Chapter 41
THIRD PERSON POV
(AFTER ELARA’S BIRTH)
Darius positioned himself in front of the weathered remnants, a decaying symbol of an ancient might. The gusts screamed through the fractured rocks. He had at last located the heir of the Moon Goddess in this barren locale, a journey marked by the bodies of those who had obstructed him.
He had sown a path of terror, bloodshed, and demise. His notoriety undoubtedly arrived before him.
His gaze settled on Morrith and Fenrion, a youthful pair, both possessing healing abilities through their blood. Yet Morrith was a true offspring of the Moon Goddess. She sat in contemplation among the debris, her demeanor tranquil, unaware of the ominous figure encroaching upon her. Her father stood nearby, his face reflecting her composure.
They were young, scarcely grown. Morrith possessed tresses that gleamed like spun starlight and eyes that gleamed with primordial energy; her spouse, conversely, was an ordinary shifter with the gift to mend via his essence. He was robust, though not on par with his mate.
In contrast to the prior healers, this duo detected his approach. A brief shadow of alarm flitted across Morrith’s features as she pivoted to confront Darius, swiftly supplanted by a steely resolve.
“You’re the final one,” Darius declared, his resonant tone reverberating across the forsaken terrain. “The ultimate bearer of the Moon Goddess’s lineage.”
Her gaze expanded, unveiling a reservoir of strength that caused him to hesitate momentarily. He could perceive her potency and understood without doubt that she lacked frailty or terror.
She was primed, equipped for any assault he might unleash, and this audacity grated on him.
“I understand your purpose here,” she responded, her timbre composed and unwavering; she appeared undaunted by the hulking menace before her. “I’ve caught wind of the tales,” she sneered, “How you pollute the land with your foul presence, scouring for a healer to cure your offspring, thus inciting a slaughter with their vital fluid! Merely because they couldn’t succeed?!”
“Merely?!” Darius bellowed, advancing a few paces toward the duo; Fenrion swiftly pulled his mate aside, scowling at Darius. He positioned himself as a barrier before her.
Their courage was truly unprecedented in Darius’s experience, entertaining him while simultaneously infuriating him further.
“Merely?” Darius echoed with a derisive huff, “To you, it might seem unjust, but I eradicated healers incapable of fulfilling their role! Might I mention it was a healer akin to you who inflicted the curse upon my child?”
Morrith exhaled sharply from behind Fenrion, “That doesn’t grant you license to vent on all!”
“In that event,” Darius recoiled, slipping his hands into his pockets. Abruptly, sentinels materialized from the shadows, “Apprehend them.”
~
Morrith and Fenrion were forcibly transported to Darius’s fortress against their desires. In truth, they were abducted and hauled there. On reaching, the guards deposited them in Darius’s audience chamber, where he lounged on his seat, regarding them with a somber visage, his mouth contorted into a grimace.
Morrith attempted to rise, but Fenrion restrained her, his stare surveying the environs with keen vigilance. He knew they were ensnared and escape wouldn’t come easily, so he endeavored to maintain poise.
At that moment, the guards wheeled in a cot; upon it rested Celeste. The cot was situated in the heart of the audience chamber, mere steps from where Fenrion and Morrith knelt.
Darius arose and approached the cot, his gaze mellowing as it alighted on Celeste. He tenderly caressed her face. “This is my offspring, my essence,” he intoned, his voice stern despite the tenderness in his countenance. “And you WILL mend her.”
Morrith rose, her form emanating an aura of might and indignation potent enough to pulverize him and nearly all present into oblivion.
“And you believe you can compel me to cure her? Contrary to my wishes?” She snarled, “I’m unlike those other blood menders! I won’t yield to you!”
Darius chortled as he withdrew from Celeste, his attention now riveted on Morrith. “Compel? My dear, I’m an Alpha!! Compulsion is the sole dialect I comprehend,” fur began to sprout from his fingers, his talons extending, “You will mend her.”
“No! I shall NOT!” Morrith shrieked in retort, her eyes alight with fury. Fenrion behind her recoiled but strived to stay steady. He fixated on fleeing with his mate, yet he couldn’t devise a method.
“I declared you will,” his eyes reddened, his beast teetering on the brink of emergence to shred all asunder. His wrath simmered just below the exterior; one additional dispute, and he might raze everything. “I care not if it’s against your volition. I commanded you to mend her! As you alone possess the capability!”
Morrith’s fingers balled into knots, “You’re a fiend!”
“Possibly,” he shook his head, a trace of what seemed like mirth in his gaze amid the blaze. “But I’m a fiend who cherishes his offspring. And I will undertake any measure to preserve her.” He drew nearer, his silhouette enveloping her, smothering her with its obscurity.
Morrith gulped visibly but held firm. “No, I refuse.”
“In that instance,” Darius retreated, returning to his throne; as he seated himself, he leveled one final lethal stare at her. “You squandered your opportunity. Execute them both.”
Ultimately, Darius slew Morrith and Fenrion, Elara’s progenitors; unbeknownst to him, the healers had an offspring. A progeny who also descended directly from the Moon Goddess. He persisted in his quest for healers, relentlessly day after day. Slaying innumerable souls merely to secure one objective.
Another blood mender, one whose abilities surpassed even Morrith’s, and he would employ any tactic to subjugate the healer to his command.