Chapter Forty-eight

Mihai's chest heaved with each breath he sucked in, riling up the demons he tried his best to keep at bay. These were his brothers; he couldn't hurt them. He watched from over his lashes as they grunted, rubbing their sore necks and buttocks as they struggled to get on their feet. He swept his gaze to the left and beheld Ioan, flexing his muscles and licking off the ball of blood that slid down his jaw.

"Ah!" Ioan exclaimed, rushing towards Mihai with a flame of disdain burning bright in his eyes.

Mihai maintained his posture, standing at alert with both his fists clutched as he studied his opponent, waiting for him to attack. Suddenly, Ioan threw a punch, aiming at Mihai's face. Mihai caught his fist and Ioan froze, face turning white as Mihai tightened his grip on Ioan's fist and bent it, gnashing his teeth.

"You will never have Regina," Mihai said through gritted teeth.

"She has nice perky breasts you know, nice areo-" before Ioan could complete his sentence, Mihai sank his fist into Ioan's stomach and earned a grunt of agony followed by droplets of blood, splattering out of his mouth.

The words stung Mihai and he cringed, refusing to imagine what Ioan could do to Gwen. His heart drummed violently against the walls of his chest as he felt the surge of anger in his veins, he threw down Ioan's fist and regretted it the moment Ioan gave him an uppercut, one that felt like it could break his jaw. Mihai stepped back, clenching his dental bone and spitting out the metallic taste of blood that spread all over his tongue.

Mihai drove his shoulder into Ioan's abdomen, sending him to crash into the hardback of a tree. Mihai drove punches into Ioan's gut with wrath. Suddenly, warm palms grabbed him from behind and peeled him off of Ioan. Ioan coughed blood with his palms against the ground.

Mihai struggled, snatching one hand from the clutches of his younger brother and kicking him, sending his body into a thick bush. Slowly, Mihai turned to face the last child whose facial expressions sold him off of his emotions. Mihai picked the sharp smell of fear that evaporated off the last child. His gaze wavered and the life in his face was sucked away, making his face whiter than it already was.

"How dare you betray me?" Mihai asked with wobbly lips as he watched his brother fearfully grip his wrist. "How?!" His body vibrated and the boy flinched.

"Punch him!" Ioan exclaimed from an unknown direction and the young prince threw a weak punch in the air, brushing the face of Mihai.

"Who manipulated you into doing this?" Mihai chuckled, rolling his tongue over his teeth. "You are supposed to be my brother!" Mihai exclaimed, feeling the tides of anger washing his insides and making him bitter.

The youngest prince tried to punch again but Mihai caught his weak fist and squeezed it like it was a crumpled sheet of paper. His opponent howled as his legs turned to jelly. Mihai gripped his neck and pushed him against the floor, causing his opponent to widen his eyes. The dark lord swung his fist ready to highlight the face of his scared brother but froze in the air when he let out these sentences, "Mother sent us."

"Lies!" Mihai exclaimed, increasing his grip on the neck of his brother.

"She sent us to kill you before father's arrival," His brother choked, clawing at the firm grasp around his throat with red-rimmed eyes.

"Not true," Mihai said weakly, dropping his fist but still closing up the windpipes of his brother. "Mother would never-"

Mihai gasped, pausing mid-sentence as he felt something sharp and needle-like pierce through the skin of his neck. He snaked his hand up to his neck and felt a syringe hanging down his neck. His vision blurred and he winced after pulling down the syringe to glance at it. He looked up, trying to fix his gaze on Ioan.

"What did you do to me?" Mihai threw the syringe on the floor and got off his brother, feeling the world spin under his feet.

"What I should have done a long time ago." Ioan slurred and Mihai could hear his brother sprint out of the place.

Mihai held out his palms, feeling the slow travel of the liquid down his veins. His stomach churned and his breathing hitched, bringing beads of sweat to gather on his forehead. His jaw became heavy, and saliva foamed in his mouth as the world did a three-sixty, throwing him off balance–he landed on his knees and clutched his biting stomach.

"What did you-did you inject in me?" Mihai asked feebly, feeling the foamy substance running down his mouth.

"Ask Satan in hell!" Ioan exclaimed between evil laughs with blood rolling down the side of his head.

He whacked Mihai's face with his palm, ruining his nose but Mihai refused to fall, he knelt, throwing aimless punches in the air. Ioan smashed his elbow into the side of Mihai's head, and he wailed, feeling a rush of vomit up his throat.

"Goodbye, asshole!" Ioan exclaimed and Mihai felt pain spider webbing his ribcage when Ioan drove a kick into his sides. His knees turned to jelly, and he fell face flat, breathing heavily and jerking–the poison was moving fast.

His ears twitched when he picked up the sound of Ioan's retreating footsteps. Mihai propped himself up, tasting the tiny granules of sand on his tongue. He spat them out, grabbed his stomach that was tying itself into knots, and struggled to get on his feet. Of course, he was a dark lord and couldn't be killed easily. His mouth became bitter, and the walls of his throat dried up like a desert. Each pain he gulped down burnt and pricked his throat like broken pieces of a blade. He stumbled down the forest, using the full moon as his only source of lighting. Mihai paused when he sighted a cave from afar and winced when he got a clawing feeling in his throat. He gripped his stomach, hoping it would ease the excruciating pain that stabbed at his gut. He breathed heavily, staggering forward and losing stamina as the cave grew closer to him.

The moment he arrived at the cave, he fell in front of it and his nails elongated like claws with which he used to crawl into the cave. His chest tightened and a splitting headache enveloped his ear and eye, followed by a queasy feeling. Mihai tried to look around the cave but couldn't focus as everything appeared to be fuzzy and shaky. Every breath he took hurt his ribcage and he shivered, staring at the colored spots his vision made with glossy eyes.

"I love you, Regina," he managed to say after swallowing down the lump in his throat. He gave up on holding his heavy lids apart and steadied his back on a small rock, leaving his head to hang down his body as his eyelashes slowly hugged each other.

"Who is Regina?" A deep, relaxing voice resonated the walls of the cave and Mihai snapped his eyes open at alert, wondering if the voice was a part of his illusion. He glanced around, gripping his stomach once again. Convinced that it was the effect of the poison, he shut his eyes and prepared to die.

"Mihai." The voice rang out again but this time it was husky and had something eerie laced to it. The prince jerked, darting his eyes from left to right. He noticed a little stream from the other side of the cave and his thirst grew a notch, but he was too tense to pay attention to his throat.

"Who are you?" He glanced up the cave and made out shapes of bats hanging down. He slowly kicked himself up and averted his gaze to the entrance of the cave. His vision turned pitch black for a few seconds, he screwed his eyes shut and peeled them open, feeling his legs wobble as his gaze blurred again.

Abruptly, he made out a figure, standing just by the entrance with a black cape that possessed a large hood. It covered half of his face and he interlocked his fingers behind him. An aura hovered over him, one Mihai couldn't explain. The prince felt his muscles tense up as he struggled to stay on his feet.

"Don't come close!" Mihai picked up a stone, threatening to launch it at the strange man.

The man didn't listen, he moved forward. Mihai couldn't make out a face as he was too disoriented to focus on a particular thing. The figure drew closer, and Mihai threw the stone in the direction of the man and squinted his eyes when he could no longer make a shape. He held his head, wondering if he was being delusional.

"Drink this." The same voice sounded from behind him, and Mihai jolted, twirling around and throwing a weak punch that was caught by the strange man.

"Who are you?" Mihai staggered, feeling the man's clutch beginning to burn his fist.

"The man about to save your cursed ass." His voice sounded like a sword slicing through metal.

"How-how do you-"

"Silence and drink this!" The man roared. "The poison is already shutting down your system and soon you'll be dead and so will your queen."

"How do you know I am poisoned?" Mihai managed to ask after getting back his fist from the man. "How am I sure you're not here to poison me again?"

"If I wanted you dead, I would have done it a long time ago." The man orated. "Drink up."

"Who are you?"

"Is that more important than your life?" The strange man asked, and Mihai gulped down the smelly liquid. He gagged, about to throw up.

"Do not or it wouldn't stop the poison. Swallow it back."

Mihai pushed back the vomit and regretted the smell that burst within him. Slowly, his vision turned black, and he struggled to stand upright. His eyes spun and a headache spider-webbed his head. His stomach turned itself inside out and he grasped it, squeezing it to ease the pain. In one insane second, his knees gave up on him and he fell face flat to the ground, hitting his jaw badly before his lids closed and he blacked out.