222. HANGING WRAITHS

222. HANGING WRAITHS


~DAHLIA

I gasped awake with a violent fit of cough.

My breath came out sharp and heavy as I looked around trying to understand where Azarel's crazy dark mind had thrown us this time.

The vines flashed before my eyes and I realized that I was back at the entry point.

"Dahlia!" Lyon cried out, ripping the vines off of me.

A sense of calm trickled through me as I saw his worried and sweat covered face. He must have been by my side the whole time when I was—

Orion!

The thoughts instantly stopped as my head went in the direction his body had been.

Lyon understood my plight and quickly hurried to where Orion still was buried in the same vines.

My heart was pounding with hope as I joined them. But as I got closer, my hope crashed.

His eyes were still white and he wasn't awake.

"Orion," I whispered, meeting Lyon's gaze. "Why is he not waking up? I— he broke the mirror..."

Lyon's eyes blackened in conflict but just as he opened his mouth to speak, the screeching from the shadowy creatures that guarded Orion's prison filled the air.

"Dahlia, we have to leave," he said, already pulling to his feet.

But my insides were stuck in a state of disbelief and fear. I couldn't just leave Orion... Not when he—

Shouldn't he have broken the mirror? Did something go wrong?

"Dahlia..." Lyon repeated, his tone growing weary underneath the screeching of the creatures.

"I can't abandon him..." I whispered in a broken voice, holding his face. "Not anymore..."

The moment the words left my lips, a loud gasp filled the gray atmosphere and Orion opened his eyes.

"Oh gods!" Tears burst out from my eyes in shock and happiness all at once.

My fingers quickly sprung into action and I began to pull off his vines. Lyon took the cue and joined me.

As soon as the vines were off, I hugged Orion tight. "You are safe now... You are safe..." I repeated more to myself than to him.

My emotions slapped against one another and I felt like screaming and crying and laughing all at once.

Yet somehow, I controlled myself. The screeching creatures were above us, I had to keep him alive. And find the others.

So with refreshed conviction, I sprang to my feet and grabbed his hand.

"Come on, let's get out of here!" I said before bolting out of the field of vines.

The screeching creatures got wild with rage as they tried to catch us. 

They chased after us with such ferocity, it took Lyon's expert knowledge of the dark place for us to escape unhurt.

My heart was still pounding hard as we finally navigated into safety. Lyon raised his hands in the air, signalling for us to stop to catch our breath.

“What is going on?” Orion asked as we all leaned against dead tree trunks. “Where is this place?”

Lyon and I exchanged looks before the words finally left my mouth.

“This is Azarel's mind…” I began, slowly easing him through everything that happened.

From our kidnapping to the convergence becoming complete and how we hope to stop it.

“…That's why we need to find Vladimir and Cassius,” I completed, expecting him to ask more questions.

But his expression remained firm. He only nodded and turned to Lyon.

“When do we go for the next brother?” He asked in that same firm voice that made my stomach twist.

Lyon threw me a subtle look of worry before turning to face the forest. “The next prison isn't far from here. We should head this way,” he said.

Again, Orion didn't make a fuss or comment about how dangerous this place was for me— especially. He simply just started walking.

He didn't even turn around to me… he didn't try to hold me, kiss me or claim me for himself as he usually did before.

The twist in my stomach rolled again. The Orion I knew from before all of this madness started wouldn't act this way…

It was almost like he was keeping a distance from me… almost like he was accepting that he could only love me from afar…

Somehow, it broke my heart that he felt this way.

That he loved me but didn't want to get too close… that he feared his obsession would return and somehow he wouldn't be able to let go…

My soul weighed down on this, but I had to pull myself together. There was a mission upon us.

I increased my pace and caught up with them. I kept my focus ahead and alert for anything that could be a clue.

Soon, we arrived at a large cave. Unlike Lyon’s own, this one loomed dark ahead of us.

The air was stale and heavy.

Our steps became slower and more calculative as we drew closer. Because not only was the air different, the sounds weren't right either.

We could hear strange cries. Almost like children at night. Yet, we knew there were no children here…

Or were they?

I turned to Lyon. But he shook his head as if he heard me.

“Those are wraiths. Death Wraiths,” he said, his eyes never leaving the cave.

Fear crawled through me.

“They are the guardians to whomever is in there,” he added.

As we got closer, the wails only got louder and more disturbing.

It was a clear indication that there was at least one of the two brothers in there.

With this realization, my fear heightened but adrenaline also pumped courage through me.

The stakes were clear, if either Vladimir or Cassius was in there, it meant I had to go get them.

With that, my legs started moving with a mind of their own straight towards the cave entrance.

I was going to barge in when a blurring movement flashed in front of me just as Lyon's strong arms pulled me back.

“Dahlia!” He growled, yet his eyes tensed with worry. “Be careful! That was a shadow wraith!”

My heart skipped a cold beat as panic trickled down my back.

But I wasn't about to give up. I was going to protest when he pointed at another one.

“There are at least hundreds of them in there… we need to be calculative if you are going to get in there alive.”

My brows furrowed. “But how can I…”

“I’ll create a diversion as I did before,” he cut through my sentence.

My eyes went to the cave again just as a horde of them passed and my blood turned cold.

There was no way he could avoid them like he did Orion’s guardians. These ones were more violent— and far more numerous!

“Lyon, you can't—”

“I’ll help him,” Orion suddenly interjected.

My heart squeezed but I nodded.

“Okay, I’ll move to that side and you stay here. Once I signal you, we run towards that creek, the shadows should be able to lose sight of us,” Lyon explained to him.

“That should give Dahlia time to do what she has to, right?”

Lyon’s gaze fell on me. “Yes.”

“Let’s do this then!” Orion declared.

And like foot soldiers, I watched as Lyon deployed to the other side of the cave. With the precision that could only come with experience, he gained the attention of the wraiths.

Orion took the cue and did the same. Then like a bullet, they both sprinted away from the cave towards the creek.

All the wraiths chased after them leaving the cave entrance unguarded for me to proceed.

I slipped through as quietly as I could, keeping my eyes and ears alert.

A single path carved through vines that stretched across the center of the cave. And from Orion's prison, I knew that the next brother was close.

I followed the path till I saw him—

“Vladimir!” I gasped as my eyes landed on him.

He was hanging in the air with multiple vines holding his limbs. And his eyes… just like Orion…

They were white and lifeless!

A single tear trickled down my face at his state but I already knew what to do.

Without thinking twice about it, I moved closer to one of the vines. As expected it began to pull me in and then I felt the cold familiar stab.

And just like before, I was knocked out cold!