktor's voice became quieter. “I heard them discussing your powers and what could happen if the two of you were ever reunited.”

Elara looked at Joyce, then back at Viktor. Suddenly, the strange feeling she had carried since everything began seemed to make sense.

“So Caven separating us wasn't a coincidence.”

“No,” Viktor said. “It wasn't.”

Elara swallowed. “He wanted to keep us apart because he knew what would happen if we joined our powers.”

“And Caius wanted Joyce because he knew what she carried,” Viktor added. “They weren't fighting over you for no reason. They both knew there was something valuable in your powers.”

Joyce looked down at her hands.

Elara felt a chill run through her despite the warmth still lingering in her body. She had spent so much time believing Caven had separated her from Joyce simply to control them, but now she understood there had been a much bigger reason behind it.

Then another thought came to her.

“What about you?” she asked Viktor. “Why were you sent to the human world?”

Viktor's expression changed into something sober.

“I thought it was banishment.”

He gave a humorless laugh. “Everyone did.”

Elara waited.

“I didn't know what Caius was really doing. I thought he wanted me gone because I refused to submit to him, so when I was sent to the human world, I accepted it as punishment.” Viktor looked toward the floor. “But the longer I stayed there, the weaker I became.”

Elara's eyes widened.

“My powers didn't just weaken because I was away from the vampire kingdom. They were being affected deliberately.”

“Caius?”

Viktor nodded.

“He made sure I stayed in the human world for as long as possible. Every time I remained there, I became weaker, and the weaker I became, the easier I would be to control if I ever returned.”

Elara's chest tightened. “So even the banishment was part of his plan to take over the throne and not as a punishment for whatever he said you did."

“Yes.” Viktor looked at her. “I didn't realize it until it was too late.”

For a moment, nobody spoke.

Elara looked at Joyce, then at Ellie, before turning back to Viktor. There was fear in her chest now. If Caius had been planning this for years, they couldn't afford to keep walking into his traps.

“We need to leave,” she said.

Viktor nodded. “There are things you need to know before we face either of them, and we can't stay here much longer.”

Ellie moved toward the small table where their things were gathered. Joyce reached for her cloak while Elara helped Viktor prepare himself, but before anyone could say another word, a sound came from outside.

Heavy Footsteps which made everyone stop dead in their tracks.

Ellie slowly turned toward the door as the footsteps came closer.

One.

Then another.

Viktor's entire expression changed. His fangs grew as he stared at the door, and his eyes slowly turned red.

Elara's heart began pounding.

Without thinking, she reached for Joyce's hand and held it tightly.

Viktor noticed, but he didn't say anything.
The footsteps stopped directly outside.

Ellie moved closer to the door, his hand hovering near the handle. Viktor immediately raised one hand, stopping him.

“Don't move,” he whispered.

Nobody breathed a word. It was like the room was suddenly devoid of air.

Then a voice came from the other side of the door.
“Viktor.”