Chapter 151 THE BOOK BEARER

Chapter 151 THE BOOK BEARER
ELARA’S POV

The words caught in my throat. My eyes widened as I struggled to say something, anything, but my throat wouldn’t – couldn’t cooperate. What had Beros done? Sold his soul to the abyss? He had damned himself, there was no redemption. No redemption. 

“What have you done?” I finally spoke, my words coming out in broken gasps. No no. I can’t believe this. I refuse to believe Beros had done this to himself, to us. His soul? What else was left of him if he owed something in that abyss, his soul.

That abyss was a cage for creatures stronger, older than us. We didn’t know how we knew, we just knew. And the warning was seared into our heads when we came into existence, the abyss was not to be trifled with. 

And now my lover, my mate, had gone as far as to sacrifice his soul to retrieve mine. An exchange, a deadly exchange.

“No no no” I didn’t know I was saying the words out loud till I cradled my hand with my head.
I had barely gotten used to the news that Beros and I were bonded together for eternity now, but he also sacrificed his soul. What kind of a twisted game was this?

How could we be bound and his soul be sacrificed? What kind of a cruel creature did you meet?
“What? What creature? What did you meet? Who – who did you sacrifice it to?” I managed to speak out when my head began to hurt me. 

Beros’ head hung low again, I saw his jaw tick. Oh no, tho wouldn’t be good news, this definitely wouldn’t be good news.

I pushed again “was it the keeper of the abyss?” Hopeful, even if for a moment. The keeper of the abyss was better, far far better than whatever lurked in the abyss. Dark magic originated from the abyss and this the keeper, even though dreaded and reeking of evil, sealed all dark magic creatures in there of it’s own will.

The keeper could be reasoned with, could be spoken to. Something could still be done, despite what happened. Maybe we could –

“No” his voice came, low but piercing through me. 

“Wh – what?” I choked out.

“It wasn’t the keeper” he said firmly. The breath left me again. What did he say? I couldn’t understand what he was saying? It wasn’t the keeper. Had he – had he gone deeper into the abyss? Oh no.

“Then who was it Beros”

“The keeper finally let me in when I said I had a sacrifice” he continued his story. “He led me deep into the abyss, to where your soul floated, you had begun to form, but slowly, nothing more than a wisp of light, but I knew you, I recognized your soul “ he paused.

“And then what happened?” I asked, fear coming inside of me, forming a tight knot in my stomach. If it wasn’t the keeper of the abyss, then who had need of his soul.

“I met with a being, the only one willing to grant me the power to pull you back to this world”
I held my breath, waiting for him to say it. 

He finally raised his head to look at me again “ I met Aranath, the book bearer”

My blood ran cold. Alicent’s eyes widened. Everyone – everyone knew who Aranath was. He was the bearer of the cursed book of black magic, the source itself. No one knew how he got it or where the book came from but Aranath used it, there were tales, gory tales.

“He’s real? I thought he was just a myth” Alicent asked.

Beros turned to look at her “he is real, and he is worse than the stories portrayed, worse than anything. He is pure evil”

I shook. My head slowly, feeling tears string my eyes. This was something we couldn’t fight, he had sacrificed his soul. There was nothing we could do now.

“What did he demand from you?” I asked, remembering that he hadn’t exactly taken his soul. His soul was still here bound to me, that means Aranath had either decided not to take it at the time or he had taken something.

Beros let out another shaky breath, revealing all these meant things had just changed, we were battling unseen forces now. Aranath had a foot on this side of our world because of Beros, it would be too easy for him to demand payment from a Beros and be let loose here. 

“I offered up my soul to him, but he refused” confusion flooded me.

“Why?”

“He required something else, he required freedom through me. Freedom after a thousand years, an exchange”.

We were doomed. A thousand years. In a thousand years. Aranath would come and take our places on this earth and we would replace him in the abyss.
“But why, Beros?” I cried out. A thousand years were too short. “Whyyyyy? Why would you agree to that?” 
“It was my only choice Elara, I couldn’t, I couldn’t live without you again” his voice broke, but it didn’t nothing to calm the storm raging in me.

“I decided to sacrifice my soul, even though we are bound, when the time comes, he will sever it, keeping you alive, and I will replace him in the abyss while he uses me as an anchor to take hold on this world”.
“That’s impossible Beros, you can’t do that”
“I already have Elara”.

“But you should have waited, I would have come back” I cried loudly “ I would have come back.
“No you wouldn’t “ the words slapped me in the face.
“What?”

“It was obvious, your soul was destroyed beyond measure and sapped of everything in the abyss. You would have not come back, not on your own. Not without black magic”

I almost fell over in the chair I sat, goosebumps filled my skin and sweat started to drop from me. Thick sweat that felt like blood.

“What?” I croaked out.

“What?” Alicent said at the same time, her eyes widening in horror.

“Yes. He had to infuse black magic into you. He used old magic, black magic from the book. He used it on me too. We’re both creatures of black magic.
You and I”